San Jose, CA – 30 community members gathered at the San Jose Peace and Justice center, February 22, to celebrate the release of Leonard Peltier from prison and his return home.

Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement, had been the longest-held political prisoner in the U.S. After five decades of constant advocacy from activists worldwide calling for his release, Peltier finally returned home on February 18 after former President Biden commuted his sentence just before leaving office.

Members of the community gathered to watch a video of Peltier's welcome home celebration, hosted by the NDN Collective on the Turtle Mountain reservation, in North Dakota. After the video, the crowd assembled outside to watch a series of spoken word, dance and musical performances to celebrate the occasion.

Donna Wallach, a leading organizer with Leonard Peltier Support Group Silicon Valley, said, “I’m so happy. I won’t say I never gave up but I always had it in my mind that he was going to get free. If he could struggle from inside for all that he’s been through then who am I to give up on his freedom? He sacrificed 50 years for unity and for freedom for indigenous people and their sovereignty.”

Wallach continued, “I think he will be a force to unite all the tribes together to lead the land back movement. Even with this horrendous administration we have right now – this is the struggle for sovereignty, land back and indigenous recognition.”

Bob Jung of Vigil for Gaza said, “This is great, people fight for social justice and it seems like there’s very few times we win and it’s time to really savor this.” Jung continued, “I’d like to see all the allies coming to support each other – whether it’s the American Indian Movement, immigration, or what’s going on in Palestine.”

Drusie Kazanova of San Jose Against War, which is a member organization of the International League of People’s Struggle, read the ILPS statement on Peltier's release. “While Biden was the one who signed the act to commute Leonard’s sentence, it is not due to any goodwill from the former president who poured endless amounts of money into the genocidal war on Palestine, sold off indigenous lands to fossil fuel corporations and led a campaign of massive state repression against peoples’ movements in the U.S. and abroad,”

Kazanova continued, “It was the mass movement that held high the demand to free Leonard while exposing the imperialist system for keeping him imprisoned unjustly for a crime that was widely known to have been charged under falsified evidence.”

After the performances the event included a open mic segment for community members to speak their mind in honor of Peltier’s freedom.

Wallach expressed the desire to continue organizing to shine a light on other political prisoners such as Mumia Abu Jamal, The Holy Land 5 and many others.

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