Sundiata Acoli

Sundiata Acoli (born January 14, 1937, as Clark Edward Squire) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1974 for murdering a New Jersey state trooper. Acoli was granted parole in 2022 at the age of 85.

Early life Acoli was born on January 14, 1937, in Decatur, Texas, and raised in Vernon, Texas.

Acoli was radicalised by the assassination of Martin Luther King in April 1968 and that same year joined the Harlem chapter of the Black Panther Party as its finance minister. A group called Computer People for Peace raised $50,000 bail for him but it was rejected by the judge. Acoli and the other defendants were ultimately acquitted of all charges in that case in 1971.

New Jersey Turnpike shooting

On May 2, 1973, at about 12:45 a.m., Acoli, along with Zayd Malik Shakur (born James F. Costan) and Assata Shakur (born JoAnne Chesimard), were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick for driving with a broken tail light by State Trooper James Harper, backed up by Trooper Werner Foerster in a second patrol vehicle. Recordings of Trooper Harper calling the dispatcher were played at the trials of both Acoli and Assata Shakur. Acoli was driving the two-door vehicle, Assata Shakur was seated in the right front seat, and Zayd Shakur was in the right rear seat. Zayd Shakur was killed, and Assata Shakur and Trooper Harper were wounded.

According to initial police statements, at this point one or more of the suspects began firing with automatic handguns and Trooper Foerster fired four times before falling mortally wounded. At this trial, Harper said that Foerster reached into the vehicle, pulled out and held up an automatic pistol and ammunition magazine, and said "Jim, look what I found", At this point, Assata Shakur and Zayd Shakur were ordered to put their hands on their laps and not to move; Harper said that Assata Shakur then reached down to the right of her right leg, pulled out a pistol, and shot him in the shoulder, after which he retreated to behind his vehicle. According to the testimony of State Police investigators, two jammed semi-automatic pistols were discovered near Foerster's body.

In Shakur's version of events, she says she was shot and wounded with her hands up and couldn't have killed Foerster. Acoli said at the time that he was hit by a bullet, blacked out and couldn't remember what happened.

Acoli then drove the car (a white Pontiac LeMans with Vermont license plates) Zayd Shakur's body was found in a nearby gully along the road.

Upon entering New Jersey State Prison he was subsequently confined to a new and specially created Management Control Unit (MCU) created for him and other political prisoners. He remained in MCU almost five years.

In September 1979, Acoli was transferred to Marion, Illinois, federal prison. In July 1987 he was transferred to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. In the fall of 1992, Sundiata Acoli was denied parole. On September 29, 2014, a New Jersey state appeals court officially granted Acoli's request for parole, though the state of New Jersey appealed this ruling. However, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered that he be made eligible to apply for parole again sooner, and he was ultimately granted parole in May 2022 at the age of 85.

Popular culture Sundiata Acoli is hailed in the song "Sunshine" by hip hop music artist Yasiin Bey alongside Mumia Abu Jamal and Assata Shakur. He is also given a "revolutionary salute" at the end of the Dead Prez song "I Have A Dream, Too", along with Zayd Shakur and Assata Shakur.