Leonard Peltier Has COVID; His Lawyer - an Ex-Federal Judge - Calls for Native Leader to Be Freed

Democracy Now!, 1/31/2022
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/1/31/leonard_peltier_covid_19_prison_conditions

https://youtu.be/2e-RvgRRkvI

Free Speech TV carries the story:
Leonard Peltier Has COVID; His Lawyer — an Ex-Federal Judge — Calls for Native Leader to Be Freed
1/31/2022
https://freespeech.org/stories/leonard-peltier-has-covid-his-lawyer-an-ex-federal-judge-calls-for-native-leader-to-be-freed/

President Biden: Enough is Enough, Free Leonard Peltier
Levi Rickert
Sun, January 30, 2022
https://www.yahoo.com/now/president-biden-enough-enough-free-153812689.html

Free Leonard Peltier! COVID-19 inside prison
Judy Greenspan, Workers World, 1/31/2022
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic currently raging through the jail, prison and detention centers of this country, Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Band, Chippewa Nation), an Indigenous leader and political prisoner, has issued a cry for help.
https://www.workers.org/2022/01/61466/

Leonard Peltier Tests Positive For COVID-19

Massive love and prayers to go Leonard to successfully fight this virus, and gain immunity

1/30/2022 Press Release:
INTERNATIONAL LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE
Elder Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier contracts Covid 19 at USP
Coleman 1 as BOP fails to follow CDC Covid Guidelines. ILPDC
Demands Covid Release for Leonard Peltier
https://leonardpeltiermatters.com/Press_Release.pdf

Painting by Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier has COVID, 46 years in prison! Hospitalize and free him now!
change.org petition
https://chng.it/z57pwWNG2K

Dear President Biden: Release Leonard Peltier
The Last Real Indians, 10/30/2021
https://lastrealindians.com/news/2021/10/30/dear-president-biden-release-leonard-peltier





Peltier Defense Committee: CDC Guidelines Are Not Followed at U.S. Penitentiary — Leads to Peltier Contracting COVID-19
Levi Rickert, Native News Online, 1/29/2022
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/peltier-defense-committee-cdc-guidelines-are-not-followed-at-u-s-penitentiary-leads-to-peltier-contracting-covid-19

Leonard Peltier Tests Positive For COVID-19
Levi Rickert, Native News Online, 1/29/2022  
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/breaking-news-leonard-peltier-tests-positive-for-covid-19

Leonard Peltier Tests Positive For COVID-19
The ailing 77-year-old Native American rights activist has been pleading for help in prison and was never given a coronavirus booster shot.
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 1/28/2022
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leonard-peltier-covid-positive_n_61f4a8f2e4b04f9a12bd7138?fbclid=IwAR0oLCGy_HNFbA5iW8vduC4_Lj_YGRJVjvznFDtJLCwj1iurDOagEh7hky0

yahoo carries the story:
https://news.yahoo.com/leonard-peltier-tests-positive-covid-035323995.html

The Bharat Express News carries the story:
https://www.thebharatexpressnews.com/leonard-peltier-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

Leonard Peltier tests positive for COVID-19; attorney pushing for compassionate release from federal prison
Angie Wieck, Inforum, 1/29/2022
https://www.inforum.com/news/aim-activist-leonard-peltier-tests-positive-for-covid-19-in-federal-prison

Native American Activist Leonard Peltier Pleads from Prison Amid Pandemic
NPR: The Takeaway, January 27, 2022
For the past 45 years, Leonard Peltier has been behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. The Native American activist was accused of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, and he's been denied parole several times since. Over the years, his imprisonment has been denounced by people like Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and more. Many people expected former President Bill Clinton to grant him clemency, but he didn't — and neither have any subsequent presidents. The U.S. attorney who helped put Peltier in prison has even pleaded with President Joe Biden to grant him clemency. Now, Peltier is begging for help amid the COVID pandemic. According to reporting from the Huffington Post, he says quote "fear and stress" associated with his prison's COVID lockdowns are taking a toll on everyone, including himself. At 77 years old, Peltier has serious health problems including an abdominal aortic aneurysm and diabetes. For more on Peltier and his activism, The Takeaway spoke to Kent Blansett, the Langston Hughes Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History at the University of Kansas and a Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Potawatomi descendant.
https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444253/pri-the-takeaway?fbclid=IwAR1wlzGQTRf_r-BSweMQ_rr7AY7ma5uE6AxE-_41P7k-_CfssU3jqlPFEyg

Could America’s longest-serving ‘political prisoner’ be on the verge of freedom?

