By Canadian Press

Leonard Peltier released from prison following sentence commutation in FBI killings

Feb 18, 2025 | 7:07 AM

Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison Tuesday morning, nearly a month after then-President Joe Biden commuted his life sentence in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.

Peltier was freed from USP Coleman, a high-security prison. He planned to return to North Dakota, where a celebration was planned Wednesday with family and friends.

Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence Jan. 20, noting he had spent most of his life in prison and was now in ill health.

Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was sentenced in 1977 to life.

Although Peltier acknowledged being present on July 26, 1975, and firing shots during the confrontation, he denied fatally shooting the agents at close range.

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For nearly half a century, Peltier’s imprisonment has symbolized systemic injustices for Native Americans across the country, and the decision to release the 80-year-old to home confinement was celebrated by supporters.

But the last-minute move as Biden left office angered law enforcement officers who believe he is guilty. Law enforcement officials including former FBI Director Christopher Wray opposed the commutation.

In a statement about the commutation, Biden said numerous individuals and groups supported releasing Peltier due to the time he spent in prison, his age and his “leadership in the Native American community.”

Graham Lee Brewer, The Associated Press

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