Just before leaving office Monday, President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, who was serving life in prison for the killings of two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

A statement from the White House said the commutation means Peltier will serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Peltier is 80 years old, the White House said, and suffers from severe health ailments after spending nearly half a century in prison. The statement said the action “will not pardon him for his underlying crimes.”

The White House noted that tribal nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials (including the former U.S. attorney whose office oversaw Peltier’s prosecution and appeal), dozens of lawmakers, and human rights organizations supported clemency for Peltier, citing his advanced age, illnesses, his ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has spent in prison.

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Peltier is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota. He was active in the American Indian Movement in 1975 when the shootings occurred.

According to the FBI, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a man on the Pine Ridge Reservation who was wanted for robbery. They pursued a vehicle containing several occupants, including Peltier, into an area of the reservation where the fatal shootout ensued.

AIM member Joseph Stuntz also died — from a shot by a law enforcement sniper, according to federal authorities. The lack of an investigation into Stuntz’s death is one of numerous criticisms that has been leveled against the government’s handling of the incident, the trial and Peltier’s conviction.

NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltier’s commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: “It’s finally over – I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.”

Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited “50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy” for winning the commutation.

“Leonard Peltier’s liberation is our liberation – we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture,” Tilsen said.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

SIOUX FALLS — Democrats, who do not hold any statewide elected offices in South Dakota, say they’ve found a good candidate for the U.S. House: a former Republican.

The state party announced during a press conference Wednesday that Sheryl Johnson, a Sioux Falls retiree, volunteer and mother of four, is running for the party’s nomination for U.S. House. The state’s only House seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson.

The South Dakota Democratic Party said in a news release that Sheryl Johnson “was a Republican for decades, but got tired of a party that used to be about freedom and now wants to control everything including who people can marry, how and when they can have kids, which books schools can use and give tax breaks to the wealthy instead of helping our kids.”

The party said Sheryl Johnson became a Democrat about 10 years ago “after realizing the party aligned much closer to her values of caring about people.”

Sheryl Johnson said she’s running because she believes federal lawmakers only complain about what’s happening at the U.S.-Mexico border instead of fixing the immigration system. She also wants to stop the “attacks on women’s health,” saying reproductive health is a discussion that should stay between mothers and their doctors without government interference.

She alleged that Rep. Dusty Johnson “no longer listens to his constituents in South Dakota and only does what the Republican Party tells him to do.”

“We need a working mom in D.C., who knows how to get things done and work together on what’s best for our country and South Dakota,” she said.

Rep. Dusty Johnson responded with a statement to South Dakota Searchlight: “Voters deserve a choice. I’m confident South Dakota voters will again embrace my conservative record of getting things done.”

Sheryl Johnson grew up in Iowa. Her grandparents ran a dairy farm and her dad was an ag loan officer at a bank and a part-time farmer. She spent 12 years as an education assistant at Roosevelt High School and four years as a military wife while her husband was deployed during Operation Desert Storm. For three years, she lived at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. She also worked in retail management for several years.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and Twitter.