Brothers and Sisters:

Mutulu was transferred out of Coleman II Federal Prison in Florida on March 15, 2007:
(1) to sabotage and derail a parole hearing that had been scheduled for May, and
(2) to end the positive educational and cultural programming activities that he has spearheaded since his incarceration.

The Moves

Since March 15, 2007 (and as of this writing 9/07) Mutulu has been moved four times:

• 3/07 to Pollock, Louisiana
• 4/07 to Atlanta, GA
• 5/07 to Oklahoma City, OK
• 6/07 to Florence, CO (a super maximum-security facility)

The Pretext

The stated purpose of the investigation and interrogation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) was to:

• determine what Mutulu knew of how a film clip of a workshop held at the July 29, 2006 ‘Hip-Hop Summit’ at Coleman got on MySpace.com and how a DVD of the ‘Hip-Hop Summit’ was being sold on the street in Atlanta.
• that Mutulu made a video for personal gain.
• that he was running a business while incarcerated, namely the Dare To Struggle website.

Outcome of Investigation

After all the smoke cleared the final write up had to do with re-issue of the Dare To Struggle CD (a not-for-profit project from the start), which was actually done while Mutulu was in Atlanta, and an alleged coded phone conversation with a supporter while at Pollock. There was nothing in the final write up about videos. And there was nothing about his conduct at Coleman.

Political Purges and Retaliation Within the Prison

FCC Coleman is the largest prison complex in the United States with 8,000 prisoners in five facilities; two maximum, a medium, and low security male facilities and a women’s camp. Carlisle Holder, The warden of the maximum security prison where Dr. Shakur was incarcerated, worked with him and other socially conscious inmates to develop educational and cultural programs. This approach has been effective in terms of rehabilitation and maintaining peace. USP II, managed by Warden Holder, has experienced little violence while USP I, the other maximum security prison in the Coleman Complex, remains under lock down with constant violence, deaths and stabbings.

Since March 2007 Bureau of Prisons officials have interrogated, harassed, demoted, and purged Warden Holder and members of his staff. In addition prisoners who worked with Mutulu have been transferred to other facilities. This purge and retaliation is motivated by Justice Department and FBOP opposition to educational and cultural programs that have a life changing impact on the transformation of dozens of men, particularly youth from a criminal mentality to liberation consciousness. Obviously constant violence and hostility is preferred to rehabilitation and peace. Cultural and educational programming has been suspended at the facility and can only be approved from the FBOP regional office. The only programming allowed is religious programming.

Parole

We believe the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons were concerned that Mutulu would receive support from Warden Holder and other prison staff for his parole application. In February 2007 prior to the move, Mutulu’s unit managers had made a recommendation for custody decrease which would have made him eligible for transfer to a medium security facility. These factors had the potential of resulting in a favorable recommendation by the hearing officer. While the BOP has ignored recommendations from its own hearing officers in the past with regard to Mutulu it still might be embarrassing to have another positive recommendation documented. And so, they fabricated charges to get him transferred and the prison purged of officials who supported his work.

Mutulu decided not to go for a hearing in May. As a result of the moves he was separated from his possessions and files and would not have been able to prepare adequately for a parole hearing. We expect a hearing in December.

What Can You Do?

Mutulu needs support on many levels, so there are a number of ways that you can contribute to this struggle for justice and human rights!

WRITE Mutulu.

Please show him that he has a community of love and support, and that his sacrifices for our People have not been in vain. Oppose the attempts to isolate him. You can write to Mutulu at:

Dr. Mutulu Shakur 83205-012
[see address at mutulushakur.com]

CONTACT Bureau of Prison Officials:

Write to the regional and national directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons requesting Mutulu’s transfer to a medium security facility:

Harley G. Lappin, Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC
20534, USA

Michael N. Nalley
Regional Director, North Central Region
North Central Regional Office
Federal Bureau of Prisons
400 State Ave., Suite 800
Kansas City, Kansas
66101, USA

DONATE to Dr. Mutulu Shakur’s LEGAL FUND:

Mutulu’s attorneys give selflessly of themselves, defending him without compensation, and often at their own financial expense. Please support the legal defense of our warrior Mutulu. Make checks payable to IFCO/FFMS and mail to:

Family and Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur
[see address at mutulushakur.com]

Write a SUPPORT LETTER for Mutulu’s PAROLE!

