Elmer 'Geronimo' Pratt,
a former Black Panther leader,
dies in Tanzania
Elmer G. "Geronimo" Pratt, a former Los Angeles Black Panther Party leader who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit and whose case became a symbol of racial injustice during the turbulent 1960s, has died. He was 63.
Pratt died at his home in a small village in Tanzania, where he had been living with his wife and child, according to Stuart Hanlon, a San Francisco attorney who helped overturn Pratt's murder conviction. Hanlon said he was informed of the death by Pratt's sister.Pratt's case became a cause celebre for elected officials, Amnesty International, clergy and celebrities who believed he was framed by the government because he was African American and a member of the Black Panthers.
"Geronimo was a powerful leader," Hanlon told The Times. "For that reason he was targeted."
Pratt was convicted in 1972 and sentenced to life in prison for the 1968 fatal shooting of Caroline Olsen and the serious wounding of her husband, Kenneth, in a robbery that netted $18. The case was overturned in 1997 by an Orange County Superior Court judge who ruled that prosecutors at Pratt's murder trial had concealed evidence that could have led to his acquittal.
Pratt maintained that the FBI knew he was innocent because the agency had him under surveillance in Oakland when the murder was committed in Santa Monica.
— Robert J. Lopez
Twitter: @LAJourno
Photo: Geronimo Pratt, left, with defense attorney Johnny L. Cochran Jr. in Los Angeles in 1998. Credit: Nick Ut / Associated Press
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Geronimo ji-Jaga Dies at 63
Geronimo ji-Jaga, also known as Geronimo Pratt, passed away on June 2, 2011 at the age of 63. He was known in most circles as Geronimo Pratt a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party but actually changed his name to Geronimo ji-Jada in 1968. In an interview with Tavis Smiley (see video below), ji-Jada talks about his name change and the meaning of the name.
Geronimo ji-Jaga was arrested and convicted for the murder of Caroline Olsen, a young woman whose death occurred 350 miles away from where ji-Jada was at the time of the murder. Olsen, a 27 yr old teacher, and her husband were shot during a robbery in Santa Monica.
Olsen’s husband, Kenneth, survived the shooting and initially identified another man as the shooter. But this information did not help Mr. Pratt (the name used during the trial).
A factor that lead to his conviction, according to reports that came out during the second trial, was that the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted him in a COINTELPRO operation, which aimed to “neutralize Pratt as an effective Black Panther Party functionary.”
The story of Geronimo Pratt’s conviction and imprisonment was chronicled by journalist and author Jack Olsen who believed that what happened to Geronimo Pratt was a textbook case of abuse of the American criminal justice system for political ends.
After serving two distinguished stints in Vietnam and earning a Purple Heart, Pratt returned to the States and entered college on the G.I. Bill. While in college he became a leader of the Black Panthers in Los Angeles. It was then that he was targeted by the FBI’s counterintelligence program which lead to him being set up and convicted for the highly publicized 1968 Santa Monica murder.
Famed attorney, Johnnie Cochran defended ji-Jaga in the original trial back in 1970 but due to key evidence being repressed, ji-Jaga was ultimately convicted and spent 27 years in prison, eight of which were in solitary confinement. He was freed in 1997 when his conviction was vacated. He was working as a human rights activist up until the time of his death.
He passed away after suffering a heart attack in his adopted country, Tanzania, on June 2, 2011.
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R.I.P. Geronimo “ji-Jaga” Pratt
(1947-2011)
Author: Jonathan Jelks
On June 3, 2011 legendary Black Panther leader and political prisoner Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt died of an undisclosed medical ailment, possibly a heart attack or stroke, just after midnight at his home in Imbaseni village, 15 miles from Arusha, Tanzania in Africa where he has lived for the past five years. Pratt also known as Geronimo ji-Jaga, was a high ranking member of the Black Panther Party. The Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted him in a COINTELPRO operation, which aimed to “neutralize Pratt as an effective BPP functionary. Pratt was tried and convicted of the kidnap and murder of Caroline Olsen in 1972, and spent 27 years in prison, eight of which were in solitary confinement. Pratt was freed in 1997 when his conviction was overturned. He was working as a human rights activist up until the time of his death. Pratt was also the godfather of the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
