Following a decades-long struggle for his release, Leonard Peltier, Indigenous freedom fighter and the longest-held political prisoner in the US, was released on Tuesday afternoon.
“Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!” said Leonard Peltier upon his release. “Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home. I look forward to seeing my friends, my family, and my community. It’s a good day today.”
In his last days as President, Joe Biden finally heeded the movement to free Peltier and commuted the sentence of the 80-year-old Indigenous activist. In 1975, Peltier was sentenced for the killings of two FBI agents. Peltier’s supporters have maintained his innocence.
💥Tomorrow, Native American leader and political prisoner Leonard Peltier will walk free after 50+ years of wrongful and unjust imprisonment, thanks to the tireless efforts of organizers across the country.@GloriaLaRiva is reporting from outside Coleman Penitentiary in Florida,… pic.twitter.com/lGQPK6jkd4
— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) February 18, 2025
“We made a commitment to free Leonard Peltier and bring him back to his homelands – this is us fulfilling that commitment,” said Nick Tilsen, the founder of grassroots Indigenous organization NDN Collective. “We are welcoming Leonard back home in a beautiful way to thank him for his legacy by feeding the people, thanking everyone who fought for him for years, and honoring those who fought for his freedom but are no longer with us.”
As an elderly political prisoner who has spent decades behind bars, Peltier’s health has been declining. In 2022, Peltier contracted COVID-19, and in October of this year, he was hospitalized.
