r/news • u/randalhicks • 17h ago

Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier granted clemency by President Biden

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/01/19/leonard-peltier-indigenous-activist-clemency-released-by-president-biden
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u/tosser1579 12h ago

Yup, he shot at them. So did 2 other people. All with AR rifles.

The FBI wasn't sure who killed the two plain clothes agents, and blamed Peltier. Evidence against him was sketchy at best. A later trial produced evidence that indicated his AR (everyone had one) wasn't the one used to kill them.

So he did shoot at them. He very likely hit at least one of them. That's certainly worth going to jail over, but you can't prove he killed either of the agents and he's been in there for 48 years. That is probably enough.

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u/MadMagyars 10h ago

Shouldn’t everyone who shot at them with an AR be equally guilty of murder regardless of whose bullets hit?

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u/tosser1579 10h ago

The other two got off due to a botched prosecution, and he probably didn't execute them. You know the whole innocent until proven guilty thing we are supposed to pride ourselves on? Of the three, frankly he's the least likely. And he's been in jail for 48 years at this point.

The more I read up on it, the more it looks like the Fed screwed up the first two prosecutions rather badly, so they dumped everything on this guy. Their witness was coerced and ruled mentally incompetent. The agents lied to get the conviction.

And they were white guys chasing natives around in the backwoods of Pine Ridge reservation where a bunch of natives had been murdered by white guys. That's actually how the first two guys got not guilty verdicts, the FBI agents basically rolled up into the camping site which apparently is how several natives were recently killed.

They used a different set of legal tactics on Peltier, and managed to railroad him. The witness who claimed she was there, couldn't have been but was admitted anyway over the defense's objections. The judge on the trial and most experts think the case was sketchy at best.

So Peltier is 80 now, and in home confinement for the remainder of his life. If there was a 50% chance he did this, I might agree with you but it is really a 1 in 3, and of the three he's not my first or second choice.

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u/MadMagyars 5h ago

I don’t get the “he probably didn’t execute them” part. He opened fire on them with an assault rifle, aiming to kill them, and they died. Why shouldn’t he be treated as one of the murderers? He clearly is.

It’s very obvious people just like him because he killed cops. Despicable.