Well, it’s been a while since we saw the name of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal popping up in the news, but here we go again. Alleging some sort of racist plot and coverup in the trial of the murderer, Colin Kaepernick has decided to take up his cause and call for his immediate release from prison. On what grounds? Because he’s “consistently maintained his innocence” for all of these years. I’m not entirely sure how Kaepernick got involved in this debate, but he’s far from the first celebrity to do so. Whoopi Goldberg has long been a cheerleader for the murderer, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary. So let’s check in and see what Kaepernick has to say about it. (Daily Wire)

Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has now called for the release of cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted for the 1981 murder of police officer and U.S. Army veteran David Faulkner.

During a virtual news conference on Monday, Kaepernick called upon the Philadelphia district attorney’s office to release Abu-Jamal, claiming that he was framed after falling prey to police brutality.

“Mumia has been in prison longer than I’ve been alive,” Kaepernick said in the press conference, later adding: “Since 1981, Mumia has maintained his innocence. His story has not changed.”

It appears that Kaepernick has been listening to the BLM rumor mill and decided that he has enough information to deliver a final finding in this case. Having determined that Abu-Jamal is innocent as the driven snow, he’s demanding that the DA from Philadelphia release the murderer at once in the interest of justice… or something.

Arguing that the murderer has “maintained his innocence” and that his “story has not changed” hasn’t traditionally been a very strong argument in a court of law. If you go by nothing but surveys taken of prisoners, 99% of the people behind bars were wrongly convicted. I mean, someone locked up for life on one of the more serious charges imaginable wouldn’t actually tell a lie about it, would they? But he’s had plenty of chances to appeal and try to get out of prison. In fact, he was allowed a new hearing only last year. He has thus far failed to persuade anyone in power to believe him.

I’ve been familiar with Abu-Jamal’s case for quite a while now. Back in 2014, I covered a story about the students at a small college who invited him to be one of their commencement speakers. (Via a recorded video, of course.) So he’s been something of a cult figure on the left for quite a while now and he’s attracted a following.

For what it’s worth, let’s take a short trip down memory lane to remind anyone new to the conversation precisely why Mumia Abu-Jamal is rotting in jail. When U.S. Army veteran and Police Officer David Faulkner was murdered in cold blood in 1981 he was in the process of pulling over Abu-Jamal’s brother for a traffic infraction. Multiple witnesses testified that they saw him shoot Faulkner several times from different ranges. While in the hospital (he was shot himself during the encounter), Abu-Jamal bragged of shooting Faulkner and said that he “hoped he would die.”

The only defense some of Abu-Jamal’s fans have been able to raise is what came to be known as “the running man theory.” One witness recalled seeing someone who supposedly matched Abu-Jamal’s description running away from the scene. Even leaving aside the fact that people fleeing an area where a gunfight is taking place shouldn’t be considered all that unusual, this theory still relies on so many assumptions that it’s laughable. In order for the running man theory to be believable, we would have to accept all of the following conclusions. The running man would have to have been able to:

– Steal the gun registered to Abu-Jamal from the shoulder holster he was still wearing when taken into custody
– Shoot Officer Faulkner in the back with Abu-Jamal’s gun
– Shove Abu-Jamal back in between himself and Officer Faulkner long enough for Abu-Jamal to be shot by Faulkner’s service revolver
– Jump back around Abu-Jamal and fire four more shots with Abu-Jamal’s gun, executing Officer Faulkner
– Toss Abu-Jamal’s gun to the ground next to him while leaving no prints on it
– Escape before other police arrived with nobody getting a good look at him and somehow make the multiple witnesses on the scene think that Abu-Jamal had done all this
– Convince Abu-Jamal to yell in front of witnesses at the hospital that he had shot Officer Faulkner and that he hoped Officer Faulkner would die

You can believe that scenario if you like, but as I wrote seven years ago, that would make Mumia Abu-Jamal just about the unluckiest person on the face of the planet. I think Kaepernick should do himself a favor and sit this one out before he winds up looking even more foolish.