GHOSTBUSTERS CLUB: MUMIA ABU-JAMAL 4
I did not shoot Officer Daniel Faulkner. I am innocent.
My court-appointed attorney never asked me what happened that night. I was excluded from at least half the trial. Denied my rights I would not testify and be used to make it look like a fair trial. I did not testify in 1995 post-conviction proceedings as advised by my attorney Leonard Weinglass.
13th and Locust Sts was a popular club area with lots of pedestrians. Working for United Cab that night I dropped off a fare in West Philly and was filling out my log when I heard shouts. In my rear view mirror I saw flashing police lights. Typical. Still doing my trip sheet I heard guns. Again looking in my rear view mirror I saw people running on Locust St. I saw my brother in the street staggering and dizzy. I immediately left my cab and ran to him.
Crossing the street I saw a uniformed officer turn toward me, gun in hand, saw a flash and fell to my knees, closed my eyes and tried to breathe. I was kicked, hit and brought out of a stupor. Opening my eyes I saw police around me yelling and cursing, grabbing and pulling me. I felt faint. Beyond them was my brother, blood running down him, and an officer lying on his back on the pavement. I was pulled to my feet, rammed into a telephone pole, beaten and thrown into a paddy wagon.
I slept until the door opened and a white-shirted white officer entered cursing and hit me. I forget what he said except "niggers", "black mother-fuckers" etc. After he left I slept in the parked wagon. I awoke hearing the driver speak over the radio about his prisoner. Anonymous radio crackle said I was en route to police administration a few blocks away. "I D'd as M-l" on the radio sent the driver to Jefferson Hospital. Arriving I was thrown to the ground and beaten, then beaten again at Jefferson's doors. My lungs filled with blood. I never said I hoped Faulkner died. I would never say anything like that.
MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
The night of Dec 9, 1981 I was with my childhood friend Kenneth Freeman. Mumia visited my stand that night as he often did. Mumia was robbed the week before. I left my gun locked up at my stand that night, but Kenny (Poppi) always carried his 38. I wore a black knit cap. I always tucked my dreads in.
We closed late at night. Poppi and I barhopped to unwind like we always did after closing. We headed along Locust St. Poppi bought beer and returned to the car. At Locust and Juniper Sts I saw flashing police lights. He followed me for half a block. I pulled over behind another car in the first empty spot on Locust St's south side. I had wooden bumpers on my car instead of metal. I had been stopped for that but he never said anything about that or gave any reason to stop me. I never hit him.
I knew police working this and the next district. I never saw this one before. I got out of my car. Poppi stayed in the passenger seat. After verbal confrontation he slaps me in the head 3 times with his flashlight. By that time he had me on the side of the car. Bleeding profusely I go back to my car for my papers. I tried to block him when he hit me but I never raised my hand to him. I'm not that stupid. I never hit police. Back inside my car I sat in the front seat looking in the back seat.
People on the street is typical for the neighborhood. Bars were supposed to close by 2 but clubs stayed open until 5, still serving drinks. I forget where other people were or how many or describe anyone. I never saw the cab they said was there. Hearing the first shot I was in the driver's seat looking for something in back to give Faulkner. I'm not the organized type. I didn't keep papers in the glove compartment. The back seat had papers and things from the stand, teddy bears, stuffed animals, stuff we sold, holiday stuff. Like on Valentine's day we'd have Valentines. We sold novelties and artificial flowers.
When I was in my car Faulkner was in front where he had stopped me and frisked me. Looking in the back seat I heard gun shots and saw sparks but I didn't see him shot. I saw gun flashes by peripheral vision and saw other people around. Faulkner's car was behind mine. He stood between my car and the car parked in front of me.
I saw my brother running toward me. We hadn't planned to meet that night. I didn't realize he was there to pick up fares. His hands were empty. I heard a shot and saw him stumble forward. I didn't see who shot him. People said everything happened in a few seconds but I couldn't see it that way. It seemed everything happened at once but took a long time. I tried over years but can't see it as a few seconds. It looks like 45 seconds, not three.
While I looked in the back seat Poppi sat in the passenger seat. Looking up I saw Poppi's door open. I don't know which way he went. He left the area right after this event. Later Poppi mentioned plans to kill Faulkner. He said he was armed that night and participated in the shooting. He knew all kinds of people. I asked him about it but not a talker he never said much. I didn't see Poppi for a while after that.
Poppi was in Germany in the army. That night he wore his green army jacket. I don't know why he was discharged. I got out. I wanted to run. Maybe I could have gotten away. I started to run but I couldn't run after seeing my brother on the ground. I said, "I'm here for you." He groaned. I saw a gun in the gutter. I kicked it under my car before police came. If they asked me anything I don't remember. I didn't answer. I don't remember them reading me my rights. I knew Shoemaker. He'd stop by my stand and smoke weed. His wife came with him.
They took me away before they took Mumia or Faulkner. I forget if I was in a paddy wagon or a squad car and if I was sitting up or not. At the station they threatened to kill me and throw me in the river. I feared for my life since then, afraid to talk about it. Wouldn't you be? They took me to a room with two officers, one black and one white. I said things to give them something to chew on. Coming to my senses, I didn't want to make a statement. They wanted me to sign a statement. I refused and asked for a lawyer.
