Systemic Injustice Against Two Longtime Political Prisoners
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Systemic-Injustice-Against-by-Stephen-Lendman-100508-28.html
By Stephen Lendman
May 8, 2010
Their names - Marshall "Eddie" Conway and Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald,
both activist COINTELPRO-targeted Black Panther members, unjustly
imprisoned for four decades for crimes they didn't commit.
They're two of many targeted Panthers, victims of COINTELPRO
viciousness, "dirty tricks," after J. Edgar Hoover's orders to
infiltrate, disrupt, sabotage, and destroy their activist mission for
ethnic justice, racial emancipation, and real economic, social, and
political equality across gender and color lines.
In an earlier article, this writer explained that COINTELPRO is the
acronym for the FBI's secretive, mostly illegal, counterintelligence
program to neutralize political dissidents, including alleged
communists; anti-war, human and civil rights activists; the American
Indian Movement; Black Panther Party members, and today Muslims for
their faith, ethnicity, and activism.
In their book, "Agents of Repression," Ward Churchill and Jim Vander
Wall wrote:
"the term came to signify the whole context of clandestine (often
illegal) political repression activities (including) a massive
surveillance (program via) wiretaps, surreptitious entries and
burglaries, electronic devices, live 'tails' and....bogus mail" to
induce paranoia and "foster 'splits' within or between organizations."
Other tactics included:
-- "black propaganda through leaflets or other publications "designed
to discredit organizations and foster internal tensions;"
-- "disinformation or 'gray propaganda' " for the same purpose;
-- "bad-jacketing (to) creat(e) suspicion - through the spread of
rumors, manufacture of evidence, etc. - that bona fide organizational
members (usually leaders) were FBI/police informants," to turn some
against others violently;
-- "assassinations (of) selected political leaders," like Fred
Hampton and Mark Clark on December 4, 1969 by Chicago police while
they slept; and
-- "harassment arrests (on bogus) charges."
In October 1966, Huey P. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party
for Self Defense (BPP), served as minister of defense with chairman
Bobby Seale, and developed a non-violent social agenda for full
employment, decent housing and education, an end to police brutality,
equity and justice, peace, and other progressive ideals. They
believed in the rule of law, preached it, and struggled to overcome
generations of injustice and discrimination against blacks, other
people of color, and disadvantaged people everywhere.
In his 1980 doctoral dissertation titled, "War Against the Panthers:
A Study of Repression in America," Newton:
"analyze(d) certain features of the Party," significant incidents in
its history and Washington's response, while "tr(ying) to maintain an
objectivity consistent with scholarly standards...."
Most significant was "How many people's lives were ruined in
countless ways by a government intent on destroying them as
representatives of an 'enemy' political organization." All questions
asked, he said, won't be answered, but he hoped his "inquiry" would
help toward learning "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
Each targeted Panther is part of it, including Conway and Fitzgerald.
On August 22, 1989, Newton himself was killed on his home city Oakland streets.
Marshall "Eddie" Conway
Detailed information on him can be found at
http://www.freeeddieconway.org, headlined "Partnership for Social
Justice (PSJ): Free Marshall "Eddie" Conway & All Political Prisoners!"
After 40 years of injustice, Conway thanked his supporters for trying
to free him through "petition drives, rallies, speaking engagements,
fundraisers, government resolutions, and theater and arts projects."
A US Postal Service employee, Conway was arrested at work on April
26, 1970, the day after two Baltimore police officers were shot in
their patrol car, one killed, the other wounded. An hour later, two
BPP members were arrested, an alleged weapon involved in the shooting
was recovered at the scene, and another officer said he saw a third
man near where the arrests were made.
Eddie Conway was named after issuance of a warrant based on
information supplied by an unidentified informant - the commonly used
tactic against innocent activists, targeted for challenging federal
or local institutionalized power.
The other men, Jackie Powell and Jack Johnson, were tried and
convicted. Powell later died in prison. Johnson is still incarcerated.
The charges came at a time of "considerable media attention focused
on (BPP's) Baltimore Chapter." Included was front-page coverage of
this case, and "a mass arrest of Baltimore Panthers (for another)
purported torture/murder of an informant who participated in local
chapter activities."
