By KERRIA WEAVER / DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE VIA BWHL
When Jalil Abdul Muntaqim took the podium to address the lawmakers during the public forum section of the Monroe County Legislature meeting, several Republican legislators walked out of the chamber.
Now, an advocate for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people is criticizing the GOP walkout. Muntaqim, born Anthony Bottom, was convicted in 1971 for the killings of two New York City police officers, Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones. The Republican conference said in a previous statement that the decision to leave was made out of respect for the murdered officers and in solidarity with law enforcement.
Jose Saldaña, director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign and a survivor of 38 years in New York State prisons and a crime survivor, released the following statement March 11 in response to the walk out….