I've seen so many of these, and continue to be amazed by the number of "innocent blacks behind bars" movies and television shows. It seems to have become almost a genre unto itself (starting in the 50s). This one is put out by The USA Network (with their history of pushing gun control, hate crime legislation and other fun stuff in conflict with the bill of rights).

"REDEEMER" SYNOPSIS
   
The events of Redeemer (inspired by a true story), begin 20 years ago, when four young Black Panthers raid what they think is a drug house in hopes of recovering drugs and money. The house turns out to be a college dorm full of sleeping students, but the four men decide to raid it anyway. The Panthers gather all of the students in one room, make them strip, and hold them at gunpoint while they search the house, but they find nothing they came for: no drugs, no drug money, and no armed drug dealers. Then, tragedy strikes when one of the young hostages is accidentally killed by one of the activists. The four men all run out of the house, but they find the police waiting for them, and all four of them are arrested and eventually convicted of murder.

Two decades later, only one of the four men remains in prison. Charles Henderson (Obba Babatundé) is incarcerated at the Dalesboro Correctional Facility, where he is serving a life sentence without parole even though he did not actually commit the murder. Paul Freeman (Matthew Modine), a published author, comes to the prison is in search of inspiration for a new book and decides to take a teaching job at the facility. While teaching a creative writing class to the inmates, he finds much more than he bargained for in Charles.

Paul is instantly captivated by Charles’ tale of how he came to Dalesboro, which Charles reveals as part of a class writing assignment. Paul also learns that year after year, Charles’ case comes up for review, and year after year, his release is denied. One of the biggest factors in keeping Charles imprisoned is Sharon Davidson (Michele Greene), the sister of the student killed during the raid, who writes a letter each and every year pleading against Charles’ release.

In Charles, Paul sees a responsible father and a self-educated, honorable man whose punishment far outweighs his crime. As Paul gets more and more involved in Charles’ case, he finds a new passion in learning the truth behind the reasons for Charles’ imprisonment. Paul soon uncovers a stunning fact: the Black Panther leader who instructed Charles and his fellow Panthers to rob the house was actually an FBI informant. All of the evidence seems to indicate that Charles’ incarceration is a direct result of a master plot by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to plant informants in the Black Panthers and undermine the entire civil rights movement in the United States. Paul also finds out that instead of taking a plea bargain and admitting to murder, Charles stood by the truth and chose life in prison without parole.

Now the man who came to the prison looking for a topic for a new bestseller finds himself looking for justice instead. But the only hope of getting it may be gaining the support of Sharon, who has always been a key factor in the yearly continuation of Charles’ prison sentence. Sharon herself has also been prisoner of sorts for the past 20 years, unable able to let go of her grief over her brother’s death her or of hatred for the men involved in her brother’s murder. Can Paul present Sharon with the facts and change her mind - and, more importantly, her heart - so that Charles will finally have a real chance of being set free?

----------------------------------------------

It's all a racist plot you see. If we can just let go of the hate! The funny thing is that this is no different than the fantasies claimed by defense lawyers on behalf of their criminal clients, except that it is fiction so they can contrive it so that everything adds up for once. Hollyweird loves to write history. If you can impact the popular culture enough over time eventually people will see things the way you do.

And of course they're not thugs with guns, they're "activists." The black panthers are part of the civil rights movement you see. Just like the Aryan Brotherhood are "social engineers."