Jalil Muntaqim is scheduled to be at the SUNY Brockport campus on April 6 to speak at an event entitled, “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim.” He was invited by a faculty member who was approved for a Promoting Excellence in Diversity grant.
The event is described in the college’s events calendar as an “intellectual conversation on his time with the Black Panthers and serving nearly 50 years as a political prisoner.” A note at the bottom of the listing states that “SUNY Brockport does not endorse the characterization of this event.”
Muntaqim, then known as Anthony Bottom, was convicted in 1971 for killing two New York City Police officers – Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. He served 49 years in prison and moved to Rochester after being paroled in 2020.
The event has sparked controversy in the community with many outraged that the college would give a convicted murder a platform to speak.
In a letter to the college community, SUNY Brockport President Heidi Macpherson wrote, “We do not support the violence exhibited in Mr. Muntaqim’s previous crimes, and his presence on campus does not imply endorsement of his views or past actions. However, we believe in freedom of speech. SUNY Brockport has routinely held speaking events involving controversial speakers from various background and viewpoints, and will continue to do so. These conversations are uncomfortable. They are meant to be. They’re about gaining a new perspective.”
Assemblyman Josh Jensen asked to college to rescind the invitation. “What type of message would we be sending to young college students to call someone who played a role in the assassination of two members of law enforcement a ‘political prisoner?’ What message does it send to criminal justice majors on campus? What message does it send to our law enforcement? Allowing for academic freedom and diversity of thought among college students is incredibly important, however, granting this opportunity to a convicted cop killer is wholly misguided.”
Assemblyman Steve Hawley said, “Unless Mr. Bottom plans on speaking about how remorseful he is for his actions, he has no place on a SUNY campus, especially not as a paid speaker. I very much so hope a closer review of grant applications will be forthcoming.”
The funding for the event was pulled on March 16. SUNY Brockport’s Chief Diversity Officer, Damita Davis, released the following statement: “Over the last several days, we have received new information regarding a Promoting Excellence in Diversity Grant awarded to allow one of our faculty members to bring Jalil Muntaqim to campus. As a result, the committee has rescinded the grant and no funding will be used to pay the speaker. We are not, however, cancelling the event. Academic freedom allows our faculty to invite guests of their choosing to campus to address our students. Effective immediately, we will be pausing the PED grant program while a thorough review and revision of the grant application process can take place.”
Daniel P. Varrenti, former Brockport Chief of Police and SUNY Brockport Adjunt Professor, said, “The reason we don’t invite these people to campus is because they committed heinous crimes. Colleges should be striving to promote safe campuses while instilling values and morals not providing stages to those that have destroyed lives of other people.” Varrenti submitted his resignation on March 11, after 22 years teaching at the college. “Facilitating a murderer to speak at SUNY Brockport is just wrong and embarrassing and goes against everything I was taught and believe in.”
Go to westsidenewsny.com to read the full statements of President Macpherson, Assemblyman Jensen, Assemblyman Hawley, and for Chief Varrenti.
Statement of SUNY Brockport President Heidi Macpherson
“On April 6, Jalil Muntaqim, previously known as Anthony Bottom, will be at the SUNY Brockport campus to deliver a talk entitled, “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners & Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim.” He was invited by one of our faculty members who was approved for a Promoting Excellence in Diversity grant.
Mr. Muntaqim joined the Black Panther Party at age 16 and the Black Liberation Army at 18. In 1971, he was convicted in the killing of two New York City Police Officers. He spent nearly 50 years in prison for this crime before being released on parole in 2020.
The College has received strong feedback about this visit. Some are outraged that a man who has been convicted of such crimes was invited onto campus. Others look forward to the opportunity to learn about Mr. Muntaqim’s experiences.
We do not support the violence exhibited in Mr. Muntaqim’s previous crimes, and his presence on campus does not imply endorsement of his views or past actions. However, we believe in freedom of speech. SUNY Brockport has routinely held speaking events involving controversial speakers from various background and viewpoints, and will continue to do so. These conversations are uncomfortable. They are meant to be. They’re about gaining a new perspective.
Mr. Muntaqim’s talk will give those who choose to engage an opportunity to learn about his perspective and what may have contributed to his past experiences. Individuals will have the opportunity to ask difficult questions. They can ask why he chooses to identify as a former political prisoner. They can ask how his life experiences have informed the work he does now. Every individual can decide for themselves what they, personally, should do with that information. Should they just absorb it? Do they want to learn more? Do they wish to reject it?
Thank you for your continued willingness to engage in critical and respectful dialogue.”
