Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen
"MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN"
My name is Shaka Adiyia Shakur and I am a conscious/woke New Afrikan Political Prisoner and Prison Activist.
I am 54 yrs old and embarking upon my 19th yr of a 63 yr sentence for the Attempted Murder of a Gary, Indiana Cop, which is a Wrongful Conviction.
When I was first asked to write a short bio of my struggle and legal battles, in an attempt to raise funds and critical support for myself and my comrade brother Kwame Shakur, I was stuck. I couldn't wrap my head around it. There is really no short version of this saga/struggle.
So I'm going to put this in the context of mental health, which is an area that doesn't get enough attention when it comes to former prisoners or released Political Prisoners, who have been released after having been tortured and dehumanized. The issue of PTSD and the lack of real reentry preparation is never talked about.
In August of 2001 after having just served a total of 17 yrs in prison my teenage son, and only child was murdered 30 minutes after calling me to come pick him up and the day before my birthday. The first soul day in 18 yrs that I would have ever had on the streets with him.
Seeing his body splattered across the hot summer asphalt from two shotgun blasts to the back would trigger an avalanche of emotions and events....How do you tell a two month old granddaughter that her father has just been murdered?
Prior to this event and at the time of his murder and only having been home for 10 months, I was attending Purdue Univ full time while working in the Upward Bound Trio program at Purdue Univ. Calumet.
I was also doing a lecture and workshop tour to various colleges and schools on the topic of Supermax Torture, Human Rights Violations in U.S. Prisons, etc. Having spoken at Princeton Univ, Temple, Beloit, Univ. of Madison and many others. Also being active in some community organizing efforts.
After my son’s murder and having to get into the streets to flush his killer(s) to the surface, I begun to self medicate, and my mental health deteriorated.
Having initially been imprisoned at the age of 16 and having served 4 tours in various Indiana Supermax and Control Unit Prisons. All of those years of being chained to beds and poles in stress positions, left in trip gear chained to other prisoners. The fire hosings, the tear gassing and wars all kicked in. I became reckless and self destructive, not really caring if I lived or died. In fact I fell into a deep depression and PTSD Symptoms I had been experiencing began to intensify.
Due to my investigating my own son's murder and having a history, along with my partner, of challenging and exposing the GPD targeting of and brutalizing Black Youth, I begun to be consistently targeted by the local police dept. Constantly pulled over, searched, checked for warrants, etc. Approx five months after Jela murder , I would be accused of Attempted Murder of a Gary, In. Cop during a bogus traffic stop where a police cruiser took incoming rounds while the cop stood beside the open car door. This cop would dive into the car while it was taking fire and later claim that someone or I tried to murder him. The forensic evidence and physical evidence doesn't support the narrative or allegation of Attempted Murder and yet I was still wrongfully convicted and given a 63 yr. sentence.
Returning back to prison, specifically to the Indiana Reformatory where I had a long history of engaging in organized resistance against the racist prison guard network and administration. I would be falsely accused of Attempted Murder of the Director of Internal Affairs, Michael Raines.
After a several month long campaign of harassment of my contact visits with my granddaughter I subverted several security checkpoints and gates and slipped into the office of Michael Raines to confront him about denying the entry of my granddaughter after she had been consistently visiting for 2 yrs without issue. An argument ensued and I commenced destroying all of the computers in his office.
I was armed as a countermeasure to the possibility of being beaten by responding officers..
I would be charged with Attempted Murder, Possession of a Deadly Weapon (knife). I would ultimately be forced to sign an illegal plea of 20 yrs, suspend 8, do 6 of 12 yrs.
CONTRADICTIONS
Michael Raines conducted his own investigation into his own alleged assault in his official capacity as I.A. Investigator. He, as the alleged victim, conducted the investigation, filed his own internal prison charges, and signed the ticket/conduct report in his official capacity as I.A. Investigator AND based on his own investigation he made a referral of what outside charges should be filed to the State Police Investigator. This is a blatant Conflict of Interest!!
