WW News Service Digest #269
1) A Mumia Tutorial
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2) New Affidavits: "Mumia Didn't Do It"
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
3) D.A. Abraham: "Queen of Death"
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
4) Philly Protest Canmp Demand "Free Mumia!"
by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 17, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
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A MUMIA TUTORIAL
[Excerpted from the writings of death-row political prisoner
Mumia Abu-Jamal.]
ON CINCINNATI
Cincinnati, sparked by the police shootings of a Black man,
could have happened anywhere in America. In every major city
is economic and social despair, mixed with a militaristic
police force that targets Black life and liberty. Cincinnati
represented the eruption of youth who see their position in
grim, hopeless situations. Cincinnati is a harbinger of
things to come. Cincinnati is the fire next time.
TO ANTI-GLOBALIZATION MOVEMENT
On the front lines of the popular rebellion against the WTO,
this anti-globalist fervor showed the common interests of
students, of anti-imperialists, of human rights activists,
and labor. What the movement demonstrated is the power of
mass mobilization--and the ability of the people to derail
something that was previously seen and feared as inevitable:
the globalist domination of Western capital.
ON U.S. 'JUSTICE'
There can be no intelligent discussion of the American
criminal justice system without an acknowledgement of the
fractured, dual nature of the enterprise. Who can dare look
at the system and not notice that there is in fact, two
systems; one for the well-to-do; another for the poor? One
for whites, and another for the Blacks? When a wealthy man
comes into contact with this system, it offers him all of
the breaks and amenities imaginable. But, for the poor,
prisons are an eternal assembly line of utter ennui and
degradation; a sojourn into hell.
ON VIEQUES
To Puerto Ricans, both on the island and on the U.S.
mainland, the word "Vieques" is a reason for rage, and a
stimulus to anger. Why? Because the history of the island of
Vieques, a smaller neighbor of Puerto Rico, proves clearly
that Puerto Rico itself, and her territories, are mere
prettified colonies of the U.S. Empire.
ON THE U.S.-LED BOMBING OF IRAQ
What the bombing of Iraq was and still is all about--is oil.
TO FIDEL CASTRO
The United States, long before the Bay of Pigs, invaded your
country to extend the range of slave territory, to enslave
the entire hemisphere. The spirit of liberty that burned in
Cuban hearts then, over a century and a half ago, still
burns brightly there, like a fire on the mountain in the
night. Many millions around the world are grateful for the
work of Cuba in behalf of the first human right, freedom.
ON ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE
The sickening attacks on gay people in cities across the
nation recently is a reflection of the sickness that simmers
at the core of the American soul. Is it a coincidence that
Richmond, the city where a Black man was burned to death and
decapitated, follows several months later with the
decapitation and torture of a gay man? I think not.
This cruel and savage violence must be stopped-but it won't
be the cops that stop it, for they are the agents of
legalized state violence. The people are the solution!
-
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 17, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
NEW LAWYERS FILE AFFIDAVITS: "MUMIA DIDN'T DO IT"
By Berta Joubert-Ceci
Philadelphia
In a dramatic development, the new legal team representing
Mumia Abu-Jamal has filed three affidavits that deal
directly with what happened in Philadelphia on the night of
Dec. 9, 1981, when the African American journalist was shot
and Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was killed.
Marlene Kamish of Chicago and Eliot Lee Grossman of Los
Angeles held a news conference in front of the Federal
Building here May 4 after filing a written notice of
appearance in U.S. District Court. They are now representing
the internationally known Black journalist, together with
British Barrister Nicholas R.D. Brown and Philadelphia
attorney J. Michael Farrell.
They had also filed the affidavits--from Abu-Jamal himself,
from his brother William Cook, and from a third person named
Arnold Beverly--as new evidence to support both a habeas
corpus petition and a request for an evidentiary hearing.
Attorney Kamish said at the press conference, "Mumia Abu-
Jamal has been in prison for 20 years. He's been on death
row isolated from family, from friends, from loved ones. All
that time he has maintained his innocence.
"He is innocent. And today we have filed in the court here a
sworn document by Arnold Beverly stating that he in fact is
the one who shot Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981, fully
vindicating Mumia Abu-Jamal. We have also filed a sworn
statement by his brother, William Cook, about his
recollection of the events of that night."
Kamish read a part of the new affidavit from Abu-Jamal that
says: "I, Mumia Abu-Jamal, declare: I am the Petitioner in
this action. If called as a witness I could and would
testify to the following from my own personal knowledge: I
did not shoot Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. I had nothing
to do with the killing of Officer Faulkner. I am innocent.
"At my trial I was denied the right to defend myself. I had
no confidence in my court-appointed attorney, who never even
asked me what happened the night I was shot and the police
officer was killed; and I was excluded from at least half
the trial....
"Now for the first time I have been given an opportunity to
tell what happened to me in the early morning hours of Dec.
