We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with Shaka Shakur and support his immediate release from prison. Shaka has been a dedicated participant and effective organizer in the struggle for human rights and social justice for more than 30 years.
In 2002, Shaka was wrongfully convicted of the attempted murder of a police officer. There was no attempted murder. In the midst of a mental health crisis after his son’s murder and after being repeated incidents of police harassment for his activism, Shaka fired some shots at a police vehicle, but without intent to hit the officer. The officer returned fire and ran out of bullets. Allthugh Shaka still had a magazine with more rounds and could have easily killed the officer at that point, Shaka instead got into his vehicle and drove away. The police officer has since expressed that he is not opposed to Shaka receiving some form of post-conviction relief and that he would leave the decision regarding Shaka’s release up to the district attorney’s office.
Shaka has already served the full time of this attempted murder sentence and would be out today if not for a “habitual offender” enhancement that could no longer be applied today given substantial changes in the law since Shaka’s original conviction.
During his incarceration, Shaka has been targeted by the authorities for his political activism, subjected to beatings, censorship, denial of timely medical treatment, property theft, harassment, and forced transfers including to prisons in Virginia, disrupting his access to family and comrades in Indiana. Shaka is widely recognized by progressive organizations, such as the Jericho Movement, as a political prisoner who should be released immediately.
Despite the repression, Shaka has never stopped organizing people on both sides of the prison walls to struggle for fundamental human rights. He is a prolific and brilliant author who has written for numerous outlets and, in December 2025, published his first book. He has consistently taken advantage of whatever educational programs he can access in prison. He has been a tireless advocate for the human rights of prisoners in particular and all people in general. He has organized prisoner study groups, assisted countless prisoners as a paralegal, founded a U.S.-wide-prisoner newsletter, and established strong links with outside human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, among many other related activities. Shaka has founded a re-entry program for released prisoners, even while he remains trapped on the other side. Moreover, before his incarceration in 2002, he was doing tremendous youth organizing in Gary, Indiana, reaching at-risk youth and getting them excited to participate in educational programs. He was recognized by the former Mayor of Gary for his incredible work here.
Shaka is now a great grandfather who recently underwent a serious struggle with cancer. It is far past time for him to come home and be with his family. He is a tremendous human being who has suffered tremendously while being incarcerated. It is past time for him to be out. He has so much to offer the community.
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