Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 12:29:01 +0000
From: PSU Student Lab <student@irn.pdx.edu>
My name is Walidah Imarisha and I am a member of the Free Mumia
Coalition in Portland. We had a protest yesterday where the cops
attacked, arrested six and hospitalized one. I have attached the article
I wrote about the incident. We're trying to get the word out locally to
the papers, holding a press conference. We got video footage of it, so
hopefully that will turn out and corroborate our side of the story,
because the police are saying we attaked them, which is in no way the
case. If you want any more information, please email me at
73741.500@compuserve.com. And if you have any suggestions on what to do
now or in the future, they would be most greatly appreciated.
FREE MUMIA!
Walidah Imarisha
member, Portland Free Mumia Coalition
Peaceful protester's arm broken by police
by Walidah Imarisha
Portland, ORE.--A peaceful demonstration Oct. 15 for political prisoner
Mumia Abu-Jamal ended today with six people arrested, one man in the hospital
with a compound fracture of his arm.The demonstration, organized by the
Portland
Free Mumia Coalition, was in response to the signing of Mumia's death
warrant by
Governor Tom Ridge Oct. 13. About 400 protesters gathered at the Federal
Building,
marching peaceably to the Pioneer Courthouse Square where they circled it and
then returned to the Federal Building. It was a completely nonviolent march,
with not even a hint of violence. Regardless, there were about 40 cops there,
approximately 15 in riot gear, and five or six on horseback. They also had
two
"less-than-lethal" shotguns, which basically shoots beanbags full of
shotgun pellets at
the target. These have been known to kill, and last year, police opened
fire with them
on a protesting crowd, resulting in injuries, and the mayor Vera Katz
saying it was
an unnecessary use of force.
These demonstrators, in fact, were dispersing and returning to their
respective homes,
when one protester Chad Hapshe, who was carrying a flower, looked at one of
the cops
on horseback, and threw the flower to the ground, presumably in some sort
of statement.
The cop rode over, and, according to Hapshe, told him to pick the flower.
Hapshe asked
why, stating, "It belongs there, I'm just returning it to where it
belongs." The cop told him
to pick it up or he would arrest him for littering. Hapshe agreed to pick
it up, but the police
arrested him anyway. A number of his friends saw the incident and came over
to see what
was happening. The police officers knew them by name, as they are long
standing Portland
organizers, and told one, Craig Rosebaugh, to leave, to not be a "martyr"
or a "big guy," in
the words of eye witnesses. Rosebaugh replied, "This is a public park, I
don't have to leave,"
whereas, the cops told him to move out, giving him five minutes, then they
grabbed him, and
dropped him to the ground, where he was inches away from being trampled by
the horses,
who were bucking around. The police ended up breaking Rosebaugh's arm and
scrapping
his leg up. That didn't stop him from handcuffing him and taking him away,
while he
yelled that he needed medical attention. Rosebaugh has a compound fracture
and will have
to have surgery. Police charged him with failure to disperse, a lesser
misdemeanor.
His girlfriend, Elaine Close, followed the cops taking Rosebaugh away,
asking where they
were taking him, telling them to let Rosebaugh go, that he needed help. She
says she was
trying to squeeze by a group of officers (she was walking on the curb side
of the sidewalk),
and as she did, she was purposefully pushed into the street by a police
officer, narrowly
missing being hit by a passing cab. There were a multitude of witnesses at
the time, and
cries of "What are you doing?" and "Don't push her!" rang out. The cops
then roughly grabbed
Close and dragged her into the courthouse. Close says that police officers
made innuendoes to
shooting protesters to her, and that she herself was called a "liberal
commie bitch." She
says that the police were rough with everyone, which bears up to eye witness
reports. "No one was resisting arrest, and they were being so brutal. I
can't move my arm,
the cops hurt it when they were hauling me away." She is charged with
interfering with a
police officer and disorderly conduct.
None of the protesters engaged in any physicality with the police. Even
after the police had
broken Rosebaugh's arm, and pushed Close into the street, the protesters
stayed completely
nonviolent.Then David Potter was told by cops to clear out, and when he
raised the point
that it was free property he was arrested as well. He was later charged
with disorderly
conduct and failure to obey the direction of a police officer. Potter says
the officer read him
the actual law, and that there was a segment in it that said he had to obey
a "reasonable order"
from the officer, and he contends that this order was completely unreasonable.
The arrest of organizer and PSU faculty Roderick Franklin came next.
Franklin went to investigate
what was going on with Hapshe and Rosebaugh, and a cop asked him for his
i.d. Franklin said he
wouldn't give him i.d., as that wasn't necessary according to the law, but
he gave him his name.
