Leonard Peltier sues after his art pulled from Olympia exhibit Native American civil rights activist imprisoned for FBI agents’ murders claims Washington state leaders violated his rights

Leonard Peltier, an American Indian rights activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents, has sued the state of Washington after four of his paintings were pulled from an Olympia exhibit. Leonard Peltier, an American Indian rights activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents, has sued the state of Washington after four of his paintings were pulled from an Olympia exhibit. Photo: STEVEN SENNE, ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo: STEVEN SENNE, ASSOCIATED PRESS Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Leonard Peltier sues after his art pulled from Olympia exhibit 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Leonard Peltier, an American Indian rights activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents, has sued the state of Washington after four of his paintings were pulled from an Olympia exhibit.

Filing a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, an attorney for Peltier and his son claims Gov. Jay Inslee and others violated the former American Indian Movement leader’s constitutional rights by blocking a planned display of his art at a state building. The paintings were instead exhibited at an Olympia co-op grocery store.

Peltier, now 72, is currently serving life sentences imposed after the murders of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. Coler and Williams were shot dead during a June 26, 1975, ambush on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Peltier, who lived in Seattle before involving himself in the radical Indian civil rights movement, was arrested in Canada the following year and ultimately convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. He has become a cause celeb among some of the political left, as he and his supporters have steadfastly denied the government’s claims against him.

Whether a political prisoner or an unrepentant cop killer, Peltier has become an artist. Lawrence Hildes, a Bellingham attorney representing Peltier in the civil rights action, described him as “an extremely accomplished painter” working in Native American themes.

“Since he is imprisoned and unable to give speeches and attend public events, his painting is his principal means of public expression,” Hildes said in the lawsuit, noting that Peltier’s son Chauncey Peltier operates a gallery in Portland showing his father’s art.

In November 2015, the state Department of Labor and Industries planned an art display celebrating Native American heritage. Art on that theme was to be displayed at the agency’s Olympia headquarters.

According to the lawsuit, Peltier’s son arranged to loan four paintings to L&I for the exhibit. They were displayed at the headquarters building until two former FBI agents pressed for their removal.

Writing the court, Hildes said Inslee and L&I officials decided to remove the paintings because of the controversy surrounding Peltier. The paintings were returned to Chauncey Peltier, who arranged to have them displayed at the Olympia Food Co-op.

Hildes contends the state violated the First Amendment by constraining Peltier’s free speech, and the 14th Amendment by removing the art without a public process.

Peltier is seeking unspecified financial compensation for the damages he claims to have suffered due to the state action. Attorneys for Washington state have not yet responded to the lawsuit.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.