rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/biden-free-leonard-peltier?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-biden-free-leonard-peltier' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund https://actionnetwork.org/groups/native-organizers-alliance https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/022/886/original/NOA_ActionFundBanner2.png?1668645803 Leonard Peltier is almost 80 years old. He’s a Native activist in the American Indian Movement (AIM), a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and is now serving his 49th year of incarceration, making him the longest-serving political prisoner in U.S. history. Leonard, now elderly and battling chronic health conditions that were made even worse after his contracted COVID while in prison, is serving two life sentences for his alleged role in the deaths of two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Principally charged with the murders, Peltier’s co-defendants were found not guilty on grounds of self-defense. In Leonard’s case, exculpatory ballistics evidence was withheld, testimony coerced by the FBI was recanted, and a recognition of the violation of his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury has fueled the global support for his release. Over the years, the level of clear misconduct has prompted the very officials who put him behind bars to step forward and join the cry for justice for Leonard Peltier. Former FBI Special Agent and former Minneapolis Division Counsel, Coleen Rowley, wrote to President Biden asking to release Leonard Peltier and James Reynolds, the former federal prosecutor who oversaw Leonard 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.” We have a lot of support in this urgent fight for justice. 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. In addition to celebrities, human rights leaders, and United Nations legal experts calling on President Biden to grant Leonard Pelter his freedom, hundreds of Indigenous artists wrote in a letter to President Biden: “Nothing is more emblematic of the mistreatment of American Indians and the uneven hand of the criminal justice system than the handling of his case by the federal government.” The time has long past come for Leonard to be freed. Compassionate release was denied. We petitioned the Parole Commission to finally grant Leonard his freedom, and it was denied. Now, President Joe Biden may be Leonard Peltier’s last and best hope for freedom. But let’s be clear, the only way Leonard Peltier can get his freedom restored is through public pressure on President Biden. 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. Click ‘START WRITING’ to sign and send your message urging President Biden to pardon and free Native activist Leonard Peltier from federal prison now. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/biden-free-leonard-peltier