The cop ran it through the computer and came up with nothing, and again
asked Franklin for his
name, and again Franklin declined. He then arrested Franklin on a noise
violation, because Franklin
had been using a bull horn about 10 to 15 minutes earlier. They finally
simply gave him a ticket for
unlawful sound violation.
Then came the arrest of Jonathan Emil Felton, who was also charged with
failure to obey a police
officer. But in Felton's case, he says the officer didn't even give him an
order. "I never heard them
tell me to move. I was just playing my dijeridou [an Australian musical
instrument] and they picked
me up."Franklin says that when he was being held, he saw the police
"running around, confused.
They didn't know what to book us for. They were passing around code books,
asking for sergeants
and lieutenants to come and help them out." Franklin contends the police
were figuring out the
charges AFTER they had arrested the individuals. They came up with some
pretty creative ones.
Chad Hapshe, who dropped the flower on the group that began this police
assault, was charged with
offensive littering. It's ironic, because the horses the cops were riding
dropped manure all over
downtown Portland, but as of yet, none of them have been arrested for the
charge of offensive littering.
Leslie Pickering, an activist with Liberation Collective, says that
arresting people and putting ludicrous
charges on them like these is common practice. "It's a tactic. They want to
arrest two or three people
at the end of a big demo for nothing, people who aren't organizers, who
have nothing to do with it.
They use that to deter other people from joining and helping, because they
get scared, because it's
anyone, not just the organizers."
Organizers on the outside say they were given the runaround when they tried
to locate the arrestees.
People who called on the telephone were told they were not in the computer,
then they were told that
they had been processed and released when they hadn't. Because of all the
confusion, organizers didn't
know the full names of the incarcerated protesters, and so the Justice
Center wouldn't give out any
information. Which seemed odd in and of itself, because the Justice Center
staff contended they
didn't know Hapshe's last name, but when asked to look up Rosebaugh's
status, they knew how to
spell his last name right off, even though it is not pronounced as it is
spelled, and even though he had
been taken to Emmanuel Hospital fairly soon after his arrest (not soon
enough, with a broken arm;
Both Close and Hapshe said they heard Rosebaugh screaming, but the cops
just shut the door until
the medics arrived about 20 minutes later).
Participants in the march contend that the police harrassed them even
before they began any arrests,
telling the protesters where to walk. According to demonstration organizer
Jennifer Black, was what
the police did at two junctures in the march: They told the protesters they
could not walk the way they
had intended to on their route, and they made them follow the same route
from Pioneer Courthouse
Square as to it. It' a tactic used by the cops to create anger and
dissension in the group, Black says,
and to raise hostilities towards the police, to escalate the situation.
The Justice Center also confiscated Hapshe's personal items; wallet, belt
shoelaces, as is standard
procedure. However, they transferred those items to another center. When
Hapshe was finally
released, after four hours, at 11 p.m., the other center was already
closed, so they released Hapshe
with no money, no shoelaces, not even a belt to hold up his pants.
The reaction of the media at the time was very telling. One news channel
camera, rumored to be the
Channel 8 news, would not film the police dragging Hapshe off. The camera
man turned his camera
away, and when the crowd pointed it out to him, he just shook his head.
These acts are not unique to this protest; they have been reported by
Portland protesters for some time
now. The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is one that centers around police
brutality as Mumia was an
untiring exposer of police brutality and later a victim of it himself. Now,
people protesting the injustices
heaped upon Mumia are having to contend with their own injustices, and the
backlash on the local level.
All of the protesters have the same court date: Nov. 8.
Call the Portland Free Mumia Coalition at 287-4217 for more information, or
the
Liberation Collective at 525-4975.
======================================>
From: Sumita_Bidaye@edu.yorku.ca (Sumita Bidaye)
On the MOVE!
We want the world to know that despite police intimidation, harrassment
and brutality, close to 300 people rallied and marched in Toronto, Canada
on Saturday October 16th, demanding freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal! People
strongly denounced the signing of a new death warrant by blood-thirsty
Governor Ridge and this whole kill-crazy system for its continuing efforts
to murder and silence our brother. Our people were attacked here in
Toronto by the local police aided by the same federal RCMP that dragged
our brother Leonard Peltier away into his long night of despair more than
two decades ago. Three of our people were arrested, since then all three
have been released! We will not be intimidated by these brutal cops! We
will continue to fight for our brother Mumia! And if we have to, we will
turn this system on its head and throw this system on its ass for Mumia!
Free Mumia! Free the MOVE 9! Free Leonard Peltier!
