Native American community applauds "historic" release of activist Leonard Peltier
Tuesday is a historic day in the Native American community after well-known Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison to serve out his sentence at home in North Dakota.
Peltier, 80, was serving life in prison for the deaths of two FBI agents. They were killed during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
Right before leaving office, former President Joe Biden commuted Peltier's sentence.
"Today I am finally free!" Peltier said in a statement released on Tuesday. "They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit. Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home."
It's a moment Ruth Anna Buffalo has spent years fighting for as a state representative in North Dakota.
"Happy and hopeful that justice and the efforts to continue supporting tribal peoples throughout our country continue," Buffalo said.
Peltier's family members are also celebrating.
"This is a historical day, it really is," said niece Shannon Cartwright. "Not just for us as a family but the Native people."
Peltier and witnesses have maintained his innocence, but former FBI Director Christopher Wray didn't see the case that way. In a letter to Biden, he wrote, "any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law."
"I definitely feel for the families who have lost loved ones because I don't believe that pain will ever go away. Hopefully, there will come a time where potentially both parties can come together and have a conversation," Buffalo said. "I hope that we can learn from the past as they say and try to move forward."
Peltier chose not to have his sentence pardoned because that may suggest guilt, so it was commuted. He will serve the rest of his sentence at home on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.
