With Rachel Thunder and Attorney Kevin Sharp
At the end of September 2022, after Leonard Peltier’s 78th birthday, chances for his release are possibly better than ever before. His new attorney, Kevin Sharp, confirmed that no proof exists that ties Peltier to the 1975 deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge reservation.
And the Democratic National Convention voted unanimously on September 10, 2022, to urge President Biden to release Leonard Peltier from prison. The Huffington Post called this a sign of the growing momentum to remedy what many consider a decades long stain on the nation’s criminal justice system.
And a 2 1/2 months long walk began in Minneapolis on September first with an arrival date in Washington, DC, for November 14. Under the banner: “Walk to Justice: Free Leonard Peltier”, the march stops in major cities along the way for rallies and closes with concert on November 14.
Rachel Thunder is the lead organizer of the walk. She is the director of AIM’s True People of Indiana and Kentucky Chapter. Kevin Sharp is former Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, now in private practice. He agreed to take the Peltier case pro bono.
Kevin Sharp and Rachel Thunder were streamed Live on September 9, 2022. They were interviewed by Levi Rickert at Native News Online.
In January 2022, I produced a radio program in support of clemency for Leonard Peltier. I drew material for an extraordinary interview by Chris Hedges with Peltier’s new attorney, Kevin Sharp. Here are parts of their conversation about the history of the FBI involvement on the Pine Ridge reservation.
And closing this with a clip from an interview of Kevin Sharp by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now posted on YouTube on January 31, 2022.
This was coverage of the campaign to free Leonard Peltier – projecting forward to a rally and concert in Washington, DC, on November 14, 2022.
Date: 2022/09/06
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)