Free Satpal Ram! Free All Political Prisoners!
Long Live John Africa! On The MOVE!
Sumita Bidaye for the Friends of MOVE in Toronto.
---------------------------------------------
From: Rose Harrison <rose-bob@mail.wizard.net>
TORONTO -- A militant demo of over 250 people rallied against the
impending execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal in front of the US consulate in
Toronto today (Saturday). After approximately an hour of picketing ,
speeches were made in defence of Mumia and against the racist system in
Canada and the killings of people of colour by the Toronto police and
the murder of Dudley George by the OPP in Ipperwash. To further the
point about the complicity of the Canadian state and the police in
racism the demo than proceeded to march to Toronto Police Headquarters.
Police lined up on University Avenue to stop us from taking the street
and after a standoff of several minutes cops begand to push the crowd
and physically grab and hold people while telling them to move. Mayor
Mel Lastman's investment in "target policing" paid off when two
demonstarators were targeted by police and bogusly arrested (one on his
bike was jumped by several cops), beaten up and charged with assault
police (which is what cops charge you with when they assault you). The
demo proceeded to the copshop on College street where more militant
speeches followed. This pissed off the cops further and one person,
Jaggi Singh, was grabbed by cops for the "crime" of writing on the
sidewalk with chalk. He's apparantly been charged with trespassing.
Jaggi is especially hated by the cops for his role in the anti-APEC demo
in Vancouver and had been pointed out by cops earlier in the demo.
Anyone who saw these arrests is a witness. Please write down what you
saw on paper while it's still fresh in your mind and either phone the
Friends of Mumia at 416-760-2152 and leave contact info or email me at
alehrer@sprint.ca and I'll forward your info and I'll forward your info
to the defence team for the three arrested people.
Friends of Mumia will be meeting this Thursday at 6:30 at Hart House to
plan Toronto actions in defence of Mumia. Urgent action is needed to
save Mumia's life. It was mass action that won Mumia a stay of execution
in 1995 and it will be a mass mobilization which must and will save him
this time.
ONA MOVE!
Andy
================================>
Emergency Demonstration For Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Held In Philadelphia
By Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Correspondent
PHILADELPHIA, 16 Oct. (PANW)--In Philadelphia Saturday the weather was
warm and the sun was shinning--however, such an unseasonably beautiful
day could not conceal or blur the sense of urgency that gripped the area
around the state office building located at Broad street and Spring
Gardens.
Beginning around 9:30am people began to arrive at the city's headquarters
for the affairs of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in response to a call
put out by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal to protest the signing of a death warrant against Jamal on
October 13 in the state capital in Harrisburg. Gov. Tom Ridge signed his
second death warrant against Jamal, a revolutionary journalist and former
official in the Black Panther Party, after the US Supreme Court denied a
hearing on what the defense says are gross constitutional violations
involved the case. The Supreme Court handed down its decision along with
hundreds of other rulings on Oct. 4.
Ridge had previously signed a death warrant against Jamal on June 1, 1995,
setting an execution date for August 17 of that year. Later on August 7,
a stay of execution was granted pending an appeal to the state supreme
court of Pennsylvania.
During the course of the period between June and August of 1995, scores of
demonstrations took place around the US and the world demanding a new
trial and the release of Jamal, who was convicted in 1982 for the shooting
death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981.
A Post-Conviction Relief Appeal was denied by the Pennsylvania supreme
court in October of 1998. This coupled with the recent denial of a writ of
certiorari by the federal supreme court provided the incentive for Gov.
Ridge to order Jamal death by lethal injection on December 2.
Opposition Remains Committed
Supporters of Jamal who gathered in Philadelphia on Saturday came from
places as close as the north side of the city to as far away as Chicago,
Detroit, Charlotte-North Carolina, New York, Boston, Germany and France.
A wide political spectrum of organizations and activists, many of whom
were youth and women, soon filled the area around the state office
building. When the rally began around noon, many people were ready to take
to the streets to demand that the decision to execute Jamal on December 2
be halted by a federal court. Jamal's defense team filed a writ of habeus
corpus on Friday requesting a hearing in the federal district court on the
issues involved in the appeal.
"They could have issued a stay of execution on yesterday," said Pam
Africa, the legal defense coordinator for Mumia Abu-Jamal, "but they
chose not to." Africa, who spoke of her indignation at the decision of
the Governor on Wednesday, urged the burgeoning crowd of hundreds of
people to move into the streets for a march to North Philadelphia in order
to spread information on the case of Jamal.
