Rochester friends, activists, people of conscience, pls join us for this v imp protest on June 12 at 3pm sharp, at the Rochester Parole Office at South Avenue and Byron Streets:
After 43 years and seven parole denials, enough is enough! On June 12 at 3pm at the Rochester Parole Office, supporters of Rochester Free Jalil will deliver a petition with over 800 signatures from people across New York State demanding that Political Prisoner Jalil Muntaqim be paroled. They will not be alone. Citizens across the state (from New York City, Albany, and Buffalo) will take part in a coordinated effort for justice. Jalil’s supporters are tired of the racist and political parole denials that keep Jalil in Jalil in jail and are tired of New York State wasting their tax money to keep him there.
Who is Jalil Muntaqim? Jalil Muntaqim (formerly known as Anthony Bottom), is a Black Panther and victim of the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. He is also one of the longest held political prisoners in the world. In 1971, when Jalil was only 19 years old, he was arrested and accused of murder as part of the San Francisco 8. Later, it was discovered that Jalil was a victim of J. Edgar Hoover’s illegal COINTELPRO program. COINTELPRO was an effort to “neutralize” and “disrupt” social movements working for justice and human rights including the Black Panthers, the American Indian Movement, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Lawyers’ Guild, groups protesting the Vietnam War, and many others. Jalil is currently incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility in Western NY. He is now 62 years old and has earned a BS in Psychology and a BA in Sociology. He was twice awarded for preventing prison riots, has taught computer literacy courses, founded a men’s writing workshop, written countless articles, several books, and is a son, brother, uncle, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
The FBI and numerous police departments have since apologized for the massive illegal campaign against social movements that left dozens dead and hundreds behind bars. Despite these apologies, the victims of these campaigns are still incarcerated, torn away from their families and communities more than 40 years later. Jalil spending more time in prison away from his community will do nothing to restore justice. Even the son of one of the victims (Waverly Jones Jr.) has expressed his strong support for Jalil’s release. “I was hoping that the Parole Board would look into it and realize that these men have indeed done their time and done everything the state sentenced them to do,” said Waverly Jones Jr. Jail’s release would be a first step in healing the wounds of America’s violent and racist past. Forty-three years is well past time for release for a political prisoner from the Civil Rights Era. People across NY state are telling the parole board to stop wasting NY taxpayers’ money and release Jalil to the community, where he can make a positive impact and take a community leadership role.
For background information, check out www.FreeJalil.com
FREE JALIL
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
PAROLE REFORM NOW
FREE ALL COINTELPRO PRISONERS
