Leonard Peltier, the 80-year-old activist who received two life sentences for his role in the 1975 murder of two FBI agents, was released from prison Tuesday after President Biden commuted his sentence in one of his final acts before leaving office.

Peltier, who spent almost 50 years in prison, was released from the Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman, in Sumter County, Florida. His stop is expected to be a welcome home party at a reservation casino, according to the NDN Collective, an American Indian rights group that has long claimed Peltier was wrongly convicted. 

A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Peltier was sentenced for his role in the murder of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a June 1975 confrontation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier received an additional seven years for an armed escape attempt. 

The agents were searching for a group of armed robbery suspects on the reservation. Although Peltier was not a suspect, he was traveling in a vehicle that caught the agents’ attention. The two agents warned over the radio that someone was about to open fire on them. Backup was miles away and they were later found dead. 

At the time of his arrest, Peltier was the subject of a warrant in Wisconsin for the attempted murder of a police officer.

After his conviction in connection to the FBI killings, Peltier and his supporters depicted him as a political prisoner. They argued he was wrongfully imprisoned because of his fierce advocacy for Native American rights. 

Peltier’s most recent bid for parole was denied in July. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had denied clemency requests for him. However, Peltier had prominent supporters within the Democratic Party, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernard Sanders of Vermont and Deb Haaland, who was Mr. Biden’s interior secretary.

On Inauguration Day, just hours before leaving office, Mr. Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence to home confinement. The president said Peltier had spent most of his life behind bars, was elderly and in poor health. 

The commutation sparked backlash from the law enforcement community, including former FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. 

In a harshly worded letter, Mr. Wray called Peltier a “remorseless killer” who “brutally murdered” two FBI agents.

“Granting Peltier any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law,” Mr. Wray wrote. 

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.