Fight to Free
Jamil Al-Amin
The struggle for the freedom and liberty of Atlanta Muslim leader, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, must take place now, before the cold fingers of the state can close around his neck.
Imam Jamil has already received what can only be called a biased and prejudicial press, which has sought to depict him as a dangerous, violent radical. In every substantive news report there has been coverage of his brief membership in the Black Panther Party, but there has been little reportage of his other associations, and much less of his life as a Muslim Imam, who worked as an anti-drug activist, and for the betterment of the entire community.
Imam Jamil's political life didn't begin with the Black Panther Party. Indeed, accounts written by leading Panthers, like Huey P. Newton, or Elaine Brown, relate that Jamil, Kwame Ture (the late Stokely Carmichael) and James Forman, were "drafted" into the BPP, a "drafting" that was sabotaged by the FBI, and which did not last but for a few months.
Imam Jamil spent most of his political life as a field director and activist of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), before his later religious conversion.
But if you are the media, which is more "juicy," a 6-month-long alliance with the Black Panthers, or a 6-year period with SNCC? Which is more representative of his radical youth? Which is the longest? *Which is the most prejudicial?*
Imam Jamil, in addition to being a spiritual leader, was a businessman, who owned a local store. This is hardly the profile projected by the national press.
Arrested a year ago in connection with the shootings of two Atlanta sheriff's deputies, initial police reports strongly suggest the Imam is innocent of the charges. The surviving deputy told police investigators that his assailant was shot -- Al-Amin, upon his apprehension, was not wounded.
Another police witness reported that the suspect had grey eyes - Al-Amin's eyes are a dark brown.
At the time of this writing, the jury is being selected in a murder trial. This is especially troubling in light of the recent World Trade Center plane-bombings, as it has unleashed a national flurry of hatred against many in the Islamic community. When fear and hatred enter the mind, logic rarely lingers.
That said, Al-Amin's freedom lies in people who express their support now, instead of later. Fairness does not lie in reversing an unjust conviction; rather it lies in preventing one in the first place.
Imam Jamil has lived a good and rich life in service to his spiritual and ethnic community. He richly deserves the fullest support in all efforts leading to his freedom, so that he may return to the community. *Free Imam Jamil!*
Copyright '01 MAJ
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This column may be reprinted and/or distributed by electronic means, but only for non-commercial use, and only with the inclusion of the following copyright information: Text (c) copyright 2001 by Mumia Abu-Jamal. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of the author.
For info on how to get involved in the fight to free Imam Jamil al-Amin contact the American Dawah Center at
ubenivan@yahoo.com or by writing to us at P.O. Box 2761. St. Louis, MO 63116
His shift had nearly reached its midpoint when he pulled his his patrol car, 612, behind a light blue Volkswagen Beetle near the dimly lit corner of 13th and Locust Streets. Faulkner had apparently stopped the Beetle for some sort of traffic violation. But at 3:51 A.M. something caused Faulkner to radio for a wagon-a clear indication that he had decided to make an arrest.
612: 1 have a car stopped ... 12, 13th and Locust.
Radio: Car to back 612, 13th and Locust.
612: On second thought send me a wagon 1234 Locust.
A police car then swung out in the direction of Faulkner. But as it was doing so, a passerby frantically stopped the vehicle, and an officer immediately put out a broadcast over the radio.
"We just got information from a passerby, there's a policeman shot."
Nine seconds later, when police arrived at the scene, they found that Officer Faulkner was not in the act of making an arrest. Instead, he was sprawled on the sidewalk with two bullet wounds. According to eyewitness accounts and testimony by ballistics experts and the pathologist who examined his body, the first bullet had been fired from approximately 19 inches away. It tore into the left side of Faulkner's upper back, one inch to the left of the midline, almost at the base of his neck. According to the prosecutions reconstruction of the incident, Faulkner returned fire and actually hit the man who had just shot him.
While Faulkner was down on his back, the shooter walked over to him, stood at point-blank range, and continued to fire. One of the bullets hit Faulkner in the face. It erupted in a flash that a witness could clearly see, and Faulkner's entire body jerked from the impact. The bullet, fired from a distance of approximately 12 inches, entered his face five inches below the top of his head, exploded through his nose, tore through the bones of his face, through the bones above his eyes, through his entire brain, through the right parietal bone in the back of his head, and lodged in the right occipital bone. If there was anything merciful about the way. Faulkner died on the night of December 9, 1981, it was this, taken from the testimony of the medical examiner who performed the autopsy:
"Complete instantaneous disability and death."
This was, of course, the work of Mr. Mumia Abu Jamal, murderous animal.
Make no mistake. Regardless of what the assholes like RATM, Ed Asner, Sarandon et.al. want you to believe, "mumia" is guilty. The evidence against him is OVERWHELMING. He's a fucking subhuman monster. God, if only I could slide the plunger in to fill him full of poison.
Just this comment... a police officer was killed in a very cruel and gruesome way. They have the right man. His guilt is not in question. People are wasting their time here.
Mr..Mumbo Jumbo..is guilty of the crime he committed, and should have been put down like the mad dog he is.