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January 20th, 2025
Grijalva Celebrates President Biden’s Commutation for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier

WASHINGTON – Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on President Biden’s decision to commute the life sentence of renowned Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Mr. Peltier will be able to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

“For too long, Mr. Peltier has been denied both justice and the pursuit of a full, healthy life at the hands of the U.S. government, but today, he is finally able to go home,” Rep. Grijalva said. “President Biden’s decision is not just the right, merciful, and decent one — it is a testament to Mr. Peltier’s resilience and the unwavering support of the countless global leaders, Indigenous voices, civil rights and legal experts, and so many others who have advocated so tirelessly for his release. While there is still much work to be done to fix the system that allowed this wrong and so many others against Indian Country, especially as we face the coming years, let us today celebrate Mr. Peltier’s return home.”

Background

In 1977, Leonard Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of two FBI agents. His trial and conviction have been widely criticized by civil rights leaders and legal experts; key evidence was withheld, witnesses were coerced, and critical ballistics information was misrepresented. Mr. Peltier was an active member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), a grassroots movement founded in the late 1960s to organize activism around systemic poverty, discrimination, and police brutality against Native Americans. At the time of Mr. Peltier’s arrest, AIM was under deep scrutiny by the U.S. government.

This past December, then-House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Grijalva and U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) led a letter signed by 34 Members of Congress to President Biden urging him to grant clemency for Mr. Peltier in the final weeks of his term. Rep. Grijalva led similar letters in October 2023, February 2022, and October 2021. Rep. Grijalva had a phone conversation with Mr. Peltier in 2022, in which he recounted the harsh and often inhumane conditions in federal detention, including long periods of solitary confinement and major challenges in obtaining adequate medical care for his declining health.

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