6/26/18

Peltier supporters petition Trump Organization for executive clemency

Aggravated under the fog of war on this day in 1975 Leonard Peltier and others defending a sovereign nation returned fire from hostile FBI forces.
He has denied being involved in the execution-style killing of the FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. But his accounts have varied and in his 1999 memoir, admits he shot his rifle during the shoot-out with the FBI agents while saying he didn't hit them. His son, Chauncey Peltier, said there is no evidence his father killed anyone. He has been exhibiting his father's paintings around the country to raise awareness about his father's attempt to gain a presidential pardon. [Pierre Capital Journal]
No one was convicted of killing an American Indian man killed during the battle. Calls of executive clemency for Peltier had been getting louder and a plea for his release sat at the tip of President Obama's pen.
Through 6 former Presidents and President Obama's 1st term in Office, Millions of Individuals world-wide (including Judges, Attorneys, Statesmen & Dignitaries) have rallied in support of Clemency for Wrongly Incarcerated Native American Human Rights/Environmental Rights Activist Leonard Peltier. [petition]
President Obama didn’t release him because he knows Peltier’s life is at risk on the outside. Only one American Indian was pardoned under Bush 43.
A letter written to the president by Peltier attorney David Frankel says Peltier "has been subjected to a vicious campaign of fake news by the FBI." The letter also says Peltier is in "very poor health" and says Peltier's only desire is to go home to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation to be with his family. [Supporters formally ask Trump to pardon Leonard Peltier]
If he is released Canada might be a sanctuary in his final days.

Is Peltier a prisoner of war, a criminal or an enemy combatant doomed to live out the consequences of being caught on the battlefield?

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