Black Panther Dies In Prison After 45 Years Behind Bars

Mondo we Langa, also known as David Rice, died Saturday at age 68.

A member of the Black Panthers who was convicted in the 1970 death of a police officer has died in prison.

Mondo we Langa, also known as David Rice, died in a Lincoln, Nebraska, prison Saturday night, the Associated Press reported. His cause of death was not immediately known, though a state prison official told the AP he had been treated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

He was one of two Nebraska Black Panthers leaders serving life in prison for the murder of an Omaha police officer. Authorities said we Langa and Edward Poindexter, later known as the Omaha Two, were responsible for the detonation of a suitcase bomb inside a home, which killed Officer Larry Minard.

The two men always maintained their innocence, saying they were falsely implicated for their political beliefs. Questions surrounding the case prompted Amnesty International in 2009 to call for either their release or a new trial. BuzzFeed News also published a story about the case in February.

Poindexter, 71, remains in prison after he was denied a request for parole in 2014.

Topics in this article

Skip to footer