I’ve been listening to this story about the Black Panthers voter intimidation case in a fashion I imagine lots of people do, catch a bit here and catch a bit there. So today when Dr. Muhammad got my attention (see my previous post and video), I realized I didn’t know much about it.
And, I’ll have to say it is not easy to find all the details either. Just for the record, I’ll state what I did learn:
It was the Bush Department of Justice that filed the original case. It was a Civil case, not criminal, and to find the actual case number and look at it, I have not been able to do.
But, the best I can tell without actually looking at the complaint, is it was filed against three people: Jerry Jackson, King Samir Shabazz, and Malik Zulu Shabazz. The defendants failed to file an answer to the complaint or respond in any way, so the case was eligible for a default judgment. But instead of filing the default judgment, the Holder DOJ filed a voluntary dismissal for Jerry Jackson and Malik Zulu Shabazz, and a weak restraining order against King Samir Shabazz AKA Maurice Heath. (It gets a little confusing because there are two guys named Shabazz.) King Samir Shabazz is the one seen on a video screaming about killing white babies, the one with the beard in the video.
Anyways, there wasn’t a “conviction” against them, which would be only possible in a criminal case. The case was dropped after being eligible for a default judgment in favor of the DOJ.
I am not sure if Malik Zulu Shabazz was actually at the polling place where this happened or if he was filed against because he is the Head of the Black Panther Party. I don’t believe I see but two guys in the video.
Court records show that as late as May 5, the Justice Department was still considering an order by U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell in Philadelphia to seek judgments, or sanctions, against the three Panthers because of their failure to appear.
But 10 days later, the department reversed itself and filed a notice of voluntary dismissal from the complaint for Malik Zulu Shabazz and Mr. Jackson.
That same day, the department asked for the default judgment against King Samir Shabazz, but limited the penalty to an order that he not display a “weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location on any election day in the city of Philadelphia” until Nov. 15, 2012.
http://yedda.com/questions/Obamas_Ties_Black_Panthers_8627678161013
I wasn’t going to post a video, but this one is pretty good, and the MUSIC is just too choice to pass up!
Posted: 07.10.10
can i just finish my waffle? 