COP KILLER ORDERED RELEASED ON PAROLE BY N.J. APPELLATE COURT

Clark Edward Squire, now known as Sundiata Acoli, who gunned down a N.J. state cop in 1973 was denied parole in 2011, but a state appeals court reversed the parole board’s decision

In 1973, Clark Edward Squire, now known as Sundiata Acoli, struggled with State Trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike. During the struggle, Acoli’s gun went off, wounding the officer. Acoli then grabbed the trooper’s gun and shot him twice in the head as he was lying on the ground.. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 24 to 30 years.

From the Associated Press:

According to court documents, Acoli's gun went off during a struggle with Foerster, who had responded as backup after another officer pulled over the car for a broken tail light. The state contended Chesimard shot Trooper James Harper, wounding him, then took Foerster's gun and shot him twice in the head with his own gun as he lay on the ground. Acoli has claimed he was grazed by a bullet and blacked out, and couldn't remember the exact sequence of events.

The cop killer now in his mid-70s, was denied parole in 1993, 2004 and 2011. He appealed the latest denial and on Monday a state appellate court reversed that decision.

Also from the Associated Press:

The appellate judges wrote Monday that the parole board ignored a prison psychologist's favorable report on Acoli and the fact that he had expressed remorse for the trooper's death and had had no disciplinary incidents in prison since 1996. They also faulted the board for giving too much weight to Acoli's past criminal record and an unspecified probation violation, which occurred several decades before the board's decision.

"Make no mistake, we are completely appalled by Acoli's senseless crimes, which left a member of the State Police dead and another injured, as well as one of Acoli's associates dead and the other injured," the judges wrote. "But Acoli has paid the penalty under the laws of this State for his crimes."

Obviously, the appellate judges were not appalled enough over the cold blooded killing of a police officer. The state attorney general’s office will appeal the ruling.

Acoli and his two companions were members of a black militant group. Trooper Foerster was white. The car in which the three were riding was pulled over for a broken taillight. President Obama and Al Sharpton would consider that a Driving While Black stop by a white cop.