Joe Biden Grants Clemency To Leonard Peltier

[Polybius]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON ― With literally minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, the ailing Native American rights activist whom the U.S. government put in prison nearly 50 years ago after a trial riddled with misconduct and lies.

Peltier has been in prison ever since the federal government accused him of murdering two FBI agents in a 1975 shoot-out on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

There was never evidence that Peltier committed a crime, and the U.S. government never did figure out who shot those agents. But federal officials needed someone to take the fall. The FBI had just lost two agents, and Peltier's co-defendants were all acquitted based on self-defense. So, Peltier became their guy.

His trial was rife with misconduct. The FBI threatened and coerced witnesses into lying. Federal prosecutors hid evidence that exonerated Peltier. A juror acknowledged on the second day of the trial that she had "prejudice against Indians," but she was kept on anyway.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-leonard-peltier-clemency_n_67608b04e4b0d06419ec6367

[mikeysnot]

1. Finally

[dflprincess]

2. Everyone in my apartment building must have heard me scream 'YES"

When I heard Jody Hamilton announce this.

Not a pardon but he will be able to go home.

[rurallib]

6. I joined in that scream

[Basso8vb]

3. Good.

Long overdue.

[cachukis]

4. Best news today.

[SheltieLover]

5. Ty, Joe!

[JohnSJ]

7. It was a brilliant move to do it in the 11th hour. This will retard

the pundit/talking heads on the MSM airwaves from throwing their disparaging remarks over it because they will be too busy fawning over the sociopath.

[wnylib]

9. So true.

[wnylib]

8. Thank God that someone in this country had the

decency and courage to do this.

Long overdue.

Thank you Joe.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

10. I had lost hope

thank you President Biden, a bright spot on an otherwise dark, dark day.

?si=5IYSw0DjIwOqkS48

[usaf-vet]

11. YES! YES! YES finally.

[usaf-vet]

16. In this part of the country as the word of the Biden's clemency To Leonard Peltier I'm sure this will be heard alot.....

....."Thank you" in Ojibwe is "miigwech"

[Shellback Squid]

12. YES!!!!

[Lulu KC]

13. Wow!

I had given up on this.

[MichMan]

14. Good for Peltier, but too bad it wasn't done 4 years ago

He would have been released when he was 76 instead of waiting until he was 80 years old

[catchnrelease]

15. I can hardly believe it!!

I've got tears in my eyes. I had truly given up hope that Leonard would ever get out of prison. Just thinking back to how long ago it was that I first put a 'Free Leonard Peltier' bumper sticker on my car. And on so many cars after that first one. So long ago.

Thank you Joe! You've given me something to smile about on this otherwise dark day.

[leftyladyfrommo]

17. Oh! ALL RIGHT! nt

[Easterncedar]

18. Oh that is a huge huge relief

I wanted this but had given up hope. It should not have taken so long, of course, but this is Good News.

[The Grand Illuminist]

19. I don't know if he'll accept.

For the same reasons 2 death row inmates refused their clemency.

[Polybius]

25. I thought their reasons were because they did not want life in prison

Some say that is the worst punishment.

[The Grand Illuminist]

37. If accepted, they accept the guilt they are fighting against.

Accepting clemency could put them at a legal disadvantage as they seek to appeal their cases based on claims of innocence.

[wnylib]

40. Appeals don't apply in Peltier's case. He ran out of appeals long ago.

I believe that he is innocent. There might be a possibility that he would decline clemency on that principle. I don't know.

At least now he has a choice.

[Lulu KC]

42. He has accepted it n/t

[Paladin]

20. Good.

Suck it, trumpistas.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

21. So this doesn't mean he pardoned him. Article says Biden commuted Peltier's life sentence to

Home confinement. I guess that's better than nothing

[MichMan]

26. Forced to wear an ankle monitor?

[Bitbit]

28. The last article I read was that all he wanted was to

Go home and enjoy his grandchildren and great- grandchildren. To just be with family.

[FM123]

22. Oh my heart,

I have been hoping and praying and wishing for this. Finally, finally, finally.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. I suspected he was waiting for the very last thing before he was out

because the M$M would have been ready with a bigger avalanche of bashing and trashing him.

[Dawson Leery]

24. K/R

[Sequoia]

27. Overjoyed...after all these decades !!

I was in high school when the Wounded Knee incident happened and followed the aftermath since then. Always believed he was innocent. Thank you President Biden !!

[Kali999]

35. same

[H2O Man]

36. The identity

of the man who shot the FBI agents has been known for decades. It wasn't Leonard.

[ultralite001]

29. My ❤❤❤ soars like an eagle...

Go now in peace, gentlemen...

Thank you, Joe...

[Magoo48]

30. Fantastic

[AllaN01Bear]

31. ""

[red dog 1]

32. K&R

Peltier has spent nearly 50 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
He's been eligible for parole since 1993.
Why has it taken this long for clemency?
Thank you President Biden.

[GB_RN]

33. One Drop Of Good News...

And some small bit of justice for Mr Peltier. From what I’ve read, his conviction should have been overturned, long ago. But, he’s not rich, nor is he white.

[malthaussen]

34. "Clemency" forsooth.

Hardly that, when the guy has been rotting in jail for 50 years.

Although I have heard that Leonard himself did not want a pardon, or clemency, or any of that at this point, that he was resolved to be a symbol of resistance to the rising generation.

-- Mal

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

38. Great

[George McGovern]

39. Justice.

[Lulu KC]

43. He was not pardoned n/t

[endgenocide]

44. Correct my mistake, clemency is the word, either way he is not in prison anymore and the two FBI agents are still dead.

[JoseBalow]

45. "There was never evidence that Peltier committed a crime..."

"... and the U.S. government never did figure out who shot those agents."

The guy has been in prison for decades, he's 80 years old.

[Lulu KC]

47. Amen n/t

[Lulu KC]

46. End genocide, huh?

Not that I think he’s guilty, but you seem quite empathetic about other people’s anger when you perceive genocide. Just an observation.