October 14, 1998

My name is Tom Morello. I play lead guitar for the Grammy Award-winning Epic Recording artists Rage Against the Machine. We are a group of politically active musicians who have sold over 8 million records worldwide. We have long been interested in the Leonard Peltier case and believe that it is a travesty that he is in jail. It seems clear that it was Leonard's political beliefs and affiliation with the American Indian Movement that singled him out as a scapegoat in the Pine Ridge Reservation shooting. Leonard Peltier is a political prisoner who has spent over two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. We will not allow his case to be swept under the rug because the current administration is afraid it might be open to Republican charges of being 'soft on crime' were President Clinton to grant Leonard Executive Clemency. We will exert all of our influence on our sizable audience of young voters to hold their representatives accountable for their action (or inaction) in this case.

The United States Government has throughout it's history demonstrated a tremendous amount of cruelty and disrespect toward the native peoples of this continent. Granting the Innocent Leonard Peltier Executive Clemency would be a small but very important step towards mending years of injustice.

I join with tens of thousands of Rage Against the Machine fans in demanding that Leonard Peltier be freed. President Clinton, there are many dubious things for which history may remember you. You have the opportunity to be remembered as the President who had the wisdom and courage to free an innocent man. It is long past time to do the right thing!