In August 1971, he was arrested in California along with Albert “Nuh” Washington and Herman Bell and charged with the killing of two NYPD police officers, Waverly Jones and Joseph A. Piagentini, in New York City on May 21.

Drawn to the civil rights activism during the 1960s, Muntaqim joined and began organizing for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during his teenage years.

[5][6] Its members served as experts in military strategy and were “the essential armed wing of the above-ground political apparatus.”[4] Muntaqim and Albert “Nuh” Washington were arrested and charged with the May 21, 1971 killings of two NYPD officers, P.O.

The first trial of the men ended in a hung jury, with the second in 1975 resulting his conviction on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with possible parole after 22 years.

The charges against the Torres brothers were thrown out due to lack of evidence, while Muntaqim, Washington and Bell were convicted and sentenced to 25-to-life based on new testimony by Ruben Scott, a police informant in the Black Panther Party.

While incarcerated, he met fellow Black revolutionaries Jamil Al-Amin and Muhammad Ahmad, who inspired him to convert to Islam and take on the name Jalil Abdul Muntaqim.

[18] In 1999 the investigation into the death of San Francisco police officer John V. Young was re-opened, costing the city over $2 million but eventually leading to charges being filed against eight former BLA members in 2007, including Muntaqim.

[19] Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who needed to approve the $2 million appropriation for the investigation and legal fees, requested that the charges be dropped against the remaining defendants, citing the use of torture and denial of right to counsel in order to obtain confessions.

In 2002, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg publicized his opposition to granting Muntaqim parole, stating, “Anthony Bottom's crime is unforgivable, and its consequences will remain forever with the families of the police officers, as well as the men and women of the New York City Police Department.”[22] Councilman Charles Barron, a self-described Black revolutionary, is one of Muntaqim's active advocates.

Herman Bell had already been paroled in 2018[25] and Albert “Nuh” Washington died of liver cancer in April 2000 in New York State's Coxsackie Correctional Facility.