Detroit community activist Shabazz off respirator after heart attack

Detroit community activist Malik Shabazz was taken off a respirator Wednesday and responding to doctors after suffering a massive heart attack last month, according to family spokesman Sam Riddle.

Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panther Nation/New Marcus Garvey Movement, remains in critical but stable condition at Henry Ford Hospital, Riddle added.

Shabazz collapsed after a massive heart attack on June 26 as he was preparing to accept the Presidential Lifetime Achievement award that's given annually to people with more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service.

Over 39 years, he has organized citizen patrols, passed out flyers about unsolved crimes and missing persons, led protests of drug houses and co-founded the Detroit 300 patrol group in 2010, after a series of home invasions and sexual assaults of senior citizens.

The family expressed gratitude for support and prayers for Shabazz, RIddle said.