Statement of Assemblyman Josh Jensen
“I ask that SUNY Brockport rescind its invitation to Anthony Bottom to be featured as a guest speaker on campus. Mr. Bottom, who now identifies as Jalil Muntaqim, is the convicted murderer of two New York City police officers. What type of message would we be sending to young college students to call someone who played a role in the assassination of two members of law enforcement a “political prisoner?” What message does it send to criminal justice majors on campus? What message does it send to our law enforcement? Allowing for academic freedom and diversity of thought among college students is incredibly important, however, granting this opportunity to a convicted cop killer is wholly misguided.
“It is incredibly inappropriate and downright wrong to give Mr. Bottom a platform at a taxpayer funded institution, and I ask that SUNY Brockport reconsider its choice of this guest speaker.”
Statement of Assemblyman Steve Hawley
“While colleges and universities are indeed places where uncomfortable conversations about controversial subjects should take place, I am deeply disappointed that members of the SUNY Brockport Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion have decided to invite Anthony Bottom, a convicted cop-killer, onto campus while framing his experiences as those of a ‘political prisoner,’ all while using taxpayer grant funding to do so. It is nothing less than a slap in the face for the family of the two officers he murdered, as well as those serving currently in law enforcement who face very real threats from individuals like him daily in their work.
“In speaking with administrators of SUNY Brockport, I have been reassured this decision was one that was spearheaded by a subcommittee consisting of several faculty members in conjunction with the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Unless Mr. Bottom plans on speaking about how remorseful he is for his actions, he has no place on a SUNY campus, especially not as a paid speaker. I very much so hope a closer review of grant applications will be forthcoming.”
Statement of Daniel P. Varrenti
Brockport Chief of Police (retired)
SUNY Brockport Adjunct Professor (retired)
People deserve the truth based on facts not opinions. As a retired police officer of 39 years, a retired Brockport Police Chief of 16 years and an adjunct professor of SUNY Brockport of 22 years I feel compelled, my duty to submit this letter to the editor in order to spell out the facts.
In December of 1998 I received my Master of Administration Degree from SUNY Brockport. I truly respected all the teachers that instructed me and grew to admire, respect and love SUNY Brockport. I was very proud of my accomplishment, and I wanted to give back to the college by applying to teach. In 2000, Dr. Richard Lumb, a retired police chief and then Chair of the Criminal Justice Department hired me. I’ve been teaching at the college every fall semester and I have truly been honored to meet such great students. I truly enjoyed reading what the students thought of my course and only asked that they speak candidly and honestly on a website Rate My Professors.
As we all know our nationwide criminal justice system has been put to the test over the last 5 or so years because of several factors. First and foremost, the criminal actions by a few police officers are constantly and probably rightly so at the forefront of media reports. Second is a definitive lack of respect for police officers, and more importantly a lack of respect for each other and life. Third and probably the most important reason we are traveling down this destructive path is because of a breakdown in the family institution. We are all products of our environment and unfortunately the family environment needs much repair assuming one even exits. As if all this isn’t enough, we also have people firmly believing and promoting that everything is predicated by race. As such, we have a mess on our hands and until we stop predetermining outcomes as being racist in nature and begin looking at the facts, I’m afraid the criminal justice system will continue to be the blame for all our problems and our society will continue on a downward spiral. I would routinely speak of these issues in my Criminal Investigation class and have had open honest discussions with everyone in class. My classes were usually multiracial by enrollment however I saw everyone as sponges thirsting for knowledge from someone who had not studied the job but did it. We always began class with a current event and tied it to what we were discussing in class. The lesson I would always drive home was don’t make assumptions and don’t believe what you read or hear from the media. Do research, understand the law, and most importantly put yourself in the eyes of the police officer when they made the split-second decision they made. I remember routinely taking a student and role playing what we were discussing in class to the point that students used to say “don’t pick me” I’m not playing this game. In short, I loved my position and all my students. My interaction with my students didn’t stop when the semester ended. I routinely wrote letters of recommendation for them, met with them at local coffee shops to discuss various challenges they may have encountered outside the classroom and they kept in touch with me years after they graduated.
On September 3, 2020, the president of the college, Heidi Macpherson broke every rule we taught in the class and drew assumptions with absolutely no facts. Not only did she draw unwarranted assumptions she made an incident into race when in fact it had absolutely nothing to do with race. She even publicly disseminated those erroneous assumptions in an email to all students and faculty:
Dear Brockport community:
I don’t have the words to express my sadness and anger that as a community, we are once again confronted with the reality of institutionalized violence against Black people, and that this violence happened in Rochester, a place that many of us call home. Yesterday we learned that Daniel T. Prude died on March 30 after an encounter with members of the Rochester Police Department, and that his death is being investigated by the New York State Attorney General’s office.
