Shabazz at a recent rally concerning police shootings
of black people
KINGSTON – A local Kingston community activist is under arrest following an investigation charging him with felony weapons sales.
Ismail Shabazz, also known as Gary Faulkner, became a person of interest in a federal investigation in 2013 when information was developed that he had recruited members of the Bloods gang into the New Black Panthers Party in Kingston and was advocating violence against police officers, Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said Friday.
Over the course of about one year, federal agents purchased six illegal weapons from Shabazz out of his home at 80 Prospect Street in Kingston.
Agents purchased two assault rifles, two loaded handguns, an unloaded revolver, and a sawed-off shotgun with its serial number defaced, said Carnright.
Among the conversations intercepted by federal agents was a discussion regarding training members of the New Black Panthers Party how to disarm a police officer and the potential use of the firearms in question to be used to shoot officers.
The case was investigated by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, New York City Police, New Jersey State Police, with assistance from Kingston City Police and the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.
Shabazz was arraigned in Kingston City Court with bail set at $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.
