NY College Talk by Man Convicted in Cop Deaths Moved Online | New York News

BROCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — A talk by a former Black Panther who was imprisoned for nearly 50 years for killing two New York City police officers will be moved online to help “mitigate any potential security concerns,” officials at the college that is hosting the event announced.

The planned talk by parolee Jalil Muntaqim “has elicited strong feedback, divergent opinions, and has already spurred protests,” Heidi Macpherson, the president of the State University of New York at Brockport, said in a statement Wednesday. Macpherson said details of the virtual program will be shared when they are finalized.

Muntaqim, also known as Anthony Bottom, was convicted in the 1971 killings of officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini at a Harlem public housing complex. He was paroled in 2019.

The April 6 program titled “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim” was originally described on SUNY Brockport’s website as “an an intellectual conversation on his time with the Black Panthers and serving nearly 50 years as a political prisoner.” The college later clarified that it does not endorse the characterization of Muntaqim as a political prisoner.

An updated event page mentions Muntaqim’s conviction in the deaths of the two officers, which the original announcement did not.

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