Elmer 'Geronimo' Pratt, a former Black Panther leader, dies in Tanzania

[discocrisco01]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Elmer G. "Geronimo" Pratt, a former Los Angeles Black Panther Party leader who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit and whose case became a symbol of racial injustice during the turbulent 1960s, has died. He was 63.

Pratt died at his home in a small village in Tanzania, where he had been living with his wife and child, according to Stuart Hanlon, a San Francisco attorney who helped overturn Pratt's murder conviction. Hanlon said he was informed of the death by Pratt's sister.

Pratt's case became a cause celebre for elected officials, Amnesty International, clergy and celebrities who believed he was framed by the government because he was African American and a member of the Black Panthers.

"Geronimo was a powerful leader," Hanlon told The Times. "For that reason he was targeted."


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-0603-geronimo-pratt-m,0,3003178.story

[MrScorpio]

1. Rest In Peace, Brother nt