"We have a purpose out here and that is to free Mumia", said Consuella
Africa of MOVE. After a public address system was connected to a generator
on a flat-bed truck, a long line of speakers began to loudly denounce the
death warrant that was signed by Ridge on last Wednesday and demanded the
immediate release of Jamal, who worked for years as a broadcast journalist
in the city of Philadelphia.
C. Clark Kissinger of Refuse & Resist! gave a brief update on the legal
issues currently facing the movement to win a new trial for Jamal. Clark
also emphasized that the supporters of the journalist must work to extend
the scope of the free Mumia campaign so that it can reach millions of
people in an effort to stop his execution.
Kissinger quoted a recent letter from Jamal stating that: "We have to
consider this battle we are into as a war analogy. Mumia says this
really is a war. And our people have to know that and fight with that
spirit."
The Refuse & Resist representative continued by saying that: "No one has
ever won a major political case in this country by fighting in the courts
alone. Ultimately it will be the people in the streets who win the battle
for us."
The writ of habeaus corpus filed on Friday is over 100 pages long and is
considered a weapon in the current campaign waged by Jamal's supporters.
Gov. Ridge has signed 176 death warrants since early 1995. Over 100 of
these warrants were issued against African-Americans.
After the speakers addressed the growing crowds that blocked the
intersection of Broad and Spring Garden, the crowd began to march down
the street into the predominantly Black communities of North Philadelphia.
Along the route on Broad, teams of people passed out hundreds of flyers to
motorists, pedestrians, workers and shopkeepers. Dozens of motorists and
truckers began to honk their horns in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal as the
demonstration grew to approximately 2,000 people extending across a large
section of the thoroughfare.
Various chants rocked the areas around the demonstration. People screamed
"Free Mumia, the whole worlds watching," as well as "ain't no power like
the power of the people if the power of the people don't stop."
March Through North Philly
In contrast to many of the other national demonstrations in support of
Mumia Abu-Jamal's appeal, this demonstration went directly into the
African-American community as opposed to downtown, where the City Hall and
other symbols of the criminal justice system are headquartered. The
general consensus was that the issue must be taken directly to those who
have the most at stake in the case.
This procession also provided a clear view of the contradictions that
exist in Philadelphia where most of the recent economic development
projects have been centered in the downtown area, while homelessness,
residential decay and commercial abandonment has become more pronounced in
northern sections of the city along Broad, 15th and Master streets.
Rows of vacant businesses, delapidated housing and condemned apartment
buildings represent a stark contrast to the efforts in the downtown area
to remove blighted structures or to refurbish them. The present
Democratic Mayor, Ed Rendell, who was a previous district attorney in the
city who played an instrumental role in the incarceration of MOVE
political prisoners in 1978 as well as the prosecution of Jamal in 1982,
is stepping down from office, while a Black City Council representative
John Street, is seeking to replace the present mayor.
Controversy marked the campaign of Street, who has failed to speak out
against the recent signing of a death warrant against Jamal on Wednesday.
Pam Africa, who led the crowd of Mumia supporters to the headquarters of
the Street campaign on 15th at Master in North Philadelphia, said that she
and other people were disrespected and beaten by Street's aides who did
not want to allow them to speak directly with the candidate on Friday
evening.
"His aides told us that he (Street) could not take a stand at this time,
but would assist Mumia after he was elected to office," said Pam Africa.
However, Africa recounted how the city's first African-American mayor,
Wilson Goode, had promised that he would work to relase the MOVE 9
political prisoners who were convicted in the death of Officer James Ramp
in 1978, after hundreds of police had fired thousands of rounds of
ammunition into a home owned by the organization.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was working as a journalist in Philadelphia at the
time, filed reports which contended that the police officer killed outside
the MOVE residence could not have been struck by shots fired from the
home in Powelltown Village on August 8, 1978. However, when Wilson Goode
came into office, he did not take action on the cases of the MOVE 9.
Moreover, on June 13, 1985 he supported a police decision to drop a bomb
on the MOVE residence on Osage avenue, which killed 11 MOVE members,
including five children, in addition to destroying 62 other homes in the
working class neigbored.
Street was either not at the location or refused to come out while the
protestors gathered outside.
A large organized contingent of Saturday's demonstration was composed of
youth. A student from Oberlin College in Ohio, told the Pan-African News
Wire that there was a strong Mumia support group on the campus. "Mumia
supporters at the college sent 80 people to the recent "Millions for Mumia
March" held on April 24. Another 21-year-old man said "Mumia has been in
jail since 1981. I was born in 1978. In almost every single memory I have
had during my entire life Mumia has been in prison."
