Sussman: “… a level of illogicality, idocy and malice”
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KINGSTON – Ismail Shabazz will tell jurors in November that he was trying to export guns to Africa, to help struggling people gain their freedom. Prosecutors, however, insist the target of those weapons was much closer to home.
Jury selection for the upcoming felony weapons trial of the Kingston civil rights activist begins November 2nd. The Midtown resident, known for his involvement in the Black Panther movement, was arrested last summer after a year-long undercover investigation nabbed him selling firearms to an informant.
Defense attorney Michael Sussman, in a series of pre-trial motions, succeeded in having both the judge and prosecutor recused. With Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright replaced by Dutchess DA William Grady; and Judge Donald Williams replaced by Hon. Richard McNally Jr. of Kinderhook; the Shabazz team is now preparing to put the local law enforcement system itself on trial.
A dry run of Sussman’s opening remarks was practiced before a gathering of Shabazz supporters, at a Woodstock fundraiser on May 13. In that speech, Sussman laid out the elements of his client’s argument. The case details corroborated remarks made by Shabazz himself to MidHudson News during a jail visit prior to Sussman’s retainer.
Yes, he sold the guns to an undercover informant. But only to get guns off the street, not to kill cops, Sussman and Shabazz maintained. According to Sussman, recordings made of the transactions reveal only the informant / provocateur speaking of violence. Those tapes remain confidential, and have been withheld. They remain sequestered inside Carnright’s office.
“He [Shabazz] has spent years trying to get the police to be held accountable,” Sussman told supporters. “The police are not interested. There are powers against us, who would use all means at their disposal to effectively eliminate and silence him, [so] they predictively did what happened here.”
Shabazz was offered thousands of dollars, he claims, to obtain firearms for export to Africa, where they would allegedly be used to fight a liberation battle. A government informant, using the fictitious name Bilal Mohammad, infiltrated Shabazz’s organization, for the sole purpose of entrapping him. “I was set up,” Shabazz said.
“This is the level we’re dealing with; a level of illogicality, idiocy and malice,” Sussman said. “I’m trying to get the guns off the streets, because I want to kill the cops. You see the desperateness of the those in power to keep power, and to shut up someone who is being effective in their community, to speak truth to power.”
