The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Sunday eulogized convicted cop-killer Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, who died over the weekend while serving a life sentence in federal prison.
“To God we belong and to Him we return. Imam Jamil Al-Amin was a hero of the civil rights movement and a victim of injustice who passed away in a prison, jailed for a crime he did not commit. We pray that God rewards him with paradise for his good deeds and the injustices he suffered,” CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
To God we belong and to Him we return. Imam Jamil Al-Amin was a hero of the civil rights movement and a victim of injustice who passed away in a prison, jailed for a crime he did not commit. We pray that God rewards him with paradise for his good deeds and the injustices he… pic.twitter.com/G8M4H4xtt6
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) November 23, 2025
Al-Amin, whose birth name was Hubert Gerold Brown and who was best known as H. Rap Brown, was a Black Panther who rose to notoriety as riots swept the United States in the 1960s. Among other comments, he said that violence is “as American as cherry pie,” threatened to “burn America down,” and told rioters, “If you’re going to loot, loot yourself a gun store,” the New York Times noted in its obituary. After facing charges for inciting a riot, he disappeared in 1970, making the FBI’s Most Wanted List. He resurfaced one year later, was convicted on robbery and assault charges, and ended up serving five years in prison, during which he converted to Islam and took the name Jamil Abdullah al-Amin.
Following his release, al-Amin made news again in 2002, when he was convicted of killing Fulton County, Ga., deputy sheriff Ricky Kinchen in a shootout. While the former Black Panther denied being the killer, saying the FBI feared “a character coming up among African Americans who could galvanize support,” Kinchen’s partner identified al-Amin as the shooter, and a majority-black jury agreed, sentencing him to life in prison without parole, the Times noted.
CAIR claimed in its statement that al-Amin was “wrongly convicted” of the murder.
The statement comes as CAIR is facing increased scrutiny. Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization and ordered a criminal investigation. “We will target threats of violence, intimidation, and harassment of our citizens,” the governor said in a letter. He identified CAIR as a “direct subsidiary” of the Muslim Brotherhood and cited the FBI in accusing the council of being a “front group” for Hamas.
Awad, who issued CAIR’s Sunday statement, has garnered controversy himself. He said he was “happy to see” Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, in which Hamas murdered more than 1,200 civilians and took hundreds of people hostage.