In this small county, Michael Raines was a local celebrity having worked in the D.O.C. for over 20 yrs and having filed outside charges against 100s of prisoners, thus feeding the P.I.C with assembly line railroad justice.
Fast forward approx 3 to 5 yrs later and a huge scandal would be breaking news after a colleague and investigator coworker of M. Raines would be busted for trafficking drugs and cell phones. He would flip on M. Raines and expose that for years M.Raines had been running a smuggling ring of drugs, phones, etc. So many guards and general staff would be removed that the prison had to be locked down because it wasn't enough ppl to run it. Not M. Raines tho.
M.Raines was the J.Edgar Hoover over the prison system and had files on everyone, he knew where the bodies was buried and therefore was neither fired or sent to jail. Instead he was demoted from Dir.to regular I.A. and moved next door to another prison where he could quietly retire with his pension!!
The D.O.C. would demand/stipulate that the probation part of my sentence begin immediately and as part of this stipulation if I caught certain types of prison tickets e.g. having weapons or engaging in violence, the D.O.C. can petition for my probation to be violated and a 20 yr sentence imposed. But that 12 yrs sentence doesn't begin until I finish my original 63 yrs sentence!! That is an illegal sentence. You can't run 1/2 now and 1/2 later, the sentence is either consecutive or concurrent. By the state and the D.O.C. demanding that the sentence begin immediately the time portion should have also begun and the sentence as a whole done/completed.
In 2006 after returning back to Lake County Jail on a PCR [Post Conviction Relief], I was exposed.to and confronted by a rogue group of primarily white Sheriff Deputies/ C.O.'s who were targeting and beating the shit out of young Black Men. It was common knowledge under and on the watch of the jail’s first Black Female Warden.
As a jailhouse lawyer who was running a law clinic helping young brothers on their cases and not sign their lives away on bogus pleas and an attempted cop killer...I was targeted for a beating.
I was attacked on camera and I defended myself against a squad of 6 guards. I was then carried into a segregation cell off camera where I was stomped and beaten while handcuffed behind my back requiring transport to an outside hospital for an MRI to determine if I had a broken jaw or eye socket fracture...I did not.
I would be given several bogus counts and other charges in spite of the fact that the attack was on video!
The State would file a Habitual Offender/ 3 Strikes Count which could further enhance my sentence by 30 yrs, if I was found guilty. I was given a sell out Public Defender, who refused to even try to get copies of the video tape! I took a plea on a Battery Case for 2 yrs and cut my losses.
We organized and protested in front of the jail and Courthouse about these rogue elements, calling for an investigation. Nothing was done, D.O.J. Civil Rights Div. requested copies of the tapes, but I was a potential cop killer and they refused to act on it.
Fast forward several years later and this same group of guards and more would beat a Black prisoner to the point of his heart stopping twice on the operating table; he had to be revived. And the damn burst. This case was settled for over a million dollars and opened the floodgates of lawsuits and investigations. The feds came in and uncovered all of these assaults and cover ups. At least 8 guards were given felony charges, 5 of those 8 would be the same ones who attacked myself. They were all fired.
This Case should be reopened and thrown out. I argued from the beginning that I was attacked and defending myself, that it was a pattern of conduct and the only reason I was taking a plea is because I didn't believe that the public defender would properly represent me. This statement is on record/transcript.
With the current climate in the country and the demand for so called criminal justice reform, Comrade Kwame and myself are trying to expose and organize around our convictions. To try and spark interest in getting peoples’ lawyers, activists to look into our cases, and in my situation some of the new convictions that I have received since I've been imprisoned on my original wrongful conviction of the Attempted Murder of a Gary, In. Cop.
It is these types of wrongful convictions and cases that I/we need the resources and assistance in exposing and overturning. Everything that I have written; I either have the documentation to substantiate or it is a matter of public record.
We appreciate your support and solidarity.
Dare to Struggle - Dare to Win
Shaka Shakur
