Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Former Black Panther found guilty of shooting policeman

Andrew Gumbel
Monday 11 March 2002 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The former Black Panther once known as H Rap Brown has been convicted of murder and faces a possible death sentence for the killing of a policeman who tried to serve an outstanding warrant on him two years ago.

Brown, now a Muslim cleric known as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, was found guilty by a jury of nine blacks, two whites and a Hispanic on all 13 charges that brought him to the trial in Atlanta. The jury agreed unanimously that the defendant pulled a shotgun on two officers who approached him across the street from his Atlanta mosque in March 2000, killing one of them, Deputy Ricky Kinchen, and wounding the other. The court will reconvene today and a decision on the death penalty is likely to be made within a week.

The trial has attracted considerable attention, partly because the defence successfully had it postponed in the wake of 11 September. Mr Al-Amin's lawyers said they were concerned about possible anti-Muslim bias.

In the end, however, the Muslim issue did not seem to play much of a role with the ethnically diverse jury. Al-Amin, who is 58, has a long history of violence, stretching back to his most impassioned activist days in the 1960s and 1970s. He once said using violence to further political ends was as "as American as cherry pie".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in