ACTION ALERT - Global Day of Solidarity for Leonard Peltier

On Monday, February 6th, a global consortium of advocates and criminal justice supporters are planning a Global Day of Solidarity, marking the 48th year of the unjust incarceration of Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement Leonard Peltier. Following a controversial and widely disputed jury trial, Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two FBI agents in a June 26, 1975, shooting on the pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment and has been imprisoned since 1977.

James Reynolds, the former US attorney and lead prosecutor on the case, issued a public apology in 2021 stating that he couldn't provide Peltier committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Several key witnesses in the initial trial have recanted their statements and stated they were made under duress at the hands of the FBI. His co-defendants, all tried separately, were found not guilty by reason of self-defense.

The United Nations recently issued a 17-page statement calling for an end to the arbitrary incarceration of Peltier. Human rights watchdogs including Amnesty International, and political figures including Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and the 14th Dali Lama, have campaigned for clemency for Peltier.

The vigil in Sacramento begins at 11:30am on the west side of the state capital building and is hosted by the Eagle and the Condor Coalition. For more information on the Free Leonard Peltier movement and the location of other rallies/vigils in your area, visit the Free Leonard Peltier Now website.