I was in jail a day or two and got out on bail. I moved out of center city and back in with my mother in the middle of the night. Alva Jackson came to the house several times. My mother and sister were there. I don't remember him ever interviewing me, just trying to calm us. I only met him at my mother's house. He advised me not to testify and implied that if I came to court I would be charged with murder. I had to pay him $1,000. He was Freeman's lawyer too. If Jackson had said they wanted me to testify I would have done it but they never did. At PCRA I was expecting to testify. Rachel wanted me to testify but Leonard didn't. I didn't testify. In 1999 I was asked to testify again and I said I would. I will testify now.
Mumia was not holding a gun. Mumia never intervened in anything between me and Faulkner. Mumia and I had nothing to do with killing him.
WILLIAM COOK
I was there when officer Daniel Faulkner was killed early Dec 9, 1981 morning near the corner of Locust and 13th Sts. I know personally Mumia Abu-Jamal did not shoot Faulkner. Another guy and I were hired to kill Faulkner. Two of us were hired so either of us could make the hit and leave. I heard Faulkner was a problem for the mob and for corrupt police because he interfered with graft and payoffs allowing prostitution, gambling, and drugs in center city without prosecution. I was shown Faulkner's picture and told he was supposed to check something at Johnny D's at 13th and Locust sometime early that morning. The other guy gave me a .38 police special. I also carried my own .22 revolver.
I waited at the speedline entrance at the northeast corner of Locust and 13th at the parking lot, wearing a green camouflage army jacket. The other guy waited on the south side of Locust St east of 13th towards Camac St. Waiting at the speedline entrance for Faulkner to arrive I saw police. Two undercover police stood on the west side of 13th north of Locust. A uniformed officer sat in a car in the parking lot's corner. They were there when Faulkner was shot. I wasn't worried about police being there. Being hired by the mob to kill Faulkner, police there would help me.
After a while I saw Faulkner get out of a police car parked behind a VW parked on Locust St, east of 13th. Faulkner, alone, left his car and went to the VW. I heard a shot coming from east on Locust St. Faulkner fell on his knee on the sidewalk by the VW. I heard another shot, which must have grazed my left shoulder. I grabbed at my shoulder and got blood on my hand. I ran across Locust St and stood over Faulkner, who fell backwards on the sidewalk, and shot him in the face at close range. Jamal was shot shortly after that by a uniformed officer arriving on the scene. Faulkner was shot in the back and then in the face before Jamal came on the scene. Jamal had nothing to do with the shooting.
Police in cars and on foot came from all directions. A white shirt got out of a car in the middle of the 13th and Locust intersection as I ran down the speedline steps. I left the area through the speedline. A prearranged officer assisted me when I exited three blocks away. A car was waiting for me and I left center city.
ARNOLD R. BEVERLY
As a freelance journalist for national papers I write about racism and criminal justice. I'm an assistant journalism professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. I hold a Master's Degree from Yale Law School and a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Temple University. At the time of these events I was a Philadelphia Daily News municipal beat reporter assigned to Philadelphia's 17-member City Council. I was a full time reporter in Philadelphia since Oct 1975, covering varied assignments including police and investigative reporting. By Dec 1981 I had received writing awards. I knew Mumia Abu-Jamal as a fellow journalist I covered assignments with including police misconduct. I met him in 1974 at WRTI-FM, Temple University's radio station.
Dec 9, 1981 I got up at 6 and turned on Philadelphia's news radio station KYW for the day's major stories. That day's lead story was Faulkner's shooting. Police arrested Mumia at the scene. The first officers arriving found Mumia's brother William Cook spread eagle against a wall and another man slumped on the curb. I thought it was unusual that Cook was spread eagle on the wall before being ordered to do so by arriving police.
I also knew Cook was a downtown Philadelphia street vendor. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Philadelphia police frequently harassed Black street vendors, incidents I reported on as a journalist. I first met Cook's friend Kenneth Freeman. Cook and Freeman were constantly together. I thought they were related. I met Freeman in the mid-I970s when he came to the Philadelphia Tribune office after police beat him. I was then a Tribune reporter. In the 1970s Philadelphia police frequently beat Black men in general and Black street vendors in particular, as amply documented in numerous official reports by federal authorities and local monitoring agencies.
Hearing KYW's report I asked the Daily News City Desk if they wanted me to do this story. They said get what information I could. At the crime scene I noticed the absolute absence of police. No uniformed officers, no detectives, no crime scene investigators. As a veteran police reporter I knew it was standard practice to at least assign a uniformed officer to guard the crime scene and maintain its integrity, particularly since a police officer was shot. I had covered previous shootings including non-fatal shootings of police, where police cordoned off the crime scene for days. Police absence was unusual but not unprecedented. I had seen Philadelphia police do unusual things with crime scenes a few times, most notably destruction of an Aug 8, 1978 crime scene a few hours after the shoot-out between MOVE and Philadelphia police resulting in the death of Officer James Ramp by a stray police rifle bullet.
