Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier denied parole for 1975 killings of 2 FBI agents

(CNN) — Leonard Peltier, the Indigenous activist convicted of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents, has been denied parole from federal prison, his attorney told CNN on Tuesday.

Peltier, 79, has long maintained his innocence in the shooting deaths of agents Ronald A. Williams and Jack R. Coler.

Peltier’s legal team says they plan to appeal the parole board’s decision.

Coler and Williams were killed in a shootout June 26, 1975, while searching for a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. In 1977, Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms, though he denied shooting Coler and Williams.

“I didn’t kill those agents, I didn’t see who killed those agents, and if I did know, I’m not telling. But I don’t know. That’s the point,” Peltier told CNN correspondent Mark Potter in 1999.

Peltier said he fired shots during the gunbattle but “I know I didn’t hit them. I know I didn’t.”

The government built its case on ballistics evidence and witness accounts from people who were on the periphery of the shootout, including Native Americans, but no one actually saw the killings.

As a leader of the American Indian Movement in the 70s, Peltier’s conviction has long been polarizing.

He has been denied parole before – in 2009, according to The Associated Press, and in 2017, President Barack Obama denied his clemency request.

During Peltier’s parole hearing last month, his failing health, age and nonviolent record during his nearly 50 years in prison were all highlighted.

Peltier won’t be eligible for another parole hearing until June 2026, a US Parole Commission spokesperson said.

“Today’s announcement continues the injustice of this long ordeal for Leonard Peltier,” Peltier’s attorney, Kevin Sharp, said in a statement. “This decision is a missed opportunity for the United States to finally recognize the misconduct of the FBI and send a message to Indian Country regarding the impacts of the federal government’s actions and policies of the 1970’s.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau is pleased the US Parole Commission “continued to side with the facts.”

“No amount of prison time will ever change the facts surrounding the murders of FBI Special Agents Coler and Williams,” he said in a statement. “Mr. Peltier has been afforded his rights and due process time and again, and repeatedly, the weight of the evidence has supported his conviction and his life sentence.”

Supporters of Peltier have said the evidence, including ballistics, produced at trial was unreliable; the FBI has categorically denied it fabricated evidence or coerced witnesses.

Lynn Crooks, a prosecutor at Peltier’s 1977 double-murder trial, told CNN in 1999 that they proved Peltier was a participant in the killings.

“Whoever was down there was essentially down there under the influence of Leonard Peltier,” he said. “They aren’t down there to give aid and comfort to these two injured, dying men. They’re down there to execute them, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Peltier told CNN he was in bed at camp when he heard gunshots.

“All of a sudden everybody said, ‘Man, we’re being attacked. We’re being attacked,’” he said in 1999. “I says, ‘Oh, my God.’ So I grabbed an old rifle and started running up to the house.”

He said he fired his gun after being fired upon. The FBI has said the agents were shot without provocation.

The FBI Agents Association applauded the parole board’s decision Tuesday, saying it “upholds justice for our fallen colleagues and their families.”

“The FBIAA reaffirms its commitment to honoring the memory of Agents Coler and Williams, and Peltier’s continued incarceration is necessary to ensure public safety and respect for the law,” the association said in the statement.

Nick Tilsen, president of Indigenous activist group NDN Collective, said, “Today is a sad day for Indigenous Peoples and justice everywhere. The U.S. Parole Commission’s denial of parole for Leonard Peltier, America’s longest serving Indigenous political prisoner, is a travesty.”

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CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.