Could America’s longest-serving ‘political prisoner’ be on the verge of freedom?
Native American Leonard Peltier has spent four decades in jail and is in poor health. Clemency from President Biden is his only hope, writes Jade Bremner
Independent, 12/27/2021
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/leonard-peltier-clemency-joe-biden-b1976098.html

My Turn: Leonard Peltier is America’s Nelson Mandela
David Detmold, Greenfield Recorder, 11/30/2021
https://www.recorder.com/my-turn-detmold-FreeLeonardPeltierNow-43773954

Marchers carry a large painting of jailed
American Indian Leonard Peltier during a march for the
National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Mass., on Nov. 22.  AP

Free Peltier
Duane Natvig, Rutland Herald, 12/15/2021
https://www.rutlandherald.com/opinion/letters/free-peltier/article_b18719d8-4028-5766-a72e-59016321aaea.html

Jonathan P. Baird: It’s time to release Leonard Peltier
Concord Monitor, 12/20/2021
https://www.concordmonitor.com/Jonathan-P-Baird-It-is-time-to-release-Leonard-Peltier-44028190

ADAMS: Nollag Shona Daoibhse Go Leir
Irish Echo Staff, 12/22/2021
https://www.irishecho.com/2021/12/adams-nollag-shona-daoibhse-go-leir

Neegonwewaywedun “Thunder Before the Storm” A.K.A Clyde Bellecourt, Co-Founder of the American Indian Movement
The Alley Newspaper, 2/1/2022
https://alleynews.org/2022/01/giga-waabamin-nee-gon-way-we-dun/

ADAMS: Remembering AIM's Clyde Bellecourt
Gerry Adams, Irish Echo,  1/27/2022
https://www.irishecho.com/2022/1/adams-remembering-aim-s-clyde-bellecourt

GERRY ADAMS: 45 years on, it's past time to release Leonard Peltier
Gery Adams, Belfast Media, 12/23/2021
https://belfastmedia.com/leonard-peltier-an-appeal-for-some-compassion

No color is this wind
Ellis Taylor, 12/2/2021
https://ellisctaylor.com/2021/12/02/no-colour-is-this-wind/?unapproved=9436&moderation-hash=4a603cf8915a37eae87f86e4ce4e5622#comment-9436

Clyde Bellecourt, Co-Founder Of The American Indian Movement, Dies Of Cancer At 85
Deepa Shivaram and Doualy Xaykaothao, NPR, 1/12/2022
https://laist.com/news/clyde-bellecourt-co-founder-of-the-american-indian-movement-dies-of-cancer-at-85

Former South African President Nelson Mandela (R) listens to
Clyde image: Bellecourt, director of the American Indian Movement,
making an appeal for the case of Leonard Peltier at the
Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Nov. 21, 2000.

CNN carries the story:
Clyde Bellecourt, Native American civil rights leader, dies at 85
Caroll Alvarado, CNN, 1/12/2022
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/us/aim-leader-clyde-bellecourt-dies-85/index.html

The Philadelphia Tribune carries the story:
Clyde Bellecourt, Native American civil rights leader, dies at 85
https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/clyde-bellecourt-native-american-civil-rights-leader-dies-at-85/article_c641ed9f-f26b-5775-811c-5daadbf51231.html



I am honored to call Archbishop Tutu a friend
Matt Meyer, International Peace Research Association, San Fransisco Bay View, 1/1/2022
Those still imprisoned for political reasons (and their jailers) should also remember his consistent calls for their release – be they well known figures such as American Indian Movement elder Leonard Peltier or Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal or the lesser-known names of the wrongfully incarcerated of every nation – including, in the US, Sundiata Acoli, who is just a few years younger than the Arch.
|https://sfbayview.com/2022/01/i-am-honored-to-call-archbishop-tutu-a-friend/

Peter Gabriel Supports Leonard Peltier Freedom Campaign
Silent Bear, 12/6/2021
https://youtu.be/Fn4yHyHMmEo


Pressenza - L'appello di Naila Clerici per la liberazione di Leonard Peltier
Pressenza Italia, 12/31/2021
https://youtu.be/z2wNx9gxC6A


‘60 Songs That Explain the ’90s’: When Rage Against the Machine Brought the Revolution to the Suburbs
Rob Harvilla, The Ringer, 1/19/2022

