Shabazz, leaving the Ulster County Jail
on $100,000 bond, in July
KINGSTON – Ulster County Court Judge Donald Williams has recused himself from the felony weapons trial of Kingston activist Ismail Shabazz. The next pre-trial appearance before a new judge takes place this Wednesday, October 21, at 2 p.m. in the upstairs Ulster County criminal courtroom.
A previous appearance scheduled for October 9 was postponed.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally Jr. has been assigned to replace Williams. McNally, who was elected in 2013, is the former district attorney of Rensselaer County.
The recusal was requested by defense attorney Michael Sussman, based a long acquaintanceship – both personal and professional – between Shabazz and local law enforcement. Judge Williams is the former district attorney of Ulster County.
Shabazz converted to Islam in 1992. Prior to that time, he led a checkered past in Kingston, managing to stay one step ahead of the law. After becoming a Muslim, he dedicated his life to community service, counseling wayward young people away from trouble.
McNally will be considering arguments by Sussman against the pre-trial motion for withholding of key evidence requested by the prosecution. Shabazz is accused to selling weapons to undercover FBI informants, whose identity authorities wish to protect.
Defense claims that Shabazz was entrapped by Bilal Mohammad, also known as Devon White, a bounty hunter allegedly seeking $2 million reward for the capture of fugitive Assata Shakur. A black female militant, Shakur escaped from prison in 1982 and later won political asylum in Cuba, where she freely resides to this day.
Current Ulster County District Attorney Holly Carnright admitted in a news release that the investigation of Ismail Shabazz was initially prompted by undercover infiltrators penetrating the black civil rights movement in order to locate and capture Assata Shakur, who was elevated to Top 10 Most Wanted Terrorist list last year. Shabazz is national chairman of Black Panthers for Justice, and has affiliation with Shakur’s relatives.
Meanwhile Shabazz, who was essentially unknown outside Kingston, has since his arrest last summer obtained an international following, especially among black activists in Brazil and Spain, where chapters of his BPFJ organization have sprung up. “One victory at a time, but still lots of work to do,” Shabazz said in one of his frequent Facebook posts.
Two other factors are drawing attention to this trial. The first is year-long nationwide protests against police brutality towards people of color, combined with mass incarceration of black people. The second is next week’s pending release of a Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, a new documentary detailing the FBI’s counterintelligence program designed to destroy left-wing organizations.
