Thank you for visiting the Pensacola Free Mumia Web site run by the CORE Collective and the Pensacola Coation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
This page was last updated on Sep 1, 2000
There should be a ruling anytime now. Mumia's first day in court is coming up soon. Be prepared to go to Philly if at all possible and stand with Mumia. If you need a place to say, let me know and I can help.
The Republican Convention Protests went well, but they are about to start with the crackdown. Philly's Police Chief said that he was going to suggest the Justice Department investigate protesters for racketeering. They will use anything to shut us up. It won't work. Our cause is right and our movement is strong.
WRITE JUDGE YOHN TODAY TO DEMAND A NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA.
Judge Yohn has given us a few set backs, but it could still go either way. He Will be ruling soon on Mumia's fate. Remind him that the whole world is watching. Demand a new Trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal! This is a small thing that will make a big difference. His address is below:
Judge William Yohn
US District Courts
c/o Leonard Weinglass
6 West 20th Street, Suite 10A
New York, NY 10011
***NEW***NEW***NEW***
It's Important to DO THE RIGHT THING
On August 1, young people took to the streets of Philadelphia. When the leading practitioners of
capital punishment and injustice were gathered for a gaudy coronation of their presidential nominee,
the only right thing to do was to bring "business as usual" to a screeching halt. Refuse & Resist! is
proud to have been a part of doing just that.
Stripped of all its rhetoric, the "compassionate conservatism" of the GOP means nothing but more
executions, more prisons, more women's lives put at risk with the elimination of abortion rights,
and with the stamp of greed, racism, and inequality on society as a whole.
August 1 became a day when all those who yearn for a spirit of justice could take hope and rejoice.
It was a day of repudiation of the death penalty, the frame-up of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the entire
criminal injustice system.
The day was remarkable for its breadth of participation. Rev. Jesse Jackson and author Jonathan
Kozol spoke to a packed press conference. Musician Michael Franti, leaders of anti-death penalty
organizations, Ramona Africa, and activists from many groups spoke to a rush-hour rally. The
statue of the infamously racist Mayor Rizzo was appropriately desecrated. And thousands of youth
as well as older people took to the streets in many different forms of protest. Everyone shared a
determination that their cry for a different future must be heard.
The media attempted to praise the police for their "restraint." But the "Officer Friendly" façade of
cops in shorts riding bikes quickly gave way to the reality. In an outrageous pre-emptive raid, cops
chopped through doors to arrest 70 people making street puppets that were to represent the 135
people executed by George W. Bush. And by the day's end, over 300 were arrested with clubs and
horses.
Republican Convention officials tried to dismiss the protests, which involved several thousand
people, as the work of professional disrupters. The real "professionals" are to be found in the likes
of Lynn Abraham, the Philly District Attorney known as the Queen of Death, the Republican
governors, like Tom Ridge and the Bush brothers (whose three states alone account for 30% of the
prisoners on death row), and the Philadelphia Police who celebrated three decades of violence and
mayhem with the televised beating of Thomas Jones.
The press charged that many of those taking part in the protests were veterans of the battles in
Seattle and Washington. To that we say, "guilty as charged," and we pledge to continue building
both our numbers and our experience. The youth who took to the streets of Philly stood up for and
fought for a future of justice. Their courage and determination issues a challenge to all: Who do
you want to go into the future with? Which side do you want to be on?
Stand up against the politics of cruelty and death!
Stand up for justice for Mumia and for all political prisoners!
It was right to Crash the Executioners' Ball!
We demand that all the protestors be released and the charges dropped!
We are writing to protest a serious attempt by the federal government to cripple the work of some of the staunchest supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Clark Kissinger, organizer of the national leadership conferences for Mumia,Frances Goldin, Mumia's literary agent, and several others have been sentenced by a federal magistrate to a fine and one year supervised probation. Ms. Goldin and Mr. kissinger are forbidden to associate with felons(i.e. Mumia) and cannot leave their federal court district in New York City without
the permission of a probation officer for one year. In addition, they are required to be employed at a regular job(i.e., no-full time volunteer work for Mumia), and they have to surrender their passports, submit to visits to their homes and offices by probations officers, list all persons they are in
contact with who have been convicted of a crime, and turn in detailed financial records every month on where their money comes from and how they spend it.