Parole letters may be e-mailed to: Parole letters may be e-mailed to: [email protected], faxed to: 404-288-8786, or mailed to:

Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
PO Box 361270
Decatur, Georgia
30026, USA

We want to assure you that we have kept any support letters sent in anticipation of the June hearing and those will be presented in December.

Letters supporting Dr. Shakur’s parole might want to take into account his history of service to the community including:

• Employment at the Lincoln Detoxification Community (addiction treatment) Program as a political education instructor. His role evolved to include counseling and treatment of withdrawal symptoms with acupuncture.
• Managing a detoxification program recognized as the largest and most effective of its kind by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Acupuncture Research Society and the World Academic Society of Acupuncture.
• Treating thousands of poor and elderly patients who would otherwise have no access to acupuncture treatment.
• Developing the anti-drug program for the Charles Cobb Commission for Racial Justice for the National Council of Churches.

Since he has been incarcerated:

• Dr. Shakur has worked to promote education among other inmates and has participated in efforts to promote unity between prisoners from different regions, religious, ethnic and cultural affiliations in institutions where he was imprisoned.
• At each institution where Dr. Shakur has been incarcerated he has worked with other inmates, staff, and community artists, activists, and intellectuals to create educational and cultural programs as a vehicle to encourage positive development for the incarcerated, particularly Black and Latino youth. If you participated in these programs, please speak about your experiences and observations.
• During his incarceration he has sought peaceful means to resolve conflict.
• Based upon the above points indicate he will be a productive and positive influence in any community where he resides. Also, the charges for which he was convicted were politically motivated and related to a political climate in which the aim was to eliminate racial discrimination and injustice. Dr. Shakur has advocated efforts to bring about reconciliation from the conflict of that period. Keep in mind we are not trying to convert the Federal Parole Board to a particular ideology or campaign, but to secure freedom from incarceration for Dr. Shakur.

In the recent words of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, “When we stop and don’t move and become paralyzed by the present, we don’t deserve the future.”

Brothers and Sisters:

After being called for a meeting with officials of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), on Thursday, March 15th, 2007, Dr. Mutulu Shakur was snatched and transferred from Federal Corrections Complex in Coleman (FCC Coleman), Florida to USP Pollock in Louisiana. As he had done at other prisons, Dr. Shakur was effective in organizing educational and cultural programs in FCC Coleman, making a life changing impact on the transformation of dozens of men, particularly youth from a criminal mentality to liberation consciousness. As he had in other prisons, Dr. Shakur also worked to bring unity between a variety of religious, cultural and political communities in FCC Coleman, and the Black/ New Afrikan, Latino and Native American populations in the prison.

FCC Coleman is the largest prison complex in the United States with 8000 prisoners in five facilities; two maximum, a medium, and low security male facilities and a women’s camp. Carlisle Holder, The warden of the maximum prison where Dr. Shakur was incarcerated, worked with him and other socially conscious inmates to develop educational and cultural programs. This approach has been effective in terms of rehabilitation and maintaining peace. USP II, managed by Warden Holder, has experienced little violence while USP I, the other maximum security prison in the Coleman Complex remain under lock down with constant violence, deaths and stabbings. In recent weeks Bureau of Prisons officials have interrogated, harassed and pressured Warden Holder and his staff and without warning abducted and transferred Shakur. This harassment of the warden is akin to the firings of US prosecutors most recently discussed in the media who don’t tow the extreme right wing line. The same politics are at play in the Bureau of Prisons. Obviously constant violence and hostility is preferred to rehabilitation and peace. The reaction of the BOP to programs at FCC Coleman raise a serious question about the nature of incarceration in the United States: whether to “warehouse” prisoners or move to transform the incarcerated so they can return to their families and communities productive, positive, and socially conscious.

