Current:Home > InvestSupporters of Native activist Leonard Peltier hold White House rally, urging Biden to grant clemency-LoTradeCoin
Supporters of Native activist Leonard Peltier hold White House rally, urging Biden to grant clemency
View Date:2024-12-23 20:40:30
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of activists and Indigenous leaders rallied outside the White House on Tuesday in support of Leonard Peltier on the imprisoned activist’s 79th birthday, holding signs and chanting slogans urging President Joe Biden to grant clemency to the Native American leader.
Peltier is serving life in prison for the killing of two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was convicted in 1977.
Key figures involved in Peltier’s prosecution have stepped forward over the years to urge his release, rally organizers said, including the judge who presided over Peltier’s 1986 appeal and the former U.S. attorney whose office handled the prosecution and appeal of Peltier’s case.
The rally kicked off Tuesday with chanting and drum beats. Organizers delivered impassioned speeches about Peltier’s life and his importance as a Native leader, punctuated by shouts of “Free Peltier! Free Peltier!”
“Forty-eight years is long enough,” said Nick Tilsen, president of NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group that co-organized the rally with Amnesty International USA.
“We are calling on the Biden administration, who has made it a choice — has made Indigenous civil rights a priority — for his administration, yet he allows and continues to allow the longest incarcerated political prisoner in the United States,” Tilsen said at the rally.
Amnesty International considers Peltier a political prisoner, and organizers said a United Nations working group on arbitrary detention specifically noted the anti-Indigenous bias surrounding Peltier’s detention.
Over 100 people have journeyed by bus and caravan for three days from South Dakota to the District of Columbia this week in support of Peltier’s release, NDN Collective said in a Facebook post. Expected speakers include “Reservation Dogs” actor Dallas Goldtooth, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the president of the National Congress of American Indians and other Indigenous leaders.
While Peltier’s supporters argue that he was wrongly convicted in the killings of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, the agency has maintained over the years that he is guilty and was properly sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
“Peltier intentionally and mercilessly murdered these two young men and has never expressed remorse for his ruthless actions,” the FBI said in an email Monday, adding that Peltier’s conviction “has withstood numerous appeals to multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Peltier has exhausted his opportunities for appeal and his parole requests have been denied. He is incarcerated at a federal prison in Coleman, Florida.
An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, or AIM, which grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents.
Tensions between AIM and the government remained high for years, providing the backdrop for the fatal confrontation in which both agents were shot in the head at close range.
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department, said while she was a congresswoman that she supports Peltier being released.
“Congress hasn’t weighed in on this issue in years,” Haaland posted on social media in 2020, citing concerns about COVID-19. “At 75 with chronic health issues, it is urgent that we #FreeLeonardPeltier.”
In 2017, then-President Barack Obama denied a clemency request by Peltier.
According to Peltier’s attorney at the time, Martin Garbus, they received a letter from the White House saying their application to commute his sentence to the 40 years he already served was denied.
AIM began as a local organization in Minneapolis that sought to grapple with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans in the 1960s. It quickly became a national force.
The group called out instances of cultural appropriation, provided job training, sought to improve housing and education for Indigenous people, provided legal assistance, spotlighted environmental injustice and questioned government policies that were seen as anti-Indigenous. At times, AIM’s tactics were militant, which led to splintering in the group.
__
Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
veryGood! (7216)
Related
- Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
- 'After Baywatch' docuseries will feature never-aired footage of famed '90s lifeguard stars
- 'Kind of can't go wrong': USA Basketball's Olympic depth on display in win
- Michael Douglas Reveals Catherine Zeta-Jones Makes Him Whip It Out in TMI Confession
- Ben Foster Files for Divorce From Laura Prepon After 6 Years of Marriage
- Alexa Chung Joins Joe Alwyn for Wimbledon Outing in London
- 'Kind of can't go wrong': USA Basketball's Olympic depth on display in win
- California man charged in 'random' July 4th stabbing attack that left 2 dead, 3 injured
- Will Trump curb transgender rights? After election, community prepares for worst
- Horoscopes Today, July 10, 2024
Ranking
- Over 1.4 million Honda, Acura vehicles subject of US probe over potential engine failure
- Group sues federal government, claims it ignores harms of idle offshore oil and gas infrastructure
- Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's daughter Violet urges Los Angeles officials to oppose mask bans, says she developed post-viral condition
- The Daily Money: Can you afford to retire?
- Ariana Grande Shares Dad's Emotional Reaction to Using His Last Name in Wicked Credits
- Travis Kelce Reveals Eye-Popping Price of Taylor Swift Super Bowl Suite
- Alexa Chung Joins Joe Alwyn for Wimbledon Outing in London
- Hurricane Beryl’s remnants flood Vermont a year after the state was hit by catastrophic rainfall
Recommendation
-
Prosecutor failed to show that Musk’s $1M-a-day sweepstakes was an illegal lottery, judge says
-
Georgia has 2 more players, including LB Smael Mondon, arrested for reckless driving
-
Celebs at Wimbledon 2024: See Queen Camilla, Dave Grohl, Lena Dunham and more
-
Making Sense of the Year So Far in EV Sales
-
Jennifer Lopez Gets Loud in Her First Onstage Appearance Amid Ben Affleck Divorce
-
Darwin Núñez, Uruguay teammates enter stands as fans fight after Copa America loss to Colombia
-
The Token Revolution of DB Wealth Institute: Launching DBW Token to Fund and Enhance 'AI Financial Navigator 4.0' Investment System
-
Scarlett Johansson says 'Poor Things' gave her hope for 'Fly Me to the Moon'