Man, I cant win for losing.
If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't
have no luck at all.
I been having buzzard luck
Can't kill nothing and won't nothing die
I'm living on the welfare and things is
stormy.
They borrowing their shit from the Salvation
Army.
But things bound to get better `cause they
can't get no worse.
I'm just like the blind man, standing by a
Broken window
I don't feel no pain.
But it's your world
You the man I rent to.
If I had your hands I'd give `way both arms.
Cause I could do without them
I'm the man but you the main man
I read the books you write
You set he pace in the race I run in
Why, you always in good from
You got more foam than Alka Seltzer"
While in
high school Brown began to get involved in the movement, in 1960, Browns high school class marched on the campus of Southern
University during the time when they had some demonstrations. As a result, the whole class was suspended for two days. From
that point on, Brown became interested in the movement. Brown and his brother Ed began to stay in very close contact while
Ed was away in college at Howard University. Ed would tell Brown about NAG (Nonviolent Action Group), a group of students
from Howard University that focused on community action throughout the communities of Washington, D.C.
At the age
of fifteen, Brown entered Southern University in 1960, majoring in sociology. In 1962, Brown began to spend his summers in
Washington, D.C., with Ed. Brown watched his brother become involved in NAG along with other future leaders of SNCC (Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee): Stokley Carmichael, Courtland Cox, Mary Lovelance, Stanely Wise, and Muriel Tillinghast.
Realizing the great struggle that African-Americans were up against at the time, Brown began to read books written by great
African-American leaders that influenced his actions more and more to take part of the movement: W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick
Douglas, Marcus Garvey, and Richard Wright.
During the
summer of 1963, Brown returned back to Washington, D.C. to spend another summer with Ed. That summer Brown traveled to Cambridge,
MD to help the residents, and organize and conduct meetings with other leaders. Any other time Brown would have something
to say, but he was content just be listening to the organizers speak. Brown was amazed with what he was hearing and influenced
by their words of liberty. Brown would later get home and discuss some things with Ed that he agreed and didn't agree on.
The following
summer SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) helped organize the Mississippi Summer Project in Holmes County. This
was the summer when James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman were murder by the Klu Klux Klan on Rock Cut Road.
Brown went along to Holmes County with other members of the SNCC to help for about four weeks, and returned back to Washington, D.C. Brown decided not
to return to school in the fall, so he left Mississippi early to go find a job within the Washington, D.C. area.
In the fall
of 1964 after the MFDP (Mississippi Freedom Democratic Project), Brown returned back to Washington, D.C. and found work as
a librarian working in the United States Department of Agriculture. Brown got the job through a friend of his that also worked
there, but Brown knew the job wasn't going to last very long. Whenever he could Brown would frequently commute back and fourth
from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta, GA to SNCCs national office; taking whatever chance he could to get out of town.
"I ain't
never been the too hip on punching time clocks and going
through all them kind of changes, so anytime I could get
leave- sick leave, bathroom leave, and any kind of leave- I'd leave. I'd split to Atlanta where SNCC's national office is. I was just about commuting between Atlanta and D.C., I took so much leave."
During the
entire fall of 1964, Brown was working with the students of Howard University that were apart of NAG; Brown was eventually
elected chairman even though he never attended Howard. As chairman of NAG, Rap's primary objective was to ease the tension
and unite the brothers on the block with the privileged Black college students.
Brown later
got drafted by the U.S. military, and to prevent from furthering entering the draft Brown immediately began to cause havoc
as soon as he got to Baltimore to begin his physical. Brown would not cooperate with the doctors, and he would even pick fights
with the staff Sergeants. Fed up with Rap's crazy antics, the army eventually rejected Brown to take part as military personnel. After returning from the military, Brown got a job working as a neighborhood worker
for an anti-poverty program in D.C.
In 1966,
Rap was appointed as Director of the Greene County project in Alabama for SNCC and was responsible for organizing projects
in the State of Alabama. Law enforcement agencies were immediately monitoring
his activities and leveled several infractions against him, especially during times of county and state elections. Rap was instrumental in organizing the Black vote.
In May of 1967, Rap was elected Chairman of SNCC, succeeding Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Toure). During Carmichaels chairmanship, the SNCC moved from a philosophy of nonviolence to that of Black Power,
by encouraging African-Americans to move to other forms of political and cultural empowerment.