These Orwellian restrictions were imposed as the result of a peaceful protest and civil disobedience action last year at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.
Ninety-six people were issued summonses by Park Rangers for "failing to obey a lawful order." This infraction is not even a misdemeanor. It is classified
as a "petty offense" and is equivalent to a traffic ticket. yet everyone who refused to return the summons pleading guilty and paying the fixed fine-and
who had the temerity to ask for a trial-was given one-year supervised probation in addition to the fine.
In addition, Mr. Kissinger's wife has been served with a subpoena to produce all her financial records for the last ten years and to testify before a federal grand jury. This is a giant fishing expedition by federal agents, that further exposes the role of the federal government attempting to execute Mumia and silence the movement in his defense.
There are two principles worth fighting for here. the first is the right to have a trial. Mr. Kissinger, Ms. Goldin and the others were given the one-year probation as punishment for asking for a trial. the secondi s that the government has no right to restrict key organizers and pry into their private associations and finances.
These judicial actions are an outrage and are clearly aimed at "shutting down" anyone who works effectively for Mumia. The progressive forces in this country cannot surrender the right to a trial, nor can we tolerate the attempt of the government to "ground" those working for Mumia.
The imposition of these judicial restrictions and subpoenas on leading activists and their families serves no purpose other than to chill the first
amendment rights of those who have been most effective in bringing Mumia's case before the public. We demand that they be stayed at once, and overturned
by the appeals court.
JANE JACKSON IS NOW ON A HUNGER STRIKE ABOUT THIS SITUATION!
Please write a letter in suport of Jane Jackson and others whose passports have and may yet be revoked as punishment for the July 3rd Philadelphia Mumia action
To:
Chief Probation Officer
Ronald b Dellums
Federal Building
1301 Clay St. Suite 220
Oakland CA 94612
(with carbon copies to: Jane Jackson 275 e. 12th st. Oakland Ca 94606; to
Honorable Arnold C. Rapoport, U.S, district court Judge for the District of
Eastern Pennsylvania c/o federal Probation Office, 600 Arch St. Suite 2400
phila., PA 19106; and to newspapers here and to the Philadelphia Inquirer
Editorial Board P.O. Box 41705 Philadelphia PA 19101)
Jane Jackson is almost 66 years old and is forced to use a wheelchair becuase
of a severe case of Meniere's syndrome which as afflicted her for the past
quarter century despite her major diability she has traveled extensively and
advocated powerfully fo many worthy social justice issues.
My apologies Philadelphia attempted to fax the sample letter and articles from California media whoever they are having problems with the fax machine and it did not come through.
BUT PLEASE TAKE ACTION ON THIS!!!!
Good Job to everyone who brought the evils of Global Capitalism to the worlds attention in DC at the IMF Protest! All of this brings us one day closer to a brighter day, and that day is coming.
Help Spread the word about the IMF/WB and Mumia!
For breaking news go to www.indymedia.org
THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DIVIDED!!!
New News on the Campaign to FREE MUMIA
ICFFMAJ wants to report the existence of facts drawn from the record in the Jamal case that seriously undercut the state's portrayal of events: In our review of the transcript we have found from the mouth of the state's so-called star witness, Cynthia White, and District Attorney Joseph McGill, evidence that there was a passenger in Billy Cook's Volkswagen on Dec. 9, 1981 at the time of the incident in question.
Read the following account taken verbatim from the pages of Commonwealth v. William Cook, March 29, 1982 during a bench trial in municipal court in Philadelphia.
[McGill] Q. When the officer went up to the car, which side of the car did the officer go up to?
[ White] A. The driver side.
[McGill] Q. The driver side?
[ White] A. Yes.
[McGill] Q. What did the passenger do?
[ White] A. He had got out.
[McGill] Q. What did the driver do?
[ White] A. He got out of the car.
[McGill] Q. He got out of the car?
[ White] A. Yes.
