American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier has been in federal prison for almost 50 years, after being convicted in the 1975 killing of FBI agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, which occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. On July 2, 79-year-old Peltier, who has always maintained his innocence, was denied parole for the third time, meaning he will likely die in prison unless President Biden commutes his sentence. Peltier’s trial was riddled with irregularities and the government has admitted it doesn’t know who killed the FBI agents.
Indigenous people’s organizations have campaigned for Peltier’s release for decades and have been joined by human rights groups and individuals around the world, including Amnesty International, the American Association of Jurists, the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research with Amnesty International USA, who has been following Peltier’s case for years. Here he discusses the next steps that must be taken to win his freedom.
JUSTIN MAZZOLA: We originally sent observers to his trial as well as his successive appeals all the way up to the early 1990s. And so from the start we’ve had concerns about whether or not Leonard had received a fair trial.
MELINDA TUHUS: And I’ve covered it for many years. And from everything I know, it’s clear that he did not receive a fair trial. He’s always maintained his innocence. Two other people who were also charged in the killings were acquitted based on self-defense. And, now over these many decades, some very key people in his prosecution and conviction have even come forward to say, minimally, he didn’t get a fair trial, or he should perhaps be released at this point when he’s almost 80 years old and, you know, has a lot of serious health problems.
What can you say about the situation now? What’s left for Leonard, if anything? I guess it’s just clemency from the president, is that right?
JUSTIN MAZZOLA: Yeah, I mean, obviously that’s the fastest, and, you know, easiest route for Leonard to achieve his release. There are legal maneuvers that Leonard’s attorneys will be taking with regards to the parole commission’s decision. There is a review process and appeal process that I’m sure that they’re gonna be engaging in, but obviously that takes time. And that’s one thing that Leonard really doesn’t have much of anymore. He’s nearly 80 years old. He has chronic health issues. Some are very serious and potentially could be fatal and some are due to being in an institution for the past 50 years and being incarcerated for 50 years. So this really is the fastest route for Leonard to achieve freedom — through a grant of clemency and commutation of his sentence from President Biden.
MELINDA TUHUS: It seemed like the most likely actually would’ve been Trump because he hates the FBI. But that didn’t happen either.
JUSTIN MAZZOLA: No, it didn’t. That was kind of our thinking as well that you know, Trump could put a thumb in the eye to the FBI because of all of his issues with them by granting his release. But of course, with all the shenanigans that were happening with pardons and everything else in the Trump administration, I guess Leonard’s case didn’t rise to that level of scrutiny or corruption.
MELINDA TUHUS: Yeah, that’s the thing. One question is, what else, if anything, your organization plans to do about this case? Is there anything left to do?
JUSTIN MAZZOLA: We obviously pivoted once we knew that the parole hearing was gonna be taking place. We had our members, really since 2021 when the petition for clemency was initially submitted to the DOJ pardon attorney. We had our members from all around the world. Leonard’s case is something that generates a lot of interest not only from folks here in the U.S. but also internationally, writing to the president, and the DOJ pardon attorney seeking commutation.
We then pivoted, obviously to target the parole commission and send appeals to their office, in support of parole. And now we just reissued another urgent action towards the president to commute a sentence. And so we’re trying to promote that and really generate more attention to the case. This really is potentially his last hope. When you look at, you know, some of the comments from the FBI, you know, labeling him or a murderous dog and, you know, all these other things, it’s really hypocrisy because the government admits in court that they don’t even know who killed Agent Kohler and Agent Williams and their families deserve justice. That’s, you know, undeniable. And so does the family of Joe Stunts, who is also killed, who is an AIM member who was also killed that day during the shootout, for which there’s been no accountability and no justice.
But holding Leonard at this point is not justice. He never received a fair trial. That’s proven. It’s been proven over and over again. Like I said, the government doesn’t even know who actually killed the agents and have stated this in court. And so for the FBI to continue to demonize him and push against his release at this point in time, it really is beyond the pale at this point.
And so I really urge people to try to take action however they can. Even if you have taken action before and written to the president, you know, educate folks about his case, if they haven’t heard about it and try to get more people to raise this with the presidency because this really is Leonard’s last chance to obtain freedom.
For the best listening experience and to never miss an episode, subscribe to Between The Lines on your favorite podcast app or platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Tunein+ Alexa, Castbox, Overcast, Podfriend,
iHeartRadio, Castro, Pocket Casts, RSS Feed.
Or subscribe to our Between The Lines and Counterpoint Weekly Summary.