Newsweek Magazine described Rap as: A disenchanted ex-poverty worker who affects sunglasses indoors and out, a droopy
mustache, a bushy natural coif and a curdled view of the white world He preaches armed eye-for-an-eye self-defense for Negroes
and packs a 12-gauge cracker gun in his own words.
On July 24,
1967, Rap was invited by a local civil rights group to address a rally in Cambridge, Maryland.
Rap urged a crowd of about 400 people to fight fire with fire. Black folk
built America, and if America dont come around, were going to burn American down Immediately
following his speech, and while walking with a group down Race Street, Brown received a gunshot wound to his forehead as local
police officers fired shots into the group of Black community residents. About
four hours later after Brown left the state, the Pine Street Elementary School burned.
This school had burned down twice before, and was a shell at the time of the July 24th burning.
Brown was treated for the gunshot wound to his head immediately after being shot, and later
prepared his self for a drive to Washington, DC. The police followed his vehicle
to the Maryland state line and watched him leave the state. A fugitive warrant
was issued, and then translated into a federal warranta descendant of the Fugitive Slave Law.
The United States Attorney issued the federal warrant, and Brown was charged with counseling to arson, and inciting
to arson and riot.
On July 25,
1967, the FBI made arrangements with Attorney William M. Kunstler to have Brown surrender to the FBI in lower Manhattan, at
11:00 a.m. on July 26th. The following day while en route to his prearranged
time and place, the FBI was at National Airport in Virginia and arrested Brown. Brown
was taken to Alexandria, VA, released by the federal authorities, but arrested again by Alexandria, Virginia police officials. Brown was released on a $10,000 bail.
On August
1, 1967, Brown was arrested in Dayton, Ohio and charged with advocating criminal syndicalism (no indictment was pressed).
On August
14, 1967 while traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from New York City to visit his parents.
During his travel, Brown carried a rifle and properly checked it in with the airline authorities. After returning back to New York City on August 18th, Brown was arrested in the early morning
hours of 2:00 a.m. on the 19th. Charged with two violations of the
Federal Firearms Act, which makes it unlawful for any person who is under indictment for a crime punishable for a term exceeding
one year to ship, transport in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm or ammunition (new charge was based on the August
14 indictment; the Maryland arson charge carried an imprisonment term of more than one year.)
Brown was
taken to New Orleans, and bail was set at $25,000. It later was reduced to $15,000
and Brown was released with a bond restriction confining him to the Southern District of new YorkManhattan, Bronx, and nine
counties within Westchester jurisdiction. The District Court stipulated that
Brown could only travel when permitted by the court at its discretion.
January
11, 1968, Brown was charged with intimidating/assaulting a New York City police officer
as he and another SNCC worker were leaving the lobby of the Cuban Mission. The
incident occurred after the officer inquired about a package the SNCC worker was carrying.
Brown remained in the Embassy for hours while his attorneys held conversations with
the NYPD. The charge finally was dropped in the following month of February.
Between the days of February 18-20, 1968, Brown traveled to California to talk with his attorneys.
While in California, Brown was invited to speak at a Black Panther rally and did so with his attorneys present. Brown and Carmichael were made honorary officers
of the Black Panther Party, and Brown received the position of Minister of Justice. Upon returning back to New York City on Feb 20th, Brown
was arrested approximately seven hours later. He was charged with violating the
terms of his previous bond, which restricted him to the Southern District of New York.
Browns attorneys argued that the trips to talk with his attorneys were allowed by
the court. Brown was released in New York and
required to appear in New Orleans the following day.
On February 21st, Brown
appeared before Judge Lansing Mitchell and bail was set at $50,000. During the
court recess, Brown was charged with threatening an FBI agent in the court hallway. Witnesses took the stand in Browns behalf describing
the incident; however, the judge, a former FBI agent, set a $50,000 bail on that charge and Brown
was jailed on a total of $100,000 bail.
While Brown
was in New Orleans Parish prison, April 11th, 1968, the Rap Brown Federal Anti-Riot Act was passed. The legislation passed the Act several days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was tagged onto a
fair housing law at the last minute by Strom Thurmond. Brown
remained in Parish Prison, fasting a total of 48 days, until April 19th, when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals finally reduced
bail from $100,000 to a total of $30,000: $15,000 on the travel violation and another $15,000 on the intimidation charge. Bond was posted and Brown was taken directly to
Virginia where the judge refused to set bail. Brown
waived extradition and was taken immediately to Maryland and released on bond.
