{"id":59058,"date":"2025-01-13T18:16:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T18:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndncollective.org\/?p=59058"},"modified":"2025-01-13T22:29:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T22:29:37","slug":"120-tribal-leaders-call-on-biden-to-grant-leonard-peltier-clemency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndncollective.org\/120-tribal-leaders-call-on-biden-to-grant-leonard-peltier-clemency\/","title":{"rendered":"120+ Tribal Leaders Call on Biden to Grant Leonard Peltier Clemency","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Washington, DC<\/strong> \u2013 In a show of broad support from Indian Country, today over 120 tribal leaders sent a letter calling for President Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier. At 80 years old, Peltier is in his 49th year of incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full letter can be viewed here.<\/a> Below is an excerpt:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor 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\u2019s continued incarceration is a symbol to Native Americans of the systemic inequities of the criminal justice system in America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. President, we honor your demonstrated commitment to Indian Country. You have stood with us many times – both in the White House and in the U.S. Senate. Our standing in the world as a champion of freedom, justice, and human rights cannot be maintained in a system that allows Leonard Peltier to die in prison.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Peltier is the longest-incarcerated Native American political prisoner in American history, and one of the oldest people currently in federal prison. He is a survivor of the federally funded boarding school system where he endured years of physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse. Peltier endured a trial rife with constitutional violations and prosecutorial misconduct that the prosecuting office itself later acknowledged, and have since urged for his release<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NDN Collective<\/em><\/a> is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.<\/em>
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To Request an Interview Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Holly Cook Macarro,<\/strong> holly@theangledc.com<\/a>; Cabot Petoia,<\/strong> cabot@ndncollective.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n