Two additional issues are of import in this situation. One, after 20 years in maximum security Mutulu was recently successful in having his custody level reduced to medium security. Second, we believe the BOP wanted to sabotage an impending parole hearing (which had been repeatedly postponed) at which Mutulu expected significant support from family and friends, as well as from prison officials at Coleman 2.

The transfer of Dr. Shakur is continued political harassment of a political prisoner, who is continuing to serve his people and Movement while incarcerated. We are asking all socially conscious individuals and human rights organizations to write the United States Bureau of Prisons and call for the following:

1) an end to persecution of Dr. Shakur by means of politically motivated transfers
2) an end to the harassment of Warden Holder and his staff
3) continuation of the educational and cultural programs at FCC Coleman

We are asking you to write letters to:

Harley G. Lappin
Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534

Ray Holt
Regional Director
Southeast Regional Office
Federal Bureau of Prisons
3800 Camp Creek Park SW/BDG 2000
Atlanta, GA 30331

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
House Committee on the Judiciary
United States House of Representatives
2426 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2214

[email protected]

Oppose this attempt to isolate Dr. Shakur by writing him at:

Mutulu Shakur 83205-012
USP Pollock
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. BOX 2099
Pollock, LA 71467

• According to federal law a federal prisoner is eligible for release on parole after serving ten (10) years of a sentence over thirty (30) years. Mutulu was eligible for a parole hearing in 1996 but his efforts to schedule one were blocked.
• A hearing was finally held in 2002 (6 years late). Parole was denied and Mutulu was informed that he would not be able to appear again before the parole board for 15 years.
• In 2004 a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed with the US District Court of Northern Georgia requesting correction of the error, i.e. 6 year delay in scheduling first hearing, 15 year hit on top of that.
• At statutory interim parole hearing February 8, 2005 the parole hearing examiner agreed that an error had been made and recommended to US Parole Commission that it correct the error.
• March 1, 2005 the US Parole Commission rejected recommendation of its own examiner and refused to recognize 1996 as the year Mutulu was eligible for parole consideration.
• Mutulu’s appeal of this decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was denied on November 17, 2005 based on the court’s belief that the “danger to society” posed by Shakur permits wide discretion by the Parole Commission in these matters.
• An appeal of this last decision was filed with the US Supreme Court; however, on June 14, 2006 the court decided not to hear the case.

February 9, 2005

TO: Friends and Supporters of Dr. Mutulu Shakur

FROM: Teri Thompson, Attorney

RE: Parole Hearing of Dr. Mutulu Shakur

On behalf of Dr. Shakur, we are eternally grateful for both your support and your spirit as we engaged in the ongoing battle to secure his release. Below is a synopsis of the history of the legal struggle and a summary of the recent parole proceedings.
HISTORY OF THE CASE

Dr. Shakur was convicted in 1986 to prison term of sixty (60) years in the Southern District of New York of Conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act and bank robbery. The United States Parole Commission scheduled a parole hearing in 2002. At the hearing, Hearing Examiner Sam Shoquist denied Dr. Shakur parole, and continued him to a fifteen (15) year reconsideration hearing. Therefore, Dr. Shakur would not even be considered for parole until 2017.

It is significant to note that per 18 U.S.C. § 4206(a), a federal prisoner is eligible for release on parole after serving ten (10) years of a sentence over thirty (30) years. In 1996, therefore, Dr. Shakur was eligible and fought to have a parole hearing. The same was denied.

