Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad

Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad

Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad (born Richard Moore, 1945) is an American writer and activist, who is a former prisoner, Black Panther Party leader, and co-founder of the Black Liberation Army.

Contents

Early years

The shooting

On May 19, 1971, Thomas Curry and Nicholas Binetti, two NYPD officers who were guarding the home of Frank S. Hogan, the Manhattan district attorney, were fired upon in a drive-by shooting, with a machine-gun.[1] The officers survived, but were seriously injured, sustaining shots to the head, neck, chest, and abdomen.

The shootings took place during a period of intense violence between black activist organizations and the New York City police department. Two days later, NYPD officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini were shot and killed outside a housing project in Harlem.[2][3]

Wahad was arrested and initially charged with robbing a South Bronx social club, and then was later charged with the attempted murders of Curry and Binetti. The "Passin' It On" documentary by Jon Valadez on Dhoruba's case revealed, through FBI documents and eye witness accounts that The South Bronx Social Club was running and illegal drug ring and was a known place where Police took bribes. Dhoruba and other BLA members attempted to stop the drugs being pushed into their neighborhood.

Wahad's first trial ended in a hung jury; his second in a mistrial. Two years later, in 1973, his third trial resulted in a guilty verdict; he was sentenced to twenty-five years to life.[4]

Prison and release

Wahad spent a total of nineteen years in prison. While incarcerated, he learned about Congressional hearings that disclosed the existence of a covert F.B.I. operation known as COINTELPRO. In December 1975 he filed a lawsuit against the F.B.I. and the police department of the City of New York.

As a direct result of his lawsuit, over the next fifteen years the F.B.I. released more than 300,000 pages of documents regarding COINTELPRO. The COINTELPRO documents were the basis on which Wahad appealed his conviction, and on March 15, 1990, Justice Peter J. McQuillan, a Supreme Court justice in Manhattan, reversed it, ruling that the prosecution had failed to disclose evidence that could have helped Mr. Wahad's defense.[5]

While Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau stated that he planned to appeal the ruling, and would obtain a retrial if his appeal failed, Wahad was freed and released without bail.

Morgenthau's attempt to appeal was rejected by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court,[6] and on January 20, 1995, the Manhattan district attorney's office stated there would be no retrial, indicating that the current condition of the evidence would make this impossible.[7]

Lawsuits

In 1995, the F.B.I. settled with Wahad; the U.S. government paid him $400,000 dollars.[8]

On December 4, 2000, Dhoruba's suit against the New York Police Department, seeking $15 million in damages was scheduled to begin.[9] On December 8, 2000, the city of New York laid to rest a 25 year legal battle, and agreed to pay Wahad an additional $490,000 in damages.[1]

Aftermath

Wahad lived in Accra, Ghana where he organized on Pan-Africanism and the prison system. Using the funds from his settlements for personal damages from the FBI and City of New York, he established the Campaign to Free Black and New African Political Prisoners (formerly the Campaign to Free Black Political Prisoners and Prisoners-of-War) and founded the Institute for the Development of Pan-African policy in Ghana.

He currently lives in New York City and continues his work.

Bibliography

Books

Essays

References

Books

Magazines and newspapers

Film

  • Jon Valadez (1992) Passin' it On iMDB

"Framing the Panthers In Black and White", documentary on Dhoruba Bin-Wahad, by Chris Bratton and Annie Goldson

Music

  • Resist and Exist (2001) Human, Earth, Animal Liberation (HEAL), features the track: Dhoruba bin Wahad

Documentary on Dhoruba Bin-Wahad, "FRAMING THE PANTHERS, In Black and White", by Chris Bratton, and Annie Goldson

External links

Notes

  1. ^ a b City Agrees to Settle Suit By Former Panther Leader
  2. ^ The Badge of the Assassin, Robert K. Tanenbaum (ISBN 0-52-506070-7)
  3. ^ Joseph Piagentini And Waverly Jones
  4. ^ Rush Transcript
  5. ^ Court Erupts As Judge Frees An Ex-Panther
  6. ^ State Appeals Court Narrows Right to a New Trial When Evidence Is Withheld [1]
  7. ^ No Retrial in Shootings
  8. ^ Imprisoned Intellectuals: America's Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion, Page 95 (ISBN 0-74-252027-7)
  9. ^ Defiant Ex-Black Panther Sues Defiant New York Police

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