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.
Sign the declaration below and then take the next action steps here!
- Prof. Jared Ball, Morgan State University
- Maynard Henry, Attorney at Law, Law Office of Maynard M. Henry, Sr.
- MoSoul Brooks, Minister of Liberal & Field Strategy, The Liberated Soul Collective- Assata Shakur Mother Roots Chapter
- Mr. Morgan McCarty, African American Museum of Bucks County
- Dr. Derek R. Ford, Education Chair at the Hampton Institute and Associate Editor of Postdigital Science and Education
- Jerome Wilder, Social Activist, Conscious New Afrikan
- Stuart Chen-Hayes, Professor, CUNY Lehman College
- Mx. Bo Borden, Northwest Indiana Community Solidarity
- Lindsey Holtgrave, Data Research Analyst, Marion County Assessor’s Office
- Rania Hatab, Lower Hudson Valley DSA, Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow
- Mrs. Elisa Fernandez
- Sara Lefsyk, Editor, Ethel Zine & Micro Press
- Mona Wimmer, Citizen
- Dominique Whitfield, Citizen
- Dr. Curry Malott, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
- Decker Cavosie, Librarian, Monroe County Public Library
- Landon Nguyen, San Francisco DSA
- Ms. Mary Kraynak, Public Member
- Jessie Daniels, Professor of Sociology, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY
- Ms. B. Hussein, Somalian Solidarity
- Dr. Adnan Husain, Associate Professor, History, Queen’s University
- Jazmin Maco, PhD Candidate, Duke University
- Susan Morrissey, Professor of History, University of California – Irvine
- Hari Ziyad, Writer
- Ms. Ayla Carson, Member of Public
- Beth Capper, Assistant Professor, University of Alberta
- Aidan Simardone, Simardone Law
- Ramsey Aburdene, Confounder, Palestinian News Network
- Stephen Lane II, Treasurer, Indiana Black Librarians Network
- Wendy Matsumura, Associate Professor of History, University of California – San Diego
- Cesar Talom, Citizen
- Ms. Rhonda Kinsey
- Maurice Robinson, Richmond Public Schools
- Ms. Gabriela Valentin, Universidad Ana G. Méndez & University of Puerto Rico
- Eve Dickerson, Access Reproductive Care South East
- Mr. Eric Turonis
- Mr. Haki Shakur, August Third Collective, New Afrikan Freedom Campaign, Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign, New Afrikan Independence Movement
- Pastor Rodney Hunter, Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church
- Sir Otto Yaeger von Eld, Citizen
- Dior Vargas, Activist, NYC DSA
- Elizabeth Paige White, Civil Rights Lawyer, EPW Law PLLC
- Lorna Charlton, Domestic Engineer, Moral Mondays
- Steven Muhammad, National Chairman, Asafo People’s Vanguard
- Brother Shabazz, Profesesor, Southwestern College
- Jorden Giger, Co-Founder, Black Lives Matter South Bend
- Confidence Okeke, Secretary, Uganda Nigeria Imperial Administration UNIAACL-EACL
- Phil Wilayto, Editor in Chief, Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
- Plamedi Matenda, Artist, A-APRP
- Charles Taylor III, Teacher