In the meantime, Dr. Shakur’s legal defense team (Teri Thompson and Michael Tarif Warren) filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia wherein we alleged, inter alia, that the Parole Commission and the National Appeals Board failed to grant Dr. Shakur nunc pro tunc application of his parole proceedings to 1996. Under the nunc pro tunc doctrine, a court can give relief retroactively to correct an issue.

Interestingly, the federal court denied our petition just a few days prior to the February 8, 2005 interim parole hearing. We will appeal.

PAROLE HEARING

As many of you know, the statutory interim parole hearing for Dr. Shakur was held on Tuesday, February 8, 2005, at the United States Penitentiary-Atlanta. The hearing examiner was Rob Haworth. Present in support of Dr. Shakur were the following persons: Sekiywa Shakur, daughter; Watani Tyehimba, Paralegal; Richard Searcy, representative for Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney; and, Teri Thompson, Attorney.

While federal statute allows an interim hearing every two (2) years, generally the parole commission will not grant any reconsideration to the fifteen (15) year set-off unless new information is raised. We argued nonetheless that the parole commission violated federal law and the rules promulgated by the commission when it failed to grant Dr. Shakur nunc pro tunc application to 1996. We also raised other legal issues that were included in our petition filed in federal court.

Hearing Examiner Haworth noted Dr. Shakur’s exemplary institutional record, as well as the community support that continues to rally behind him. The hearing examiner agreed that the parole commission should consider granting Dr. Shakur nunc pro tunc application to 1996. In fact, Mr. Haworth stated that he would support and recommend that the parole commission take such action. Therefore, instead of the 2017 parole date, Dr. Shakur may be considered for parole in 2011.

While Mr. Haworth’s position is promising, we will continue our struggle. As noted previously, we are preparing to file an appeal of the federal court’s denial of our §2241 Petition. In closing, Dr. Shakur wishes to thank all of those who have supported him as reflected by the numerous letters of support and the well wishes from around the world. We will continue to update you as decisions are reached. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me through the Atlanta chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

-Teri Thompson

A writ of habeas corpus has been filed in federal court in the northern district of Georgia. Mutulu is seeking to reverse the 2002 determination made by parole hearing officer, Sam Shoquist, of the US Parole Commission that he would not be eligible for parole for 15 years. The defense team will argue the following points:

1. Mutulu was entitled to a parole hearing in 1996 but was unable to file because the Bureau of Prisons moved him constantly during that period as well as withheld important discovery information.
2. In the case of the 2002 parole application the hearing specialist engaged in a deception which resulted in important case information being withheld from our legal team.

Recently a US magistrate in the US District Court for Northern Georgia submitted a written order to the government requesting them to show cause within 30 days of receipt of the order, why Mutulu’s writ should not be granted. He further ordered that all available prior documents-pleadings, transcripts and decisions be included in their response.

Mutulu and 14 Others Released from Solitary Confinement on March 23rd, 2004

Mutulu was just released from solitary after 30 days. It is still not clear why he and 14 others were placed there. The problem centered on a poetry recital, which is being planned jointly by NCOBRA and the Georgia State College African Studies Department. Mutulu and the other prisoners had written poems and sent them to be read by spoken work artists at the event, which is to be a fundraiser for the organization Aid to Children of Incarcerated Mothers. The matter is still under investigation.

My dear Brothers, Sisters and Allies,

I want to emphatically thank all of you for your support. I could never find the words to convey my love to you, my people. Predictably as most of you have heard, the parole board turned me down. Knowing the nature of our enemy I was not overly surprised by the tactics used at the hearing. However, I do regret the emotional pain caused to my family and loved ones. For their sincerest desire to see me liberated placed them in a vulnerable position. They had hopes that I would be given at least some semblance of an impartial hearing. It was arbitrarily determined that I should spend another 15 years of my Life in prison before I am eligible for parole.

