The College at Brockport, State University of New York, booked a paid speech by a black supremacist who killed two NYPD officers. The univ...
The College at Brockport, State University of New York, booked a paid speech by a black supremacist who killed two NYPD officers.
The university pulled funding for the event after backlash, but has refused to cancel the speech.
Jalil Muntaqim, formerly known as Anthony Bottom, assassinated the officers as part of the “Black Liberation Army” in 1971.
The event is titled, “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim” and is set to take place on April 6.
“Jalil is author of the seminal work, ‘We Are Our Own Liberators,’” a description of the event states. “He gained his freedom in fall 2019, and currently resides in Rochester, NY. He is a member of Citizens Action Network and People Liberation Program, as well as a grandfather, father, mentor to many, and loving human being.”
The description does not mention his ties to terrorist organizations and describes him as a “political prisoner.”
According to a report from the National File, “Muntaqim has been invited to speak under a grant for ‘Promoting Excellence in Diversity.’ Additionally, the convicted cop killer is set to be paid a little over $1,000 for the event, according to the university.”
“On May 2, 1971, Muntaqim and a fellow Black Liberation Army member shot NYPD officers Waverly Jones and Joseph A. Piagentini in the back. Piagentini pleaded for his life and told the gunmen that he had a wife and children, at which point Muntaqim and his associate took his service pistol and fired several more shots. Piagentini was shot 22 times and died while being transported to a Harlem hospital,” the report explains. “The Black Liberation Army was a black supremacist organization responsible for the murders at least 10 police officers. Former BLA member Assata Shakur played a role in the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973. She escaped from prison and received asylum from Cuba.”
Muntaqim has never expressed remorse or apologized to the families.
Diane Piagentini, the widow of officer Joseph Piagentini, wrote to SUNY Brockport to remind the college president of what happened to her husband, according to a report from Fox 59.
“While my husband lay on the ground pleading with them not to kill him, pleading he had a wife and children,” Mrs. Piagentini said in her letter, “Bottom took his service revolver and emptied it into his body. There were 22 bullet holes in his body.”
In response to the public outrage, the college said “…the committee has rescinded the grant and no funding will be used to pay the speaker. We are not, however, canceling the event. Academic freedom allows our faculty to invite guests of their choosing to campus to address our students.”
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