There was a bit of a stir here in Philadelphia on the day of the general election in November when a couple of members of the New Black Panther Party For Self-Defense showed up at a polling place to provide what they described as security. One of the guys had a baton. Video of the incident went big on the Internet and rocketed around the country, mostly pushed by pundits with partisan agendas. The U.S. Department of Justice in January sued the New Black Panther Party, alleging voter intimidation, and putting out a media release to trumpet the case.
The Department of Justice two weeks ago quietly dropped that lawsuit against two of the three party members it sued, Malik Zulu Shabazz of Washington, D.C. and Jerry Jackson of Philadelphia. A federal judge last week approved a judgment against the third party member, Minister King Samir Shabazz, aka Maurice Heath of Philadelphia, which forbids him from "displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location on any election day in the City of Philadelphia." Court filings by the feds say the three party members never responded to the Department of Justice lawsuit.
All this, by the way, was first reported today in the Washington Times and brought to our attention by an alert reader in Lincoln, Neb. You didn't know PhillyClout has a loyal following in Nebraska? Neither did we.
And because we can never get enough of this video, we again present the New Black Panther Party providing "security" at a North Philadelphia polling place. Enjoy.
Actually, this was on the front page of the Philadelphia Bulletin this morning...meaning they had the story yesterday. Way to be on top of things.— jimincentercity- Sorry, just in a sarcastic mood tonight. But seriously guys, the Bulletin's 100,000 readers knew this at breakfast.— jimincentercity
Comment removed.- There's no way this should have just been dropped. Sure these guys are local nut jobs, but they were in violation of laws regulating polling places, simple as that. If I can't do that at a polling place, or the KKK, or the New Nazi party, or whomever someone wants to be for whatever reason, then really let's be very clear that this is the rule for everyone.— CleanupPhilly
- I'm not sure why the Clout coverage makes this out to be at once an incident that "rocketed around the country" but also was "published by pundits with mostly partisan agendas." Or, people were shocked at this, is the most likely universal explanation, wouldn't you say? Is there any reason to speculate further? Really? Are people not shocked by this? "Oh, you know, it's just those CRAZY black folk, you know how they get..." is the right response to this?— CleanupPhilly
- Absent also from the Clout coverage, oddly, is who the "New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense" is in Philly, and what their history is. I find that hard to imagine would be the case if this were some other hate group with a similar history. What gives, guys?— CleanupPhilly
- What I never heard about/in this story is who/what they were protecting and from who/what.— unophillyphan
- Guys, really. They are just agents of hope, change and social justice. They probably voted for Obama and are democrats so they can't do any wrong in my book. Stop hating you right wing fascist neo con zionist devils!— beeron
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- There may be hope yet for Mumia Jamal. Obama Admin to the rescue.— Debbie51
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- Half black half white man, that is.— madnvocal
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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