Leonard Peltier
FARGO (KFGO/KVRR) — “I’m going to start crying again.”
As word was just starting to get around about their brother’s upcoming release from prison, Sheila Peltier was on the phone with her sister in Fargo.
“Never been so happy in my whole life, you know, because my big brother’s coming home,” said Betty Ann Peltier Solano.
Leonard Peltier was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His trial was held in Fargo. For nearly half a century, Peltier has been serving his time in federal prison.
“The prosecutor said you couldn’t even prove that the bullet even came from Leonard’s gun,” said Betty Ann Peltier Solano.
“You could see that it was one-sided. Leonard was innocent, he’s innocent. And after all these years, nothing can give back the years that the government took from him,” said Sheila Peltier.
Leonard was active in the American Indian Movement and helped establish scholarships, a newspaper, and a gift drive for the Native American youth and students during his time in prison.
“He’s our warrior. He’s our great warrior. He stood up for us. People are going to want to be around him and just meet him. It’s going to be a lot for him to take in. I hope he can handle it. I mean, he’s a strong man, but after fifty years of being by yourself, it’s going to take some getting used to,” said Sheila Peltier.
The North Dakota Collective, an Indigenous-led organization, is working with the family to find out exactly when Peltier will be released. His sisters say they are ready to give him a big hug.
“He made the world a better place for the Native Americans. Just sorry it had to take so many years from him for that to happen,” said Sheila Peltier.
Peltier is now 80. The family says they hope to get him back home to Belcourt as soon as this week.
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