Between the time periods of May 13th-22nd, 1968, objections from Browns attorneys, trial
on the Federal Firearms charge was held less than a month from Browns release in New Orleans. The jury found Brown innocent of carrying the rifle
to New Orleans while under indictment. The government presented news clippings,
and television and radio personnel as witnesses whom stated that stories concerning the Maryland indictment were carried during
August 16-18, 1967. Judge Lansing Mitchell sentenced Brown
to the maximum sentence of five years and a $2,000 fine. Brown continued on the original $15,000 bond, pending appeal. He
returned to New York City and was confined to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
August 29th, 1968, the New York Times reported
that the Republican Party leader of the House, Gerald Ford of Michigan, stated it was time to slam the door on H. Rap Brown
and other Black power advocates. Gerald Ford and Everett McKinley Dirksen of
Illinois cited Republican backing of the House-passed anti-riot bill. Ford maintained
that the anti-riot bill could be used against Brown, while Dirksen felt there were existing
laws on the books that could be used against him also. On April 3rd, the U.S.
Court of Appeals vacated Browns five-year sentence on the technical firearms charge for
the 5th Circuit and the matter remanded to the District Court for an electronic surveillance hearing.
Die Nigger Die! is the fiery title of Browns
autobiography. In it, he explains how even in his youth, he developed a sense
of outrage over racial injustice and was always arguing with teachers about prejudice in the works of white writers, for instance.
Almost three yeas after the Cambridge, Maryland
incident, on March 9th, 1970, the state of Maryland selected Bel Air, Maryland, as the site for Browns
trial on counseling and inciting to arson and riot. Pre-trial hearings were scheduled
over the objections of Browns attorneys. During
the morning hours, a car carrying two SNCC organizers, Ralph Featherstone and William Payne, exploded; both men were killed. The following day Brown failed to appear for the
hearing in Bel Air, Maryland. On April 20, the trial was changed for Ellicott
City, Maryland. Brown did not appear for that
trial also.
On May
6th, 1970, Brown was placed on the FBIs ten most wanted list. Hearing on wiretap issues was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. The
court ruled that all wiretap material was irrelevant to the Federal Firearms indictment, conviction, and sentence.
During Browns
absence, on September 24th, 1970, Judge Lansing Mitchell imposed another maximum sentenced of five years and $2,000 fine. On January 11, 1971, reporter Robert Woodward revealed that Dorchester County states
attorney, William B. Yates, stated to the Howard County states attorney, Richard J. Kinlein, that the arson charge against
Brown was fabricated to insure involvement of the FBI.
This arson charge (a felony) also was essential to the Federal Firearms arrest, indictment, and conviction.
On October 16th, 1971, after eluding the FBI
for a year and a half, reappearing out of nowhere after seventeen months of being on the run.
With three supporters who has joined him, Brown led an attack on a New York City
bar that was targeted for its exploitation of the community. A shootout with
the police ensued; Brown was shot and beaten on a rooftop on the Westside of New York City
by police officers. He subsequently was charged with 24 counts of robbery, attempted
murder, and possession of weapons, and was held under a $250,000 bail. A few
days later on the 19th, the Maryland State Attorney Richard J. Kinlein, who revealed to Robert Woodward that he was told the
Maryland charge against Brown was fabricated, was convicted of contempt of court and fined
$350 for making a statement prejudicial to a trial. No action was taken against
the prosecutor who admitted the fabrication to Kinlein; however, later the prosecutor, William Yates, denied the allegation.
In 1971 while Brown
was in jail, waiting for his trial, he converted to Islam. A fellow prisoner
suggested he name himself the trustworthy or Al-Amin in Arabic. Brown adopted
the name Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.
On March 17th, Imam
Al-Amin moved to reinstate his appeal on the Federal Firearms conviction. The
5th Circuit Court of Appeals set aside the sentence based on the fact that Judge Lansing Mitchell sentenced Imam Al-Amin in absentia-- an improper act.
June 2nd, 1972, although Imam Al-Amin was recovering from wounds sustained in October 1971, Judge Lansing Mitchell obtained a writ to
have Imam Al-Amin moved from New York City, where he was awaiting trial, to New Orleans
to be resentenced. Imam Al-Amins attorneys
argued fro Judge Lansing Mitchell to reduce the sentence. At the time of sentencing
and in 1968, Imam Al-Amin did not have a record of prior
convictions. Mitchell, however, imposed the same sentence of five years and a $2,000 fine, and stipulated that this
sentence not to begin until New York released Imam Al-Amin. This was ordered even though Imam Al-Amin was awaiting trial in New York and was electing not to post the $200,000 bail, reduced in February
1972.