9, 1981. This is what happened."
After describing the events that night, Abu-Jamal's
statement ends: "I never confessed to anything because I had
nothing to confess to. I never said I shot the policeman. I
did not shoot the policeman. I never said I hoped he died. I
would never say something like that."
William Cook's statement says: "Mumia was not holding a gun.
Mumia never intervened in anything between me and the cop. I
had nothing to do with the shooting or killing of the police
officer. My brother Mumia Abu-Jamal had nothing to do with
shooting or killing the policeman."
About Beverly, lawyer Grossman said: "The person who
actually shot Daniel Faulkner has come forward saying in a
sworn affidavit that he was hired to kill the police officer
because the police officer was interfering with the
corruption among the police and organized crime in Center
City in the 1980s.
"We have interviewed this witness ourselves," said Grossman,
"and we feel satisfied that the affidavit is credible and we
believe our obligation is to come forward.
"Basically, Mumia was at the wrong place at the wrong time
when a hit was in progress against the police officer, who
was interfering with corruption among the police in
Philadelphia."
Arnold Beverly's statement says that, "I was hired, along
with another guy, and paid to shoot and kill Faulkner. I had
heard that Faulkner was a problem for the mob and corrupt
policemen because he interfered with the graft and payoffs
made to allow illegal activity including prostitution,
gambling, drugs without prosecution in the Center City
area."
He finishes his statement: "I left the area underground
through the speedline system and by pre-arrangement met a
police officer who assisted me when I exited the speedline
underground about three blocks away. A car was waiting for
me and I left the Center City area."
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 17, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
WHY PHILLY D.A. ABRAHAM IS CALLED "QUEEN OF DEATH"
By Betsey Piette
Philadelphia
Police Chief Bull Connor used dogs against civil rights
demonstrators in Birmingham. Los Angeles Detective Mark
Fuhrman manufactured evidence to try to convict O.J.
Simpson. But neither has anything on Philadelphia District
Attorney Lynne Abraham.
What has made Abraham so hated that she's earned the title
"Queen of Death"?
Since Abraham's appointment as district attorney in 1991 by
former Mayor Ed Rendell, she has put over 101 African
Americans from Philadelphia on death row, more than any
other city. A July 16, 1995, New York Times Magazine article
labeled Lynne Abraham this country's "Deadliest D.A."
Abraham's zeal to demand the death penalty has resulted in
over half of Pennsylvania's death row inmates being from
this city, which is also notorious for its police brutality
and corruption. Over 80 percent of them are Black.
When white racists attacked Black students at George
Washington High School in January, Abraham pressed charges
against only the African American victims, until public
outrage forced her to back down. She has refused to try as
adults white teenagers accused of raping a Black child, yet
she has held an African American mentally handicapped child
in an adult jail.
SPAWNED BY RIZZO
Abraham got her start in 1972, when Philadelphia Mayor Frank
Rizzo appointed her to head the city's Redevelopment
Authority. Rizzo, whose racist tenure as police commissioner
led to a federal investigation of the city's police force,
described Abraham as tough cookie."
Abraham began her own rise to infamy as a homicide
prosecutor in the district attorney's office, working
alongside Ed Rendell. Rendell later became district attorney
from 1977 to 1985, then mayor, and last summer held a brief
tenure as head of the National Democratic Party.
Yet another notorious cohort was D.A. Ron Castile, who
oversaw the court proceedings that cleared all officials of
guilt for the 1985 police bombing of the MOVE Organization.
Castile also signed the documents in support of Mumia Abu-
Jamal's death sentence in the 1980s, and now sits on the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In 1999, Castile refused to
recuse himself from the case when Abu-Jamal appealed to that
court for a new trial.
PROTEGE OF SABO
Abraham became a judge in 1975. She learned her trade from
Judge Albert Sabo, who presided over Abu-Jamal's trial and
hearings in the Court of Common Pleas in 1983. It was Judge
Lynne Abraham who signed the arrest warrants in 1977 that
led to a police assault against a MOVE house in west
Philadelphia's Powelton Village section after months of
police occupation and barricade of the surrounding
neighborhood.
Nine MOVE members were sentenced to terms up to life for the
death of a police officer who was most likely killed by a
stray police bullet in that raid.
Judge Abraham's name again appears on 1985 arrest warrants
for MOVE members that led to the murderous police bombing of
the MOVE house on Osage Avenue. Eleven men, women and
children in the Osage Avenue house were killed by a massive
land and air attack by police on May 13, 1985. Many
demonstrators at Abraham's recent campaign stops have
chanted "baby killer" to remind people of her role in this
deadly assault.
In 1981, it was Judge Abraham who went to Jefferson
Hospital, where Mumia Abu-Jamal was being treated while
under arrest, to arraign him personally for the murder of
Officer Daniel Faulkner.
