LEONARD PELTIER’S Defiant Fight for Freedom and Justice
— Leonard Peltier, now 80, remains defiant decades after a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation led to his imprisonment. Convicted for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents, he maintains his innocence despite serving a life sentence. President Joe Biden commuted his sentence, allowing him to serve the remainder under house arrest in North Dakota.
Peltier vows to continue fighting for Indigenous rights from his tribal homeland near the Canadian border. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life fighting for our people,” he declared in an interview with The Associated Press. His release marks a new phase in his activism amid ongoing political tensions affecting tribal nations and Indigenous peoples.
Born during a time of violent government-Indigenous conflicts, Peltier is no stranger to political volatility. He warns against threats posed by both far-right movements and federal policies targeting tribal lands’ resources. He believes that administrations like President Trump’s will pursue minerals and oil on these lands, continuing historical patterns of exploitation.