It has been a long-standing fact that the judicial system in America and its bureaucratic hierarchy can never provide equity or work in the interests of a political solution. For the name Political Prisoner itself signifies anti-government. Nowhere in the turbulent annals of American history has a Black Political Prisoner ever been given a pardon or any form of just political reprieve. And for a political prisoner to be subjugated to a judicial arena that rejects International Law is in itself a travesty, a miscarriage of justice, and is redolent of the era of “COINTELPRO.”

When I became a part of this movement I realized the great risk, that by standing by principles my Life and Freedom would be at stake. So many remain in prison- Ruchel McGee, Hugo Pinell, Sundiata Acoli, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sekou Odinga. And so many have died. And yet I still hold my head high because out of the chaos of brutal oppression a struggle was born, and it gave birth to one of the most beautiful movements that history has ever known. And I am a part of that struggle. And even from the confines of my limited quarters the struggle goes on.

In Honor of All our Ancestors, Martyrs, and Freedom Fighters…

Stiff Resistance,
Dr. Mutulu Shakur

The 2255 Petition of Marilyn Buck and myself has been denied.

We raised the post conviction petition on the grounds that:
1. The government failed to disclose evidence favorable to petitioners.
2. The government used perjured trial testimony in obtaining petitioners’ convictions.
The failure on the part of the government to disclose favorable evidence is so directly connected to the Counter Intelligence Program and its files and agents. An evidentiary hearing and disclosure would have shown the impact on our movement and organization. They have again rallied the judiciary and fascists into one objective to prevent this hearing from happening.

On the one hand, Judge Haight preferred in his decision to deny our motion. “The political climate of the time, of which Director Hoover was a catalyst in what was far from his finest hour, brought Federal and local forces together for surveillance and intelligence gathering purposes.” The judge chose to overlook the very specifics of the historical connections between the political history and organizations to which Marilyn Buck and I belonged which had already been established beyond contradiction were targets of illegal and criminal activity.

In fact, during the course of our trial my rights were violated to a criminal degree by COINTELPRO as a matter of law by the same Judge Haight.

The ruling by Judge Haight was that there was no evidence presented by appellants that BOSS, an intelligence division of the NYC police department, and the Joint Terrorist Task Force (which was made up of NYPD intelligence personnel and FBI agents) did not have an ongoing working cooperation of information sharing and intelligence gathering on individuals and events surrounding our case and movement as presented in court. Assata Shakur was wanted primarily for acts charged in NYC. All of her bank robbery trials, of which she was acquitted, took place based on BOSS and FBI investigations. Brother Abdul Majid was wanted for a gun battle with two NYC police in Queens when he was listed as the primary suspect in the Brinks case with which we were charged in 1981. That standing alone shows the cross pollination. If Assata Shakur was liberated what police intelligence would have the logical interest in theory and in fact? This was not the only evidence presented to the court.

A BOSS intelligence agent who had infiltrated the RNA, the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners, the Black Panther Party, among others – introduced an affidavit into the proceedings. The same agent who was assigned to me and the informer Tyrone Rison, who had worked with Mtayari Shabaka Sundiata and Abdul Majid. His affidavit stated for a fact that he had prepared over 500 reports on our activities and that during the course of the trial and investigation that his superior had requested an unsigned analysis of Dr. Mutulu Shakur to assist in the trial and ongoing investigation.
The court’s original ruling for the government to turn over those files was mysteriously reversed, but with the agent’s affidavit an evidentiary hearing would have been proper and legal. This would have been a means of getting to the truth of the government’s failure to meets its obligation to disclose evidence within its possession that was favorable to the defense. We are not sure of the specific rationale for the court’s fear of pursuing the truth. But, we will continue to expose the connection between the Counter Intelligence Program and our movement.

Let me take this opportunity to praise the dynamic work of our legal team, Jonathan Lubell, Michael Warren, Jill Elijah, Evelyn Warren, Watani Tyehimba, and the continued support of Family and Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, December 12th Movement, NAFFLA, and various anti-imperialist forces.

