We recently marked the 50th anniversary of the occupation at Wounded Knee in 1973.

After the occupation, the FBI continued harassing members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and people at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for years -- including when a massive shootout in 1975 ended with three people dead: a young Native man and two FBI agents.

AIM activist Leonard Peltier was there that day, and was arrested despite a complete lack of evidence connecting him to the FBI agents’ deaths.

Leonard Peltier is still serving time in a maximum security prison 48 years later.

Peltier continues to maintain his innocence -- and there’s a LOT of evidence to back him up. We now know that the FBI coerced witnesses and threatened their families to get false statements, all of which the witnesses later recanted. The FBI also withheld key evidence showing that the bullets that killed the FBI officers did not come from Peltier’s gun. And during the trial, one of the jurors even admitted to prejudice against Peltier for being Native.

A former FBI agent familiar with his case has written to President Biden asking to release Peltier. A former federal prosecutor who oversaw Peltier’s post-trial sentencing and appeals also wrote to Biden asking for clemency, saying: “I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust. We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation.”

This misconduct and constitutional violations have stolen years from Peltier’s life. At 79 years old, he is the longest-serving political prisoner in the U.S. He suffers from many health issues including diabetes and kidney disease, and his condition has worsened since getting COVID last year in prison.

The only way Leonard Peltier can get his freedom restored is through public pressure on President Biden. Fortunately, we’re not alone in this fight.

UN experts, U.S. Congressmembers, Amnesty International, the Democratic National Committee's Native American Caucus, the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators, the National Congress of American Indians, human rights leaders (such as Nelson Mandela, Coretta Scott King, and the Dalai Lama), and many others are calling for Peltier to be released.

Peltier should be able to live out the rest of his life in dignity, with his family on his ancestral homelands.

Now, together with a broad coalition of organizations representing millions of people across the country, we’re asking you to join the fight. Please sign the petition to President Biden and demand the release of Leonard Peltier from prison now.

Full petition text:

President Biden,

You are Leonard Peltier’s last and best hope for freedom. The longest-serving political prisoner in the U.S., Peltier is now 79 years old and in deteriorating health. Years were stolen from his life due to FBI misconduct, including coercing and threatening witnesses to make false statements (which were all later recanted), and withholding key evidence showing that the bullets that killed the FBI officers did not come from Peltier’s gun. During the trial, one of the jurors even admitted to prejudice against Peltier for being Native.

As you know, a former FBI agent familiar with his case has written to you asking you to release Peltier. A former federal prosecutor who oversaw Peltier’s post-trial sentencing and appeals also wrote to you asking for clemency, saying: “I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust. We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation.”

Please commute Peltier’s sentence and grant him clemency immediately so he can live out the rest of his life with his family on his ancestral homelands.

He wants to be reunited with his family and to hug his grand-children. Only you can commute the remainder of his sentence on compassionate grounds. Only you can ensure he gets to live out the rest of his life with dignity. Please do the right thing and release Peltier from federal prison immediately.