https://ndncollective.org/leonard-peltier-released-from-49-years-of-wrongful-incarceration/ 

  

Leonard Peltier Released From 49 Years of Wrongful Incarceration

By NDN Collective • February 18, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 18, 2025

Sumterville, FL – This morning, Leonard Peltier was released from over 49 years of wrongful incarceration.  Mr. Peltier is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and will reside on his tribal homelands in North Dakota.

Upon Peltier’s request, NDN Collective is bringing him home to the Turtle Mountain community. NDN Collective and partners built upon five decades of organizing and led the advocacy that secured Peltier’s release. Tomorrow, the organization is hosting a celebratory event and community feed to welcome Peltier back to his homelands.   

“Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!” said Leonard Peltier. “Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom. I am finally going home. I look forward to seeing my friends, my family, and my community. It’s a good day today.”

                              Photo by Angel White Eyes for NDN Collective

“Leonard Peltier is free! He never gave up fighting for his freedom so we never gave up fighting for him. Today our elder Leonard Peltier walks into the open arms of his people,” said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective Founder and CEO. “Peltier’s liberation is invaluable in and of itself – yet just as his wrongful incarceration represented the oppression of Indigenous Peoples everywhere, his release today is a symbol of our collective power and inherent freedom.”

Photo by Angel White Eyes for NDN Collective

“This moment would not be happening without Secretary Deb Haaland and President Biden responding to the calls for Peltier’s release that have echoed through generations of grassroots organizing,” said Holly Cook Macarro, Government Affairs for NDN Collective. “Today is a testament to the many voices who fought tirelessly for Peltier’s freedom and justice.” 

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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

Contact Us

Phone: +1 (605) 791-3999

Address: 408 Knollwood Dr.,
Rapid City, SD 57701

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrIAyUgHaf0 

 

 

"I Am Finally Free!": Indigenous Leader Leonard Peltier Released After Nearly 50 Years Imprisoned

Democracy Now!

 

Feb 19, 2025 

We speak with NDN Collective founder and CEO Nick Tilsen, who was with Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier as he was released from a federal prison in Florida Monday after nearly half a century behind bars, and returned home with him to North Dakota. Peltier has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI officers, and many activists have noted inconsistencies in his trial. In the final days of his presidency, former President Joe Biden granted Peltier clemency, commuting his life sentence. Peltier will remain on house arrest in the Turtle Mountain community in North Dakota. "Today I am finally free! They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!" Peltier told supporters once he was released. "Thank you to all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom." Tilsen said it was "absolute pure joy" seeing him out of prison. "The release of Leonard Peltier is something that touches all of us, because all of us see a little bit of ourselves in Leonard Peltier."

1,335 Comments

@davidamos7114

Guess who called the NDN Collective