Activists outside Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in Tampa, Florida on Feb. 5, 2023. Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

Nearly two years after activists stood outside Tampa’s federal courthouse and called on him to grant clemency for Leonard Peltier, President Joe Biden—being sworn out of office as this news breaks—has done just that.

HuffPost says that with just minutes left in his time in office, Biden granted clemency to Peltier, the 80-year-old Indigenous activist who has been incarcerated for nearly half-a-century after a controversial conviction that is internationally recognized as one of the most corrupt court proceedings in American history.

Peltier, wrongfully imprisoned at Coleman Correctional Institution approximately 70 miles north of Tampa, was convicted for killing three FBI agents.

As previously reported, he was on the Pine-Ridge Reservation in South Dakota when the FBI raided the land and began conflict with members of the Oglala Lakota Nation, including women and children, in 1975. The indigenous people protested, and a gunfight ensued. Several natives and two FBI agents were killed as a result of the conflict. There was never any evidence that Peltier killed the agents.

In a press release, Biden said he was commuting the life sentence on Peltier “so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement,” adding that the action was not a pardon.

“He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison,” the president wrote.

Peltier was arrested in Alberta, Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on February 6, 1976, and extradited to the United States.

Reached by phone shortly after the commutation, Sheridan Murphy told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he was still in shock and in tears.

“I think it’s a release and sentimental. I mean, there’s a lot of people that have put a lot of effort into this for 50 years,” Murphy, who’s long been involved in Indigenous protests, added.

He pointed to others like Jean Roach—of the Mnicoujou Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, who served as a board member of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee—who’s been working for Peltier’s release since the day he was arrested.

The movement to free Peltier has come close before, Sheridan said, adding that President Bill Clinton almost did it before the FBI marched on his office. Now former FBI Director Christopher Wray also warned Biden about granting clemency for Peltier, saying, according to NPR, that commuting Peltier’s sentence “would be shattering to the victims’ loved ones and undermine the principles of justice and accountability that our government should represent.”

“So to see this happen is just amazing. It’s going to be a real good feeling across most of Indian country today and in the next few days,” Murphy said, adding that Peltier will likely go home to Turtle Mountain in North Dakota.

Now, Sheridan said, Peltier can adjust to live outside of prison and possibly paint whenever he wants, among other things.

“He’s a fairly accomplished artist, and he doesn’t have to wait for them to open up the art room or let him in. He doesn’t have to get in line to make a phone call. I mean, just little things like that—even seeing people,” Murphy said.

The United Nations’ independent expert on the rights of Indigenous Peoples welcomed the communication, with human rights expert Albert Barume saying Peltier’s release is a critical acknowledgement of past wrongs and “an important gesture by the United States toward the country’s Indigenous Peoples.”

Still, the UN, pointed out, the release underscores a need for continued reform in the U.S. justice system.

And Peltier will have to wait to get out of Coleman, too, since Biden’s order doesn’t go into effect until Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of the NDN Collective, told Democracy Now! that the first order of business for Peltier will be a doctor’s visit. “We really want to get him home sooner because his health is continuing to deteriorate. And he’s excited to come home, but we’ve got to make his health and his safety number one priority,” Tilsen added.

In a statement shared by the NDN Collective, Peltier said, “It’s finally over — I’m going home. 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.”

UPDATED 02/04/25 12:46 p.m. Updated to reflect a version of the story that appears in the Feb. 6, 2025 issue of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

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