‘It’s time to free Leonard Peltier’

“I write from a position rare for a former prosecutor: to beseech you to commute the sentence of a man who I helped put behind bars.” James H. Reynolds U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the Leonard Peltier case.

RAPID CITY – A former U.S. Attorney, a former FBI agent and a former Federal judge have all issued statements calling the 1977 trial and prosecution of American Indian Movement (AIM) activist Leonard Peltier “flawed” and “unjust.”

Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for “aiding and abetting’ in the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975. He has been imprisoned since 1977.

On the 48th anniversary of his incarceration, thousands of supporters across Turtle Island, some from as far away as Italy and Australia, rallied for the release of Peltier, now 78, and in failing health.

Dozens of supporters that live in and around He Sapa (Black Hills) gathered in front of the Federal Court House in Rapid City, carrying AIM flags and Free Leonard Peltier banners.

Among those who spoke at the rally in support of commuting Peltier’s sentence was the newly elected President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Frank Star Comes Out, who read a statement from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

The OST statement is based on a letter written by the U.S. Attorney, who in 1977 prosecuted the Leonard Peltier case, James H. Reynolds, in which Reynolds appeals to President Joe Biden to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier.

“I write today from a position rare for a former prosecutor: to beseech you to commute the sentence of a man who I helped put behind bars,” the Reynolds letter reads. “With time, and the benefit of hindsight, 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.”

“As a result, we shifted our stance on the theories of guilt throughout the prosecution and appeal. First, we pursued a ‘deliberate ambush’ theory against Mr. Peltier’s co-defendants (who were found not guilty by reason of self-defense). Then, in the prosecution of Mr. Peltier, we pursued a ‘deliberate execution’ theory. Finally, on appeal, we pursued the theory that Mr. Peltier was an ‘accomplice’ under an aiding and abetting theory, notwithstanding the fact that his co-defendants were found to have acted in self-defense.”

“The final theory on which Mr. Peltier’s conviction now rests is that he was guilty of murder simply because he was present with a weapon at the Reservation that day. However, Mr. Peltier has been labeled, and more importantly was sentenced as a ‘cold-blooded murderer’ based on a theory that we were forced to drop on appeal. He has served more than 46 years on the basis of minimal evidence, a result that I strongly doubt would be upheld in any court today.” Reynolds letter continues.

Reynold also writes that “Mr. Peltier alone was forced to pay the full price of that tragedy. He has paid it with over 46 years of his life.”

The Oglala Sioux Tribe asks the President of the United States to take into consideration the Reynolds letter as compelling evidence that the FBI erred in its 1977 case against Peltier and also urges the President to grant him executive clemency.

Also speaking at the rally was Keith Janis, who provided the grassroots history leading up to the incidents at Jumping Bull ranch where the two FBI agents were killed and the subsequent indictment, prosecution and incarceration of Peltier.

“We heard briefly about the co-defendants that were tried, Dino Butler and Bob Robideau. That trial ended in an acquittal. They were able to prove self-defense. They were able to do that because in Cedar Rapids they able and allowed to talk about the conditions that the FBI created on the reservation,” Janis said and that more than 60 people had been killed on the reservation in what was termed “the reign of terror.”

Janis also pointed out the fact that Peltier was found guilty as an “accomplice” under an aiding and abetting theory. Janis said the other two co-defendants, Dino Butler and Robert Robideau were acquitted on all charges so how could Peltier be guilty of aiding and abetting when “there has to be somebody that he was aiding and abetting. Who did he aid and abet, himself?”

After Janis, NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilson also called for Peltier’s release and reminded everyone that the FBI agents weren’t the only ones killed at the Jumping Bull ranch that day.

“Whenever we talk about Leonard’s freedom and his fight for justice a lot of times what we don’t talk about is that it wasn’t just two FBI officers that were killed that day, one of our own people was killed that day. Joe Stuntz was killed that day and he was murdered by the United States government. To this day his murder was never investigated,” Tilson said.

“We need to call for Leonard’s clemency because Leonard’s case is a microcosm of all the injustices that have happened to Indigenous people everywhere. Injustices that continue to happen to indigenous people to this day,” he continued.

After the rally everyone was invited to Oaye Luta Okolakiciye at 937 E. North Street for a dinner where a video of former FBI agent Coleen Rowley was playing on the big screen.

According to the Red Nations Podcast, Rowley is the first FBI agent close to the Leonard Peltier case that is calling for his freedom. Coleen Rowley in the interview recounts her time as an agent in the Minneapolis field office. She reports that for nearly 50 years, the FBI has indoctrinated its agents on a specific version of events that led to Leonard Peltier’s arrest, conviction, and imprisonment. The mentality then, Rowley argues, is little different than the mentality today. That’s why she decided to break the silence and is also calling on President Joe Biden to grant Leonard Peltier executive clemency.

One of the organizers of the Rapid City rally was Jean Roach, who has been a leading advocate for Peltier’s release for decades. Roach a member of the American Indian Movement is a civil rights activist who volunteers for numerous community organizations pursuing social justice for Natives living in and around the Black Hills.

(Contact Ernestine Anunkasan Hupa at staffwriter@nativesunnews.today

The post ‘It’s time to free Leonard Peltier’ first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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