“Freedom” is the last song on the first Rage Against the Machine record; its video, ubiquitous on MTV for a time, is an explicit plea for the release of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of aiding and abetting the murder of two FBI agents during a shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier has been imprisoned since 1977 despite widespread outcry that he is innocent, that key evidence was withheld at the trial, and that the eyewitnesses who testified at the trial were coerced by the FBI. Leonard Peltier is still in prison. The “Freedom” video ends with the statement WE DEMAND AND SUPPORT THE REQUEST THAT LEONARD PELTIER BE GRANTED EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY AND BE RELEASED; JUSTICE HAS NOT BEEN DONE, broken up a few words at a time in giant white letters on screen while the band thrashes through the loudest and screamiest and raddest part of the song.

https://www.theringer.com/2022/1/19/22890721/rage-against-the-machine-killing-in-the-name



Leonard not specifically mentioned but of interest:


Comet Leonard With a Long, Long Tail Spotted By NASA’s STEREO Spacecraft
nemesis maturity, 12/25/2021
https://youtu.be/kNmcQpzBiIU

Judge Rules Against Pipeline Company Trying to Keep “Counterinsurgency” Records Secret
In a legal fight over public records, press advocates say that Dakota Access pipeline company Energy Transfer engaged in “abusive litigation tactics.”
Alleen Brown, The Intercept, 1/6/2022
https://theintercept.com/2022/01/06/dakota-access-pipeline-energy-transfer-tigerswan-documents/

Anakú Iwachá: Long out-of-print book of Yakama legends and stories is back once again
Feliks Banel, My Northwest, Jan 26, 2022
A long out-of-print book of legends and stories from the Yakama Nation – “Anakú Iwachá,” or “The Way It Was” – is available again in a new edition.

The author is Virginia Beavert. But that’s not her only name.

“My Indian name is Tuxámshish,” she said at the start of a recent interview with KIRO Newsradio.

Beavert has led – and is still leading – an amazing life. For decades, she has done so much to preserve and share Sahaptin dialects and other Native languages, as well as the culture and history of the original inhabitants of the Columbia Plateau – maybe more so than anyone else. She was born in Oregon in 1921, and grew up in the Yakima Valley with parents and grandparents who spoke many tribal dialects and languages that she learned to speak as well.

https://mynorthwest.com/3325860/anaku-iwacha-book-of-yakama-legends-and-stories-is-back/

Sen. Brian Schatz Urges Biden To Commute Leonard Peltier’s Prison Sentence

 

It is time for Leonard Peltier to go home. https://t.co/FpiKbNlqwP

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 29, 2022

Sen. Brian Schatz Urges Biden To Commute Leonard Peltier’s Prison Sentence
The ailing 77-year-old Native American rights activist “meets appropriate criteria” for going home, says the Senate Indian Affairs Committee chair.
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 1/26/2022
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brian-schatz-leonard-peltier-native-american-prison-clemency_n_61f1dfbde4b094ce54a5b58c
Senator Brian Schatz' letter to Biden:  https://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2022/01/27/61f1e86be4b094ce54a5bbc1.pdf

Details on yesterday's letter to Biden from Sen. Schatz, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee:
“Mr. Peltier meets appropriate criteria for commutation."
https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1486787138532392962

Schatz to Biden:
"Mr. Peltier meets appropriate criteria for commutation: (1) his old age and critical illness, (2) the amount of time he has already served, and (3) the unavailability of other remedies."

"Mr. Peltier should be granted a commutation of his sentence.”
9:08 PM · 1/26/2022

The Bhrat Express News carries the story:
Senator Brian Schatz urges Biden to Commute Leonard Peltier's prison sentence
1/22/2022
https://www.thebharatexpressnews.com/senator-brian-schatz-urges-biden-to-commute-leonard-peltiers-prison-sentence/

yahoo carries the story:
Sen. Brian Schatz Urges Biden To Commute Leonard Peltier’s Prison Sentence
Jennifer Bendery
Wed, January 26, 2022
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to commute Leonard Peltier’s prison sentence and let the Native American rights activist finally go home.

“I commend your administration’s commitment to righting past wrongs in our criminal justice system. In continuing that work as you consider recommendations for individuals to receive clemency, I write to urge you to grant a commutation of Leonard Peltier’s sentence,” Schatz wrote to Biden in a new letter obtained by HuffPost.

