WASHINGTON (KFGO/KVRR) – Seven senators, including Minnesota’s Tina Smith, have sent President Biden a letter requesting commuting the sentence of Native activist Leonard Peltier.
He was convicted of murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975 and his trial was held in Fargo.
“It would really be an awesome feeling to know that we get to know him as a person versus knowing him, for me, has always been through the books. Through the documentaries,” Peltier’s daughter Kathy said.
Peltier has been in prison for 46 years. He’s considered a political prisoner by Amnesty International.
The seven Democratic senators asking for his release cite former U.S. Attorney for Iowa James Reynolds, a prosecutor during Peltier’s appeal, saying “the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust.”
“You’ve got to look at the ballistic testing. His bullets didn’t match. There’s been testifying that he… Yeah, he did shoot, but it didn’t hit them, the two FBI agents,” Kathy said.
They also show support from his release from world leaders like Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela and Saint Mother Teresa over the years.
“Let’s take some action. To me this is just talk right now,” Kathy said.
This action from Capitol Hill has come since the Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native to become a cabinet secretary, met with the Peltier family.
Now at age 77, Peltier has numerous health issues. His daughter said he has suffered an Aortic aneurysm, diabetes, a prostate issue that could be cancerous and had a triple bypass. Peltier got COVID in January and his daughter said he hasn’t seen a specialist.
She believes, based on these issues and senators being behind her, he should be let out of prison to enjoy what time he has left with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Peltier is up for parole in 2024.