Leonard Peltier to Face Parole Hearing on Monday

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Humanity will once again be on trail tomorrow when Native American rights activist, Leonard Peltier, will go before a parole board in Florida, his first such appearance in fifteen years, and, due to his advanced age (79) and rapidly declining physical health, probably his last opportunity for freedom.

Peltier has been in prison since 1977 for crimes related to the killing of two FBI agents in a shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.  Several others were arrested with Leonard Peltier in the aftermath of the killings, but they were all exonerated or removed from the frame, and when everything settled only Leonard Peltier was left in a prosecutable position.  Eventually the government's murder case against Peltier fell apart, and in lieu of that he was charged with knowing about and protecting whoever shot the FBI agents, a crime for which he has spent almost fifty years in prison, much of which was served in isolation.

Leonard Peltier could have walked free at his parole hearing fifteen years ago if he had admitted killing the FBI agents,  but he refused to own something which he still maintains is untrue.

Amnesty International advocates for the release of Leonard Peltier, as do many political, religious, and world leaders - including Pope Francis who personally brought Peltier's case and circumstances before two US Presidents, Obama and Biden. 

Leonard Peltier's trial in the 1970's is regarded by many legal experts as deeply flawed, but the FBI is determined to have maximum payback for the murder of its two agents, and the agency continues to exert political pressure on judges and Presidents to keep Mr. Peltier behind bars as a symbol of the FBI's wrath and revenge.

Peltier, who has a heart condition, suffered a stroke a few years ago and is now blind in one eye, and he knows his days are numbered.    He would like to spend them with his family and in his community.  

The parole board needs to review Leonard Peltier's case carefully and do what it right, and if they fail in that moral responsibility, Joe Biden needs to stand up and do it for them - now - while there is still time.

Show some kindness and mercy, Joe.  Let the old man go and spend his last few days with his grandchildren.  It's not a political calculation, just human decency.