NYC Jericho Movement

Coalition of Supporters announces the
Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign

New York, NY (January 13, 2021) - A former employee of NASA and a civil rights era Freedom Rider, Sundiata Acoli turns 84 on January 14. The college graduate and grandfather of two has been incarcerated for over forty-seven years. Acoli has been consistently denied parole for more than twenty-five of those years, going all the way back to 1994.

The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign (SAFC) is the largest coordinated campaign to free Acoli since his incarceration and follows years of behind the scenes advocacy and legal filings. The campaign will use the hashtag #BringSundiataHome and kicks off this week. There are media appearances planned throughout the week as well as a major social media push on Thursday where individuals, advocates and other organizations and religious institutions will join in the wishes of love and support for the soon to be 84 year old.

Following his conviction in the murder of New Jersy State Trooper Werner Foerester in 1973, Acoli was sentenced to life. In the Garden State, those convicted and sentenced to life are eligible for parole after twenty-five years.

“Sundiata Acoli has had a near perfect disciplinary record for 40 years, with no violations of any kind for the past twenty-five years,” explains Acoli’s attorney, Bruce I. Afran. “I have come to know Mr. Acoli well over the past nine years. He has emerged into a useful, law abiding and productive member of the community, albeit while incarcerated. He has evolved so far in his life and thought that he has been approved to teach the Federal Bureau of Prisons’s course in Avoiding Criminal Thinking, the program to teach younger inmates how to avoid recidivism.”

Sundiata’s health is deteriorating in his late stage of life and is now being treated for advancing dementia, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, emphysema and glaucoma. The frail senior citizen also lost 30 pounds during a long battle with the Covid-19 virus; he was one of those blessed to survive the health scare. He should be released before his health is further compromised.

Nearly fifty religious leaders across New Jersey said the following in a joint statement to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy last June when asking for a commutation of Acoli’s sentence:

“Mr. Acoli had to be rushed to a hospital in Maryland when he fell ill from the COVID19 virus. For several days he was maintained on oxygen,” says the group of faith leaders across multiple denominations and thirty-nine religious institutions. “Recently, he was bedridden for a week due to intestinal complications. For all of the reasons stated above, we unconditionally call upon you to release Mr. Acoli from prison immediately. When he is released, we pledge to support you and champion your just and humane decision,” the statement concludes.

“As his daughter, I can say that the Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign means so much to me and our entire family,” says Sunni Middleton, an executive in finance. “The death of officer Foerester was a tragic event and we grieve for that loss and pray for the healing of all families involved. My dad is in his twilight years and he has paid for that terrible incident while showing us how to be accountable for one's actions.

Our family is so grateful for this outpouring of support from members of the community and the Freedom Campaign,” adds Middleton. “It gives us the strength, and faith, to see this through and to know that our prayers may one day be answered and my father will be in his family’s care to live out the remaining years of his life.”

The Freedom Campaign

The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign (SAFC) kicks off this week
with the following activities:

Thursday, January 14th
Sundiata Acoli birthday letter writing campaign

The letter writing campaign started at the turn of the new year
and will culminate on his birthday, January 14.

Saturday, January 16th
12:00 P.M.
The People Are Suffering:
Martin Luther King March for Racial and Economic Justice
Location: Lincoln Statue
12 Springfield Avenue
(Intersection of Springfield Avenue and West Market Street)
Newark, NJ 07102

The SAFC will participate in this MLK march carrying signs to #BringSundiataHome. They will also hand out informational flyers
to spread the word in the Black and Brown community
as the group begins its public outreach around this case.

For more information visit our Facebook page or email Sundiataacolifc@gmail.com.

We need Justice, Equality and Freedom. Free them All!

Write to Sundiata: Sundiata Acoli (Squire), 39794-066, FCI Cumberland. P.O. Box 1000, Cumberland MD 21501.

Urgent action needed for Russell Maroon Shoatz!

From the Shoatz family:

We learned just last week that our beloved elder Russell Maroon Shoatz contracted COVID 19. Maroon is a prisoner in Pennsylvania and a former Black Panther who has been imprisoned since 1970. He is 77 years old.

He has been living with stage 4 colon cancer since last year. And just as he was exiting the prison walls last week to get the tumor removed at a hospital, he was stopped at the door and asked to take a COVID test. He tested positive. Immediately they sent him to a small gymnasium where others with COVID are being quarantined in the prison. When he got there, he found 29 senior prisoners who said to him: "welcome. We've been waiting for you, we figured it wasn't long before you got it too."

This means that there are 30 seniors with COVID in a dank, cold gymnasium in a prison in PA. They are being held under the most inhumane conditions imaginable. 30 men including Maroon had access to only one bathroom. Maroon was put in a space without a light and had go to the bathroom on himself because he couldn't risk getting up and falling.

Maroon's family and the community mobilized and we won his transfer to the infirmary. But we need him to come home.

