Bond has been set at $10,000 for a high-ranking member of the New Black Panther Party who is jailed in DeKalb County on a weapons charge, authorities said.
Hashim Nzinga, 49, had a first appearance hearing Tuesday morning after his arrest for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.
Nzinga recently announced on CNN that his group was offering a $10,000 reward for the capture of George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. CNN identified Nzinga as the chief of staff of the New Black Panther Party.
According to a DeKalb arrest warrant, Nzinga was in possession of an FN Herstal 5.7 x 28 handgun, which investigators said he pawned at a shop on Rockbridge Road. That alleged transaction would be illegal due to Nzinga’s convictions last month for felony deposit account fraud in Gwinnett County, the DeKalb Sheriff's Office said.
The Herstal 5.7 x 28 is a semi-automatic handgun that can hold 20 rounds. It was the same type of gun used by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan in the Fort Hood shootings in which 11 people were killed in November 2009.
Nzinga was arrested by members of the fugitive squad at a probation office in Lawrenceville and transported to DeKalb County Jail.
Nzinga is a Stone Mountain area resident. His Facebook page he says he is the father of six children and "national chief of staff for the New Black Panther Party under the leadership of attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz and personal assistant to the honorable Khallid Abdul Muhammad," the late founder of the New Black Panther Party and a former aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Zimmerman has claimed he shot Martin in self-defense, but the New Black Panthers are calling for mobilization of 10,000 black men to capture Zimmerman, who has gone into hiding, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
"He should be fearful for his life," Muhammad said. "You can't keep killing black children."
According to the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the New Black Panthers "is a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers." The group was founded in Dallas in 1989 and believes black Americans should have their own nation, according to the SPLC.
Zimmerman shot Martin as he returned to his father's house from a store where he had bought candy. Zimmerman told a 911 dispatcher that Martin was acting suspicious and told police that he was attacked by Martin. Sanford police say they were advised by prosecutors that they did not have enough evidence to charge Zimmerman.
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