Mutulu Shakur, 65, stepfather of iconic rapper Tupac Shakur is scheduled for a parole hearing this month. Shakur has served half of his 60-year sentence for his role in a series of armed robberies committed by the Black revolutionary group known as “The Family.” The other famous member of the group is Assata Shakur, who now lives in Cuba but is still wanted by the US government.
Mutulu Shakur was deemed the mastermind behind the robberies that occurred in New York and Connecticut that resulted in the murder of a Brinks armed guard Peter Paige and the theft of $1.6 million. Two hours later, the group was confronted by Nyack, New York police officers Waverly Brown and Sgt. Edward O’Grady, who were shot dead in an ambush. Shakur was also implicated in the successful prison escape that freed Assata Shakur.
At his trial, testimony showed that Mutulu Shakur had visited the prison and held two guards captive as Assata Shakur escaped in a prison van. Federal parole was discontinued in 1987 but inmates who were convicted before the ban took place are still eligible for parole. Under the rules in place at the time of his conviction, Shakur is eligible for mandatory parole.
This has caused outrage for the families of those who were murdered by Shakur. Peter Paige, the son of the armed guard killed, called the situation “incomprehensible” and “sickening.” He goes on to say “That’s the going rate? Thirty years for at least three lives that were taken? I was 16 years when he was killed by these animals. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my father.”
Shakur’s parole hearing is to take place this week at the federal penitentiary in Victorville, California, where he is serving his sentence.
