DoomsdaysCW<p>Minnesota tribal leaders call for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Biden" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Biden</span></a> to commute <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LeonardPeltier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LeonardPeltier</span></a>'s sentence</p><p>by Melissa Olson, January 14, 2025</p><p>"A group of over 120 elected current and former tribal leaders from across the United States are calling on President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, a longstanding political activist convicted in 1977 in the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, according to a story first published Monday by HuffPost. </p><p>"Peltier is a member of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AmericanIndianMovement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmericanIndianMovement</span></a>, a grassroots Native American organization formed in Minneapolis in the late 1960s in response to police violence. </p><p>“'For the majority of his life, Leonard Peltier has been serving a sentence based on a conviction that would not hold up in court today and for a crime that the government has admitted it could not prove. Mr. Peltier’s continued incarceration is a symbol to Native Americans of the systemic inequities of the criminal justice system in America,' read the letter from tribal elected officials published on <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NDNCollective" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NDNCollective</span></a>. </p><p>"The letter was signed by over a dozen elected tribal officials in Minnesota, including president of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LowerSioux" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LowerSioux</span></a> Indian Community Robert Larsen, who verified the accuracy of the letter to MPR News, as well as Chair of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BoisForteBand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoisForteBand</span></a> of Chippewa Cathy Chavers and Chief Executive of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MilleLacs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MilleLacs</span></a> Band of# Ojibwe Virgil Wind, who signed the letter as President of the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes. </p><p>"Faron Jackson, chair of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LeechLakeBand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LeechLakeBand</span></a> of Ojibwe, also signed the letter. Jackson spoke to MPR News while attending the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe annual state of the band address Tuesday. </p><p>"'I think it was an injustice from day one,” said Jackson. “He’s been sitting in prison for almost 50 years on a lot of circumstantial evidence that just didn’t add up to justice.'</p><p>"Peltier, a citizen of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TurtleMountainBand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TurtleMountainBand</span></a> of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Chippewa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Chippewa</span></a> in North Dakota, is currently serving two life sentences at a federal prison in Florida. Peltier has maintained his innocence since he was first imprisoned."</p><p><a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/01/14/minnesota-tribal-leaders-call-for-biden-to-commute-leonard-peltier-sentence" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">mprnews.org/story/2025/01/14/m</span><span class="invisible">innesota-tribal-leaders-call-for-biden-to-commute-leonard-peltier-sentence</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeLeonardPeltier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeLeonardPeltier</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AmnestyForLeonardPeltier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmnestyForLeonardPeltier</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClemencyForLeonardPeltier" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClemencyForLeonardPeltier</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AIM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AIM</span></a></p>