The widow of an NYPD officer killed in 1971 criticized a New York college for taking in a man convicted of his murder to talk about her experience as a “political prisoner”.
Diana Piagentini, widow of Officer Joseph Piagentini, is demanding SUNY Brockport cancel an upcoming call with Jalil Muntakim, 70, formerly known as Anthony Bottom, one of the men convicted of killing her husband in 1971.
SUNY Brockport Associate Professor Rafael Outland is scheduled to host “A History of Black Resistance, Political Prisoners, and US Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntakim” on April 6. It is advertised as an “intellectual conversation” with Muntakim, who spent almost 50 years as a “political prisoner”.
The April 6 event was advertised as an “intellectual conversation” with Muntakim (pictured), who spent almost 50 years as a “political prisoner”.
Upon learning of the event, Piagentini (pictured with her husband on their wedding day) wrote a letter to the sponsor of the event demanding it be cancelled.
Diane Piagentini’s husband, Joseph Piagentini (left), and his partner, Officer Waverly Jones (right), were shot to death in 1971.
for the event mentions Muntakim’s involvement in the 1971 shootout with San Francisco police officers, but does not mention his conviction in the murder of Piagentini, then aged 28, and his partner Waverly M. Jones.
The event highlights Muntakim’s participation in high school math and chemistry programs, as well as his activism on behalf of the NAACP as a teenager and his role as an “avid educator” of prisoners as an inmate.
The event enthusiastically calls Muntakim “a grandfather, a father, a mentor to many and a loving person.”
Upon learning of the event, Piagentini wrote a letter to the sponsor of the event demanding that it be cancelled, according to PIX 11.
“While my husband lay on the ground, begging them not to kill him, begging that he had a wife and children,” Piagentini wrote in her letter. “Bottom took his service revolver and fired it into his body. There were 22 bullet holes in his body.”
“While my husband lay on the ground, begging them not to kill him, begging that he had a wife and children,” Piagentini wrote in her letter. “Bottom took his service revolver and fired it into his body. There were 22 bullet holes in his body.
SUNY Brockport President Heidi McPherson issued a statement on the controversial event, acknowledging the backlash but saying the school believes in “free speech”.
Associate Professor Raphael Outland (pictured) hosts “A History of Black Resistance, Political Prisoners, and US Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntakim”
She noted that Muntakim, then known as Bottom, showed no mercy, saying “A pig is a pig” when asked why he killed a policeman.
In 1971, Muntakim was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ambushing and killing Piagentini and Jones. Herman Bell was also convicted but released on parole in 2018; Albert Washington was convicted and died in prison.
In 2018, Piagentini was featured in a commercial for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Molinaro criticizing then-Governor Andrew Cuomo for not doing more to keep Bell behind bars.
Cuomo granted conditional pardons to every parolee in the state to restore their voting rights.
“This betrays the trust of police families around the world and devalues the life of my brave husband,” Piagentini said in a 30-second commercial.
At the time of the assassination, the Black Liberation Army was harassing “salt and pepper” interracial patrol officers.
Muntakim and two other members of the group lured black Jones and white Piagentini to Colonial Park Houses, a public housing project at 159th Street and Harlem River Drive, with a fake 911 call.
As the two were returning to their cruiser around 10:00 pm, Bottom, Bell, and Washington crept up behind them and opened fire.
Jones was shot in the back of the head and killed instantly.
Piaggentini begged for his life as Muntakim and other members shot him 22 times, partly with his own pistol. Piaggentini served in the NYPD for five years and was assigned to the 32nd Precinct.
In 1971, Muntakim (pictured) was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ambushing and killing Piagentini and his partner, along with Herman Bell and Albert Washington.
Muntakim, who joined the Black Panthers at 16 and the Black Liberation Army at 18, was released on parole in 2020.
Muntakim, who joined the Black Panthers at 16 and the Black Liberation Army at 18, was released on parole in 2020.
The decision to accept Muntakim caused a negative reaction not only from the widow Piagentini.
On Monday, New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt sent a letter to McPherson asking him to withdraw Muntakim’s invitation.
“This proposed event on the SUNY Brockport campus is absolutely shameful. Let’s be clear: Anthony Bottom was not a “political prisoner”. he is a convicted cop killer. To call it “intellectual conversation” on a taxpayer-funded public campus is intellectually dishonest. It’s an insult, he said.
In her statement, McPherson said the school does not sanction violence and that the event will go ahead as planned.
“We do not support the violence shown in Mr. Muntakim’s previous crimes, and his presence on campus does not signify endorsement of his views or past actions,” she said in a statement to the Brockport community.
“However, we believe in freedom of speech. Mr. Muntakim joined the Black Panthers at the age of 16 and the Black Liberation Army at 18. In 1971, he was convicted of killing two New York City police officers. He spent nearly 50 years in prison for this crime before being released on parole in 2020.”