ROCKLAND LEGISLATORS UNIFY AGAINST PAROLE FOR BRINKS KILLER

Legislators voted 13-0 last week to pass a resolution opposing the parole and release of the convicted killer.

Nyack Police Officers Sgt. Edward Oโ€™Grady and Officer Waverly โ€œChipperโ€ Brown and Brinksโ€™ Guard Peter Paige were killed during the Oct. 20, 1981 robbery. Paige was killed during a $1.8 million armored car heist at the then-Nanuet Mall, now the Shops at Nanuet. Both police officers were killed during the escape attempt in a shootout at the Mountainview Road entrance to the state Thruway in Nyack, where a permanent memorial is located.

Mutulu Shakur (birth name Jeral Wayne Williams), the step-father of famed rapper Tupac Shakur, was arrested in 1986 and sentenced in 1988 for his role in the robberies and killings by a self-proclaimed revolutionary group known as โ€œThe Family.โ€

The group included Black Liberation Army members and former members of violent groups from the 1960s, according to news reports. In addition to the Brinkโ€™s case, Shakur was found guilty in another armored car robbery in which a guard was shot dead. He had been accused of participating in 12 robberies from 1976 to 1981.

He was also found guilty of aiding the prison escape of his sister, Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted in 1977 of killing a New Jersey state trooper and who fled to Cuba. Shakur was sentenced to 60 years. The judge recommended no parole be granted.

Under the sentencing rules in effect at the time, โ€œmandatory paroleโ€ is required after 30 years unless a parole hearing determines the prisoner would commit new crimes or had repeat, serious violations of prison rules, according to a published news report.

As of today, the Federal Bureau of Prisonsโ€™ website lists Shakurโ€™s release date as Feb. 10, 2016 โ€“ 30 years after his 1986 arrest โ€“ but shows that he is still incarcerated in Victorville, Calif. Shakur, 65, is due before the U.S. Parole Commission early next month, possiblyย April 4, according to published news reports.

Some people have expressed interest in commenting on the parole. Here is the contact information:

All those who have been involved with the incident or who were impacted by this crime are

encouraged to write-in and express their opinions and views as to Shakur being granted parole.

Letters or emails can be directed to:

Chairman J. Patricia Wilson Smoot

United States Parole Commission

90 K Street, N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20530

Or

public.inquiries@usdoj.gov.

In expressing your views, you are encouraged to reference the inmate’s full name, Mutulu Shakur, aka Jeral Wayne Williams, Federal Registration #83205-012. This will enhance the flow and cycle of communication with the appropriate USPC officials.

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