Peltier was imprisoned nearly five decades ago for murdering an FBI agent. There was and remains serious doubt about his guilt. His release is supported not only by Native peoples but by the prosecutor in charge of trying him in the 1970s.

In December 1976, Peltier was extradited from Canada based on documents submitted by the FBI. Warren Allmand, Canada’s Solicitor General at the time, later stated that these documents contained false information. (Blackhorse was also extradited to the United States, but charges against him related to the reservation shootout were dropped.) One of the documents relied on in Peltier’s extradition was an affidavit signed by Myrtle Poor Bear, a Native American woman local to the area near Pine Ridge Reservation. While Poor Bear stated that she was Peltier’s girlfriend during that time and watched the killings, Peltier and others at the scene said that Poor Bear did not know Peltier and was not present during the murders. Poor Bear later admitted to lying to the FBI, but said that the agents interviewing her had coerced her into making the claims. When Poor Bear tried to testify against the FBI, the judge barred her testimony because of mental incompetence.—Wikipedia

You can read more about Peltier and his life and charges on Wikipedia.

We have been members of Amnesty International for almost as long. Peltier’s parole hearing is on 10 June. We wrote to support his release:

Hello, 

For almost as long as he has been in custody, my husband and I have supported Leonard Peltier’s release. After nearly fifty years of imprisonment, we find it hard to believe there is any question that he should now be released by his upcoming parole hearing.

He has served longer than the maximum recommended sentence as determined by United States Sentencing Commission Quarterly Data Report Fourth Quarter of 2021, which I found online.

Regardless of serious questions about his arrest, trial, and imprisonment, fifty years is an egregiously long time for anyone to spend in prison for any crime. Tribal Nations, Indigenous leaders, Members of Congress, former FBI Agents, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, and even the former U.S. Attorney, James Reynolds, whose office handled Leonard Peltier’s prosecution and appeal, have also called for Leonard Peltier’s release. 

The man is no longer a threat, assuming he ever was one. 

Please do the decent thing and release Leonard Peltier.

Thank you,

Jan Priddy and Gary C. Anderson