In that trial, jurors found prosecution witnesses "contradictory and
not credible...." Although a mass arrest was made, one defendant was
acquitted. None of the others were tried, and all those held were released.
Prior to both incidents, FBI agents had targeted Conway, later
discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Various letters and other documents identified him as a BPP member
through efforts of a "highly sensitive source who is of continuous
value to the Bureau" - aka an informant. The same memo confirmed that
from November 1969, the Baltimore Police coordinated BPP surveillance
activities with the FBI.
Conway's Trial
No physical or other evidence linked him to the officer's killing,
and Conway to this day maintains his innocence. Yet at trial, he was
denied his choice of counsel and right to defend himself, was forced
to use a prosecution appointed attorney, and unwisely chose a
political, not a criminal defense that might have acquitted him. In
addition, the lawyer spent only 45 minutes with him prior to trial,
and during proceedings "often appeared to be intoxicated. (Apparent
from the transcript itself is the lawyer's inadequate and
inappropriate demeanor in the afternoons, following lunch recess.)"
The prosecution relied mainly on an informant's testimony, Charles
Reynolds, "placed....in Conway's cell under suspicious circumstances
and against (his) written protests to the guards." He was convicted
for assault, and contrary to Conway's claim, said he confessed.
Another officer responding to the shooting provided the only other
evidence, saying he "followed a man who seemed to be acting
suspiciously" near where the suspects were arrested.
He identified Conway only after being shown photos, at first
recognizing no one. When given new ones with only Conway's repeated,
he picked him. A more reliable lineup was never used.
Charles Reynolds had been imprisoned in Maryland, but at the time was
in Michigan on forgery charges. He had four previous convictions,
served earlier as a police informant, and wrote to Baltimore police
from Detroit offering his testimony again in return for help with
Michigan's Parole Board.
Important also was Conway's trial demeanor - a big man with a "huge
Afro" in shackles, using raised-fist salutes to supporters in court,
and refusing to sit at the trial table. In addition, inflammatory
pre-trial media coverage biased sentiment, at the same time BPP
members were getting hostile national coverage.
Documents showed COINTELPRO incitement was behind it as part of the
Bureau's scheme to destroy the Panthers. In Baltimore alone, prior to
and during trial, malicious stories were planted in daily newspapers.
Jurors weren't sequestered, so easily could have seen them and
perhaps discuss them with others, regardless of court imposed restrictions.
Incarceration after Conviction
Conway's been imprisoned since April 1970. Though classified as a
medium security prisoner, he's being held at the Jessup Correctional
Institution, formerly known as the Maryland House of Correction
Annex, a maximum security prison, where at times he's been treated harshly.
In 1974, guards severely beat him, broke his shoulder and jaw
requiring surgery and three months hospitalization. Although he
subsequently filed a civil rights suit, an all-white jury denied him,
and the US Court of Appeals refused to hear his case while
acknowledging that "The severity of the injuries presents a closer
question of whether excessive force was used, amounting to a
constitutional deprivation."
Throughout his imprisonment, Conway's conduct and accomplishments
have been exemplary. He earned a BS degree in Social Science from
Coppin State College, developed computer expertise, and earned an
Associate of Arts degree in computer science and business studies
from Essex Community College.
He was also Penitentiary Library Inmate Coordinator, and won a
$350,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant, then used to
produce 50 videotaped "To Say Their Own Words" discussion sessions
with 100 prisoners and various authors, recorded over a one year period.
In addition, he provided inspirational leadership to his fellow inmates by:
-- forming the 500 member Maryland Penitentiary United Prisoner's
Labor Union, with labor community support;
-- counseling youths at risk for imprisonment in 10 week prisoner
administered sessions;
-- chairing the ACLU-affiliated Prison Committee to Correct Prison
Conditions on issues including overcrowding, brutality, and health at
the Maryland House of Corrections;
-- forming the Maryland Lifers Association, with chapters in three
state prisons;
-- establishing a holiday celebration for black prisoners program
with their families;
-- beginning another program to teach prisoners computer usage;
-- forming the first ever prison-based Touchstone Project, involved
in weekly classical literature discussions; and
-- most recently starting a Friend of A Friend mentoring project,
training prisoners to serve other inmates; and
-- working with a local Baltimore WombWork Productions play for the
public titled, "The Birth of Peace."
