In his unprecedented call for clemency (no US prosecutor has done such a thing before for a person they helped to convict and keep in prison), Reynolds does not address the issue of whether Peltier is guilty or innocent, but he says it is wrong for Peltier to have had to stay behind bars for as long as he already has, particularly because at worst, he was only an accomplice, not the actual shooter. As Reynolds writes, as an accomplice, "You're not really participating in the crime yourself. Just because you're there, you're going to get nailed." Citing Peltier's motives, Reynolds adds, "He didn't go out there with the intention to kill anybody. He was trying to protect his people."
Compare that to Obama's decision, made simultaneously with his commutation of Manning's sentence, to his commutation of the sentence of Puerto Rican independence fighter Oscar Lopez Rivera, a member of the radical pro-independence organization calling itself the Armed Forces of National Liberation of FALN. Convicted and sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison for his involvement in a string of bombings, Lopez Rivera was accused of "seditious conspiracy" an of transporting explosives with the intent to kill people and destroy government property, although he was never charged with actually killing anyone.
While the pardons of Manning and Lopez Rivera should be celebrated, it would be the height of hypocrisy for Obama to release Lopez Rivera (whose case is so similar to Peltier's, both in terms of the charges and the unfairness of their trials), for time served, as he did, and then to leave Peltier in prison, particularly in light of the call by one of his lead prosecutors for his release.
Today is the last day that President Obama has the authority to do the right thing for Leonard Peltier. His office should be deluged by calls and messages demanding that he do it! You can join the effort by going here and taking action. Don't delay! Time is short!
DAVE LINDORFF is a member of ThisCantBeHappening!, the uncompromised, collectively run, five-time Project Censored Award-winning online alternative news site. His work, and that of colleagues JOHN GRANT, JESS GUH, GARY LINDORFF, ALFREDO LOPEZ, LINN WASHINGTON, JR. and the late CHARLES M. YOUNG, can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net
(Article changed on January 19, 2017 at 18:51)
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