Mumia Abu-Jamal, the activist imprisoned for the murder of a police officer, has been rushed to a hospital amid conflicting reports regarding his health.
According to friends of Abu-Jamal who emailed The Root, the onetime Black Panther has been sick for months and hasn’t received proper care inside his Pennsylvania prison, causing him to be rushed to a hospital near the prison. It is unclear how long Abu-Jamal has been hospitalized.
Abu-Jamal’s lawyer, Bret Grote, knows only that his client is in the critical care unit. He has not been informed of his client’s current condition or the reason for his hospitalization, according to the Associated Press.
No one has been allowed to see Abu-Jamal, including his lawyer and his brother Keith Cook.
Abu-Jamal was convicted and sentenced to death July 3, 1982, for the 1981 murder of "white Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner," according to AP. His death sentence was dropped years later, but he remains incarcerated for the crime. Prison officials told the news site that they are not allowed to comment on inmates’ health.
Abu-Jamal’s conviction has been upheld through years of appeals, but he has gained international support for his claim that he is the victim of a racist justice system.
Read more at U.S. News & World Report.