More Actions Planned
Pam Africa stated that "we have been demonstrating every day since the
death warrant was signed." She urged people to return to their
neighborhoods, cities and campuses and to work to stop the execution of
Jamal.
Jamal's defense attorney Leonard Weinglass is presently seeking to obtain
a stay of execution for his client in the federal district court in order
to prevent the execution on December 2. Activists present at Saturday's
national emergency demonstration pledged to continue their efforts aimed
at stopping the execution and winning the release of Jamal.
The campaign in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal also held an emergency
demonstration in San Francisco on Saturday. Demonstrations were held as
well in the aftermath of the signing of the death warrant by Gov. Ridge in
Chicago, New York City, Detroit, Ann Arbor and other cities.*
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Detroit Holds Demonstration In Response To PA Death Warrant Against Mumia
By Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Correspondent
DETROIT, 14 Oct. (PANW)--An emergency demonstration in response to the
signing of a death warrant against Mumia Abu-Jamal took place today at the
Federal District Court House in downtown Detroit.
Jamal, an award-winning journalist and former official in the Black
Panther Party, was convicted in 1982 for the murder of Philadelphia police
officer Daniel Faulkner. The International Concerned Family and Friends
of Mumia Abu-Jamal had called for emergency demonstrations in opposition
to the signing of the death warrant by Gov. Tom Ridge the day after the
order was signed.
At today's demonstration, over 100 protestors gathered at the Federal
Court House building located at the corner of Lafayette and Washington
Blvd. After protesting for over an hour in front of the location, many of
the marchers left the area and paraded through downtown Detroit chanting
"stop the execution, free mumia now." By this time the crowd had grown
enough to move into the streets and block traffic for a short period.
The marchers continued through the financial district and later moved into
the "Greektown" entertainment district where they took over the streets
chanting slogans and calling for the freedom of the death row inmate and
critic of the prison-industrial-complex.
After leaving the Greektown area, the marchers continued to the riverfront
and then returned to the Federal Court House Building. Police followed
the demonstrators demanding that they get out the street. The crowd
refused the police orders to move onto the sidewalk. No one was arrested
and the march remained peaceful throughout.
A call was put out yesterday by the Detroit Coalition to Stop the
Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal after news spread about the death warrant
that was signed by Gov. Ridge.
Organizers in Philadelphia have called for a mass demonstration on
Saturday at the State Office Building in downtown beginning at 11:00am.
Mumia's execution date has been set for December 2. Jamal's defense team
will file a writ of habeas corpus in Federal District Court on Friday,
seeking a stay of execution and a hearing on the issues that have been
raised in an appeal of the conviction of the revolutionary journalist.
Jamal, who has always maintained his innocence, is the author of two
recent books. "Live From Death Row", which was published in 1995, gained
international acclaim for the death row inmate. "Death Blosooms", which
was published in 1997, included a series of essays and poems written by
Jamal.
Local activists in Detroit plan to attend the national demonstration in
Philadelphia this weekend. *
For More Information on Mumia Abu-Jamal contact: www.mumia.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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=============================================>
From: TCCDMAJ <mgresist@minn.net>
REPORT OF THE OCTOBER 16 JUSTICE FOR MUMIA
DEMONSTRATION IN THE TWIN CITIES:
After our very successful emergency response demo on October 14, we held a
follow-up action on October 16. As expected, our turnout was even larger
and more diverse than our Thursday action, with an estimated 300 people
present. Many youth were present including a contingent from SAACP and
folks from several area high schools and colleges. There were also people
who had traveled from as far away as La Crosse and Green Bay, Wisconsin and
from Northfield, Minnesota.
We started our spirited rally with native drumming by the AIM drum corps,
including a song dedicated to Leonard Peltier and Mumia. We then had a
short but effective roster of speakers and poets to get everyone in the
mood for a march.
Once we took off on our march, things got interesting. We soon found
ourselves surrounded by 23 squad cars from several precincts, 3 horse
units, an attack dog unit, 2 booking vans, etc. The cops were armed to the
teeth with night sticks, pepper spray, etc.
When we left the sidewalk and went into the street, the cops went nuts.
They repeatedly rammed their cars and horses into our crowd to try to force
us back onto the sidewalk. Taking the streets is a long-established
tradition in the Twin Cities and as long as we leave one lane of traffic
open, we have never run into a problem. But the cops weren't having any of
this. They wanted to make it impossible for us to flyer passing cars and
they wanted to isolate and wall us off from the community and make the
mostly African-American community fear supporting Mumia. It didn't work,
however, as people poured out of houses and shops to give us their support,
with many joining the march on the spot.
