美国总统乔·拜登在2004年对伦纳德·珀尔帖减刑后引发众怒离任前的最后一步棋星期一。
80岁的珀尔帖在1975年被判在南达科他州松树岭保留地谋杀两名美国联邦调查局特工后，已经在监狱度过了近50年。他还在1979年因两起谋杀案服刑期间从联邦监狱逃脱，并被追加了五年刑期。
Peltier在被捕前是一名杰出的美国土著活动家，他一直宣称自己是无辜的。
拜登在宣布这一举措的声明中写道:“这一减刑将使珀尔帖先生能够在家中度过余生，但不会赦免他的潜在罪行。”
减刑是在同一份新闻稿中发布的，当时现任总统唐纳德·特朗普的就职仪式正在美国国会大厦圆形大厅举行。给予先发制人的赦免拜登的五名家庭成员，包括他的兄弟詹姆斯拜登，国会共和党人的目标。
根据新闻稿，帕尔帖患有严重的健康问题。
前美国联邦调查局导演克里斯多佛·雷最近给拜登写了一封信，警告他不要给珀尔帖减刑。这封信写于1月10日，就在雷和拜登离任前几天。
“总统先生，我以最强烈的措辞敦促你:不要赦免伦纳德·珀尔帖或缩短他的刑期，”雷写道。“这对受害者的亲人来说是毁灭性的打击，并破坏了我们政府应该代表的正义和问责原则。"
1975年6月26日，美国联邦调查局特工杰克·科勒和罗纳德·威廉姆斯在松树岭居留地的枪战中被帕尔帖杀害。
“佩里特是一个无情的杀手，他残忍地杀害了我们的两名特工杰克·科勒和罗纳德·威廉姆斯，”雷写道。“对珀尔帖的定罪或判决给予任何减免都是完全没有道理的，也是对法治的冒犯。”
雷说，佩里特在近距离“处决”了两名特工后逃到了加拿大。珀尔帖于1976年在阿尔伯塔省被捕，之后因谋杀接受审判。
“在谋杀案发生后，珀尔帖参与了暴力逃避司法，在逃避逮捕时向警察开枪，并入室盗窃，”沃利写道。几个月后，珀尔帖在加拿大被捕，他说，如果他知道执法人员正在接近，他会“把他们的鞋子打烂”。"
在一级谋杀罪的审判和定罪后，珀尔帖参与了从联邦监狱的暴力越狱，在此期间，他和其他人向监狱工作人员开火，”雷写道。一名逃犯在枪战中被击毙。
雷还写道给假释委员会的一封措辞类似的信2024年6月，要求帕尔贴不要被放出来。假释被拒绝了。据美联社(Associated Press)报道，时任总统巴拉克奥巴马(Barack Obama)在2017年拒绝了帕尔贴的赦免请求。
“当时的总统拜登在最后一秒钟做出的这种可耻的行为，并没有改变帕尔帖的罪行，但确实将他从监狱中释放出来，这是懦弱的，缺乏责任感，”美国联邦调查局代理商协会主席娜塔莉·巴拉在一份声明中说。“这是对这些牺牲特工的家人和同事的残酷背叛，是对执法部门的一记耳光。”
凯文·夏普，珀尔帖的律师，告诉美联社在去年的假释听证会之前，针对珀尔帖的证据是伪造的。
“你的定罪充满了检察官、美国检察官办公室、调查此案的美国联邦调查局以及坦率地说陪审团的不当行为，”夏普告诉美联社。"如果他们今天这样做，他不会被定罪."
大赦国际长期以来一直呼吁释放珀尔帖，它指出，起诉此案的前美国检察官詹姆斯·雷诺兹(James Reynolds)也应该释放珀尔帖。监督他1986年上诉的法官Gerald Heany也呼吁释放Peltier。
几十名国会议员写了封信敦促在2023年10月释放帕尔帖，引用他们所说的在帕尔帖审判期间发生的“检察官不当行为”和“违反宪法”。
大赦国际在一份声明中说:“鉴于对其审判公正性的严重人权关切，拜登总统对土著长老和活动家伦纳德·帕尔贴的无期徒刑减刑是正确的。”“大赦国际多年来一直主张美国政府在部落民族和土著人民的领导下，给予伦纳德·帕尔帖特赦。”
Biden sparks outrage with last-minute commutation of man convicted of killing FBI agents
President Joe Biden has sparked outrage after commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier ina last-minute move before leaving officeMonday.
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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"This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes," Biden wrote in a statement announcing the move.
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 pardonsto 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 President Joe Biden gestures while arriving at Joint Base Andrews following inauguration ceremonies in Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 20, 2025.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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.
"Peliter is a remorseless killer, who brutally murdered two of our own–Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams," Wray wrote. "Granting Peltier any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law."
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Wray said Peliter fled to Canada after he "executed" the two agents "at close range." Peltier was arrested in Alberta in 1976, before standing trial for the murders.
"In the aftermath of the murders, Peltier engaged in a violent flight from justice, firing shots at police officers as he eluded arrest and burglarizing a home," Wary wrote. "Following his apprehension months later in Canada, Peltier said that if he had known law enforcement officers were approaching, he would have "blow[n] [them] out of [their] shoes."
After his trial and conviction for first-degree murder, Peltier participated in a violent escape from federal prison, during which he and others opened fire on prison employees," Wray wrote. One of the escapees was killed in the shootout.
Marchers carry a large painting of jailed American Indian Leonard Peltier during a march on the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 22, 2001.
Steven Senne/AP, FILE
Wray also wrotea similarly strongly worded letter to the parole boardin June 2024, asking that Peltier not be let out. The parole was denied. Then-President Barack Obama denied a clemency request for Peltier in 2017, according to The Associated Press.
"This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltier's guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability," Natalie Bara, president of The FBI Agents Association, said in a statement. "It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement."
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Kevin Sharp, Peltier's attorney,told The Associated Pressbefore the parole hearing last year that evidence against Peltier had been falsified.
"You've got a conviction that was riddled with misconduct by the prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's office, by the FBI who investigated this case and, frankly the jury," Sharp told the AP. "If they tried this today, he does not get convicted."
Amnesty International, which has long campaigned for Peltier's release noted that former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, who prosecuted the case, has said Peltier should be freed as well. The judge who oversaw his 1986 appeal, Gerald Heany, has also called for Peltier's release.
Dozens of members of Congresswrote a letterurging 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."
