By New York Post (Politics) | Created at 2025-01-20 22:41:27 | Updated at 2025-01-21 02:08:59
3 hours ago
One of Joe Biden’s final acts as president Monday was to grant clemency to an Indigenous activist convicted of fatally shooting two FBI agents execution-style in the head in 1975.
Leonard Peltier, 80, had been serving two life sentences behind bars but will now carry out the remainder of his time at home instead. He had been part of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
“It’s finally over – I’m going home,” Peltier said after being granted clemency, according to a statement shared by NDN Collective, an Indigenous activist group.
“I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me,” he said.
Peltier’s commutation was part of a wave of clemency Biden granted on his way out of the White House. The outgoing president also issued pre-emptive pardons to his brother James and other relatives, members of the since-defunct House select Jan. 6 Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci and more.
The move involving Peltier left law enforcement reeling.
“The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) is outraged by then-President Biden’s decision to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a convicted cop killer responsible for the brutal murders of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams,” said the FBI Agents Association, a group that advocates on behalf of the bureau, in a statement.
“This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltier’s guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability. It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement.”
Peltier killed FBI Agents Coler, a 28-year-old married dad of two boys, and Williams, 27, on June 26, 1975, as the two feds were hunting for a man named Jimmy Eagle in a case related to an attack on a local ranch. The pair of agents were there to serve arrest warrants.
The agents stumbled upon an American Indian Movement encampment, and gunfire was exchanged during a confrontation. The G-men were both shot in the head “at point blank range,” the FBI said.
The now 80-year-old Peltier was wanted for the attempted murder of a Milwaukee police officer at the time, although the two agents didn’t know that. Peltier and three others were arrested for fatally shooting the G-men. He was convicted in 1977.
Around the time of his arrest, he was the leader of AIM, which had commandeered the Wounded Knee village and had been engaged in a standoff against the feds for well over two months.
Long after his conviction, Peltier fessed up to engaging in the shootout but insisted that he didn’t murder the FBI agents.
“I didn’t kill those agents, I didn’t see who killed those agents, and if I did know, I’m not telling. But I don’t know. That’s the point,” Peltier told CNN more than 26 years ago.
Peltier’s bid for parole was shot down last year. His legal team had pointed to his deteriorating health and nonviolent tenure behind bars when seeking his release.
Allies of Peltier have cast doubt on the fairness of the trial he received.
But former FBI Director Christopher Wray had implored Biden not to commute Peltier’s sentence.
“Peltier is a ruthless murderer who has shown a complete lack of remorse for his many crimes,” Wray said.
“The overwhelming and unassailable evidence of Peltier’s guilt, coupled with his persistent refusal to accept responsibility, make him wholly unfit for a commutation or pardon.”
Perhaps Biden’s most controversial act of clemency was the “full and unconditional” pardon of his troubled son Hunter dating back 11 years.
Around the time of the Hunter pardon, the now-former president also granted clemency to the notorious judge at the center of the “kids-for-cash” scandal in which former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan had been convicted in 2011 of sending juveniles to facilities in exchange for kickbacks.
One notable figure who was not granted a pardon or pre-emptive pardon by Biden was former special counsel Jack Smith, who targeted President Trump in several prosecutions.