“Mr. Peltier meets appropriate criteria for commutation: (1) his old age and critical illness, (2) the amount of time he has already served, and (3) the unavailability of other remedies,” the Democratic senator said. “Mr. Peltier should be granted a commutation of his sentence.”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sen-brian-schatz-urges-biden-010745244.html

It's time for President Biden to use his vast clemency power
Austin Sarat, opinion contributor The Hill, 1/4/2022
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/588159-its-time-for-president-biden-to-use-his-vast-clemency-power?rl=1

American Indian Movement Announces Walk for Leonard Peltier
Darren Thompson, Native News Online 1/4/2022
MINNEAPOLIS — The American Indian Movement’s Grand Governing Council (AIMGGC) announced on Tuesday that it’s organizing a freedom walk for Leonard Peltier later this year, from September 1 through November 14, 2022.
https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/american-indian-movement-announces-walk-for-leonard-peltier

Tampa Bay activists to host a 'Free Leonard Peltier' event and film screening this month (January)
By Justin Garcia on Mon, Jan 17, 2022

Peltier is an Indigenous prisoner still being held despite calls from around the world for his release.
https://www.cltampa.com/news/tampa-bay-activists-to-host-a-free-leonard-peltier-event-and-film-screening-this-month-12716493

 

CLEMENCY FOR NATIVE AMERICAN ELDER LEONARD PELTIER
https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/96017/action/1?locale=en-US&fbclid=IwAR1_PKetFSLuIUx7TshnUgNEDI8jmvsMfsU1-vOjk0EfvxlpiGZk0Tkj7jg

President Biden: Enough is Enough, Free Leonard Peltier
By Levi Rickert, Native News Online, 1/30/2022
https://nativenewsonline.net/opinion/president-biden-enough-is-enough-free-leonard-peltier

'Tears of joy': Large turnout to Dakota memorial ride to honor slain ancestors
Jordan Smith, Free Press, 12/26/2021
Several others lamented the imprisonment of Leonard Peltier, who for 44 years has been behind bars for his alleged involvement in the 1975 killing of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier says he was present for the shoot-out, which also left one Native American dead, but steadfastly denies having killed anyone.

Riders carried a staff made for Peltier and had a moment of silence to pray for the man whom human rights groups designate a political prisoner. A 77-year-old diabetic with heart problems, Peltier has grown increasingly frail in prison.

https://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/local_news/tears-of-joy-large-turnout-to-dakota-memorial-ride-to-honor-slain-ancestors/article_3204fb7a-6690-11ec-8642-d7941630c51c.html

US’s longest-serving political prisoner Leonard Peltier says prison is ‘torture chamber’ amid Covid lockdowns

 

Freedom
by Leonard Peltier

US’s longest-serving political prisoner Leonard Peltier says prison is ‘torture chamber’ amid Covid lockdowns
Leonard Peltier describes the loneliness of lockdown as similar to “staring down the face” of a death penalty
Rachel Sharp, Independent, 1/25/2022
https://www.inde/pendent.co.uk/news/world/americas/leonard-peltier-prison-torture-chamber-covid-b1999829.html

America’s longest-serving political prisoner Leonard Peltier has said that prison has become a “torture chamber” as Covid-19 lockdowns have turned “an already harsh environment into an asylum”.

The Native American activist, who has spent more than four decades behind bars for a crime he says he didn’t commit, told HuffPost that the pandemic has pushed life inside “back to the Dark Ages” and that the “fear and stress” is taking its toll on both inmates and staff.  Could America’s longest-serving ‘political prisoner’ be on the verge of freedom?

“COVID has turned Coleman Prison back to the Dark Ages,” he said.

“I’m in hell, and there is no way to deal with it but to take it as long as you can. I cling to the belief that people are out there doing what they can to change our circumstances in here.

“The fear and stress are taking a toll on everyone, including the staff. You can see it in their faces and hear it in their voices. The whole institution is on total lockdown.”

Peltier, who is 77 years old and has various health conditions, described the loneliness of being locked down with “no phone, no window, no fresh air — no humans to gather — no love ones voice” as similar to “staring down the face” of a death penalty.

“In and out of lockdown last year at least meant a shower every third day, a meal beyond a sandwich wet with a little peanut butter — but now with COVID for an excuse, nothing,” he said.

“No phone, no window, no fresh air — no humans to gather — no love ones voice. No relief. Left alone and without attention is like a torture chamber for the sick and old.”

He added: “They are turning an already harsh environment into an asylum, and for many who did not receive a death penalty, we are now staring down the face of one!

“Help me, my brothers and sisters, help me my good friends.”

