Leonard Peltier celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday, September 12, from prison, for a crime he didn’t commit. Peltier, Native American activist and artist, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and a former member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), has been in prison for 47 years—the longest serving political prisoner in the U.S. Activists and human rights groups have demanded his release for over five decades, as seen in this selection of CSPG’s Posters of the Week.
Background:
The Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890
The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major “battle” between U.S. troops and Native Americans. It took place on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek in the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation, South Dakota. Among the 300 Sioux killed were many women and children. The soldiers later claimed that it was difficult to distinguish the Sioux women from the men.
Occupation of Wounded Knee, 1973
On February 28, 1973, members of AIM seized the village of Wounded Knee and challenged federal authorities to repeat the massacre. After 72 days, three deaths—a member of AIM and two FBI agents—and the wounding of many Native Americans, they surrendered, having drawn attention to Sioux grievances. The murder of AIM member, Joe Stuntz Killsright, who was shot in the back at close range, remains unsolved, as are the deaths of over 60 AIM members murdered between 1972 and 1976. Four men were charged with the murder of the FBI agents at Wounded Knee, two were acquitted and charges against a third were dropped. Leonard Peltier, the fourth man accused, is still imprisoned.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to review the case – most recently in 2004 – despite documents proving that the FBI faked evidence, committed perjury in court, and coerced witnesses to make false statements against Peltier. Amnesty International, more than 50 past members of Congress and 60 members of the Canadian Parliament were unsuccessful in their appeals for Peltier to receive a new trial. Peltier’s application for clemency was denied in January 2001 by President Bill Clinton and again by President Barack Obama. He was also denied parole this past July. Peltier is experiencing health issues, and executive clemency from President Joe Biden may be his last and only chance to be free.
Amnesty International, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rev. Jesse Jackson, among many others, have demanded his release.
We demand it too!
Freedom for Leonard Peltier before his next Birthday!
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