Current Efforts to Free Conway
Throughout his imprisonment, Maryland's Parole Board denied him on
executive orders to keep "lifers" in prison, except the aged or
terminally ill. Meanwhile, a habeas petition was sent to Maryland's
Supreme Court to let a Clemency Petition be sent to the governor. The
Baltimore NAACP chapter, various church leaders, and some members of
Maryland's General Assembly, Baltimore City Council, and the
community also voiced support.
More recently a federal habeas petition was filed, requesting a
review of state rulings and a new trial, "based on the fact that I
did not receive a fair trial in accordance with both the 6th and 14th
Amendments."
After 40 years, Conway remains imprisoned, but hopeful and grateful
to his supporters. In a recent 2010 letter, he reiterated that he was
incarcerated "because of what I believe, not for anything that I have
done," then said he delayed writing pending release of his book, "The
Greatest Threat."
It "examines the plight of the Black Panther Party Political
Prisoners/POWs and the role of the FBI's Counter-Intelligence Program
in their imprisonment." In 2011, his next book will be released,
titled "Marshall Law: The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther."
His new legal team is also researching new ways to win his release,
long overdue for an innocent man after 40 years for a crime he didn't commit.
Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald
Detailed information on him can be found at http://www.freechip.org,
titled "Free Chip Fitzgerald: 40 Years is Enough" for another
innocent man, convicted for crime he didn't commit - now a "political
prisoner, (a) prisoner of war" for his activism.
Fitzgerald belonged to the BPP's Southern California Chapter where a
fellow member, Bruce Richard, called him tireless:
"in various capacities in the Westside office....To be a Panther was
a 24/7 commitment, and every single day seemed like weeks due to the
volume of activities during (the) explosive (1969, early 1970s)
period. We were totally consumed in the Party's Free Breakfast
Program (what Hoover most feared because of the community good will
it fostered), the tutorial program, selling Panther papers, political
education classes and other projects. Chip was a favorite of many in
the communities we served, and the children, especially, loved him,
reflected in their smiling little faces when he appeared...."
In September 1969, Fitzgerald was wounded and arrested during a
police instigated shoot-out, tried for assault and other related
charges, including Barge Miller's murder, a security guard at Vons
Shopping Center in Los Angeles at 1:42AM.
Two men were seen fleeing, a witness, James Coleman, later
identifying Fitzgerald as one of them, even though he said he
couldn't see him clearly. In court, he then admitted he looked
different from the man he identified, and during the investigation,
he was shown photos, including Fitzgerald's, but didn't recognize him.
Because of his head wound, Fitzgerald wore a hard to miss two-inch
bandage for close to a month, removing it several days before his
October 9, 1969 arrest. Coleman said nothing about it in describing
the man he saw. All the time, Fitzgerald denied being in the vicinity
of Vons during the incident's early morning hours.
Nonetheless, at age 19, he was arrested, indicted, tried, convicted,
and sentenced to death despite his innocence, and remains a political prisoner.
In California v. Anderson (1972), the California Supreme Court
declared the death penalty unconstitutional in violation of Eighth
Amendment protection against "cruel and unusual punishments" and the
state's same constitutional ban. Along with 100 others on death row
at the time, his sentence was commuted to life "with" the possibility
of parole.
No matter. Unlike most 1972 death row inmates released, Fitzgerald
remains incarcerated, still dedicated to black liberation and all
oppressed people everywhere - why he's still held, of course. At his
July 2008 parole hearing, he was challenged for his political views,
past and present, and turned down, the same reason for all his other
denials, for his "revolutionary" beliefs for justice he won't
renounce after a lifetime of support.
With the help of his new attorney, Keith Wattley, the Committee to
Free Chip Fitzgerald filed a habeas petition to challenge the Board's
decision. Currently, he's in solitary confinement at Corcoran State
Prison, protesting on a hunger strike to be transfered to the general
prison population, and threatening to stay on it until death if he's
refused. More on that below.
Prison authorities are in violation of the US District Court for the
Northern District of California's 2001 order to provide all inmates
proper medical care, Judge Thelton E. Henderson saying:
"....it is beyond a reasonable dispute that the State has failed," in
transferring authority to a receiver, J. Clark Kelso, at the time. He
also stated it's:
"an uncontested fact that, on average, an inmate in one of
California's prisons needlessly dies every six to seven days due to
constitutional deficiencies in (its) medical delivery system."
