Leonard Peltier (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) was an American Indian Movement (AIM) activist convicted of killing two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. His case became a global symbol of injustice: witnesses recanted testimonies given under duress to the FBI, evidence was shown to have been withheld, and at least one witness received immunity in exchange for testimony against Peltier. This notorious trial made Peltier’s cause a rallying cry for the movement, his image invoked in countless protest posters, songs, and ceremonies. Peltier’s case is one of many examples of Indigenous resistance to a conviction many viewed as political retaliation for AIM’s activism. From prison cells to the United Nations, supporters maintained that Peltier’s imprisonment exemplified the criminalization of Indigenous resistance. On January 19, 2025, President Joe Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence to indefinite house arrest. On February 18, after nearly half a century behind bars, Peltier was released to the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.