PITTSBURGH (AP) – A community activist and former mayoral candidate who last month decided against pleading guilty to charges that he fought with a neighbor has been convicted.
However, the jury Tuesday rejected more serious felony counts against 38-year-old Abdula Jamal “A.J.” Richardson, and convicted him of misdemeanor counts of simple assault, trespass, harassment and resisting arrest.
Police say Richardson entered the neighbor’s home without permission last September, yelling at the man and poking him under the eye, before running away. Police arrived to find Richardson drunk, combative and refusing to answer their questions.
Richardson finished a distant fourth in last year’s Democratic mayoral primary. His candidacy was hampered by his arrest for drunken driving. Richardson, who is Black, berated the Back officers who arrested him for being “subservient to the White man,” though he later apologized and pleaded guilty.
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