We were successful in taking the street at key locations but we did sustain
two arrests. One person was ticketed and released. The other was taken in
and charged with "obstructing justice" when he put his hand up to block a
horse that was biting the back of his neck. (In this state, horses are
considered police officers.) For this "high crime" his head slammed into
the trunk of a cop car before he was taken away. We are now preparing for
his legal defense.
the coming time period. We hope to put together a variety of activities
and form working groups to make them a reality.
=================================>
From: Phil Wilayto <ajrc@execpc.com>
Sisters and Brothers,
50 people turned out for an Emergency Response Demonstration yesterday in
downtown Milwaukee to protest the signing of a death warrant for Mumia
Abu-Jamal.
Sponsored by Wisconsin for Mumia/Milwaukee, the Black, Latino and white
demonstrators picketed the Reuss Federal Building, chanted and leafleted
passersby. There was short but decent coverage on TV and in the daily paper
this
morning.
Two points: Wednesday, the day of the signing, was the one-year anniversary of
the beating death of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepherd, an atrocity
Mumia had
written forcefully about. Maybe this is more of the state's sick "humor",
as in
passing the Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 on Mumia's birthday, setting
Mumia's 1995 execution date for Marcus Garvey's birthday, etc. Also,
issuing the
warrant Wednesday afternoon meant it came just hours after the deadline of
most
weekly papers, meaning virtually all the local "alternative" papers and
especially the Black press were not able to report it. Who says the state
isn't
worried about a reaction from the people?
Finally: A Job is a Right Campaign in Milwaukee, part of Wisconsin for
Mumia, has
a 20-page pamphlet called "Voice of the Voiceless: The Case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal".
About a dozen local coalitions around the country have ordered bulk copies.
The
text was used as the basis for the 30,000-run tabloid used in New York to
promote
the April 24 Millions for Mumia demo in Philly. Updated this past July, it
includes the phone/fax/email numbers of government officials to call, Mumia
web
sites, and soldiarity statements from Leonard Peltier, the Zapatistas and the
ANC. 50 cents each, or .35 each for orders of 10 or more, plus postage. To
order,
email AJRC at <ajrc@execpc.com>.
FREE MUMIA! FREE OURSELVES!
=====================================>
From: "James in Cambridge" <tompaine@hotmail.com>
********************************************
Report on protests in Boston, Massachusetts: F R E E M U M I A !!
********************************************
Saturday, October 16, at noon...
groups gathered at the "Park Street 'T' Station" [central subway
interchange in downtown Boston at the "Boston Common" at the foot
of the Massachusetts State House] on short notice to vigorously
condemn and oppose the announcement of the signing of a new
"death warrant" against framed revolutionary journalist and
political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal by the racist right-wing
Republican "death-mongering" Governor of Pennsylvania, T. Ridge.
Speakers shared information and experience, and exhorted
listeners and passersby over a loud-speaker during a two hour period
to rally to the defense of the falsely convicted Mr. Abu-Jamal.
Following the Rally, dozens marched to "The Community Church of
Boston," an historic institution in Boston which was a leading
center for opposition to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, where
a meeting was scheduled later in the day to plan further action.
Plans are already underway to mobilize people to join buses to
Philadelphia for a Rally for Mumia planned for December 11.
Be there! Jail criminals like Ridge!
Free Mumia.
Fire in the Skies if Mumia dies!
James M. Williamson (spoke at Rally)
Candidate for Cambridge City Council
http://members.theglobe.com/campaign99
=========================>
From: Alan Benjamin <theorganizer@pop.igc.org>
10,000 NEW FOOT-SOLDIERS TO FREE MUMIA:
October 15 Rally in Paris Expands
the Fight to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
NOTE: The following greetings were sent by Brother Jahahara Armstrong
to the October 15 rally in Paris organized to promote support for the
Open World Conference in Defense of Trade Union Independence and
Democratic Rights (OWC), which will be held in San Francisco on
Feb. 11-14 of the year 2000.
Brother Jahahara Armstrong is the Western Region representative of
N'COBRA (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America).
He is also a member of the Black Radical Congress in the San Francisco
Bay Area and an organizer for Project for Labor Renewal.
The Paris indoor rally, which drew close to 10,000 unionists and
activists into an over-crowded Palais des Sports [Sports Palace], was
chaired by Baldemar Velasquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing
Committee (FLOC/AFL-CIO) and co-chair of the Labor Party in the United
States. Velasquez is also a member of the Organizing Committee of
the OWC. Speakers from trade unions and political parties from all
continents addressed the crowd.
