Justice Department Files Suit Against New Black Panthers
Posted: January 9, 2009
Update: The U.S. District Court in Philadelphia issued an injunction on May 18 prohibiting Samir Shabazz from displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location in the City of Philadelphia on any election day through November 15, 2012. The U.S. Justice Department dropped all charges against the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), Malik Zulu Shabazz, and Jerry Jackson on May 15.
In response to the decisions in the case, Malik Zulu Shabazz stated that Samir Shabazz is no longer a member of the organization and reiterated his earlier statements that the NBPP does not "condone any type of illegal activity at polling stations."
The U.S. Justice Department has filed suit against members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (NBPP) over alleged voter intimidation by NBPP members on Election Day 2008.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Philadelphia on January 7, 2009, alleges that two NBPP members engaged in voter intimidation at a North Philadelphia polling station on November 4, 2008.
King Samir Shabazz, the group's local leader in Philadelphia, and Jerry Jackson, the chapter's chief of staff, stood outside the polling station in NBPP uniform. Shabazz, 38, brandished a police-style weapon. Jackson, reportedly a member of the 14th Ward Democratic Committee and certified poll worker, stated at the time that he was "making sure that media agitation does not disturb voters."
Malik Zulu Shabazz, NBPP chairman, claimed that that the men were at the polling station to protect voters against intimidation by white supremacists. He also stated that their presence was part of a national NBPP initiative to patrol election sites nationwide, something the group had announced on its Web site prior to Election Day.
The group claimed that it had "over 350 of its members on the ground in 15 Cities in order to ensure that people of color particularly our women, youth and elders, are ensured their right to vote and in order to provide security protecting our people in the face of real and confirmed Neo-Nazi, Skinhead, KKK, Aryan Nation and other White Supremacist threats."
The NBPP has since distanced itself from Samir Shabazz and the polling station incident in Philadelphia. A statement on the groups' Web site says:
"The New Black Panther Party has never, and never will, condone or promote the carrying of nightsticks or any kind of weapon at any polling place… Samir Shabazz acted purely on his own will and in complete contradiction to the code and conduct of a member of our organization. We don't believe in what he did and did not tell him to do what he did, he moved on his own instructions."
The NBPP has also suspended the Philadelphia chapter and indicated that it will not be recognized by the national organization until further notice.
Less than a week before Election Day, Samir Shabazz made a series of anti-white statements during an interview with a local newspaper, including "I'm about the total destruction of white people. I'm about the total liberation of black people. I hate white people. I hate my enemy."
He vowed not to vote for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, calling him "a puppet on a string" and "the next slavemaster." He also downplayed the Jewish Holocaust and justified retaliatory violence ("You got to take violence to violence").
The Justice Department lawsuit seeks to prevent voter intimidation by NBPP members in future elections by prohibiting NBPP members from being sent to or displaying weapons at polling stations. It was filed under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits intimidation, coercion or threats against "any person for voting or attempting to vote."
King Samir Shabazz
A former Nation of Islam member, King Samir Shabazz revived the Philadelphia NBPP chapter following the 2001 death of the NBPP's leader Khalid Muhammad. Shabazz has cited Muhammad, a racist and anti-Semite, as "my light, my reflection of what it means to be a black man in America… my teacher, my guide, my elder, my father, my brother. He woke me up."
Shabazz has a long history of confrontational behavior towards Caucasians and law enforcement. He regularly preaches racial separation, makes incendiary statements about white people, and promotes anti-police messages in the media and on the streets of Philadelphia.
Shabazz was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct on September 1, 2008, after he and others interrupted an Atlantic City rally held to address black community issues. Shabazz shouted, "If you're not willing to stand up, black men and black women, then get the hell in the river and drown with the jelly fish." His speech reportedly included racial epithets as well.
In September 2004, Shabazz and nine other NBPP members showed up to protest a white supremacist rally at Pennsylvania's Valley Forge National Park. The Panthers came armed with a baseball bat and long flashlight, which the Park Police confiscated. "We came to let the KKK and those neo-Nazi crackers know we will not tolerate them…we believe in the race purity of black people," Shabazz told reporters.
On law enforcement:
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"If police ain't [expletive] with me, I ain't doing something right…When the cops is knocking on your door, now you're doing something right."
- Right now, as we speak, a pig is whipping a nigga's ass—right now, right here in Philadelphia, whether we hear about it or not. The police don't give a [expletive]. They will never give a [expletive]. The pigs' ass whippings are never going to stop until we start whipping the crackers' asses. So the next pig or pigs that beat on a brother or sister in Philadelphia, they gonna have a major problem. The New Black Panther Party will be right on their asses."
- "I love being a Panther… I have no fear of nothing in this uniform. It's like, '[expletive] you, cop.' This is my life."
On whites:
- "I hate white people. All of them. Every last iota of a cracker I hate him, because we're still in this condition."
- "There's too much serious business going on in the Black community to be out here… with white, dirty, cracker whore [expletive]s on our arm."
- "We keep begging white people for freedom. No wonder we're not free. Your enemy cannot make you free, fool. You want freedom? You're gonna have to kill some crackers. You're gonna have to kill some of they [sic] babies. Let us get our act together. It's time to wake up, clean up, and stand up."
- "I can't wait for the day that they're all dead. I won't be completely happy until I see our people free and Whitey dead."
- "When you have 10 brothers in uniform, suited and booted and ready for war, white folks know these niggas ain't their niggas. We kick white folks asses. We take it right to the cracker."
- "We're going to keep putting our foot up the white man's ass until they understand completely. We want freedom, justice and mutha[expletive]' equality. Period. If you ain't gonna give it to us, mutha[expletive], we're gonna take it, in the name of freedom."
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