New Black Panther Party National Leader Faces Weapons Charges
An infamous leader of the racist New Black Panther Party, known nationally for his boiling hatred of white people and apparent attempt to intimidate voters in 2008, is slated to appear in a New York City courtroom today to face charges of illegally carrying a loaded, unlicensed handgun and wearing prohibited body armor.
The Philadelphia Daily News reports that King Samir Shabazz, whose real name the newspaper said was Maruse Heath, was arrested last Thursday in Harlem, where he was reportedly helping plan a march this September to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Million Youth March. That rally, led by another white-hating black nationalist, featured exhortations to kill police and dozens of arrests.
The Daily News also quoted Shabazz speaking on a presumably recent “black-power radio show,” although it did not say when he spoke. Shabazz reportedly said that black people should form militias to kill whites, attack them with pit bulls, pour acid on them and raid nursery schools to “kill everything white in sight.” Shabazz, who is the Panther’s national field marshal, added, “I would love nothing better than to come home with a cracker’s head in my book bag,” the paper reported.
The New Black Panther Party is unrelated to the original Black Panther Party, which was militant but not racist. Officials of the original Panthers have repeatedly denounced the later organizations as a “black racist hate group,” and have even sued it for stealing its name and logo. Although courts ruled for the original party, that ruling has never been enforced and the newer group’s name remains unchanged.
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