Muslim civil rights and advocacy group calls on Fulton County DA to vacate conviction for the crime Otis Jackson has admitted committing
The Georgia chapter and national headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today extended condolences to the family of civil rights icon Imam Jamil Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, who passed away in prison today after spending 23 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
CAIR and CAIR-Georgia also reiterated their past call on the Fulton County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unity to complete the review of wrongful conviction and clear his name. CAIR also condemned the federal prison service for failing to properly treat Imam Al-Amin’s cancer. CAIR and others had repeatedly warned the Bureau of Prisons that his health was deteriorating.
In 2002, amid both procedural and evidentiary irregularities, Imam Jamil Al-Amin was wrongly convicted for the murder of a Fulton County Sheriff’s Deputy and injury of another deputy, crimes he denied committing. Since then, the real shooter, federal inmate Otis Jackson, has repeatedly and credibly confessed under oath to committing the crime.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit had opened an investigation into his case and interviewed Jackson, but still had not called for the vacation of Imam Al-Amin’s conviction despite clear evidence of his innocence.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Imam Al-Amin made his name on the front lines of the civil rights movement as a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Then known as H. Rap Brown, he was engaged in the fight against state sanctioned discrimination and racism. He later converted to Islam and became an imam. As the leader of Atlanta’s West End neighborhood, Imam Al-Amin led many African-Americans to Islam while pushing drug use and crime out of the local community.
Imam Al-Amin was initially held in state custody after his wrongful conviction, but in an unprecedented move, was transferred to federal custody under the guise of security concerns when in reality a major reason was that many inmates in Georgia prisons were embracing Islam as a result of interacting with him.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:
“To God we belong and to Him we return. Imam Jamil Al-Amin was a hero of the civil rights movement and a victim of injustice who passed away in a prison, jailed for a crime he did not commit. We pray that God rewards him with paradise for his good deeds and the injustices he suffered. We call on the justice system to reopen Imam Jamil’s case and clear his name. He deserves to be fully exonerated. We pray that God grants his family solace and justice.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com