Shabazz
KINGSTON – Longtime Kingston community activist Ismail Shabazz
was arraigned in Ulster County Court on Thursday where he faced a 16-count
indictment including six counts of selling weapons to an FBI informant,
nine counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of endangering
the welfare of a child during the alleged sale of one illegal weapon.
Shabazz remains in jail, with bail initially set at $50,000.
Some 40 supporters, including family and clergy, packed the courtroom.
Judge Donald Williams, who has a reputation of being a tough jurist, spoke at length of his relationship with Shabazz spanning decades.
“I know Mr. Shabazz in dramatically separate and different
capacities,” Williams said, noting his former positions as an Ulster
County chief assistant district attorney and as district attorney, where
he prosecuted him “at least for misdemeanors.”
But Williams added that while the DA, he created a group of community leaders with whom he met regularly.
“I have a strong memory of Mr. Shabazz helping us in his capacity with the NAACP participating in some, if not all, of those meetings.”
The judge then spoke of various incidents Shabazz had been vital in deescalating. He credited Shabazz with defusing a 2005 situation when a New Jersey man, Hal Turner, who Williams referred to as a “racist Nazi” tried to exploit tensions arising from a fight between two high school students. Williams credited Shabazz with also helping to diffuse a number of other, potentially volatile, dangerous situations.
After his comments, Williams said he felt he could treat the case objectively and protect Shabazz’s civil rights. He then asked the attorneys for the defense and prosecution if they were comfortable with him presiding over the case and they approved.
Outside the courthouse, Shabazz’s attorney, civil rights lawyer Michael Sussman, far left,
spoke to supporters,
saying he believed Shabazz would be out of jail “quite soon” with supporters contributing to his bail.
