President Joe Biden has commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975.
Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, was sentenced in 1977 to two consecutive life terms for his role in the fatal shooting of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.
The incident occurred on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Although Peltier admitted to being present and firing shots during the confrontation, he has consistently denied firing the fatal shots.
The American Indian Movement, of which Peltier was a part, had been engaged in a tense standoff with federal authorities.
The movement, formed in the 1960s, sought to address issues like police brutality and systemic discrimination against Indigenous people.
The standoff at Pine Ridge became emblematic of broader struggles for Native rights.
Biden’s decision to commute Peltier’s sentence was announced as one of his final acts as president.
The White House cited Peltier’s deteriorating health and age as considerations in the commutation. Now 80, Peltier will be released to home confinement, where he will spend his remaining years with family.
