On Monday 12th September 2022, the Leonard Peltier Support Group Silicon Valley (LPSG SV) held a Zoom event at the San Jose Peace and Justice Center (SJPJC) honoring Leonard Peltier on his 78th birthday. We watched the excellent documentary by Suzie Baer “Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier”.
Over 10 people watched the documentary with us via Zoom from various locations. One of Leonard Peltier’s granddaughters watched from South Dakota. Another person watched from Pennsylvania.
We invited everyone to remain on the Zoom to discuss ideas of how to broaden out widely the number of people who know about Leonard Peltier and to get more organizations and groups involved. Many people stayed on for this discussion and many more people joined in, who had watched the film previously. For a time, there were 18 people on the Zoom. It was a powerful discussion. Many, if not most of the people who participated were Indigenous, representing many Indigenous Nations. One woman was 81 years old.
Leonard Peltier Support Group Silicon Valley wants to thank San Jose Peace and Justice Center and Collins Foundation for allowing us to use the SJPJC and their Zoom account to do this very important event. We did not record the Zoom event. However, anyone can watch the documentary “Warrior: The Life of Leonard Peltier” on YouTube for free.
Leonard Peltier is a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather, an amazing artist, an activist, an innocent man, a Political Prisoner, incarcerated for over 46 years for a crime he did not commit. The FBI targeted him for the killing of two FBI agents on 26th June 1975 on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Leonard was on the reservation during the shootout that occurred, and he had a gun, however, he did not kill either of the agents and the FBI knows he is innocent, because they fabricated all the evidence against him in his original trial. It is long past time for Leonard Peltier to go home.
Now is the time for each of us to do our utmost to demand that President Biden grant Leonard Peltier commutation of sentence, acknowledging that Leonard Peltier is innocent, that he did not have a fair trial, and that he can go home to live with his family and other loved ones. Please do not ask for Clemency. Clemency is asking for forgiveness. Leonard Peltier is innocent. He has nothing to ask forgiveness for. For more information about Leonard Peltier, visit the Official website of International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee: www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. Call the White House at 202-456-1111.