Rev. Al Sharpton Celebrates Freedom After 90 Days In Jail

Jet, Sept 3, 2001

The Rev. Al Sharpton recently walked away from the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, NY, and greeted hundreds of jubilant supporters who were gathered outside for a welcoming celebration.

Looking thinner and sporting a new salt-and-pepper beard, the 46-year-old activist and minister was joined by his wife, Kathy Jordan Sharpton, and their two teenage daughters, Dominique and Ashley.

When Sharpton was finally able to speak over the cheers, he led the crowd in his famed protest chant--"No justice!" he shouted. The crowd yelled in response, "No peace!"

Among those in attendance to help celebrate Sharpton's newfound freedom were Congressmen Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) and Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins and fellow protester and Bronx Councilman Adolfo Carrion Jr.

Though his release ends his 90day imprisonment for trespassing at a military camp while protesting the U.S. Navy's bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Sharpton warned during the rally: "We'll come again if we have to, to stop the bombing. We went in this jail struggling and we're going to come out struggling."

After he was arrested on May 1, the civil rights activist was given the 90-day jail sentence because he had a prior civil disobedience offense on his record. Sharpton was allowed to serve his time at the Brooklyn detention center so that he could be near his family.

During his three months in prison, Sharpton held a 43-day hunger strike, existing only on liquids, to continue to draw attention to the bombing exercises (JET, June, 18).

President Bush has said that the Navy will stop the bombing exercises on the island in May 2003.

Sharpton lost a total of 30 pounds, bringing his weight down to approximately 207 pounds.

One of the first things that Sharpton did following his release was to lay a bouquet of flowers at a nearby shrine for the four family victims killed last month by a police officer accused of drunken driving.

He later ended his hunger strike by enjoying a plate of chicken from his favorite New York restaurant, Amy Ruth's.