Opinion

Leonard Peltier: My last best hope for freedom lies with President Barack Obama

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Leonard Peltier. Photo from Amnesty International

Indian Country Today shares a letter from American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier, who is serving two life terms in connection with the murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in June 1975. He calls on supporters to lobby President Barack Obama for his release from prison:

I see over the decades that in some important ways, life has improved for our Peoples. President Obama’s extraordinary efforts to forge a strong relationship with our Tribal Nations is good cause for a new sense of optimism that our sovereignty is more secure. By exercising our sovereignty, life for our people might improve. We might begin to heal and start the long journey to move past the trauma of the last 500 years. But what will we do if the next Administration rolls back those gains made over the past eight years?
I often receive questions in letters from supporters about my health. Yes, this last year has been particularly stressful for me and my family. My health issues still have not been thoroughly addressed, and I still have not gotten the results of the MRI done over a month ago for the abdominal aortic aneurysm.
As the last remaining months of President Obama’s term pass by, my anxiety increases. I believe that this President is my last hope for freedom, and I will surely die here if I am not released by January 20, 2017. So I ask you all again, as this is the most crucial time in the campaign to gain my freedom, please continue to organize public support for my release, and always follow the lead of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.

Get the Story:
A Letter From Leonard Peltier (Indian Country Today 6/30)