Sufi Abdul Hamid, self-styled “black Hitler” who for several months has tried to stir up hatred of the Jews among Harlem’s Negro population, was found guilty of two charges by Judge Thomas A. Aurelio in Washington Heights Magistrate’s Court, 455 West 151st street, yesterday, and was held until Saturday for sentence.
Meanwhile an investigation will be made into the Negro agitator’s past, particularly into his claim made in court yesterday that he is a Mohammedan, born in Zululand. Although evidence has been unearthed in the past that this story of his birth is spurious and is merely part of the hokum with which he has surrounded himself, it was indicated yesterday that unless Hamid’s American nativity can be definitely established, his own tale will be accepted at face value and he will be turned over to immigration authorities.
EDITOR REFUTES HAMID’S STORY
The two counts on which Judge Aurelio found Hamid guilty yesterday arose out of the Negro’s street corner exhortations to religious animosity and his peddling of literature without a permit, in violation of city ordinances.
Damaging testimony against him was given by Fred R. Moore, responsible editor of the New York Age, Harlem newspaper. Several policemen and Edgar H. Burman, commander of the Anti-Nazi Minute Men, also were witnesses.
Hamid appeared in court clad in a gaudy costume including a turban, boots and various mystic insignia whose meaning he explained to Judge Aurelio. He said he is the head of a large coffee importing and exporting business. Moore declared this story to be an out-and-out fabrication, and branded Hamid as a racketeer.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
