Welcome Home Leonard Peltier - J Arthur Anderson Photography
What would you have done if you were Joe Biden? It’s the end of your Presidency, and people are putting all kinds of names on your desk to be pardoned. They go so far as to even mention preemptive pardons like Liz Cheney and your son, Hunter, for example. Choices have to be made, and the window is narrow. So you decide to do what your staff and heart tell you to do. You pardon, and you pardon a lot.
Leonard Peltier was one of those names. Peltier, a man many of us had forgotten about until now. Every couple years he would be up for parole and we’d be reminded. A parole that never seemed to happen, as after nearly 50 years, he was still in jail.
But this time, his family, tribe, and Leonard got what they wanted. He was released from federal prison. Not pardoned, but released with conditions and now breathes free air again.
I’m not trying to pretend I know all the details of the Peltier case, and I’m not trying to say I agree with either side. What I do know is a jury convicted him for murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I would say it was a jury of his peers, but I think it’s clear it wasn’t.
Fifty years is a long time for anyone to be in jail. For many, it could be a lifetime. I know many of you would say it’s not long enough, but for others, it’s been enough time. If you don’t think it was, let me make you think on it. While Peltier was found guilty of killing two FBI agents, others have been convicted of assaulting police officers with an American Flag. Others assaulted were so damaged after that they chose suicide over living their life the way they found it now.
Without me asking, I’m sure you know how much time they spent in jail. The reason it was only months instead of years is because they got a pardon. A pardon from Donald Trump, the man they did all of it for.
So while it’s fair to ask whether 50 years is enough for the death of two FBI agents, I think it’s also fair to ask it about the insurrectionists. You and I both know these people are guilty.
But we also both know they’re white.
Good riding with you,
Joel
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