On October 23rd, one week before the scheduled
start of the New York trial, New York Magazine published an article written by a former Commissioner of the New York City
Police Department. The article was an attempt to describe dramatically the events
of the morning of October 16, 1971, as told by police officers; it was highly prejudicial to Imam
Al-Amin and extremely accurate. The attorney representing the magazine
and writer conceded that various sections of the article contained misrepresentations.
The District Attorney maintained he had not encouraged the printing of the story and the trial judge refused the defenses
motion for dismissal. Imam Al-Amin filed a
damaged suit against the magazine, writer, and New York City Police Department.
After preliminary trial hearings in November
and December, and after three weeks of selecting a jury, Imam Al-Amin and three other co-defendants
finally began their trial in New York on January 15th, 1973.
On March 29, 1973, the jury returned a guilty
verdict on six counts of robbery, three counts of assault in the first degree, and two counts of possession of a weapon. The jury remained deadlocked on the three counts of attempted murder, and was dismissed
from any further deliberation.
During the month of April of 1973, the government
dismissed the 1968 indictment charge that was charging Imam Al-Amin with intimidating an
FBI agent; the government was ordered to prosecute or dismiss. Judge Lansing
Mitchell excused himself from the hearing the case based on the fact he was a former FBI agent and therefore would be partial. He refused, however, to excuse himself from any hearings on the 1968 Federal Firearms
conviction. Imam Al-Amin was sentenced in New
York to concurrent terms of 0-15 years on each robbery count, 5 to 15 years on the assault count, and 0-7 years on each weapon
count. In September the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn the
New Orleans conviction. In the following month of October, Imam Al-Amin filed a brief before the Supreme Court based on the wiretap issue in the New Orleans case. The Supreme Court subsequently rejected to review the case. Justice William O. Douglass dissented. On November 2nd, Imam Al-Amin was transported from Attica Correctional Facility to Baltimore, Maryland, to stand
trial on the 1967 charge of inciting a riot and arson.
A couple of days later on November 6th, 1973,
the Maryland Prosecutor who admitted the fabrication of the arson charge to Kinlein, announced during preliminary hearings
that the sate would not prosecute. Imam Al-Amin
was arraigned on a
misdemeanor charge of failing
to appear after forfeiture of bond. Imam Al-Amin
received the maximum sentence of one- year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine to run concurrently, as of October 16, 1971, with
the New York Sentence.
On April 29, 1974, a New Orleans patent attorney
wrote William Kunstler stating that prior to the 1968 trial in new Orleans, he overheard the trial judge, Lansing Mitchell,
state to a group of friends at a Bar Convention in Biloxi, Mississippi, that since he was just told he would preside over
the Rap Brown trial, he wanted to take care of his health so that he could get that nigger.
Imam Al-Amins attorneys immediately filed timely emotions challenging the conviction
and sentence.
On January 24, 1975, Imam
Al-Amin was transported to the New Orleans for a hearing on overturning the 1968 conviction or reducing the five-year
maximum sentence based on Mitchells prejudicial pre-trial statement and recently revealed government misconduct (COINTELPRO
operation). Another judge heard the argument, believed the patent attorney, and
stated that Judge Lansing Mitchell probably made the statement. Months later,
however, the judge refused to overturn the conviction or reduce the sentence. The
government was forced, at the January 24th hearing, to admit Imam Al-Amin was mentioned
as a target in sections of COINTELPRO; the FBI reportedly had a 40,000-page report on Imam Al-Amin. In September, Imam Al-Amins attorneys filed an appeal
in New York challenging the New York conviction.
On December 17th, 1975, Imam
Al-Amins attorneys filed an appeal on the New Orleans conviction before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal raised the validity of the 1968 conviction and sentence based on Judge Lansing Mitchells get
that nigger statement and the governments admitted COINTELPRO misconduct. Additional
surveillance memos from the U.S. Navy Department were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and incorporated into
the appeal.
On May 13th, 1976, Imam
Al-Amins attorneys, William M. Kunstler and Elizabeth Schneider, engaged in oral argument before the 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals challenging the 1968 New Orleans conviction and sentence.
On May 28, 1976, the State of New York answered
Imam Al-Amins New York appeal, and oral before the Appellate Division was scheduled for
June 1976. Later in June, the Appellate Division refused to overturn Browns 1973 New York conviction.
