Jalil Muntaqim
Biography
Jalil Muntaqim is a political activist and a former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member who, after serving almost 50 years in prison, was released on October 7, 2020. During his decades in prison, Jalil led education and mentorship programs for other people in prison, as well as earning numerous educational degrees and mentoring many younger incarcerated men. As a human rights advocate, he had the first U.S. prisoners national petition heard and recorded by a Special Committee at the United Nations on U.S. prisons and the existence of U.S. political prisoners. He has litigated several civil rights complaints on behalf of prisoners.
Formerly known as Anthony Bottom, Muntaqim became a Black Panther at 16. At 19, he alongside Albert Washington and Herman Bell (the New York 3) were accused of engaging in a shoot-out with the police which left two officers were killed based on testimony provided by government informant Ruben Scott. These convictions were part of a larger FBI program known as Operation NEWKILL. All three members of the New York 3 were specifically named in COINTELPRO documents as members of the black liberation movement who had to be "neutralized."
On May 26, 1971, only 5 days after the crime FBI Director Hoover was called to the White House, and in a secret meeting with President Richard Nixon, John Erlichman, the Domestic Advisor to the President, as well as members of the Watergate plumbers. They discussed this case and established the FBI would solve the crime under the code name NEWKILL, or New York killings. It is believed that in this meeting, the FBI and White House conspired to frame Black Panthers for the killings.
Furthermore, on May 19, 1971, only three days before the shooting, two other NYPD officers were injured. Dhoruba bin Wahad (formerly Richard Moore), was convicted in that case and served 19 years in prison for attempted murder. At the time of his arrest, Dhoruba was a ranking member of the Black Panther Party and a target of COINTELPRO. Eventually, in 1990, he was released due to a successful appeal based on information found in COINTELPRO documents, which detailed how evidence was manufactured and testimony perjured. Similar evidence has not been allowed as evidence in the case of the New York 3.
The November 2019 compilation identifies Muntaqim as Anthony Jalil Bottom and reports a campaign supporting his application to Governor Andrew Cuomo for commutation to time served after repeated parole denials. The application and supporters’ arguments did not themselves grant release. His subsequently recorded parole remains separate from this contemporaneous campaign. Source: https://nycabc.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/updates-12-nov-2019-1.pdf#page=7
An essay signed Anthony Bottom, B-39993, 4-N-19, San Quentin, discusses the Weather Underground’s political strategy and opposition to state repression. This records his prison political writing and institution in early1976, not a new criminal case or admission date. Pages24-26. Source: https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC514_scans/SLA%20Dragon/514.SLA.Dragon7.Febmarch1976.Periodical.pdf
The May 30, 1975 statement in the July newsletter individually names this prisoner in its contemporary political-prisoner account. The statement documents historical imprisonment rather than a new arrest or a current custody claim. It supplies no new individual discharge or complete sentence duration. Black Community News Letter, volume13, July1975, Awakening of a Dragon, original PDF page 22. Source: https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC32_scans/32.BlackComNewsletter.AwakeningofaDragon.pdf#page=22
Muntaqim’s July 6, 2009 statement reports his no-contest plea and a disposition of three years probation and one year in jail credited as time served, concurrent with his existing New York sentence. The accompanying update, printed page 43 (PDF 10), reports close to two and a half years already spent in county jail on the SF8 proceedings and says he would return to New York to pursue parole. This is a separate California legal disposition within ongoing custody, not a new release from all imprisonment or additional nonoverlapping time served. No exact California admission or transfer day is established.
The New York Five trial was underway in March 1974
The April 10, 1974 bulletin individually names Anthony Bottoms among the New York Five, with Herman Bell, Anthony Bottoms, Gabriel and Francisco Torres, and Albert Washington. It reports that their trial on the May 21, 1971 police-killing charges began March 11, 1974 after pretrial motions, and was still underway when this issue was prepared. The source’s names and case context correspond to this existing profile; the 1971 date is the alleged offense, not every defendant’s arrest day.
This is a contemporary report of a pending trial, not a report of final conviction, dismissal, admission or discharge. It is kept separate from later trial outcomes and other prosecutions already described here. No new imprisonment interval or counter is inferred from the trial opening or the general appeal for prisoner support.
Friends of Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli Bulletin, no. 4, April 10, 1974, original PDF pages 4. Contemporary descriptions are attributed to the bulletin.
The newsletter identifies Anthony Bottom, public prisoner number 77A4283, at Sullivan Correctional Facility and describes his black-history teaching, international tribunal initiative and parole support campaign. Pages 17–19 identify August 28, 1971 capture and a twenty-five-years-to-life sentence; the forty-five/forty-seven-year summaries reflect different copied texts and are not final completed-service totals. The planned 2018 hearing does not establish release.
The Dragons Fire, National Jericho Movement Newsletter, vol. 6, July–August 2018, PDF page 14.
The update reports a September 10, 2019 parole hearing split between two members and an October 9 appearance with decision still awaited, alongside medical evaluation and Sullivan correspondence. An older birthday paragraph says nine denials while another article says eleven; these changing counts do not establish release. His Spirit of Mandela campaign is described on PDF 56–58.
The issue documents his post-release Spirit of Mandela advocacy and the Redemption poetry recording, based on his book Escaping the Prism Fade to Black. These are cultural and organizing activities after release, not renewed incarceration.
The Dragons Fire, March 15–April 15, 2024, vol. 72, PDF page 60.
Under Anthony Bottoms, the appendix lists him as confined in the Manhattan House of Detention awaiting trial in December 1973. It describes an alleged outside rescue plot; this is historical custody evidence, not a new sentence, admission or release date.
Report of the New York State Policy Study Group on Terrorism, November 1985, PDF page 84.
