LEONARD PELTIER DAY
The International Movement To Free Leonard Peltier
“The Oglala Sioux Tribe, hereby proclaim June 26, 2013 as a day of honoring for Mr. Leonard Peltier and hereafter every 26th day of June.”
At 79, Leonard Peltier has been falsely imprisoned for nearly half a century. He is the longest-held Indigenous political prisoner in the history of the United States, incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Coleman, a high-security prison in Florida. On April 19, 2024, the Bureau of Prisons denied Leonard’s request for a compassionate release. On July 2, 2024, he was denied parole by the United States Parole Commission after what may have been his final parole hearing on June 10, 2024. Leonard will not be eligible for another hearing for 15 years; he will be 94.
On December 4, 2024, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Sen. Brian Schatz, urged the President of the United States to show grace and mercy and Free Leonard Peltier, emphasizing, “If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltier's is it.” Even the former United States Attorney, James Reynolds, whose office prosecuted Mr. Peltier, calls for his release. This is a clear sign that political advocacy, including your support, can make a difference in the fight for justice.
On December 10, 2024, during an emphatic press conference in Washington, D.C., for clemency and commutation of Federal death row cases, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO 1st District), with clarity and a sense of urgency, referenced Leonard Peltier's case and continued incarceration as “a symbol of the deep injustices within our justice system,” stating, “his trial was rife with prosecutorial misconduct and glaring violations of due process… President Biden has the opportunity to finally grant Peltier the clemency he deserves.”
THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!
Join the International Movement advocating for Leonard's release, a powerful coalition spanning diverse sectors. It includes Indigenous leaders, organizations, artists, and celebrities. It also includes Human Rights institutions, such as Amnesty International, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, and the International Federation for Human Rights. Civil Rights leaders Coretta Scott King, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú, and Reverend Jesse Jackson, along with humanitarian, political, and religious figures, including Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama), have all called for Leonard's release. With such diverse and influential support, Leonard's freedom is within reach!
Your voice is a crucial part of this collective effort and can significantly impact the release of Leonard Peltier. Please stand with us in demanding the President of the United States, Joe Biden, Free Leonard Peltier.