The state has claimed repeatedly that there were only three people on Locust Street that night -- P.O. Faulkner, Billy Cook and Mumia. The words of their star witness and the prosecution certainly suggest otherwise. The testimony elicited from Cynthia White in the Cook case differed markedly from her testimony in Jamal's case. Their star witness who did not know left from right, short from tall, dark from light, or an afro from dreadlocks clearly and without objection stated there was a passenger in the car. The state, that would have you believe her, disregarded that fact like garbage.
What this record reveals is how easily the state can use a vulnerable witness who is by her profession open to state manipulation for their purpose. They used their power to compel her to say and see what they wanted her to say and see, but ignored her where she spoke words that supported other witnesses' reports that they saw another person.
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal believes that this account is another added weight on the twisted scales of justice that demonstrates the patent unfairness of the trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
ICFFMAJ, March 25, 2000
For more information, contact: Pam Africa, (215) 476-8812
Message from Noam Chomsky:
"The principal that the state judicial system should be granted the right to kill has been rejected and condemned in most of the world. The time is long past for the United States to become part of this moral universe. The free resort to the death penalty, in accord with growing practice here, is simply an outrage -- heightened further by the ways it is implemented, targeting juveniles, the mentally retarded, and those too disadvantaged to resist tainted and dubious judicial proceedings, overwhelmingly the poor and oppressed minorities. The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal has come to symbolize these crimes of state, and rightly so. More than ample reason has been presented to call for a new trial in this particular case, and to follow Mumia's honorable and courageous lead in challenging the entire system of judicial murder: the shameful mode of it's application, and more deeply, the very principle."
PENSACOLA DEMONSTRATION A SUCCESS!
I think that I'm just getting over the euphoria of the moment, but it was truly amazing. We were well organized and made a loud statement in front of the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Pensacola. We chanted, sang, screamed, banged on makeshift drums, played trumpets and horns, yelled into bullhorns. We caught the police off gaurd, but they came quickly. After about 10 minutes they threatened us with jail if we passed out anymore pamphlets (or even if we walked out side of the cross walk on the way home), but we continued our protest. After the media came (one local reporter even put aside his camera and picked up a picket sign and joined in!), we stayed for about a half hour longer. Then seeing most of our goals met, we started marching back, singing all the while. On the way home, we even turned the march off of the sidewalk and straight throught the middle of a downtown grocery store and out the back door, surprising a lot of shocked shoppers. We passed out pamphlets, and headed back to our secret location. Police followed us the whole way, but it was such a success we didn't care.
Over all, it was amazing! Thanks to all involved! Your presence made the difference.
This is the first report I've seen from Washington. Its from Associated Press, so its far from unbiased, but we'll look for more news as it comes in.
FEBRUARY 28, 16:53 EST
Arrests Made in Abu-Jamal Protests
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 185 people were arrested outside the Supreme Court building and another 164 were arrested in San Francisco during protests Monday seeking a new trial for a man sentenced to death for killing a Philadelphia police officer.
Supreme Court and city police officers led away protesters who sat in the street or jumped a barrier and went onto the plaza in front of the court building. Supreme Court police officers arrested 24 people, and city police arrested about 160.
The demonstration came while the nation's highest court took the bench to issue orders and hear arguments in cases. It was not known whether the justices knew of the protest.
San Francisco police said they arrested 164 protesters who blocked the sidewalk in front of the federal appeals court building in that city.
John Riley of the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition said the demonstrators in both cities were opposing capital punishment and calling for a new trial for Abu-Jamal, whose jailhouse writings about the justice system have attracted worldwide attention.
``The idea is to send a message to the Supreme Court that people all around the country are upset that Mumia Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial,'' Riley said.
Abu-Jamal, a one-time Black Panther and radio journalist, was convicted of fatally shooting a Philadelphia police officer in 1981 after the officer stopped Abu-Jamal's brother for driving the wrong way down a city street.
The Supreme Court turned down an appeal by Abu-Jamal last October. He still could pursue a new round of appeals.
Go To These Mumia Sites
Great site with a lot of links-Refuse and Resist is here
Free Mumia
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