One of the focal points of the Paris rally was the fight to free
Mumia Abu-Jamal. Tetevi Norbert Gbikpi-Benissan, president of the
Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Togo (UNSIT) and convener
of the International Tribunal on Africa, reported on the recent
six-city tour of the United States which he and Lybon Tiyani Mabasa,
president of the Socialist Party of Azania (South Africa), conducted
with the goal of building support for the Africa Tribunal.
Gbikpi-Benissan spoke of the multiple discussions in which he had
participated with activists and leaders of the African American freedom
struggle regarding the need to deepen and widen the fight to free Mumia.
He also reported on the decision of Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge
to sign a death warrant for Mumia on December 2.
Brothers Gbikpi-Benissan and Mabasa proposed to the rally and its
keynote speakers that they extend a campaign they had initiated one
week earlier around an Open Letter to Bill Clinton and Janet
Reno, demanding that they intervene and conduct an immediate investigation
into the violation of Mumia's civil rights at the hands of the
Philadelphia
police and court systems. Such a campaign, Gbikpi-Benissan insisted, would
aid the fight to stop the execution and win a fair trial.
The Paris rally, with its participants from 30 countries, enthusiastically
approved a massive signature-gathering campaign in support of this Open
Letter. The campaign would include mass protest actions at U.S. embassies
and consulates the world over, as well as high-level, broad-based
delegations to the U.S. embassies. They also proposed that the
International Liaison Committee for a Workers' International, which has
a presence in 92 countries, put all its energy behind this campaign.
Another decision proposed by the rally organizers -- and approved by
acclamation -- was to send a delegation from the rally to Washington, D.C.
within the coming weeks to present these demands -- and the tens of
thousands of petitions -- to Janet Reno and a representative of the Clinton
administration. Heeding Brother Jahahara Armstrong's suggestion, the
decision was taken to coordinate this delegation with the leaders of the
Mumia defense campaign in Philadelphia.
For more information about this Open Letter campaign, or about the
International Tribunal on Africa, please contact the ILC at
P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140, Tel. (415) 626-1175;
Fax: (415) 626-1217; email <ilc@energy-net.org>. ‹ Alan Benjamin
*****
Greetings of IMANI (FAITH) Dear Sisters and Brothers:
WE want to express our sincerest gratitude for your organizing and
participating in today's massive rally to save the life and free
our beloved Brother Mumia Abu-Jamal, in Paris, France.
As i'm sure you know already, on this past Wednesday Governor Thomas
Ridge of Pennsylvania signed a death warrant to publicly execute Brother
Mumia on 2 December 99. While our movement will seek out all legal options
to overturn this state-sponsored assassination, WE know from centuries of
experience that justice is most often denied for revolutionaries like Mumia,
and the masses, in these "united capitalist prison states." Therefore, WE
are
determined to step-up, to rapidly increase in numbers and militancy, our mass
political and economic pressure inside the U.S. to free Mumia, our
wrongfully-held
Indigenous Brother Leonard Peltier and HUNDREDS OF OTHER POLITICAL
PRISONERS who have been unjustly incarcerated for 10, 20, 30 and close to 40
years.
Just last night (Thursday, 14 October 99), WE held a major protest to
free Mumia here in San Francisco, California. Our march, which shut-down
several streets in this city's main business district, included a diverse
cross-section of labor, human rights, youth and peace groups and
activists. More mass actions and disruptions of this rotten and oppressive
system
are being planned for the coming days and months, in cities across the U.S.
Your organizing today's rally for Brother Mumia is a major concrete
expression of internationalism and solidarity. The building of this
rally in Paris has certainly made more people throughout Europe aware of
Brother Mumia's grave situation, and the real lack of justice in this
so-called
"cradel of democracy" known as the "United States of America." WE urge
you to contact your own governmental leaders and heads of state and urge them
to put pressure on U.S. President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet
Reno to grant Mumia clemency, or at the least a new and fair trial. (i have
addresses, phone numbers and emails which i will send later in a seperate
message.) Of course, WE know that you also have political prisoners
encaged on your side of the Atlantic. Use this opportunity to demand their
immediate freedom and amnesty, as well.
Allow me to also encourage you to send your messages of support to and
for Mumia to the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia at: P.O.
Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143 (UNITED STATES) or mumia@webcom.com.
Much-needed financial contributions to Mumia's Legal Defense should be
sent to: Black United Fund/Mumia Abu-Jamal, 2227 N. Broad Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19132-4502 (UNITED STATES).
ASANTE SANA (MANY THANKS) on behalf of the thousands of activists who
stand for freedom, justice and reparations in the U.S., and worldwide WE'RE
GONNA WIN!
