On Monday, June 10, Leonard Peltier, the longest-held political prisoner in the United States, just got his first parole hearing in over 15 years. Peltier has been in prison for 47 years.
In 1975, Peltier was convicted of the killings of two FBI agents, a crime that his supporters maintain that he did not commit. Peltier is an Indigenous activist who organized in the American Indian Movement (AIM), which at the end of the 1960s and beginning of 1970s waged militant campaigns demanding that the US government respect Indigenous people’s human rights and land rights. The Indigenous movement as well as the movement for the freedom of US political prisoners maintain that Peltier’s conviction was a frame-up to repress Peltier’s leadership in the movement for Indigenous liberation.
FBI documents, released after Peltier’s sentencing, revealed the FBI’s long-term agenda against the Indigenous movement in the US, including by suppressing the activities of AIM. According to Kevin Sharp, a member of Peltier’s defense team, the Bureau’s strategy was to “continually harass and arrest and charge” AIM leaders so that they “can’t protest their own treatment.” An internal FBI memo also revealed a push to concentrate all resources on convicting Peltier, after his co-defendants had been acquitted. Peltier’s trial itself was rife with misconduct.
The deliberation on parole takes place in a moment where Peltier’s health is declining. The now 79-year-old political prisoner struggles with diabetes, loss of vision in one eye, has had open heart surgery, has suffered from an aortic aneurysm, and experiences lingering effects from contracting COVID-19.
Activists have emphasized that President Joe Biden has the power to grant Peltier clemency at the stroke of a pen. “This administration, the Biden Administration, has said that Native American rights are a priority to them, and yet they’ve got the longest sitting Indigenous political prisoner locked up and we’ve seen no action from the federal government,” said Nick Tilsen, leader of the NDN Collective, an organization building Indigenous collective power in the US, speaking to ICT News. “If he dies in prison this will forever be a part of that administration’s legacy as it relates to Native people.”
Opposition to Peltier’s parole has become a political issue for the FBI. In December of 2000, right before then-President Clinton had been set to grant Peltier clemency, 500 active and retired FBI agents marched to the White House in opposition. Following the rally, a highly unusual move for FBI agents, Clinton ultimately decided against granting clemency. President Obama also denied Peltier clemency in 2017.
The decision on whether or not to grant parole is required to be issued within 21 days of the parole hearing.
