| One jumped turnstile, two trials, and many long years
When you spend time inside a prison, you quickly discover that it's not polite to ask directly about a prisoner's crimes. Kenyatta wasn't shy in this regard, however, and anyone who demonstrated even a vague interest would hear about not only the crime that landed him behind bars, but also his views about race and social policy in the United States. In 1974, ibn Kenyatta was twenty-eight, a young man steeped in the Black Power movement. He was determined to share the plight of African Americans with the world, and so he became a writer, working odd jobs in New York to support himself. At the time of his arrest, he had produced thousands of pages of an autobiography in addition to essays on "The Black Condition" and a volume of poetry entitled Requiem for a Black Dog. There were no telling indicators that this particular young man might end up in state prison. Then, on January 24, 1974, he slipped through a New York City subway turnstile without paying the 35-cent fare. A transit police officer approached Kenyatta, who said he had paid the fare. In the argument that ensued, the officer grabbed Kenyatta's arm and they fought. Kenyatta was unarmed. He claims the officer beat and shot him, after which Kenyatta took one of the officer's guns and returned fire. The scuffle and shootout left the transit officer and Kenyatta with minor injuries. (A scar is still visible today on Kenyatta's forehead where the officer hit him with a billy club.) Interestingly, the arresting officer who booked Kenyatta wrote down "assault." But the charge was later ratcheted up to attempted murder: It was the seventies, and the country's law enforcement establishment, decrying the "war on cops," was out for blood. During two trials Kenyatta maintained that he had been attacked and had only acted in self-defense. The officer insisted that the young man had first assaulted him, and that he was the one who had been defending himself. Kenyatta chose not to participate in the criminal proceedings right from the start, convinced the trial would be stacked against him. When the judge insisted he appear in the courtroom, he arrived wearing pajamas. He told the judge, "This is a hypocritical, racist, corrupt, and unjust system that has endured nothing but misabusing and misusing the people of this country." He refused to give authorities any information about himself except his name, ibn Kenyatta, which could not be confirmed since he had chosen it years earlier. The first trial ended in a hung jury. Kenyatta's legal counsel was of the opinion that the second trial's jurors wouldn't have been able to agree if the judge had not insisted they continue deliberations. The trial transcript suggests some members of the jury believed the charge of attempted murder was too harsh, and that a lesser charge of assault would have been more appropriate. Kenyatta was sentenced to twenty-one years to life for the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. Years later on appeal, a judge reduced the sentence to fifteen years to life, as the defendant had not been in trouble previously with the law. One jumped turnstile, two trials, and many long years |