School Critic Has Controversial Past

By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

July 8, 2011 – Perhaps the most dramatic moment at last week's school board meeting happened when a public speaker brandished a rope that he had tied into a noose.

The speaker, a middle-aged African-American, was dressed conservatively and read a forceful speech.

“Superintendent Cuneo's and school officials' delay in reporting the hate crime and not notifying the mother of the victim Victoria Gray were part of a shameless cover-up of a vicious racist attack and hate crime,” he said while wielding his noose.

The man's name was Najee Ali, head of Project Islamic H.O.P.E, and he was talking about an incident at Santa Monica High School, in which an African-American student on the wrestling team was allegedly taunted with racial epithets while a practice dummy with a noose around its neck was left in plain sight.

Now Ali has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice against Wrestling Coach Mark Black and the students who allegedly harassed the student, according to a press release issued by Project Islamic H.O.P.E.

In the press release, Ali levels accusation of a deliberate cover up by school officials.

Just who is Najee Ali?

Ali is himself a controversial figure in the activist community of Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Project Islamic H.O.P.E.'s website features pictures of Ali marching with Rev. Al Sharpton and meeting with President Barack Obama.

In his capacity as a community leader, Ali has been a public critic of the Los Angeles Police Department, protesting allegations of police brutality, according to news sources.

In 2004, Ali’s outspoken views of the televised beating of a car chase suspect by LAPD drew harsh words from then Police Chief William J. Bratton.

Bratton called Ali "one of the biggest nitwits in Los Angeles" during an appearance on CNN and told the national news network that they ought to check the credentials of the people they cited. Bratton later apologized for his remarks, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Ali however, ended up in trouble with the law for more than just civil disobedience.

In 2008, he was convicted of trying to bribe a witness in his daughter's assault case, for which he was sentenced to four years.

He has also had run-ins with fellow activists. According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2006, he had a legal duel with Rep. Maxine Waters, claiming she had threatened him while Waters got a restraining order against him, accusing him of stalking her.

Ali has ties to the radical group The Nation of Islam. He is married to the granddaughter of Elijah Muhammed, the founder of Nation of Islam, denounced by its most famous member Malcom X shortly before his assassination.

Ali was released from prison this past March, according to news sources, and is now back on the activist circuit. The incident in Santa Monica will be his first major issue after his release.