Indigenous rights activist Leonard Peltier is currently serving two consecutive life sentences - for a crime he says he did not commit. To gather support for Peltier's possible clemency, political activist Shep Gurwitz spoke at Barnum last night.
In 1975, Peltier, a Native American, was accused of murdering two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Since then, government prosecutors have admitted on numerous occasions that they could not prove Peltier's connection to the crime.
Despite this lack of credible evidence, Peltier's has exhausted his court appeals and his chances for parole are very slim. Currently, Peltier's only chance for release lies in a grant of executive clemency by President Bill Clinton. As the presidency quickly draws to a close, Peltier supporters everywhere are rallying to push the Clinton administration to free Peltier.
Gurwitz, a long-standing friend of Peltier, founded two Boston-based groups, Council for Native American Solidarity and the Leonard Peltier Support Group.
Gurwitz urged students to organize in support of Peltier, especially at an upcoming rally on Dec. 10 in New York City. "The importance of the rally in New York, letter writing to congress, and all other actions are to reinforce the support that has been shown and still is shown for Leonard Peltier and to assure justice will be served in this most glaring example of judicial injustice," he said.
Many students attended last night's rally to find out how they can aid Peltier and influence Clinton's clemency decision. Sympathizers feel that Peltier was wrongfully accused and imprisoned because of his ethnicity. "The fact that [the sentence] was racially motivated and that it was so blatantly unfair completely amazes me. I have been calling my congressman and senators every day," sophomore Emily Good said.
Since his imprisonment 24 years ago, millions vowed to support Peltier's appeals for freedom, including Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, and over 50 members of the US Congress. Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner who should be immediately and unconditionally released. As a possible clemency date nears, students, celebrities, and other notable figures continue to demand Peltier's release.
Senior Teague Channing, the event organizer, linked his support for Peltier to his support of Native peoples everywhere. "Letting Leonard out of prison is seen as the first step between reconciliation between Native peoples and the federal government," he said.
Before his sentence and imprisonment, Peltier fought for Native rights. As a migrant farm laborer, he became familiar with governmental policies that forced Native families off their land, causing widespread poverty.
Peltier participated in protests against the US government's efforts at assimilation and land relocation for Native peoples. In the late sixties and early seventies, he joined the American Indian Movement (AIM) and worked as a community counselor for Native people. Leonard's involvement in the AIM brought him to the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota in 1975.
At that time, conservative tribal members clashed with traditional people, who wanted to maintain their culture and spirituality. The conservative tribal chairmen and their police, known as "GOONS," initiated a violent attack against the traditional people. In three years, over 60 traditional people were murdered.
Along with the rising death count, the reservation touted the highest ratio of FBI agents to citizens than any other area of the US. Despite the government presence, the FBI never investigated the murders of traditional Native Americans.
As the FBI seemed to ignore the violence, Peltier and other AIM members aided those being targeted. On June 26, 1975, a shoot-out occurred, leaving two FBI agents and one Native man dead. Peltier was accused and tried in a different district by a judge considered to hold anti-Native sentiments, according to Gurwitz.
In one of the most controversial trials of the century, a US circuit court judge found Peltier guilty of two counts of murder. However, the prosecuting lawyers could not "prove who shot the agents or what connection Leonard Peliter might have had," Gurwitz said.
In the most recent unsuccessful appeal, prosecutors said that no credible evidence exists to prove Peltier's guilt. However, parole officials refused to grant him freedom.
Gurwitz emphasized that the only remaining possibility for Peltier's freedom lies in an executive grant of clemency. "They don't know who the perpetrator is. Why is this man still in prison? Now it is up to the will of the people to demand that he is freed," he said.