In 1998, Fitzgerald suffered a stroke, caused by bleeding in his
brain. He became partly paralyzed, required an intense physical
therapy regimen, and given the absence of treatment, likely spinal
and cervical surgery will be needed.
In confinement, his condition continues to worsen. Without treatment,
he risks another stroke, permanent paralysis or death. He reportedly
also suffers from depression. As a result, by refusing food, and
apparently water, he's very much in jeopardy, another victim of
America's war against activism, people of color, and justice.
In his own words, he vows to "remain a revolutionary," at the same
time calling the prison system:
"a complex, dysfunctional resource-wasting parasite of social
control, political repression and revenge! Human beings are
warehoused in these concrete and steel bunkers that destroy human
sensibilities and the human spirit. (They're) desensitized, (and
become) frustrated, angry and bitter, unprepared to become productive
members of society. (It's) why California's recidivism rate is above 75%."
On May 4, the Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald reported that he
ended his hunger strike after prison officials agreed to free him
from solitary confinement and transfer him to Kern State Valley
Prison's general population where conditions may be better, including
access to medical care. Based on past experience, he wrote: "we'll see."
The system is designed to perpetuate itself, to remove political
activists from society, cage them like animals, the result of
"corruption, criminal mismanagement, thievery, (and) brutality" to
deny freedoms and sustain injustice. Fitzgerald and Conway are two of
its victims. Many others are in prison hell with them, America's
gulag, the shame of the nation.
A Final Word
On December 10, 2008, this writer examined "The Persecution of Syed
Fahad Hashmi," saying:
"It's a familiar story. A Muslim American is accused of terrorism for
supporting Al Qaeda and conspiracy to provide support for a Foreign
Terrorist Organization (FTO)....Once again, an innocent man is
arrested, charged, indicted and convicted with no substantiating
evidence," bogus charges, much of it classified and withheld from the defense.
Witnesses are enlisted to cooperate. Proceedings are orchestrated,
and juries intimidated to convict at the wrong time to be Muslim in
America when we're all equally vulnerable.
See the complete article at:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/12/persecution-of-syed-fahad-hashmi.html.
Held in solitary confinement for three years, facing 70 years
imprisonment if convicted, Hashmi coped a plea for a lesser 15 year
sentence, even though he committed no crimes. Like dozens of others,
he was targeted for their activism, prominence, faith, race, and ethnicity.
Since first arrested in the UK in June 2006, he been brutally
treated, the past three years in merciless solitary confinement at
New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), the effects of
which harmed his health, emotional well-being, and spirit enough to
accept 15 years in federal prison despite his innocence.
On April 30, Faisal Hashmi said this about his brother:
"Earlier this week our beloved son and brother Fahad pleaded guilty
to a single charge of material support for terrorism. He took the
plea after spending four years in prison, three of them in complete
isolation. Fahad's lawyer, David Ruhnke, said (he) "made the best
deal that was available under the circumstances....the government
wanted to lock him up for the rest of his life. They were not
successful in that goal."
Though he may be free by age 40, "we are extremely troubled by the
process that has brought us to this point. We are troubled not only
for our family but by the message a case like Fahad's sends to our
community. It disturbs us greatly that a young man known as a pillar
of his Queens community, who worked and studied hard and who, in the
tumult of growing up Muslim in America, choose a path of religious
and political activism, (yet) came to be demonized as an extreme
danger to the country he called home."
They bogusly called him a terrorist, tortured him in solitary
confinement, and left him no choice than a one count lesser sentence,
given his prospect of "going before an anonymous jury based in part
on the prosecution's ugly assertion that his friends and family were
as dangerous as they alleged he was."
What does this say about a nation that reigns terror on its own?
Given the barbarous treatment of innocent people, charging them with
crimes they didn't commit, locking them in federal gulags for
political advantage, and denying some of our most dedicated no chance
for justice, America is no longer fit place to live in. For blacks,
Latinos, Native Americans, the poor and disadvantaged, and today
Muslims it never was nor will be as long as wealth and power trump
equity, democratic freedoms, and principles that have been desecrated
from the beginning.
--
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
[email protected]. Also visit his blog site at
sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with
distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the
Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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