Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who maintained his innocence for nearly half a century, was released from a Florida prison after then-President Joe Biden commuted his life sentence to home confinement. Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, had been convicted of killing two FBI agents during a 1975 confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Peltier’s release was met with celebration by his family, friends, and supporters who gathered outside the prison gates. While his supporters see him as a political prisoner fighting for tribal rights, law enforcement officials, including former FBI Director Christopher Wray, believe he is guilty. Despite this, Biden cited Peltier’s poor health and many years spent behind bars as reasons for commuting his sentence.
Peltier’s supporters believe his trial was unfair, and even some prosecutors have questioned the evidence against him. As he returns to his reservation, Peltier, who was taken from his family as a child and suffered abuse at a boarding school, looks forward to finally having a home. His release marks a new chapter in his life and is seen as a step towards repairing the damage done to Indigenous communities.
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