New Black Panther Party national chairwoman Krystal Muhammad celebrated the removal of the judge who presided over Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial, and immediately demanded that the convicted killer be released from prison.
Standing outside the Collin County Courthouse following Wednesday’s recusal hearing, Muhammad erupted into chants of “Black Power” as Anthony’s supporters celebrated the procedural victory.
“Black Power. It’s about goddamn time. Our power to the people. That’s the first step. Now we need for Karmelo [Anthony] to be released.”
“All of the racist acts that took place under Judge Roach—from them not letting people come into the courthouse when it’s supposed to be a public hearing, from them not giving the jury instructions on self-defense—so Carmelo would have never got a case in the first place. He would have had—the jury would have had the option of manslaughter—from the racism.”
Muhammad was reacting to visiting Judge Sid Harle’s decision to remove District Judge John Roach Jr. from Anthony’s post-trial proceedings.
Roach presided over Anthony’s murder trial and later told a reporter that the jury “got it right.” Anthony’s attorneys argued that those comments created the appearance that Roach could not impartially consider their motion for a new trial.
The recusal does not erase Anthony’s conviction or 35-year prison sentence. It merely places the pending motion for a new trial before a different judge.
That did not stop Muhammad and other Anthony supporters from treating the ruling as the beginning of a campaign to spring a convicted killer from prison.
Hellbound and Down 