In one of his last acts before leaving office, former President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents.

President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota.

For the family of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the news that President Biden had granted clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier shortly before leaving office came as a surprise."We were not given a head's up as a family,

President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years. Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was convicted in 1977 for the murders of two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Leonard Peltier has his life sentence commuted by President Biden during one of his last acts in the White House.

American Indian activist Leonard Peltier speaks during a 1999 interview at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan. President Joe Biden commuted to home confinement Peltier's life sentence after he spent most of his life in prison for the killing of two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975.

HuffPost unpacks why Joe Biden granting clemency to Native American activist Leonard Peltier in the final moments of his presidency is so significant.

The 11th hour clemency of Leonard Peltier has touched off a wave of joy, but it also brings pain to those who believe he should remain in prison for murder.