Customer Reviews

Badge of the Assassin: A True Story

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is an excellent account of what was simply the double murder of Police Officers Joseph A. Piagentini and Waverly Jones by the Black Liberation Army in 1971. It seems that many revisionists, for political (and parole) purposes challenge the contents of this well written account of this tragic date in the American law enforcement community. Former New York County ADA Tanenbaum and the NYPD detectives assigned conducted a spectacular investigation and subsequent prosecution of Anthony Bottom, Herman Bell, and Albert Washington. The prosecution of the "New York 3" dealt a lethal blow to the Black Liberation Army and this book provides an accurate account of that blow. Highly recommended.

A excellent novel about the war with police and the Black gangs/armies/movements of the 70's. A true story about the murder of two NYPD officers. The story tells of the offenders capture and subsequent trial. One of the few books that tells of hatred people have for police and how many people (witnesses)put their lives on the line to help them. A book all liberals should read before they complain about unfair courts and police brutality.

Two NYC Patrolmen, Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini, are visciously ambushed on the night of 21 May, 1971. Who killed them and why? This book delves into those questions and more as the prosecutor who handled the case tells, in vivid and amazing detail, of the assassination, investigation, capture, and trial of the accused cop-killers. A must-read for everybody who knows what justice is, and for those who have yet to find out.

the true story of one of the most intense manhunts in police history and of the young district attorney who brought a trio of cop killers to justice.

A great book that follows the crime to the resolve

Being somewhat familiar with the case of the so-called "cop-killers" Tanenbaum prosecuted and eventually wrote about, I had to read this book. Though I found the book to be filled with numerous self serving inaccuracies and half truths, I was glad to have read it. The New York Three, who are; Jalil Muntaqim (Tony Bottom), Albert "Nuh" Washington and Herman Bell, are not the cop killing trio you will read about. Nor was the Black Liberation Army, the group to which they belonged, a gang of murderers as it is portrayed in this "book". The real thugs and criminals were the government and its Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) which routinely harassed, falsely imprisoned and even murdered members of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army (among others). The case of Dhoruba Bin Wahad (Richard Moore) and Geronimo ji-jaga (Elmer Pratt) are prime examples of this. Each of them were Black Panther and Black Liberation Army members and were released after 19 and 29 years of false imprisonment, after being able to prove their innocence and the government frame up in cases much like the one written of by Mr. Taaenbaum. In fact, Dhoruba's case was cited in the "Badge of the Assassin" and was portrayed as being guilty. It took 19 years to proove him wrong. Yet, if you were to read the court transcripts, you may have falsely locked them up yourself. Likewise in "Badge of the Assassin." The way it reads you may feel they were the killers. What the book leaves out and what was kept from their trials was the evidence of police and government cover/frame-up. Evidence that when the defense got too close to revealing was conveniently "lost" by the feds and police. It's long time the New York Three were set free as Dhoruba and Geronimo were. Maybe this will help open a door exposing one of America's best kept secrets, political prisoners exist in the USA. Albert Washington, Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim are only three out of many dozens. For more information on these and other COINTELPRO cases read "Still Black Still Strong", "Agents of Repression" and "Assata". This would only be for starters.

This book simply lacks the psychological depth of the Karp novels, which I have read every one of. This leads me to believe that Mr. Tanenbaum employs the service of an excellent ghost writer, although we may never know...

If this book is based on the New York 3 it is a terrible mistake and dis-service to those three men.

Long live the spirit of Nuh.