Muslims Call for Probe of Former Activist’s Arrest
WASHINGTON — Four Muslim groups called Monday for the Justice Department to investigate the arrest of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the 1960s student activist formerly known as H. Rap Brown, in an Atlanta shooting.
The groups say they do not think Al-Amin shot anyone. They say police, to try to thwart the Islamic faith, have targeted him because he is an imam, or minister.
“There is apparently much more to this incident than has been revealed so far,” said a statement endorsed by the Islamic Society of North America, the American Muslim Council, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
A spokesman for the Justice Department’s civil rights division said he was not aware of a complaint being filed on Al-Amin’s behalf as of Monday evening.
William Miles, 22, was shot in the leg July 26 near Al-Amin’s grocery store. “They tried to pinpoint the imam,” Miles, at a news conference Monday, said of police. “I told them I didn’t see nobody.”
Atlanta police have denied pressuring Miles.
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