As stated before, we will continue this struggle to the next legal level on appeal. We will establish a record that will outline for history the particular repression of PP’s and POWs within the US legal system, requiring our movement to evaluate and participate in whatever benefits international law will provide for our situation as political prisoners and prisoners of war.

I implore you. We must prevent the vicious murder of Brother Mumia! We must prevent it at all costs!

Much love and respect. We are not dispirited. In fact, we are empowered by our resistance!

Aim high and go all out
Stiff Resistance
Dr. Mutulu Shakur

Federal Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr. of the Southern District Court of New York has set a hearing for June 26, 1998 to hear arguments on a habeas corpus motion filed by Black revolutionary nationalist Dr. Mutulu Shakur.

Shakur’s attorneys will argue that the federal prosecution team lied during the 1988 trial when it claimed that he had never been the target of a government surveillance operation.  A ruling in Shakur’s favor would result in his release.

Dr. Shakur, an acupuncturist and community activist, was convicted of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrput Organizations) Conspiracy in a federal court in 1988 and sentenced to 60 years.  He was charged, among other things, with aiding the prison escape of Black Panther leader Assata Shakur, now exiled in Cuba.

Attorneys Jonathan Lubell and Michael Warren will present a witness, Claudie Strickland, who will state that as an undercover agent for the New York Police Department, he had Mutulu Shakur and others under surveillance for approximately 10 years.

Although Mr. Strickland states that he filed 500 reports on Shakur during that time, government response to the court-ordered release of these files has been equivocal.  Officials respond that they don’t know where the files are, or that they never existed.  To this date, none of the reports has been released.

The suit against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which is based on the violations of the first, fifth and eighth amendment has been bitterly fought in the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Circuit. Our legal team of Deirdre Davis and Roger Wareham, Attorneys-at-law; Watani Tyehimba, private investigator and paralegal; and myself contested every effort on the part of the government’s attorney representing the BOP to undermine our legal team by painting me as a terrorist. Their theory, which proved to be successful, was to put my political view as a basis for the unconstitutional behavior in my transfer and isolation in the most maximum-security prison in this country. Their claims were that the reasons for the transfer were administrative, based on security reasons. We have pointed out, with evidence derived from the BOP secret files, (procured by Attorney Jonathan Lubell under Freedom of Information Act litigation) that without doubt or contradiction clearly state that their objective was to isolate me. This is verified by the following quotes:

In a March 4, 1994 – Memorandum for SIS Officer A. Aponte at Lewisburg to central file and office – in support of a transfer of Mutulu Shakur to Marion.

“Shakur in his cause and belief has made unauthorized contact with the news media in order to have a personal interview. He has also enlisted the service of three attorneys to pressure the media in conducting the interview.”

Another memorandum pursuing the same objective (that being my isolation at Marion and Florence, ADX).

From: Warden Brennan
To: Carlos Ortiz, Northeast regional

“I firmly believe Shakur needs the control of Marion, as he appears to manipulate the entire system. This sharude (shrewd?) behavior coupled with his outside contacts and influence over the younger Black element will have adverse effect on the mission.”

In the face of this evidence clearly there can be no doubt that there exists a ‘genuine issue in dispute’, which is all that is required in prevailing law to allow the civil legal process, the suit to continue its natural course.

The District Court as well as the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has drawn a line in the sand, choosing not to allow these violations to be brought out into the open courtroom with a jury. They fear the truth, which will not support the overall objective of denying the existence of PP’s and POWs as we continue our efforts to bring dignity to an undignified attempt to dehumanize us in particular and the disproportionate amount of oppressed nations inside of American prisons.

Our team believes the fight was and is important. We believe strongly that it should be fought, and we will exhaust all domestic legal remedies up to the Supreme Court. Thank you all for your support on this issue. It is a just fight to uncover the legalization of 21st Century slavery.

-Mutulu Shakur