12 Facts About Mutulu Shakur

Mutulu Shakur was paroled after serving nearly 37 years of imprisonment, and died about eight months later.

Mutulu Shakur was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 8,1950, as Jeral Wayne Williams.

Mutulu Shakur became certified and licensed to practice acupuncture in the state of California in 1979.

Mutulu Shakur went on to help found and direct the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America and the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture.

Mutulu Shakur was one of several Black Liberation Army members to carry out the October 1981 robbery of an armored car in Nanuet, New York.

Mutulu Shakur, the alleged ringleader of the group, evaded capture for more than five years and thus was the last one to go on trial on charges related to the robbery.

Mutulu Shakur was arrested on February 12,1986, in California by the FBI.

Under the rules in effect at the time of his offenses, Mutulu Shakur was due for a mandatory parole determination after serving thirty of his original sixty-year sentence, which came in 2016.

In October 2019, Mutulu Shakur renewed his quest for a reduction of sentence by applying to the sentencing court for compassionate release under the First Step Act, but relief was denied.

Mutulu Shakur was freed on that date from Federal Medical Center, Lexington, and died about eight months later.

In June 2022, it was revealed that Mutulu Shakur had terminal bone marrow cancer with "six months to live".

Mutulu Shakur died from the disease on July 7,2023, at age 72, about eight months after being paroled.