Mikhail Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party speaks to the media next to a memorial to Trayvon Martin (Getty Images)
Following the jury’s not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman case, rallies and protests have begun to sweep major US cities. People are up in arms over what they believe to be a social and racial injustice at the hands of the Florida judicial system. Included in this bunch are the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), who have publicly announce a $10,000 bounty for the capture of George Zimmerman.
Mikhail Muhammad, an NBPP organizer, announced the bounty during a protest Saturday. According to an NPR report, on being asked if he was inciting violence, he simply replied, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
The article also adds:
“Sanford city officials issued a statement late Saturday, condemning the group’s appeal and asking citizens to leave all arrests to the police. The statement was sanctioned by Sanford Police Captain Robert O’Connor — one of two Captains now leading the department in the wake of Police Chief Bill Lee’s temporary suspension.
“‘The City is requesting calm heads and no vigilante justice,’ the statement said. ‘Attempts by civilians to take any person into custody may result in criminal charges or unnecessary violence.”
Kojo Khayrallah with the New Black Panther Party demonstrates outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center. (Getty Images)
It is important to note that NBPP is in no way aligned with the infamous Black Party organization from the ’60s and ’70s. Infact, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, “The New Black Panther Party is a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers. The group portrays itself as a militant, modern-day expression of the black power movement. The original Black Panther Party, – [a] non-racist, left-wing organization — have rejected the new Panthers as a “black racist hate group” and contested their hijacking of the Panther name and symbol.”