🔐🪶 #Triangulation

In the final hours of his presidency, Bill Clinton stunned human rights advocates by refusing to free Native American activist Leonard Peltier.

While Clinton issued dozens of controversial last-minute pardons — including those for CIA Director John Deutch and fugitive financier Marc Rich — Peltier’s name was glaringly absent.1

“A Day of Shame,” said the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. “We must never leave Leonard behind.”2

🌍 The Global Outcry Clinton Ignored

The pressure on Clinton to pardon Peltier was overwhelming and international. Appeals came from:

  • Coretta Scott King
  • Archbishop Desmond Tutu
  • Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú
  • The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Even Amnesty International urged clemency. Yet Clinton stood firm — not with conscience, but with the FBI.

In an unprecedented protest, hundreds of FBI agents marched on the White House in December 2000, demanding Clinton deny clemency.3 FBI Director Louis Freeh called Peltier a “vicious murderer,” and Clinton caved to their pressure.4

⚖️ The Peltier Case: America’s Political Prisoner

Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a 1975 standoff on Pine Ridge Reservation. But his trial was marred by:

  • Coerced and falsified testimony
  • Withheld exculpatory evidence
  • An FBI-driven prosecution with racial bias

Even some Justice Department insiders later admitted the government had no conclusive evidence Peltier fired the fatal shots.5

“A scapegoat,” one former appeals judge privately called him.

By 2001, Peltier was in poor health and had been in prison over 25 years. Clinton’s refusal to act condemned him to likely die behind bars — a choice many called political cowardice.6

🚫 Who Else Clinton Left Behind

Peltier wasn’t alone. Clinton also ignored clemency requests from other political prisoners:

  • Oscar López Rivera (Puerto Rican independence activist)
  • Antonio Camacho-Negrón
  • Members of the Black Liberation Army

Notably, Clinton granted clemency to Weather Underground members Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg — both white — but left Black and Latino revolutionaries behind.7

This racial and ideological selectivity didn’t go unnoticed. Critics accused Clinton of playing politics with freedom.

“Clinton pardoned CIA agents and stock swindlers but spat on the legacy of Attica,” said one veteran civil rights organizer.8

🪙 Why Clinton Said No: The Politics of Triangulation

Clinton’s actions weren’t just about law and order. They were about political image.

He embraced a strategy known as “triangulation” — standing between the left and right to attract moderate voters. Being tough on crime was part of his brand. Mercy, especially for Indigenous and Black activists, was politically inconvenient.

Clinton’s silence on Peltier was a choice. He didn’t want to alienate law enforcement or risk criticism. Inaction was the safe move.

🚨 The Moral Failure

The consequences of Clinton’s decision were not just legal — they were moral.

Human rights organizations called Peltier’s case a symbol of systemic racism. Prominent legal advocates, former prosecutors, and even federal officials said clemency was long overdue.

“Leonard Peltier should not have to die in prison,” wrote Amnesty International USA.9

Clinton could have taken a step toward healing. Instead, he reinforced the wounds of colonization, incarceration, and racial injustice.

🕊️ A New Chance Under Biden

Decades later, the movement never stopped.

In 2024, groups like the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Amnesty International, and NDN Collective urged President Joe Biden to do what Clinton wouldn’t.

This time, it worked.

In January 2025, President Biden granted clemency to Leonard Peltier. News outlets hailed it as a long-overdue act of justice. Indigenous leaders, Nobel laureates, and human rights activists across the world celebrated.10

Biden’s action corrected a wrong Clinton refused to address — and cemented his legacy in Indian Country.

📌 Final Thoughts: Clemency Is a Moral Obligation

Bill Clinton’s refusal to pardon Leonard Peltier — or any of the many other political prisoners of color — was not neutrality. It was complicity.

He had the power to act. He had the public support. But he chose to uphold the status quo.

Let this be a lesson for future leaders: clemency is not just a tool of mercy — it’s a test of conscience.

In the end, triangulation may win elections, but it doesn’t deliver justice.

#Triangulation 🔐🪶 #FreeLeonardPeltier #ClemencyNow #IndigenousJustice #PoliticalPrisoners

📚 Footnotes

  • NPR. (2025, January 21). Biden Grants Clemency to Leonard Peltier, Ending Decades-Long Campaign. ↩
  • Johnston, D. (2001, January 21). Clinton Pardons a Fugitive Financier Whose Wife Was a Major Donor. The New York Times. ↩
  • Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. (2001). Statement on Clemency Denial. ↩
  • CBS News. (2000, December 20). FBI Agents Protest Clemency for Peltier. ↩
  • Freeh, L. (2000). Public Statement on Clemency Petition for Leonard Peltier. FBI Archives. ↩
  • Amnesty International. (1999). The Case of Leonard Peltier: A Matter of Justice. ↩
  • Democracy Now! (2001, January 22). Peltier Remains Behind Bars as Clinton Leaves Office. ↩
  • Rosenberg, S. (2011). An American Radical: Political Prisoner in My Own Country. The New Press. ↩
  • Interview with Angela Davis. (2002). Race, Crime, and American Clemency. ColorLines. ↩
  • Amnesty International USA. (2000). Clemency Campaign for Leonard Peltier. ↩