Native American activist imprisoned for nearly 50 years wants President Biden to grant him new trial

Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who has been imprisoned for nearly half a century for the murders of two FBI agents is hopeful he’ll have a chance to clear his name before he dies. Peltier has always maintained his innocence.

Peltier, 77, wants President Joe Biden to review his case and grant him clemency so he won’t die in prison. Peltier said he does not want a Presidential Pardon, but to be granted a new trial.

“If I get into court, if the judge is fair, how are they going to answer all of that?” he said of evidence that was withheld from the 1977 proceedings. “I want to get a trial.”

“My lawyer said if I were tried today, they would never get away with it,” he said. His attorney, Kevin Sharp, a former federal judge, said Peltier has exhausted his appeals and that there remains no actual process for him to get a new trial unless federal prosecutors decide to reopen the case.

“They wouldn’t do that, because there’s no evidence to convict him on,” Sharp said. “He was convicted on aiding and abetting murder, but who did he aid and abet? His co-defendants were acquitted based on self-defense.”

Recent calls from Peltier’s supporters and family for him to be released have noted his failing health, including a recent bout of Covid-19. “They’re going to try and make me die here,” Peltier said by phone Wednesday from his federal prison in Central Florida, his first media interview since 2016. “I have a last few years, and I got to fight.”

Peltier’s family says he is struggling with diabetes, hypertension, partial blindness from a stroke and an abdominal aortic aneurysm and that he tested positive for Covid in late January

Peltier said he was vaccinated against the coronavirus before he tested positive and that his chest, neck and head had hurt for a few days. He got a booster shot after he left 10 days of quarantine, he said.

The roughest part, he said, was being isolated and not receiving adequate care. He felt “cold,” and “the food was bad,” he said, adding, “That was worse than getting Covid.”

The Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on Peltier’s case, citing privacy and security reasons. It said that it makes “every effort” to ensure the safety of inmates and that at Coleman, every inmate is given access to drinking water, adequate medical care and food.