At times like these, it is often difficult to know what to do next. For students who may need assistance, our Counseling Center is available by calling 395-2414. Employees can receive support through the Employee Assistance Program. We know we must do more than meet the needs of individuals: we must also come together collectively. We are working with student leaders as well as the Greater Rochester community to best determine next steps – both how we can mourn and how we can help.
Please look out for an email from our Interim Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Acker, regarding opportunities for our community to get involved.
Please help support each other.
President Macpherson
Since this wasn’t the first type email she wrote that criticized law enforcement without any facts, I believed the president of the college, that I’ve been associated with for over 20 years, was making the problem worse not better. I therefore took a chance and responded to her email as follow:
Dear President Macpherson,
After 39 years of law enforcement, and 20 + years as an adjunct professor of SUNY Brockport, I feel compelled to respond to your email.
While any death is tragic, there is no evidence whatsoever that this death was racially motivated. This is the second type email you have written following the death of a black person. Emails such as these, in my opinion, do nothing more than imply conclusions before the facts are learned or disclosed. The fact that the State Attorney’s Office hasn’t reached a conclusion after 4 months of investigation exemplifies that this case isn’t as cut and dry as many, including yourself, have insinuated or concluded.
I understand that you may want people to know where to get help if they need it but to incorporate guidance with predisposed opinion may not be in the best interest of the students.
Thank you for your time.
Respectfully submitted.
Daniel Varrenti
It should be noted that not one officer was indicted for any wrongdoing regarding Mr. Prude’s death by a Grand Jury that was convened by the NYS Attorney General.
Unfortunately, I never received a response from Ms. Macpherson or anyone else at the college. What I did receive the following summer was a notice that my 90% FULL Criminal Investigations Course that I’ve taught for years was being pulled from the course schedule due to apparent budget reasons. While other courses were later pulled under the same auspices those courses were only about 50% full. Ironically a course taught by a retired State Trooper who is the father of an administrative assistant at the college was continued to be taught even though that course was only about 40% full at the time my course was removed from the course schedule. I contacted Mr. Dave Mahalyov, the vice president for university relations, and the former “contact” person I used to routinely speak with regarding issues at the college when I was the Brockport Police Chief. I expressed that I was concerned that my course was removed not because of budgetary reasons but because of my response to the president’s email. He said he would look into the matter and call me back. After not hearing form him I called him again and left a message asking for him to call me. To this day I still haven’t heard back from him as he promised to do.
This winter I was informed by the Chair of the Criminal Justice Department, Dr. Moonsun Kim, a true gentleman and a consummate professional, that he had submitted my course with me teaching it for the fall of 2022. He added to his message that “of course it will be pending administrative scrutiny.” Why would my class have to be administratively scrutinized? You draw the conclusion.
During the week of March 7, 2022, I learned that the college had invited Anthony Bottom, a convicted murderer and former Black Panther member, to speak at the college. Bottom was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1971 killings of two New York City police officers and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Under New York State’s parole reform laws Bottom was granted parole on October 7, 2020. According to an email disseminated on March 11, 2022, by the SUNY Brockport Chief Diversity Officer Damita Davis, Bottom who now goes by the name Jalil Muntaqim, was invited to speak by an unnamed faculty member (we still don’t know who the “unnamed faculty member is or if in fact there ever was one) and hold a discussion entitled “History of Black Resistance, U.S. Political Prisoners and Genocide: A Conversation with Jalil Muntaqim.”
I was awestruck after reading her email and felt that she not only insulted my intelligence but also the intelligence of everyone the email was sent to by her futile attempt to justify having a convicted murder on a college campus. In fact, in my opinion there is no reason to have such a person on a college campus addressing young impressionable students. And if there is a viable reason then I suspect SUNY Brockport may invite the convicted rapist who brutally raped a SUNY Brockport student and is now out on parole to tell his story. The reason we don’t invite these people to campus is because they committed heinous crimes. Colleges should be striving to promote safe campuses while instilling values and morals not providing stages to those that have destroyed lives of other people.
I believe rather than encouraging students to do research, wait for facts, and/or trusting in our Criminal Justice and Judicial System, this college is so concerned about diversity and racism that they have exacerbated these issues by attempting to impose their own beliefs on students through emails and invitations to listen to people like Bottom who attempt to promote self-serving agendas to anyone willing to listen. I propose that rather than bringing a murderer to campus why not ask Tom Golisano, the founder of Paychex, or Danny Wegman, the past CEO of Wegmans, or the current CEO of Kodak to speak to students. I’m sure these men would have far better stories to tell than a murderer would have. Facilitating a murderer to speak at SUNY Brockport is just wrong and embarrassing and goes against everything I was taught and believe in.
I’m also of the belief that people should either lead, follow or get out of the way. On March 11, 2022, I decided to lead, and I submitted my resignation after 22 years of teaching at the college.
