Newsom rally speaker has repeatedly called for convicted cop killers to be released from prison

A California professor campaigning for Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called for the release of two convicted cop killers and has praised a third, calling her a "freedom fighter" and saying she is "grateful" for her contributions toward achieving freedom.

Melina Abdullah, a professor at California State University, Los Angeles, was a speaker at an African American Voter Registration and Education Project event Monday in support of Newsom, where she attacked Larry Elder, a leading Black Republican gubernatorial candidate, as a "Black face on White supremacy." Newsom was reported to be in attendance at the event. 

Abdullah, a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Los Angeles and an "original member" of the national BLM leadership team, has a controversial history of defending convicted cop killers and calling for police departments to be abolished. A Fox News review of Abdullah's social media accounts found that she wants Mutulu Shakur and Sundiata Acoli released from prison, despite their involvement in two separate events that resulted in the murder of a New Jersey state trooper and the slayings of an armed guard and two police officers.

BLM CO-FOUNDER REPEATEDLY PRAISED CONVICTED COP-KILLER ASSATA SHAKUR

Shakur is a former Black Liberation Army leader who was the mastermind behind several armed robberies in Connecticut and New York. The Brinks robbery in 1981 resulted in the slayings of an armed guard and two police officers. Acoli was convicted of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a 1973 traffic stop.

Abdullah has also praised Assata Shakur, who has been on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list after escaping prison and being granted asylum in Cuba by the late Fidel Castro several decades ago. She was one of the two passengers in Acoli's car and was also convicted of the 1973 murder of Foerster. 

Abdullah thanked "Mama Assata" Shakur in a February 2020 tweet celebrating "Black History Month," saying she was thankful for her "wisdom" and "sacrifice."

In a July 2021 Facebook post, Abdullah wished Shakur a "Happy Birthday" and said she is a "Freedom Fighter, organizer, and lover of our people and whose words we utter weekly." Abdullah shared a BLM Los Angeles post on Shakur's birthday in 2019, saying her "words and living example serve as an inspiration to Black Lives Matter and ground us in our collective purpose — to fight for freedom and win."

AOC-BACKED GROUP HONORS MULTIPLE CONVICTED COP KILLERS

In addition to her posts about the convicted cop killers, Abdullah has called for police to be abolished and defunded multiple times on her Twitter account. In a tweet last May, Abdullah tweeted, "F--- the police."

Abdullah has also heaped praise on outspoken anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. In 2015, she tweeted that she was "Humbled, overwhelmed, and profoundly grateful 2 share space with" Farrakhan at the "Justice Or Else" rally celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March. 

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In a 2019 post, Abdullah said people should be "outraged" over Farrakhan being banned from Facebook and Instagram, adding, "Loving Black people and wanting freedom and self-determination for us does not constitute ‘Black supremacy.’" She has also tweeted out multiple quotes from him on her Twitter and Facebook profiles. 

Abdullah didn't immediately return a request for comment.