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No indication seen of need for mercy Modern presidents, during their final days in office, typically consider&emdash;and grant&emdash;several pleas for executive clemency. Bill Clinton, prodded by the left wing of his constituency, reportedly is reviewing a request to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, who murdered two FBI agents in 1975. The review last week sparked a most unusual protest in front of the White House. An estimated 500 off-duty FBI agents quietly marched, two-by-two, bearing signs pleading to keep Peltier in prison. It may be the first time FBI agents ever have gathered for such a purpose, but, said an organizer of the quiet protest, they felt compelled to make themselves heard on behalf of their fallen comrades. Indeed, Peltier should be kept in prison for the remainder of his natural days. For on June 26, 1975, he murdered, execution-style, FBI Agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler. The two agents already had been fired upon while searching for a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and when Peltier delivered the fatal shots they were wounded and defenseless. The politics surrounding the Peltier clemency review speak volumes about his guilt. His supporters speak primarily of the supposed need for the U.S. government to pay "reparations" to Native Americans and other political demands. The evidence against Peltier is strikingly absent from his supporters' rhetoric. Peltier showed no mercy toward Agents Williams and Coler 25 years ago, and Peltier deserves none today. |
