Ishmail Muslim Ali

Ismail Ali is a Virgin Island independence activist and political asylee in Cuba known for being a part of the "Fountain Valley 5." The "Five" are a group of activists from the U.S. Virgin Islands. There was a turbulent period of rebellion on the Islands. The island was put under virtual martial law, and eventually five men: Ismail Ali, Warren (Aziz) Ballantine, Meral (Malik) Smith, Raphael (Kwesi) Joseph, and Hanif Shabazz Bey were apprehended and then charged with the murder after a planned robbery at Fountain Valley golf course, patroned by tourists mainly, resulted in eight murders. All the men were known supporters of the Virgin Island independence movement.

The five were charged after being subjected to vicious torture in order to extract confessions. They were beaten, hung from their feet and necks from trees, subject to electric shocks with cattle prods, had plastic bags tied over their heads and had water forced up their noses by the "defenders of the law." The judge (Warren Young) overlooking the case worked as Rockefeller's private attorney and even handled legal matters for the Fountain Valley Golf Course prior to being placed on the federal bench. Eventually, the five went to trial in what became known as the "Fountain Valley" murder trial. This was an obvious Kangaroo Court and a mockery of any sense of a fair trial. On August 13, 1973, each of the five men were convicted and sentenced to eight (8) consecutive life terms. The defense for the Fountain Valley 5 (civil rights activist lawyers William Kunstler and Chauncey Eskridge) argued that "the accused were politically motivated victims of systematic race-based civil rights deprivation; all the defendants were Afro-Caribbean, while seven of the eight victims were white." Ali has since denied any involvement in the 1972 shooting.

While still in custody, on 31 December 1984, Ali hijacked American Airlines Flight 626, forcing the pilot to land in Cuba. He was incarcerated in Cuba for an indeterminate amount of years before being released. He has been featured in the documentary "The Skyjacker's Tale"

The documentary press notes for The Skyjacker’s Tale describe the five defendants’ August 13, 1973 convictions and sentences of eight consecutive life terms plus ninety years, followed by transfer through Puerto Rico to mainland prisons. The notes record their allegations of coercion and the trial judge’s June 13, 1973 rejection of a defense challenge; the documentary’s challenge to the prosecution is not a judicial exoneration. Source: https://www.strandreleasing.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/skyjackerstale_pk.pdf#page=8

The film identifies Ali’s birth name as Ronald Jean LaBeet and describes approximately twelve years served before he hijacked Flight 626 to Cuba on December 31, 1984 while being transported under guard. That approximate account does not replace the independently recorded daily custody endpoints. A pilot biography elsewhere in the press kit inconsistently says 1983; the film’s repeated chronology gives 1984. Source: https://www.strandreleasing.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/skyjackerstale_pk.pdf#page=7