FREE DA LAND! FREE MUMIA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!
REPARATIONS AND SELF-DETERMINATION NOW FOR AFRIKAN
PEOPLE! DOWN WITH GLOBAL CAPITALISM!
Yours in our international struggle,
Brother Jahahara
N'COBRA (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America),
Western Region Representative
Member of Black Radical Congress
Organizer for Project for Labor Renewal
(15 October 99)
======================================>
From: "Soligroep, SPG Amsterdam" <spg@pop.dds.nl>
hello Mumia supporters,
today, saturday the 16th of october we had a demo for mumia through
the inner city of Amsterdam. About 200 people marched through the
city demanding freedom for Mumia and for all political prisoners. We
were supported by a drum band called 'brotherhood' which gained a lot
of attention. We spread about 3000 flyers with Mumia info asking
people to join us for a noise demonstration at the us consulate next
thursday (21 - 10, 15.00 h) It was a powerfull demo. We will later
send foto's to mumia.org
In struggle
Mumia support group Amsterdam.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Solidariteitsgroep Politieke Gevangenen (SPG Amsterdam)
postbus 3762 1001 AN Amsterdam The Netherlands
Tel/fax 0031-(0)20-4272054 E-mail spg@dds.nl
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank
============================================>
From: "merijn89" <merijn89@pop.dds.nl>
A member of the Mumia Support Group, Amsterdam attended the first 3
days of the Frankfurt bookfair & on Thursday 14 October (before the
news of the death warrant had filtered through) had the opportunity
to attend a press conference in connection with the International
Parliament of Writers, of which Wole Soyinka is the current
President. The Parliament supports persecuted writers. After the
presentation came question time... She asked: Could you give your
reaction to the supreme Court's decision not to hear Mumia's case and
secondly, what will the International Parliament of Writers do to
support Mumia, or are they scared off by the threat of the FOP to
boycot Mumia's supporters?' ;) Wole Soyinka: I don't think the
Parliament owes anything to the police of Philadelphia or anywhere
else for that matter. No. I can tell you straight away that a number
of us have been involved in the case of Abu-Jamal and the fight to me
is not over yet. It is a case which concerns us very deeply. The
Parliament has been in touch. I individually, with Bishop Desmond
Tutu appealed personally and very strongly to the Governor of
Pennsylvania and asked him for an audience. We joined hands with the
Bruderhof, which structurally, in an organized kind of way has
involved itself in this particular case. I feel the same way - the
plight - as I did with the plight of Ken Saro-Wiwa when it was clear
that he was about to be railroaded to his death. And it is the duty
of the Parliament of Writers to continue to aggitate in every
possible way. That is the only answer I can give to that.
A German tv station picked up on the subject and subsequently asked Mr
Soyinka to make a statement about Mumia on camera.
On leaving the bookfair half an hour later, we heard that the death warrant
was signed.
The following day the media and German supporters of Mumia leaped into
action setting up a petition to be signed by publishers and authors -
inlcuding the Vice President of German P.E.N. and Nobel Prize-winner,
Gunther Grass. A daily newspaper, Junge Welt, featuring Mumia on the front
page, had a large number of extra copies printed and distributed to the
German publishers at the fair.
The publishers agreed that this was just a first step. they will now
approach the German Publishers and Booksellers Association to make a
concerted effort to gather support for a new trial.
=====================================>
From: kurt svensson <ksvensson@motkraft.net>
Stop the lynching of Mumia!
The Supportgroup of Mumia Abu-Jamal in Oslo, situated at the autonomous
youth house Blitz, arranged a quite spontanous demonstration outside the
US Embassy in Oslo in protest against Thomas Ridge's signing of Mumia's
Death penalty. It was quite many people taking part in the hastely
mobilized protest, and as usely we didn't want to ask the police for
permition to protest against how the police-system in US is treating
Mumia. Strangely enough, it took the police about 20 minutes to find out
about the demo after we had started, so we had a good time and were not
disturbed by violent men in uniform. We tried to hand over a written
protest to the embassador, but the embassy didn't want to open their
door! So we sent the protest by post in sted...
Many new people came who want to take part in the fight for saving
Mumia's life, so even if we are shoked by the signing of the death
penalty, we are strengthened in the organizing of solidarity with Mumia.
Blitz
===================================>
WE MUST NOT FAIL!
International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 19709 - Philadelphia, PA 19143
Ph: 215-476-8812 / Fax: 215-476-7551
Web: www.mumia.org / E-mail: mumia@webcom.com
MUMIA MUST LIVE! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!