500 Signatures Still Needed for Leonard Peltier White House Clemency Petition

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges. Discussion »

500 Needed

WASHINGTON DC - Less than 500 are needed as of Wednesday night for the "We the People" White House petition that seeks clemency for imprisoned Leonard Peltier.

The White House last month began a program called "We the People" that allows citizens to petition the Obama administration to take action on issues.

Members of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee crafted the following petition that is now online and needs you, if you have not already done so, to sign the petition:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO::

Grant clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier without delay. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals: "… Much of the government's behavior… and its prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."

While others were acquitted on grounds of self defense, Peltier was convicted in connection with the 1975 shooting deaths of two FBI agents. Evidence shows that prosecutors knowingly presented false statements to a Canadian court to extradite Peltier and manufactured the murder weapon (the gun and shell casings entered into evidence didn't match; this fact was hidden from the jury). The number of constitutional violations in this case is simply staggering.

It's time to right this wrong. Mr. President, you can and must free Leonard Peltier.

Many supporters have been frustrated with the online registration process. You must register to sign the petition.

Peltier, tribal member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, is serving a life sentence in the US Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He was convicted of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1977.

Peltier is considered to be a political prisoner of war by many American Indians throughout the United States and others worldwide. Through the years, Peltier's supporters have included the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Bishop Desmond Tutu, among other prominent names.

The Committee has a goal to exceed the minimum number of required signatures. The link to sign the petition is: www.whitehouse.gov »

posted October 13, 2011 9:00 am edt