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CCNY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER   OCTOBER 2000 VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1

Philly Cracks Down on Republican Convention Demonstrators
City Judicial System Now Clogged with Cases
By John Olafson

Back on August 1, thousands, including many CUNY student activists, gathered in Philadelphia in the middle of the Republican Convention to take a stand against the Criminal Injustice System. In a coordinated nonviolent disruption of business as usual, groups people sat down in intersections, blockaded streets, locked themselves together, and did whatever else they could to clog up downtown area and make a strong statement about the Prison-Industrial Complex.

Protestors demanded freedom for Mumia and all political prisoners, abolition of the Prison-Industrial Complex and the death penalty, an end to police violence, power to our communities, and an end to the corporate war on the poor. The action was organized by a coalition which included CUNY’s Student Liberation Action Movement,the Civil Disobedience Committee of the Free Mumia Coalition, and the NY Direct Action Network.

In a stark example of exactly what the demonstration was opposing, the Philadelphia police, with the support of the mayor, the DA, and the FBI, orchestrated a massive crackdown on nonviolent activists. Hundreds were arrested before, during, and after the action. The following day, police hunted down and arrested perceived leaders and community activists. People were brutally attacked by police and guards in the jails, and many have been charged with 6–10 charges, including felonies like aggravated assault on police officers. Well over 300 in all were arrested, with more than 30 facing serious felony charges. People had bail set at anywhere from a few thousand dollars to almost half a million.

Arrestees now face a massive, expensive, and lengthy court battle. Fortunately, they are organized. While in jail many engaged in “jail solidarity,” negotiating collectively with the authorities to get bail reduced and jail conditions improved and to prevent anyone from being singled out and targeted for extra abuse.

Likewise most arrestees are now engaging in court solidarity. They are attempting to negotiate as a group with Lynne Abraham, the Philly DA, to come to a collective deal that would include everyone. Specifically, arrestees are proposing that they as a group give 10,000 hours of community service to improve the situation of Philadelphians in a poor neighborhood of the city, in return for the city dropping all charges against the defendants. The locations and projects involved would be decided by local grassroots community organizations.

As one defendant read in a statement to the court, “The vast majority of RNC defendants are refusing ARD, and demand our rights to a full trial because good faith negotiations have not been made for the reduction of charges of all RNC accused felons and high level misdemeanors.”

The pressure is now on the city to strike a deal. Over 200 trials are pending amonsgst all the demonstrators; Philly normally only takes about 150 cases to trial in a whole year. (Most are settled by plea bargain.) In addition, Philly public attention has been increasingly focused on the misbehavior of the police and courts, in these and other cases. The local Philadelphia media are giving the issue a great deal of attention.

The arrestees view this proposal as a winning scenario for activists, for community organizations, and for the people of the city as a whole. Hopefully the city will as well.

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