But this human rights catastrophe is repeating itself across the state and across the country because prisons are a death trap in the age of COVID. Prisons are on lock down in PA right now because the virus is spreading like a storm. Countries around the world like Iran and Turkey have massively released prisoners, but the United States has refused to decarcerate it's mostly black and latinx prison population.

Maroon finally had his long awaited cancer surgery a couple weeks ago and is recovering well. He is in high spirits and back at SCI-Dallas. He sends his love, solidarity and gratitude for everything — all the wishes, money, community organizing, etc. — everything that so many of you have extended on his behalf.

After Maroon was diagnosed with Covid in December a new coalition sprang into action. Members from NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, Texas and beyond have been meeting weekly to plan cultural events, online workshops, social media actions and in person events!

To join our weekly meetings or organizing email list serve,
contact maroonconnect@gmail.com

Russell Maroon Shoatz is no danger to his community. The civilized and humane thing to do is to allow him to go home to his family. We are asking for his immediate release and for the immediate release of all other aging prisoners over the age of 50 and those with pre-existing conditions for whom incarceration is a death sentence. We ask for the immediate and unconditional release of Maroon!!

All PA-based organizations, please sign a community letter demanding the immediate release of Russell Maroon Shoatz.

New Go-Fund Me to support the Shoatz Family

For sample tweets and graphics, check out the #FreeMaroon Social Media Kit

Continue to Call Governor Tom Wolf

Contact: (717) 787-2500

Russell Shoatz’s health is rapidly deteriorating. Demand Immediate Release of Russell Maroon Shoatz #AF-3855. They track the calls from different phones and how many times the same number calls so please keep calling and activate your networks.

Our sincere gratitude for all of your support.

Monroe County DA Attempts to Reincarcerate
Jalil Muntaqim on Fabricated Charges!

Jalil Muntaqim, former Black Panther and respected elder, was recently released after nearly 50 years in prison. The NYS Board of Parole, in his 14th hearing, interviewed him at length and determined that he met the criteria for discretionary release. He had an exemplary prison record, expressed sincere remorse, and posed no threat to the community. DOCCS’ own risk assessment tool, COMPAS, scored Jalil as having the lowest risk for reoffending. In prison, he earned multiple college degrees and helped avert prison riots; his release on parole was endorsed by hundreds of people, including academics, faith leaders, and the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus (of NYS). Jalil entered prison as a 19-year-old; today, he is a 69-year-old great-grandfather.

On October 30th, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley’s office issued a warrant against Jalil with charges for which no one in the state of New York has ever been arrested or indicted. This attempt to reincarcerate an elder still recovering from COVID-19 does not work in the interest of justice, public health, or public safety.

This apparently stems from his mistakenly filling out and mailing a voter registration form as part of a packet of medicare information that he had to complete. He was notified afterwards that he was ineligible to vote and that should have been the end of it.

The DA’s calls are outrageous, unprecedented, and come on the heels of a petition by Bill Napier, Chairman of the local Republican Party, to prosecute Jalil for voter fraud. These charges are politically-motivated, senseless and a waste of taxpayers’ money. None of the people in Monroe County who oppose Jalil’s release know him; they believe that anyone convicted of a serious crime should never leave prison. Whether or not one agrees with this sentiment, Jalil was released from prison according to the lawful procedures of this state. Jalil has scrupulously followed the instructions given him by his parole officer. In fact, hundreds of faith leaders, community members, elected officials, academics, legal experts, and civil rights organizations in Rochester and throughout the State of New York oppose this politically motivated effort by the District Attorney.

Jalil is grateful to have strong community support, is putting down roots, and reconnecting with friends and family.

Please sign on to the community letter being circulated which is in opposition to his reincarceration: https://urlat.co/8KOpt

The Police Accountability Board Alliance (PABA) held a press conference on Nov. 12, 2020 in support of Jalil. You can watch the press conference here: https://www.facebook.com/pabnow/videos/639217206747716/?vh=e&d=n. It is difficult to hear due to heavy background noise. Jalil's mother Billie speaks movingly at 13:54 minutes.

News Articles:
Cuomo denies Jalil Voting rights!
https://www.wxxinews.org/post/governor-denies-restoring-voting-rights-parolee-jalil-muntaqim

Faith and Community Leaders Call on DA to Drop Prosecution of Jalil
https://www.reclaimingthenarrative.org/post/faith-and-community-leaders-call-on-da-to-drop-politically-motivated-prosecution-of-jalil-muntaqim

Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
https://www.blackagendareport.com/gop-tried-re-imprison-jalil-muntaqim

Drop the charges against Jalil Muntaqim
https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/drop-the-charges-against-jalil-muntaqim/Content?oid=12588206

Jalil was released on his own recognizance by the judge at his arraignment. Grand Jury proceedings were be held on Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, but were postponed. No new date has been set yet.

The next court date for Jalil was set for Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, but has now been postponed indefinitely due to Covid restrictions.

We WILL be mobilizing to Rochester to support Jalil
whenever the hearing is held!

Brighton Town Court
Brighton Town Hall
2300 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14618
(a few blocks West of the Twelve Corners)