>> article in the Lawrence-Journal World. There is a photo of Leonard with Marquette & her kids at the url mentioned below.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jul/13/family_plans_follow_peltier/?city_local

Family plans to follow Peltier

By Janet Reid
Wednesday, July 13, 2005


Marquetta Shields looks forward to the day her dad, Leonard Peltier, can join her in the park for a picnic with his grandchildren.

“I always thought that hopefully by the time I had children, my dad would be out of prison,�?Shields said.

Shields was just 2 years old when Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist, was convicted in the 1975 shooting death of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Shields moved her family from South Dakota to Lawrence to be near Peltier during his imprisonment at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth. Now she’s making plans to move again.

After spending 17 years at Leavenworth, Peltier was transferred on June 30 to a maximum security federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said the move was necessary due to a restructuring at the Leavenworth prison.

“Leavenworth is being reclassified as a medium-security institution and will no longer house high-security inmates,�?said Traci Billingsley.

Peltier’s relatives said they weren’t notified prior to, or even after, the move.


‘He’s not here?�?BR>
It was Peltier’s grandson, 20-year-old Cyrus Peltier, who first learned of the transfer, after making the trip from Lawrence to Leavenworth on July 3 to visit his grandfather.

“My eyes got big, my mouth dropped, and I said, ‘Really, he’s not here?’�?Cyrus Peltier said.

He’s been visiting his grandfather at Leavenworth every Sunday for as long as he can remember.

“He’s kind of like a father to me,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “We would just talk about cars, fishing, eating good food and I liked to ask him a lot of questions about how it was for him in the past.�?BR>
Now Cyrus Peltier will have to travel nearly 500 miles to see his grandfather.

“It’s going to be tough ­ it’s going to be tough for him and it’s going to be tough for me,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “But I do plan on flying back and forth whenever I get a chance to.�?BR>
The move to Terre Haute won’t stop Leonard Peltier’s supporters from fighting for his release from prison. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, which was headquartered in Lawrence, packed up and moved last week.

“It took us two days,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “We packed up the defense committee office in a U-Haul, and it’s out in Indiana, about two minutes away from the Terre Haute prison.�?BR>

2008 hearing

Supporters have been fighting for more than a quarter of a century for Peltier’s release, claiming the government framed him by fabricating and withholding evidence. Investigators have denied those claims, and his conviction has remained in effect over the decades.

Since Peltier was transferred, his daughter has not been able to speak to him because he is being housed in solitary confinement. She plans to move to Indiana within the year.

“I don’t want him to feel like he’s going to be there alone,�?Shields said. “It’s just basically so my kids will know him and they can see him as much as possible.�?BR>
Peltier ­ who received back-to-back life sentences in his case ­ next gets a parole hearing in 2008. Until then, his relatives hold out hope for a resolution to the controversial case.

“I don’t want to bring my dad home in a pine box,�?Shields said. “I’ll go to my grave knowing that he was innocent.�?BR>
© Copyright 2005 The Lawrence Journal-World


[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]