Longest-serving political prisoner in U.S. history Leonard Peltier begs for help in COVID lockdowns
Rebekah Sager, Daily Kos Staff, 1/24/2022
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/24/2076453/--I-m-in-hell-Indigenous-Nations-activist-Leonard-Peltier-says-of-his-prison-conditions-amid-COVID

'I Will' Stand with Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier Pleads For Help Amid Constant COVID Lockdowns In Prison
The Native American rights activist, now 77 and ailing, says "fear and stress" from unbearable periods of isolation is breaking him and others.
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 1/23/2022
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leonard-peltier-prison-covid_n_61eb2a5be4b03216750ab8ea

Leonard Peltier Is America’s Longest-Serving Political Prisoner. Biden May Be His Last Hope.
The FBI put the Native American activist behind bars 44 years ago based on lies, threats and no proof he committed a crime. Why is he still there?
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 11/12/2021
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leonard-peltier-prison-clemency-biden_n_618049f3e4b059d0bfc19e5c

Leonard Peltier Pleads For Help Amid Constant COVID Lockdowns In Prison
Oliver Smith, News Concerns, 1/23/2022
https://newsconcerns.com/leonard-peltier-pleads-for-help-amid-constant-covid-lockdowns-in-prison/

Leonard Peltier Pleads For Help Amid Constant COVID Lockdowns In Prison
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 2/22/2022
https://news.yahoo.com/leonard-peltier-pleads-help-amid-142926464.html

Leonard Peltier Pleads For Help Amid Constant COVID Lockdowns In Prison
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost, 1/23/2022
Leonard Peltier, Native American activist.  Never mind that he shouldn’t be in a federal prison at all.
https://news.yahoo.com/leonard-peltier-pleads-help-amid-142926464.html

Store logo

Longest-serving US political prisoner Leonard Peltier says prison is a ‘torture chamber’ amid Covid lockdowns
George Holan, Plainsmen Post, 2/24/2022
https://plainsmenpost.com/longest-serving-us-political-prisoner-leonard-peltier-says-prison-is-a-torture-chamber-amid-covid-lockdowns/

Longest-serving political prisoner in U.S. history Leonard Peltier begs for help in COVID lockdowns
Rebekah Sager, Daily Kos Staff, 1/24/2022
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/24/2076453/--I-m-in-hell-Indigenous-Nations-activist-Leonard-Peltier-says-of-his-prison-conditions-amid-COVID

Leonard Peltier Calls Prison Conditions “Torture” Amid COVID Lockdowns and Neglect
Democracy Now headline, 1/26/2022
https://www.democracynow.org/2022/1/26/headlines/leonard_peltier_calls_prison_conditions_torture_amid_covid_lockdowns_and_neglect

In the Dark Political Prisoners Wish for Light
Vijay Prashad, Consortium News, 1/25/2022
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/01/25/in-the-dark-political-prisoners-wish-for-light/

ADAMS: Reflections on Bloody Sunday
Gerry Adams, Irish Echo 2/3/2022
Leonard Peltier has Covid. The Native American rights activist has spent almost 45 years in prison and was already suffering ill-health. His family and supporters are deeply concerned at this serious risk to his life and have renewed their appeal for President Joe Biden to exercise clemency. I support their call for Leonard to be freed.
https://www.irishecho.com/2022/2/adams-reflections-on-bloody-sunday

Free Leonard Peltier! COVID-19 inside prison
By Judy Greenspan, Workers World, 1/31/2022
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic currently raging through the jail, prison and detention centers of this country, Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Band, Chippewa Nation), an Indigenous leader and political prisoner, has issued a cry for help.
https://www.workers.org/2022/01/61466/

Bury My Heart with Leonard Peltier
How long will he still be with us? How long will the genocide continue?
Michael Moore. 1/30/2022
https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/freeleonardpeltier

Patrick Leahy Agrees: It's Time to Free Leonard Peltier
The American Indian Movement activist—often called America's longest-incarcerated political prisoner—has been jailed 44 years after being dubiously convicted of murdering two FBI agents.
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, 12/1/2021
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/01/patrick-leahy-agrees-its-time-free-leonard-peltier

52nd National Day of Mourning
K. James, Workers World, 12/31/2021
https://www.workers.org/2021/12/60646/

Decolonizing the holiday: A way forward on Thanksgiving?
Albert Bender, People's World, 12/14/2021
https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/decolonizing-the-holiday-a-way-forward-on-thanksgiving/