by Tami Raco
Jalil Muntaqim (formerly known as Anthony Bottom) is scheduled to deliver a talk as a guest at SUNY Brockport on Wednesday April 6. The event featuring Muntaqim is called “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim.” Anthony Bottom, as he was known at the time, was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army when he was convicted of murdering two New York City police officers – Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini – in an ambush in 1971. He served 49 years in prison before being released on parole and is now living in the Rochester area.
Bottom and his accomplice lured two NYC police officers into an apartment building with a fake 911 call where they ambushed the officers and murdered them by shooting them from behind. According to the US Department of Justice, the Black Liberation Army was a “guerilla group that had two primary goals of killing police officers and expropriating funds from capitalists and imperialists to finance the revolution.” BLA was responsible for the execution for more than a dozen officers including four NYC officers in 1971.
Bottom was born in California in 1951. He was arrested in 1971 and sentenced in 1974 on two counts of first-degree murder for the ambush killings. His sentencing was for life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 22 years. After many denied parole hearings he was released from prison on October 7, 2020, after 49 years of incarceration. While in prison he became active in an organization called the Jericho Movement. According to their website, “Jericho is a movement with the defined goal of gaining recognition of the fact that political prisoners and prisoners of war exist inside of the United States, despite the United States government’s continued denial, and winning amnesty and freedom for these political prisoners.”
George Yuska is a former Assistant District Attorney in NYC, New Jersery Attorney General Prosecutor, and now a local Criminal Defense Attorney with more than 23 years experience. Yuska said, “A political prisoner is someone who is incarcerated as a result of their political beliefs.” He named Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. as some examples of political prisoners. “The individual speaking at Brockport is not a political prisoner,” said Yuska. “He murdered two police officers. He is a criminal but, unfortunately, we live in a time where people can pretend to be whoever they want, and we are expected to pretend with them.” When Yuska was asked if Bottom’s sentencing was excessive or if the initial denials of parole were biased his reply was: “No. No one is entitled to parole and today sentencing for the murder of two officers would get him two consecutive sentences of 25 years to life for each murder.”
The College at Brockport initially scheduled Muntaqim (Bottom) to be a paid guest speaker at the event that described him as a “political prisoner” with no mention of his ambush murdering of two police officers. Following backlash from the community, the college updated the event page with more information on his criminal history and has announced they will not cancel the event, but they will no longer pay him to speak with the grant that was initially designated. A private donor is now funding Muntaqim’s visit. No state funds will be used to pay for his appearance.
Daniel Varenti, retired Chief of Police from Brockport Police Department spent his entire career in law enforcement. He began at the Irondequoit Police Department in 1979 and achieved many promotions throughout his career giving him vast experience in criminal justice ranging from investigations, lead role of heading a multi-agency drug task force, FBI National Academy, as well as receiving his master’s in public administration from SUNY Brockport. In addition to his nearly 40 years of law enforcement, he also spent 22 years teaching criminal justice classes at SUNY Brockport as an adjunct instructor.
For the last ten years Varenti has been teaching an investigation course at the college. The college’s decision to host a guest speaker who murdered two police officers caused Varenti to reconsider his position of teaching at the college. “I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,” said Varenti. “To honor a premeditated murderer and expose the students to this brings no long-term benefits to the student.” On March 11, Varenti sent his resignation letter to the college. “I got no response from them,” he said. Varenti has received much support from the community for his decision to take this stand. “It wasn’t easy to resign,” said Varenti, “but I must for my personal beliefs and integrity. I do not want to be affiliated with a college that hosts cold-blooded murderers as guest.”
Having Muntaqim as a speaker was not the first time Varenti experienced anti police bias at the college. Varenti recalls that the college forced the removal of blue line flags in the Brockport College police department. He was also deeply disturbed by an email the president of the college Heidi Macpherson sent out to the faculty and students immediately after the media released the story on Daniel Prude’s death. “The president of a college should not frame something as ‘racism’ with out any facts, especially when there was no indication or evidence that the death of Daniel Prude was driven by the color of his skin.”
Varenti sent a letter to the president of the college expressing his concerns on the nature of her letter being opinion and not based in fact. He never received a response, but he did learn that they then canceled his course, which always runs close to being 90% full, the following semester. “I have no doubt this was in retaliation for the expression of my freedom of speech,” said Varenti. Varenti has an excellent review record at Rate My Professors. “I have been honored to meet and teach such great students. My heart breaks for my students,” he said. To read Daniel Varenti’s letter to the editor, see the online version of this article at westsidenewsny.com.
Rallies have been occurring near the college to protest this event, and many politicians have been speaking out on the subject. One of them is Senator Robert Ortt. He sent a letter to the president of the college requesting the event to be canceled. “Anthony Bottom is a convicted cop-killer, who, along with two others, lured two New York City Police Officers to a residence and murdered them in cold blood. Describing him as a ‘political prisoner’ in a campus program is not only an insult to individuals who have been imprisoned for speaking out against political opposition – it is also an insult to the men and women of law enforcement who have lost their lives protecting our communities and their families,” said Ortt.
Diane Piagentini, the widow of Joseph Piagentini, one of the officers Bottom murdered, wrote to SUNY Brockport administration requesting that they cancel this event. In her letter she reminded the college of what happened to her husband when Bottom ambush murdered him in cold blood putting 22 bullets in his body and that he was not a political prisoner.
The college declined to comment when contacted and instead referred us to their statement on their website. On Tuesday the college announced it would allow students to skip class if concerned for their personal safety. At press time, SUNY Brockport still planned to have the convicted killer speak, and on Wednesday decided to move the event to a virtual format. For more information, visit the college’s website at https://www.brockport.edu/about/president/jalil_muntaqim_event/.
Provided photos
