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Elmer Gerard "Geronimo" Pratt (September 13, 1947–June 2, 2011), also known as Geronimo Ji-Jaga and Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, was a decorated military veteran and a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Born in Louisiana, he Vietnam War, receiving several decorations. He moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at UCLA under the GI Bill and joined the Black Panther Party. He was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted Pratt in a COINTELPRO operation in the early 1970s, intended to "neutralize Pratt as an effective BPP functionary." LA 157-3436, the partially redacted COINTELPRO file on Geronimo Pratt Pratt was tried and convicted in 1972 for the 1968 murder of Caroline Olsen; he served 27 years in prison, eight of which were in solitary confinement. Pratt was freed in 1997 when his conviction was vacated due to the prosecution's having withheld exculpatory evidence that tended to prove his innocence. This decision was upheld on appeal.
He worked as a human rights activist until the time of his death. Pratt was also the godparent of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. He died of a heart attack in Tanzania, on June 3, 2011.
He served two combat tours as a soldier in the Vietnam War, reaching the rank of sergeant. He was highly decorated, earning two , a Silver Star, and two .Douglas Martin, "Elmer G. Pratt, Jailed Panther Leader, Dies at 63", The New York Times (June 3, 2011); Retrieved June 4, 2011.Robert J. Lopez, Geronimo Ji Jaga dies at 63; former Black Panther whose murder conviction was overturned, LA Times (June 3, 2011).'' Retrieved June 5, 2011. He later moved to Los Angeles.
In 1971, his wife Saundra was killed when she was 8 months pregnant and her body was left in a ditch. The murder was attributed at the time to a BPP schism between supporters of Huey Newton and those of Eldridge Cleaver; Pratt and his wife belonged to the Cleaver faction. Pratt later believed this account was an FBI lie, and that Saundra's murder was unrelated to her activities in the Black Panther Party."Slaying May Herald Panther Showdown," The Los Angeles Times (November 13, 1971).Hugh Pearson, The Shadow of the Panther, p.444
By January 1970, the Los Angeles FBI office had sought permission from national headquarters for a counterintelligence effort "designed to challenge the legitimacy of the authority exercised" by Pratt in the local Panthers. Another FBI memo, dated five months later, noted that the Bureau was constantly considering counterintelligence measures designed to neutralize Pratt "as an effective (Panther) functionary."
His attorney, Johnnie Cochran, argued that the charges should be dropped. He claimed that Pratt had been 350 miles away on the night of the murder. Pratt was convicted in 1972. Journalist and author Jack Olsen reported that FBI "moles" had infiltrated defense sessions and monitored Cochran's phone calls.Jack Olsen, Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geromino Pratt , Retrieved June 4, 2011
On July 24, 1997, Pratt returned to his hometown of Morgan City, Louisiana, to see his aged mother, Eunice. He had not seen her in 23 years, since she rode a bus to visit him at Folsom Prison.
In 1998, Pratt's longtime friend and attorney Johnnie Cochran, filed a federal civil lawsuit against the FBI and the LAPD, accusing them of malicious prosecution and false imprisonment. |website=CNN|date=May 29, 1998 With the help of Brian T. Dunn, another attorney at The Cochran Firm, the suit was settled for $4.5 million. A federal judge approved the settlement of the civil suit: the City of Los Angeles paid $2.75 million of the settlement and the US Department of Justice paid the remaining $1.75 million.
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