November 26, 2017
Reverend Al Sharpton announced plans to visit rapper Meek Mill on Monday, Nov. 27, at the Chester State Correctional Institution.
Mill is currently imprisoned for violating the probation of a nearly decade-old gun and drug case, slated to serve two to four years -- a sentence that came unexpectedly after prosecutors recommended Mill not be imprisoned for the probation violations, citing his ongoing sobriety from drugs.
Sharpton announced his plans to visit the correctional facility during a rally with the National Action Network, Sharpton's nonprofit dedicated to civil rights advocacy, in Harlem Saturday, NBC10 reported.
“Just because someone does something that is wrong does not give you the right to do wrong to them. The sentence must fit the violation. Two wrongs don’t make one civil right,” Sharpton said during the rally.
Sharpton hopes to help Mill get a new hearing with a different judge.
Since the rapper’s sentence, several public figures have stepped forward to speak on his defense, including Jay-Z, who penned an op-ed for the New York Times, Colin Kaepernick, and Drake.
In Philadelphia, a rally garnered hundreds in Center City just shortly after the sentence was announced. Billboards and bus signs reading “Stand With Meek Mill” have also started to appear throughout the city.
Find PhillyVoice’s additional coverage of the Meek Mill case here.
