Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who has spent nearly 50 years in prison for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents in South Dakota, has been denied parole. The U.S. Parole Commission announced that Peltier, now 79, will not be eligible for another parole hearing until June 2026. Peltier, convicted in 1977, is serving a life sentence for the deaths of agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Peltier’s attorney, Kevin Sharp, a former federal judge, has vowed to appeal the decision. Sharp argues that Peltier was wrongly convicted and that his health is deteriorating. “This decision is a missed opportunity for the United States to finally recognize the misconduct of the FBI and send a message to Indian Country regarding the impacts of the federal government’s actions and policies of the 1970s,” Sharp said in a statement.
The fight for Peltier’s freedom is deeply intertwined with the Indigenous rights movement. Nearly half a century later, his name remains a rallying cry, with “Free Peltier” T-shirts sold online. “The way they have treated Leonard is the way they have treated Indigenous people historically throughout this country,” said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy group. “That is why Indigenous people and oppressed people everywhere see a little bit of ourselves in Leonard Peltier. Although today is a sad day, we are not going to stop fighting.”
The FBI and its current and former agents dispute claims of Peltier’s innocence. “They were down, they were wounded, they were helpless and he shot them point blank,” said Mike Clark, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI. “It is a heinous crime.” FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that “justice continues to prevail,” and Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, described Peltier as an “unremorseful murderer.” “We believe this decision upholds justice for our fallen colleagues and their families,” Bara said.
Peltier, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, was active in the American Indian Movement (AIM), which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis addressing police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. AIM quickly became a national force, advocating for Indigenous rights.
Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, credits AIM and others for many of the rights Native Americans have today, including religious freedom and the ability to operate casinos and tribal colleges. AIM gained national attention in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents. Tensions between AIM and the government remained high for years.
On June 26, 1975, FBI agents arrived at Pine Ridge to serve arrest warrants amid battles over Native treaty rights and self-determination. After being injured in a shootout, agents Coler and Williams were shot in the head at close range. AIM member Joseph Stuntz was also killed in the shootout, with the Justice Department concluding that a law enforcement sniper killed Stuntz. Two other AIM members, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted of killing Coler and Williams. Peltier, after fleeing to Canada and being extradited to the United States, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, despite defense claims that evidence against him had been falsified.
Amnesty International has been among Peltier’s backers, calling his continued imprisonment a “human rights tragedy.” His latest parole hearing was in June at a high-security lockup in Florida. Afterward, Sharp said the commission was legally obligated to “look forward,” focusing on whether Peltier is likely to commit another crime if released.
Relatives of the slain FBI agents have long argued that Peltier should remain imprisoned. In a 2022 letter to Wray, Coler’s son Ronald Coler said the campaign for Peltier’s release has been painful for the family. “Not only has my family suffered the loss of my father, but we have also been forced to endure the insult that Peltier has become a favorite cause and figurehead championed by Hollywood, the music industry, politicians, and well-intentioned activists who assume or believe he is being punished unfairly,” he wrote. “Peltier allows himself to be celebrated thus. He knows his guilt.”
Peltier has been denied parole before, including in 2009, and then-President Obama denied a clemency request in 2017. Another clemency request is pending before President Biden.
Peltier has maintained his innocence since his arrest. “I didn’t kill those agents, I didn’t see who killed those agents, and if I did know, I’m not telling. But I don’t know. That’s the point,” Peltier told CNN in 1999. He admitted to firing shots during the gunbattle but insisted, “I know I didn’t hit them. I know I didn’t.”
The government built its case on ballistics evidence and witness accounts from people on the periphery of the shootout, but no one actually saw the killings. Supporters of Peltier have said the evidence, including ballistics, produced at trial was unreliable; the FBI has categorically denied fabricating evidence or coercing witnesses.
Lynn Crooks, a prosecutor at Peltier’s 1977 double-murder trial, told CNN in 1999 that they proved Peltier was a participant in the killings. “Whoever was down there was essentially down there under the influence of Leonard Peltier,” he said. “They aren’t down there to give aid and comfort to these two injured, dying men. They’re down there to execute them, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Peltier told CNN he was in bed at camp when he heard gunshots. “All of a sudden everybody said, ‘Man, we’re being attacked. We’re being attacked,’” he said in 1999. “I says, ‘Oh, my God.’ So I grabbed an old rifle and started running up to the house.” He said he fired his gun after being fired upon. The FBI has said the agents were shot without provocation.
The FBI Agents Association applauded the parole board’s decision, saying it “upholds justice for our fallen colleagues and their families.” “The FBIAA reaffirms its commitment to honoring the memory of Agents Coler and Williams, and Peltier’s continued incarceration is necessary to ensure public safety and respect for the law,” the association said.
Nick Tilsen, president of Indigenous activist group NDN Collective, said, “Today is a sad day for Indigenous Peoples and justice everywhere. The U.S. Parole Commission’s denial of parole for Leonard Peltier, America’s longest-serving Indigenous political prisoner, is a travesty.”
Source: CNN, The Guardian
