William Cook (street vendor)

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William (Billy) Cook is the brother of Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook), convicted on July 3, 1982 for the murder of Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) officer Daniel Faulkner. He was a key figure both in the events that led directly to Jamal's arrest for the murder of Officer Faulkner on December 9, 1981, and has figured prominently in his brother's legal defense in the years since.

[edit] The events of December 9, 1981

While a great deal of contention still attends many aspects of the Jamal case, what is generally accepted is that sometime around 3:51 AM on the morning of December 9, Cook's Volkswagen Beetle was stopped by Officer Faulkner (apparently for a routine traffic violation) in the middle of the 1200 block of Locust St. in downtown Philadelphia; it is also possible that another passenger (who may have been Kenneth Freeman, Cook's partner in a street vending business located a few blocks nearby) was present in the vehicle at the time it was stopped. A scuffle ensued, during which Cook's head and clothes were bloodied; and shortly thereafter, Jamal (whose taxicab was parked nearby) intervened. Shots were fired, Faulkner was fatally injured (by Jamal's bullets), Jamal also wounded in the abdomen (by one of Faulkner's bullets), and a gun registered to Jamal was lying somewhere nearby. Both Jamal and Faulkner were taken to nearby Jefferson hospital, where Faulkner died and Jamal was arrested.

[edit] Background on William Cook

Very little is known about Cook otherwise, as he tends to keep a low profile outside of his involvement in his brother's legal defense; even less is known about his relationship with Kenneth Freeman in the years between Faulkner's murder and Freeman's being found dead (apparently murdered) on the day the PPD assault on the MOVE communal residence in West Philadelphia on May 13, 1985.