http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/06/04/27109/black-panther-leader-geronimo-pratt-was-victim-fbi/
Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt (Born Elmer Pratt) (September, 13, 1947 – June 2, 2011) was one of the most feared and revered African-Americans of the 20th century. Pratt was an ole country boy from Morgan City Louisiana. Before joining the Black Panthers, Pratt voluntarily joined the American military where he served two tours in Vietnam.
Geronimo Pratt became so dangerous to the American government because as the Minister of Defense for the Black Panthers he was travelling the country using his military training to educate and train Panthers how to shoot, fight, and when to shoot and fight. As a result, the F.B.I. and the Counter-Intelligence Protection Agency (COINTELPRO) targeted Pratt for “neutralization.”
In 1968, Caroline Olsen, a 27-year-old elementary school teacher, was murdered by gunshot during a robbery on a Santa Monica tennis court. Olsen’s husband, Kenneth, who was also shot but survived, identified Pratt as the killer, years later evidence revealed that police coercion had been used to convince Olsen’s husband to point the finger at Pratt for his wife’s murder. Julius Butler, a Black Panther and police informant, testified that Pratt had confessed to him, and discussed the murder with him on several occasions. In 1970, Geronimo Ji Jaga was arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping. At the time of the kidnapping and murder the F.B.I. had Pratt under surveillance and knew he was some six hundred miles away in Los Angeles when Olsen was killed.
Despite unequivocal evidence showing that Pratt was 600 miles away when he was supposed to have killed Caroline Olsen, Geronimo Pratt was still convicted and spent 27 years in prison, eight of them were spent in solitary confinement fighting his case with the help of famous super attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr, and others.
Johnnie Cochran Jr. said, “That experience made me a much better lawyer. It made me question the official view,” Cochran, who died in 2005, had said. “This was the most important case of my life and the day that Geronimo Pratt was released from custody was the most important and satisfying victory of my whole life.”
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=geronimo+pratt
During Pratt’s incarceration, he studied law and he helped in the overturning of his wrongful conviction. After his conviction was overturned, Pratt sued and won and received a 4.5 million dollar settlement from the city of Los Angeles. He used most of it to support programs for youths in Morgan City and development projects in East Africa founded by other ex-Panthers.
Jihad S. Uhuru
References
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/03/geronimo-pratt-dead-at-63_n_870910.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/12/geronimo-pratt.html
Olsen, J. (2000) Last man Standing: The tragedy and triumph of Geronimo Pratt. Double Day. New York.
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