International Day of Solidarity with Leonard Peltier ~ Feb. 9

Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier was arrested on February 6, 1977. Supporters around the world mark this date with events, rallies and other activities in support of freedom for Peltier. On Saturday, February 9, the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee (LPDOC) chapter of Albuquerque and (un)Occupy Albuquerque are hosting an event in solidarity with Leonard Peltier.

Leonard Peltier (born September 12, 1944) is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Peltier's indictment and conviction have been the subject of much controversy; Amnesty International placed his case under the "Unfair Trials" category of its Annual Report: USA 2010, citing concerns with the fairness of the proceedings.^[1]

Peltier is incarcerated at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, Florida. Peltier's next scheduled parole hearing will be in July 2024.^[2] Barring appeals, parole or presidential pardon, his projected release date is October 11, 2040.^[3]