On October 11, 1976, Imam
Al-Amin appeared before the New York State Parole Board. He served the
five-year minimum sentence ordered by the New York trial judge. Hundreds of letters
were sent to the parole board in support of his release. Imam Al-Amin was released. The federal government later dropped
the Louisiana charges, and New York permitted Imam Al-Amin to transfer his parole to Atlanta,
Georgia.
After
three years in various state prisons, Imam Al-Amin won parole in 1976. His total jail and prison time was five years, including two years in jail prior to sentencing. Imam Al-Amin made Hajj (pilgrimage) to Makkah in Saudi Arabia. Following Hajj, Imam Jamil settled in Atlanta, Georgias West End community
and established the Community Mosque of Atlanta.
In 1983, Imam Al-Amin
National Community is formed. This is a coalition of thirty mosques, which traces
its roots to the Dar al-Islam Movement that was founded in Brooklyn in 1963 but dropped this name in 1980 after a split in
the organization.
Throughout the 1980s Imam
Al-Amin and his community are involved in cleaning out the area of drugs and prostitution.
In 1992, Imam Al-Amins
community becomes a member of the Bosnia Task Force, USA. The Bosnia Task Force,
USA was the first national alliance of ten Muslim organizations to mobilize support for Bosnia with Abdul Malik Mujahid as
its national coordinator.
On August 7, 1995, Imam
Al-Amins was arrested in Atlanta by the ATF, FBI, and police officers on a loan to the FBIs counterterrorism task force,
on suspicion of aggravated assault on a neighborhood resident, and charged with aggravated assault, and carrying a concealed
weapon without a permit. The alleged victim never identified Imam Al-Amins as the aggressor, although city and government agents attempted to pressure him in doing so.
On May 31, 1999, Imam Al-Amin was stopped by
a Cobb County police officer while driving in Marietta, Georgia. He was cited
and arrested for driving a reported stolen vehicle, and having no proof of insurance.
The police officer searched Imam Al-Amin wallet and saw a badge, and without questioning the Imam Al-Amin any further,
the officer added the charge of impersonating a police officer. Imam Al-Amin
was released on a $10,000 bond. After the arrest, the Imam presented evidence
from the mayor of Whitehall, Alabama, to the Cobb County prosecutors office that confirmed Imam Al-Amin's appointment as an
auxiliary officer youth in the town of Whitehall, Alabama. In addition, affidavits
were submitted that countered the theft by receiving stolen car charge.
On January 28, 2000, Imam Al-Amins Cobb County
case was scheduled for trial. A storm caused the Superior Court of Cobb County
to experience delays in the calendar calls. Imam Al-Amin did not have legal representation
on that day, and Imam Al-Amin received no further notification concerning the case.
Shortly before
10:00 p.m., in the late evening hours two deputies of the Fulton County Sheriffs Department approached Imam Al-Amins store
at 1128 Oak Street, Atlanta, Georgia, to serve a bench warrant for the Imam Al-Amins failure to appear in Cobb County for
the May 31, 1999 trial. The deputies left the store, after not receiving an answer,
and upon their return and stopping an individual, shots were fired. One deputy
was pronounced dead on March 17, 2000, and the other deputy remained at Grady Hospital recuperating from gunshots wounds. Although conflicting identification details were given of the assault, none matching
those of Imam Al-Amin, the serving deputy purportedly identified Imam Al-Amin. As
a result, various state, local, and federal law agencies launched a massive manhunt for Imam Al-Amin; as a result, for the
second time in his life he was one of the FBIs ten most wanted.
Four days after the shootings in Atlanta, Imam
Al-Amin was found and arrested in Whitehall, Alabama, and subsequently charged with the murder of the one deputy. He was taken to Montgomery, Alabama, where he stayed for one month fighting extradition to Georgia. While in the Montgomery Detention Center, Imam Al-Amin was indicted in Georgia on
13 counts including felony murder, aggravated assault upon a peace officer, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, possession
of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during a commission of a felony. Imam Al-Amin was remained in Montgomery, Alabama, fighting extradition to Georgia. Alabama attorneys, J. Chestnut, Rose Sanders, and Georgia attorney Musa Dan-Fodi represented him.
On April 16, 2000, during SNCCs 40th
Anniversary celebration, the friends and associates of Imam Al-Amin issued the following statement:
Raleigh, N.C.
