To President Biden: Free Leonard Peltier, Grant Clemency Now
President Joe Biden
ACTION ALERT: Calling all supporters of Leonard Peltier to sign this petition to urge President Joe Biden to grant Leonard Peltier executive clemency. #FreeLeonardPeltier
Background
“The fight has not ended for me” - Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is in his 49th year of imprisonment. Leonard is 79 years old and his health is rapidly declining. He stands as a symbol of the ongoing racism and oppression against Native Americans in the United States criminal justice system, issues that Leonard fought against in the 1970’s and throughout his incarceration.
On July 2nd, millions of people across Indian Country were devastated to learn that Leonard Peltier, an activist and member of the American Indian Movement, had been denied parole by the United States Parole Commission. The Commission issued the decision after a parole hearing on June 10th at the United States Penitentiary Coleman I in Florida, where Mr. Peltier is currently incarcerated.
“They denied parole to a survivor of genocidal Indian boarding schools as he struggles to survive this unjust incarceration, they insist on holding him for a crime for which they have no physical evidence against him. Clearly, the Parole Commission – which is supposed to be an independent body – was influenced by the FBI. The FBI continues to abuse its power, promote false narratives, and engage in counterintelligence activities. The FBI has no regard for the Constitution or the laws they have sworn an oath to protect.” - Nick Tilsen, President and CEO, NDN Collective
The FBI director at the time J. Edgar Hoover was waging a war against anyone he perceived as a threat. His violent and illegal tactics under COINTELPRO — the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program (1956 to 1971) — were a direct assault on the American Indian Movement, the Black Panther Party, and the Women’s Liberation Movement. “Hoover’s FBI did everything it could to consciously and deliberately derail the Civil Rights Movement,” said Stevie Van Zandt
While Leonard’s attorneys file an appeal of this decision, we call on President Joe Biden to grant executive clemency to #BringLeonardHome. President Biden promised to be a friend and ally of Indigenous Peoples.
Will Biden release the oldest living Indigenous political prisoner in American history, or will he simply allow Peltier to die in prison?
President Biden, you have the power to do what’s right we are demanding that you #FreeLeonardPeltier NOW via Executive Clemency. The whole world is watching.
Sign the petition today to let President Biden know we will not stop fighting for Leonard’s freedom. We are all not free until Leonard is free.
Sponsored by
To:
President Joe Biden
From:
[Your Name]
I write to you today to urge you to grant Leonard Peltier executive clemency.
Leonard Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is in his 49th year of imprisonment. Leonard is 79 years old and his health is rapidly declining. He stands as a symbol of the ongoing racism and oppression against Native Americans in the United States criminal justice system, issues that Leonard fought against in the 1970s and throughout his incarceration.
The FBI has taken every measure to prevent Leonard from being released including ignoring the Constitution and violating Peltier's civil rights. Peltier has served nearly 50 years on evidence that decades’ worth of observers have called into question. Witnesses were coerced and advocates say evidence was falsified. Two of the other men charged with the same crime were acquitted. In addition, a witness whose information was key to Peltier’s extradition from Canada to stand trial for the murders later said she made up her story under pressure from the FBI.
President Biden, you have the power to release the oldest living Indigenous political prisoner in American history, will you take swift action or simply allow Peltier to die in prison?
The whole world is watching. #FreeLeonardPeltier