NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The Indigenous Peoples Coalition (IPC) held a celebration of the release of long imprisoned Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier on February 22, just days after he gained his freedom.

The keynote speaker at the celebration was Nashville attorney and former federal judge Kevin Sharp. Sharp is Peltier’s attorney and filed the petition for clemency that was signed by then-President Joe Biden on January 20 in the last minutes in office. The Nashville gathering assumed special significance as the city is the residence of Sharp.

The celebration at the Social Justice Hall of the First Unitarian Universalist Church was attended by a cross-section of the people, representing the diversity of present-day Nashville. There were long-time activists, advocates for Peltier’s freedom, and others just becoming acquainted with the case. The venue was filled to near capacity.

Sharp gave an insightful background to the struggle for Peltier’s release that was both informative and fascinating. This included: the improper court venue in Fargo, North Dakota, where Peltier was first convicted; former President Bill Clinton’s episodic contact with the clemency request; the suspicious circumstances of the shooting at the Pine Ridge Reservation in June 1975; the prejudiced juror allowed at Peltier’s trial; the discrepancy in the vehicle allegedly chased by the two slain federal agents that precipitated the shootout; and the circumstances by which Sharp took Peltier’s case.

Especially intriguing, as related by Sharp, was the part played by Pope Francis in the matter. Sharp said that a last-minute phone call was made to the Pope in the middle of the night Italian time awakening the pontiff from his slumber requesting that he make a call on Peltier’s behalf to Biden. Pope Francis promptly called Biden, and Sharp felt that this was a “further pivotal factor” in winning the release.

Sharp took the case pro bono after receiving a copy of the trial transcripts from Connie Nelson, the ex-wife of the music icon, Wille Nelson. After reviewing the case, Sharp said he was “outraged.”

At the event, there was a poster fashioned by an IPC member emblazoned with the words, “Welcome Home, Leonard.” It featured pictures of Peltier, and attendees were invited to sign. It will be sent to Peltier at his home.

Executive Grant of Clemency to Leonard Peltier. Signed by JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., President of the United States of America, on January 19, 2025. #LeonardPeltier #JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/ZEszORhjhy

— indianz.com (@indianz) January 20, 2025

Mainstream corporate media coverage of Peltier’s release continues to hammer the public with the disinformation that Peltier was convicted of directly murdering two FBI agents himself in 1975. This intention is to prejudice the public and lessen sympathy and support for his clemency release.

The truth is that after Peltier’s initial conviction in 1977, the government changed its claim during an appeal. The federal prosecutor said to the court at that time, “We can’t prove who shot those agents.” Therefore, Peltier’s conviction and continued imprisonment rested on the government’s accusation he “aided and abetted” the murder of the federal agents.

The assembly left with a renewed sense of purpose, determination, motivation, and dedication for the struggles looming ahead, particularly in light of the new administration in the White House. The celebration observed a watershed moment in the struggle of Indigenous people for liberation.

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Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter for Native and Non-Native publications. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues and a former staff attorney with Legal Services of Eastern Oklahoma (LSEO) in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

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This article originally appeared on People's World. It is published under a Creative Commons license.