Free At Last, Pratt Urges ‘Revolution’ Former Black Panther, Released From Prison, Still Has ‘60s Fire
Though for the moment humbled by the simple beauty of a tree, the revolutionary fire still burns in Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt, free at last.
“I want to be the first one to call for a new revolution,” the former Black Panther Party leader said at an exultant homecoming in Marin City on Thursday evening.
Recalling some of the fire of the radical 1960s, Pratt called himself “a soldier … dedicated to the liberation of my people and all oppressed people.”
Many of those people, he said, are inmates wrongly imprisoned in the system that Pratt just escaped, at least temporarily, after being behind bars for 27 years for a 1968 murder he says he did not commit.
“We have a lot of beautiful brothers and sisters in those prisons,” said Pratt, a UCLA student when he was imprisoned and now 49.
He was released on $25,000 bail earlier in the week pending a possible new trial on the murder charge and, though it was clear he was savoring the simple pleasure of basking in a setting sun, he made it clear to a crowd of family, well-wishers and reporters that he believes he still has a mission.
“I don’t want no Cadillac. … I don’t want no bunch of women,” said Pratt, his voice rising in emotion. “I want freedom for my people.”
But for the moment, he was enjoying the taste of freedom.
“You got to understand,” Pratt said, “I didn’t see dirt or grass for eight straight years. All I saw was concrete and steel. So just looking at a tree makes my knees weak.”
Marin City residents and reporters swarmed the car carrying Pratt as he and his ex-wife, Ashaki Pratt, slowly drove up to their home.
Ashaki married Pratt in 1976 while he was in prison, and they conceived their children during conjugal visits. They were divorced in 1995, but plan to renew their vows, she said.
Pratt was arrested in 1970 for the slaying of Caroline Olsen, who was gunned down on a Santa Monica tennis court and robbed of $18. Pratt’s 1972 conviction was thrown out last month by Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett Dickey, entitling him to a new trial.
The judge ruled that prosecutors had failed to disclose to the defense that a key prosecution witness had been an FBI and Los Angeles Police Department informant.
Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti is appealing the ruling. He says he intends to pursue a new trial, although there is speculation he’ll change his mind for several reasons: the only eyewitness to the murder is dead; the length of Pratt’s incarceration, evidence of intelligence campaigns against the Panthers and the political consequences should Garcetti lose another high-profile case.