Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, known as Geronimo Ji-Jaga and Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, was a decorated military veteran and a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
24 Facts About Geronimo Pratt
2.
Geronimo Pratt moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at UCLA under the GI Bill and joined the Black Panther Party.
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Geronimo Pratt was freed in 1997 when his conviction was vacated due to the prosecution's having withheld exculpatory evidence that tended to prove his innocence.
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Geronimo Pratt worked as a human rights activist until the time of his death.
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Geronimo Pratt was the godfather of the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
6.
Geronimo Pratt died of a heart attack in Tanzania, on June 3,2011.
7.
Elmer Geronimo Pratt was born in Morgan City, Louisiana, where his father was in the scrap metal business.
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Geronimo Pratt was a star quarterback at Sumpter Williams High School.
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Geronimo Pratt served two combat tours as a soldier in the Vietnam War, reaching the rank of sergeant.
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Geronimo Pratt was highly decorated, earning two Bronze Stars, a Silver Star, and two Purple Hearts.
11.
Geronimo Pratt became politically active and was recruited into the Black Panthers by Bunchy Carter and John Huggins.
12.
When Geronimo Pratt joined the Black Panthers, his years in the army proved useful.
13.
Geronimo Pratt rose to become Deputy Minister of Defense of the local organization, after Bunchy Carter and John Huggins were killed by COINTELPRO infiltrators in the Us Organization.
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Geronimo Pratt took the name "Geronimo," after a prominent Apache chief and leader of resistance to US domination, and "Ji-Jaga," after a Central African tribe.
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Geronimo Pratt later believed this account was an FBI lie, and that Saundra's murder was unrelated to her activities in the Black Panther Party.
16.
Julius Butler, a police informant and infiltrator inside the Black Panther Party, testified that Geronimo Pratt had confessed to him and discussed the murder with him on several occasions.
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In 1970, Geronimo Pratt was arrested and charged with murder and kidnapping.
18.
Geronimo Pratt claimed that Pratt had been 350 miles away on the night of the murder.
19.
Attorney Stuart Hanlon, who had helped represent him in his first trial, and William Paparian worked on the appeals that resulted in Geronimo Pratt's conviction being vacated.
20.
The prosecution had not disclosed the extent to which a key witness against Geronimo Pratt, Julius Butler, was an informant to the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department.
21.
On July 24,1997, Geronimo Pratt returned to his hometown of Morgan City, Louisiana, to see his aged mother, Eunice.
22.
Geronimo Pratt had not seen her in 23 years, since she rode a bus to visit him at Folsom Prison.
23.
Geronimo Pratt continued to work until his death on behalf of men and women wrongfully convicted.
24.
Geronimo Pratt participated in rallies in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal, whom he had met when both were active as Black Panthers.