Biden Sparks Outrage With Last-Minute Commutation of Man Convicted of Killing FBI Agents
Luke Barr and Mark Osborne, ABC, January 20, 2025
President Joe Biden has sparked outrage after commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier in a last-minute move before leaving office Monday.
Peltier, 80, has spent nearly 50 years in prison after being convicted of the murder of two FBI agents on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. He also escaped from federal prison in 1979 while serving his sentence for the two murders and had five years tacked onto his sentence.
Peltier, a prominent Native American activist before his arrest, has always proclaimed his innocence in the crime.
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The commutation came in the same release, issued while now-President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony was getting underway at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, that granted preemptive pardons to five of Biden’s family members, including his brother James Biden, a target of congressional Republicans.
Peltier suffers from significant health issues, according to the release.
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray recently penned a letter to Biden, warning him against commuting Peltier’s sentence. The letter was written on Jan. 10, just days before Wray and Biden left office.
“Mr. President, I urge you in the strongest terms possible: Do not pardon Leonard Peltier or cut his sentence short,” Wray wrote. “It would be shattering to the victims’ loved ones and undermine the principles of justice and accountability that our government should represent.”
On June 26, 1975, FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were killed by Peltier in a shootout while they were on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
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Dozens of members of Congress wrote a letter urging for Peltier’s release in October 2023, citing what they said were the “prosecutorial misconduct” and “constitutional violations” that took place during Peltier’s trial.
“President Biden was right to commute the life sentence of Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier given the serious human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial,” Amnesty International said in a statement. “Amnesty International has advocated for the U.S. government to grant Leonard Peltier clemency for years, following the leadership of Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples.”