What came later was a global movement. Abu-Jamal became an international symbol for institutional racism and judicial abuse and a cause celebre for anti-death penalty advocates. His face was a prominent image at anti-death penalty rallies, progressive gatherings and Beastie Boys concerts. By the s, his name had become a shorthand for injustice and racism within America.
In doing so, his supporters turned Abu-Jamal from a man into a myth. Now, Abu-Jamal is off death row , serving a life sentence with no chance of parole. The decision came this week after years of appeals, cemented when the Philadelphia district attorney declined to pursue a new sentencing trial after a higher court declared the death penalty verdict invalid. For supporters of the family of Daniel Faulkner, this case has always been about the death of the officer and the facts of the murder presented at trial: witnesses who placed Abu Jamal at the scene, Abu-Jamal's gun recovered nearby and a bullet from Faulkner's weapon lodged in his ankle.
That numerous appeals from the Abu-Jamal legal team were denied by the courts only steeled their resolve that the facts were on their side. Supporters of Abu-Jamal maintain his innocence, and say he was a victim of a corrupt system. For them, the focus of the case is less about the specifics of that night than the institutional problems within American law enforcement.
The circumstances of the trial spoke to structural issues with the criminal justice system long argued by anti-death penalty advocates, says Shari Silberstein, executive director for Equal Justice USA.
An all-white jury for a black man. A judge with a reputation for being tough on minorities. A city fraught with racial tension. The group, many of them MOVE members, gathered at the corner of 52nd and Larchwood Streets to demand freedom for Abu-Jamal, 66, a MOVE supporter who lived under a death sentence for two decades before his sentence was overturned by a federal judge in The campaign to free the former taxi driver, Black Panther member, and author of 13 books garnered support last month from former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who said Abu-Jamal was framed and called for his release from prison.
Janine Africa, 65, a MOVE member who spent 41 years in prison for the death of a Philadelphia police officer who died during a clash with the group, characterized the apology as a public relations stunt.
Faulkner and Abu-Jamal crossed paths shortly before 4 a. Abu-Jamal, who happened upon the traffic stop while driving his taxi, shot Faulkner in the back with a.
Having lived and worked in Philadelphia for about 12 years, I happen to know a few things about the murder of Officer Danny Faulkner. On Dec. Abu-Jamal happened upon the scene, and shooting began. Faulkner ended up dead, and Abu-Jamal was shot in the chest.
A gun registered to Abu-Jamal, with five chambers empty, was on the sidewalk. Four witnesses who saw all or part of the shooting implicated Abu-Jamal. One witness said that after Faulkner went down, Abu-Jamal stood over him and sealed the deal with a bullet through the head. Twenty-two members of the British Parliament called for a new trial, and this month the Paris City Council made Abu-Jamal its first honorary citizen in 30 years.
The last was Picasso. These people believe with all their heart, and very little of their head, that Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner who was framed, scapegoated and railroaded by a racist police force and a hanging judge.
He wanted to make a political statement. At times, Abu-Jamal was removed from the courtroom because of his outbursts. The caller told me he worked in entertainment and had been handed a petition demanding a new trial for Abu-Jamal. Everyone in his office was happily signing up, but he wanted to know more before jumping on the wagon, and someone suggested he call me. He read me a list of claims about coerced witnesses, suppressed evidence, fabricated evidence and dark conspiracies. And then I understood the Abu-Jamal fever and accompanying dementia.
While there was a grain of truth to some of the claims, many were simplifications, exaggerations or outright lies.
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