At 19 years old, Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom) became a political prisoner within the United States “justice” system after being charged and convicted for the killing of two police officers in New York. As a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, Muntaqim was a target of COINTELPRO. He has been in prison for 46 years.

In August of 1971, he was arrested under the allegations that Muntaqim and Albert “Nuh” Washington attempted to assassinate a police sergeant in retaliation for the assassination of Black Panther George Jackson. However, facts of his case have been disputed as he was convicted on circumstantial evidence. There are theories surrounding this particular case that insist during a secret White House meeting, President Nixon and FBI director Herbert Hoover made the decision to pin the murders on Muntaqim and Washington as part of COINTELPRO efforts to dismantle the Black Panther Party.

During his time in prison he has co-founded the Jericho Amnesty Movement and written three books, among a number of other accomplishments related to his commitment to justice. Most recently Muntaqim taught a Black history class (which led to him being placed in solitary confinement) to other incarcerated people. Muntaqim has been eligible parole since 2002, however he has been denied a total of nine times as of June 2016 despite his prison misconduct being characterized as “low”.

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