As district attorney, Lynne Abraham has gone out of her way
to protect the police against victims of their brutality.
Her office has failed to convict any cops for the killings
of Jamel Nichols, Kenneth Griffin, Phillip McCall, Moises
DeJesus, Jahlil Thomas, Robert Jones or Erin Forbes. Not
even in the vicious beating of Thomas Jones last summer,
which was captured on live television, were any cops
convicted.
In the case of Donta Dawson, Abraham has openly sought to
thwart attempts by higher courts to bring charges against
former Philadelphia Police Officer Christopher DiPasquale
for the murder of this African American youth.
Abraham's office has also been tainted by the 39th Police
District scandal. Hundreds of convictions were overturned
and dozens of people released from prison after police frame-
ups and faked evidence introduced by police and prosecutors
against the African American community were exposed.
Abraham is running for re-election. An African American
candidate, Alex Talmadge Jr., is challenging Abraham in the
primary election May 15, targeting her racist record.
Talmadge has also called for a moratorium on the death
penalty and seems to be gaining support in the oppressed
communities, prompting Abraham to run ads promoting herself
as a "friend of the Black community."
Abraham's campaign organizers publicly accused Talmadge of
"playing the race card." Recently they've launched a
campaign to vilify Abu-Jamal and MOVE supporters by accusing
them of using anti-Semitic slurs against Abraham. The press
has chosen to focus on this unproven allegation rather than
cover the growing support for Abu-Jamal and the Free Mumia/
Justice for MOVE encampment.
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the May 17, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
PHILLY PROTEST CAMP DEMANDS: "FREE MUMIA!"
Supporters Win Major Victory Against City, Cops
By Monica Moorehead
Supporters of death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal who march,
rally and pitch their tents in front of Philadelphia City
Hall on May 11-13 are taking their positions on the front
lines of a critical battle.
They are fighting to keep the state from silencing the
political prisoner known as "the voice of the voiceless."
They are struggling to win freedom for this world-renowned
revolutionary combatant.
And they are battling the racist use of the death penalty as
a weapon of terror against all who have the least to lose
and the most to gain from overturning this oppressive
capitalist system.
The encampment is an occupation in embryo. It sends a
powerful message to the ruling powers that next time Abu-
Jamal's supporters might not leave. If the state tries to
move ahead with the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, militant
mass actions can make Philadelphia--and other cities--
ungovernable.
It took a fight just to win the right to set up Camp Free
Mumia.
City of Philadelphia officials on April 26 illegally denied
permits for the encampment.
Why would the city administration reject a permit for a 48-
hour protest by Abu-Jamal's supporters when it granted a 10-
day-long permit to the Republican National Convention last
August in exactly the same location?
International Action Center Co-director Larry Holmes
explained, "We suspect that the Philadelphia establishment's
illegal denial of our overnight protest permit is really
aimed at discouraging youths, especially young people from
the African American community, from remaining in the City
Hall area throughout Friday and Saturday night."
Holmes continued, "Are the police preparing to 'clear the
area' after the hip-hop concert on Friday night? Is that why
the police and city authorities find First Amendment-
protected activity, in the same area, so bothersome--because
they want to declare a de facto curfew for Black youths?"
Supporters of Abu-Jamal filed a historic free speech lawsuit
against city officials and won it in federal court in
Philadelphia on May 9.
The encampment was initiated by the International Action
Center in the spirit of the May 12 international day of
solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal by anti-racist, anti-death
penalty forces worldwide.
May 13 also marks the 16th anniversary of the heinous
bombing of the MOVE Organization--a majority Black communal
group--by the Philadelphia authorities that slaughtered 11
women, children and men.
Organizers of Camp Free Mumia include the IAC, International
Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, New York
Free Mumia Coalition, Refuse and Resist and many others.
In an important development on another front, Abu-Jamal's
new legal team held a media conference in front of the
federal building in Philadelphia on May 4. (See page 5.)
The lawyers told the media they had filed affidavits from
Abu-Jamal, his brother William Cook and a man named Arnold
Beverly. All three affidavits describe what happened on Dec.
9, 1981, when the African American journalist was shot and
Officer Daniel Faulkner was killed.
This affidavit is the first time Abu-Jamal has been able to
state that he did not shoot Faulkner. William Cook also
explains that neither he nor his brother shot the white
police officer. Beverly's affidavit confesses that he was
the one who killed Faulkner and explains why.
One might think that a legal breakthrough in a case of a
person on death row considered a U.S. political prisoner by
millions around the world would be newsworthy. But the
monopolized corporate media didn't think it was news fit to
print or air. The whiteout was almost universal by the media
in this country.
>From Philadelphia's illegal maneuvers to media censorship to
the history of racist judicial frame-up of this former Black
Panther, it is crystal clear that the decisive struggle to
save the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal and to secure his freedom
has to be won in the streets.
