By Steve Neavling
Protesters are calling for the release of Leonard Peltier, a Lakota tribe member who was convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975.
If he’s not released soon, they say, Peltier may die in prison because of his age – he’s 72 – and preexisting conditions, Inforum reports. They also worry that a COVID-19 infection could kill him.
“I doubt that he has many years left, but with the years he has left, let him enjoy them on the outside,” Spirit Lake Tribe Chairman Doug Yankton said.
Tribal members also sent a petition to President Biden, asking for compassionate release or clemency.
In January 2017, then-President Obama turned down a similar request for clemency.
An all-white jury convicted Peltier of murdering the two agents on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
He’s been in prison since 1977.
Peltier is lodged at Coleman I United States Penitentiary in Florida.
