Colin Kaepernick calls for release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, former Black Panther convicted of killing police officer
Activist and free agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick called for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who was convicted of killing a White Philadelphia police officer in 1981. He made the comments during a virtual conference with supporters fighting for his release on Monday.
"We're in the midst of a movement that says 'Black Lives Matter.' And if that's truly the case, then it means that Mumia's life and legacy must matter," Kaepernick said in a video statement. "And the causes that he sacrificed his life and freedom for must matter as well."
Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter, was originally sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981, but he was resentenced to life in 2012.
"Mumia has been in prison longer than I've been alive," he said. Kaepernick claimed 64-year-old Abu-Jamal was "framed" in the killing and not given a fair trial.
Abu-Jamal was convicted of fatally shooting Faulkner after the police officer stopped Abu-Jamal's brother for driving the wrong way down a city street. Prosecutors said Abu-Jamal saw the traffic stop and shot Faulkner, who managed to shoot back. Abu-Jamal, found wounded at the scene, said in 2001 that he did not shoot Faulkner and argued in numerous appeals that racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 conviction by a mostly White jury.
Activist and free agent NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick called for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who was convicted of killing a White Philadelphia police officer in 1981. He made the comments during a virtual conference with supporters fighting for his release on Monday.
"We're in the midst of a movement that says 'Black Lives Matter.' And if that's truly the case, then it means that Mumia's life and legacy must matter," Kaepernick said in a video statement. "And the causes that he sacrificed his life and freedom for must matter as well."
Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter, was originally sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981, but he was resentenced to life in 2012.
"Mumia has been in prison longer than I've been alive," he said. Kaepernick claimed 64-year-old Abu-Jamal was "framed" in the killing and not given a fair trial.
Abu-Jamal was convicted of fatally shooting Faulkner after the police officer stopped Abu-Jamal's brother for driving the wrong way down a city street. Prosecutors said Abu-Jamal saw the traffic stop and shot Faulkner, who managed to shoot back. Abu-Jamal, found wounded at the scene, said in 2001 that he did not shoot Faulkner and argued in numerous appeals that racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 conviction by a mostly White jury.
