(AP) The 1960s black militant formerly known as H. Rap Brown is challenging his imprisonment for the killing of a sheriff’s deputy in 2000, saying his constitutional rights were violated at trial.
The 75-year-old inmate, who converted to Islam and now goes by the name Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, gained prominence more than 50 years ago as a Black Panthers leader who famously said, “Violence is as American as cherry pie.”
He was living in Atlanta as an imam when authorities say he shot two sheriff’s deputies, killing one.
In 2002, Al-Amin was convicted of murder in the death of Fulton County sheriff’s Deputy Ricky Kinchen and the wounding of Kinchen’s partner, Deputy Aldranon English. He was sentenced to life in prison.