We are
distressed by the recent arrest of our former chairman and co-worker, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, whom we knew as H. Rap
Brown. Al-Amin has been charged with the murder of the one Atlanta policeman
and wounding of another on Thursday, March 16th of this year.
The officers
say they were attempting to serve what authorities described as a `relatively inconsequential arrest warrant on Al-Amin. But we wonder why the Atlanta police would send heavily armed me, wearing flack jackets,
into Al-Amins neighborhood at 10 at night to serve such a warrant. Additionally,
why were 16 bounty hunters involved in the search for a man whose whereabouts and regular routines were well known.
What
most distresses us is that the facts as alleged are so completely out of character of the man we knew. For twenty years our brother has been a serious student of religion, a devout spiritual teacher, and public
spirited community leader. Nationally, he is highly regarded by the council on
American Islamic Relations, which in 1985 described him as `one of the Muslim communitys leading figures.
We ourselves
know him as a principled, compassionate man committed to justice for his people and devoted to the moral welfare of his constituency. Consequently, these allegations are totally contrary to the character of the man we
know and greatly respect.
In the Sixties,
Rap Brown was hounded by authorities for his militant defense of all forms of black protest.
Moreover, five years ago police pressured an Atlanta resident, who later recanted, in identifying Al-Amin as the culprit
in a shooting incident. Agents of the FBI, its Domestic Terrorism Task Force,
as well as agents of the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms converged in Atlanta to arrest Al-Amin. In the absence of any evidence, the charges were dropped. There
has never been any satisfactory explanation given for the presence and interest of the array of federal forces in a `routine
local incident.
In the light
of this past incident, the inconsistencies in the accounts of the current case, and our knowledge of his character, we urge
a suspension of judgment pending a thorough and complete investigation of the events of March 16.
On April 21, 2000, Imam Al-Amin was moved from
Montgomery, Alabama, to Cobb County, Georgia, and placed in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Three days later on April 24, Imam Jamil appeared before a Cobb Magistrate who explained the Cobb County
charges.
On May 4, 2000, Imam Al-Amin made his first appearance
in Fulton County Superior Court. Two Georgia attorneys, Jack Martin and Bruce
Harvey, were approved to represent the Imam on the Fulton County charges. The
Fulton County district attorney announced that they will be seeking the death penalty, and the attorneys for Imam Al-Amin
filed numerous motions.
On May 31, 2000, Imam Al-Amin appeared in Fulton
County Superior Court, and among the issues addressed was the violation by Sheriff Barrett of a restrictive order in that
she released transmission tapes of one of the deputies calling for help while shots were being fired on the evening of March16,
2000. The Superior Court judge found Sheriff Barrett in constructive contempt
of the restrictive order.
In June 2000, Otis Jackson, 26, confesses to
killing the police officer. While in a Las Vegas, Nevada jail, he gives possible
detail to the shootings that allegedly happen according to Otis. Otis also goes
as far as writing Attorney General, Janet Reno, explaining his side of the story and his sorrow for Imam Al-Amin for taking
the blame for the murder. While trying to find Otis to question him, Otis later
recants and Imam Al-Amins legal defensive team is not informed of it. After being
released from the Las Vegas, Nevada, jail, Otis Jackson is disappears and is no longer heard from.
On January 21, 2001, Mayor Johnny Jackson of
Whitehall, Alabama, takes Shahada and has become Muslim. Mayor Jacksons acceptance
of Islam is administered
by Shaykh Muhammed S. Jara at
a former Masjid. The mayor is Imam Al-Amins friend who reportedly gave him the
honorary police badge that was used by Atlanta police to accuse Imam Al-Amin of presenting himself as a police officer. This is also the town where Imam Al-Amin was arrested.
In March 2001, an inmate at the Fulton County
jail writes a letter alleging that an officer working amongst the inmates has made a threat on the life of Imam Al-Amin. He says that he has a list of names of other inmates who are also witnesses to the
threat. The alleged threat and others are becoming more ominous. Prior to his current alleged threat, an officer representing the state spoke the following words to another: he wont make it to trial.
On
March 9, 2002, jurors found Imam Al-Amin guilty on all 13 counts that he faced, including murder, felony murder, aggravated
assault on a police officer, obstructing a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearmn by a convicted felon.
Imam
Al-Amin is currently appealing the covictions of the 2002 murder allegations.
Information to form this timeline was received from: ImamJamil.com, "Die Nigger
Die" The Autobiography of H. Rap Brown, and various sources provided by the Brown/Al-Amin family.