Utilities and food were cut off. MOVE members climbed out of the basement police flooded with water and tear gas to force their surrender. Police were in the darkened ramshackle MOVE compound less than two hours before a demolition crane leveled the scene, destroying it without sufficient time for investigation. Questions about the efficiency of their investigation of the crime scene arose repeatedly during the contentious trial charging MOVE with Ramp's death. During this era, questions frequently arose about the adequacy of police investigations into incidents of alleged abuse. I feared the lack of police presence at the Dec 1981 crime scene would impact efficiency of the police investigation involving charges against Mumia Abu-Jamal.
I inspected the crime scene to familiarize myself with it and gather visual data, not looking for anything in particular because details of the shooting were sketchy at best. Billy Cook's VW was there, unlocked. I opened the passenger door and looked inside. I saw a few drops of blood on the floor behind the driver's seat. My inspection of the VW was brief. While I was at the crime scene no police arrived.
I went to Jefferson Hospital's Emergency Room. Police and hospital security blocked access. Other reporters milled around halls outside. Access was denied even to hospital staff not specifically assigned to ER at that particular time. I tried to enter from the outside entrance but police blocked that too. I couldn't even look inside from ER's outside door.
Sometime after arriving at Jefferson a hospital worker I knew said police were beating Mumia in ER. I was denied ER access and access to police or hospital spokespeople. I wasn't surprised given the pattern of abuse by Philadelphia police repeatedly documented by federal government and local media investigators at that time. In the hospital cafeteria I saw two other reporters I knew. One of them heard from hospital staff he knew of the assault, consistent with what the hospital worker who told me about it said. I stayed at Jefferson another hour but got no reports from hospital spokespeople.
Faulkner jeopardized illegal police activities in the area including involvement in prostitution and drugs under FBI and DOJ investigation. Police officer Alphonso Giordano, present and directly involved with the on-scene murder investigation, falsely swore that Mumia confessed to Faulkner's murder while on the way to the hospital. He was indicted and convicted of such illegal activity. Giordano's conviction led prosecution not to call him as a witness at Mumia's trial. Philadelphia police corruption revealed through indictments and convictions stemming from intimidation of witnesses and planting of evidence at that time was so extensive scores of Philadelphia frame-up victims were ordered released from prison.
Philadelphia 2/6/02. Yvette Williams, in an affidavit Jamal's lawyers filed in the federal court of appeals in Philadelphia, swears star prosecution witness Cynthia White told Williams police forced her to falsely identify Jamal as the shooter when she didn't even see the shooting. Williams, in protective custody with prostitute Cynthia White after Faulkner's shooting says White also admitted her drug habit and being high on drugs when the shooting took place. Williams said in her statement, "When Lucky [Cynthia White] told me she didn't even see who shot Officer Faulkner, I asked her why she was lying on that man. She said police and vice threatened her life. They also gave her money for tricks and said they'd consolidate all her cases and send her to Muncy women's prison for a long time if she didn't testify to what they told her to say."
When detectives took White out of her cell to talk to her she'd return with contraband "like cigarettes and candy and hoagies, syringes and white powders." Williams' sworn statement, signed before a notary Jan 28, 2002 says she "almost had a nervous breakdown over keeping quiet about this all these years," and that she was afraid of what police would do to her if she came forward. When Jamal's case returned to the news Dec 2001 "I couldn't get it out of my mind, I kept thinking that man could die because of lies Lucky told on that witness stand and Mrs. Faulkner would never know the truth."
In the 41-page motion filed with Williams' sworn statement, Jamal's attorneys argue that his conviction should be overturned because, "Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent and has evidence to prove it." The attorneys request authorization from the federal appeals court to appeal Judge Yohn's refusal to let them amend the habeas corpus petition filed by his previous lawyers, Leonard Weinglass and Daniel Williams, whom he fired in May 2001 for conflicts of interest. Jamal's attorneys also request authorization to appeal 6 specific violations of the right to a fair trial, including one based on the sworn statement of Court Reporter Terri Maurer-Carter in which she states that during the time of Jamal's trial she overheard Judge Sabo say about Jamal, "Yeah, and I'll help 'em fry the n****r."
CONTACT MUMIA'S ATTORNEYS BROWN, KAMISH, GROSSMAN & FARRELL, Eliot Lee GROSSMAN, Esq., (626) 943-1945, [email protected], or J. Michael Farrell, Esq., (215) 925-1105.
Before coming to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota I served in Viet Nam with Naval Intelligence, locating artillery and staging areas around Khe San. I received limited but useful familiarity with siege operations. After leaving the Navy I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Education at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma WA. I taught at Pine Ridge 1971 - 1976, observing them first hand. Since leaving the reservation I was a bush village teacher in Alaska, an education specialist for Alaska's Education Dept and as University of Alaska faculty. In 1991 I was contracted by the U S Education Dept to write a paper for the Indian Nations at Risk Task Force meeting at the White House. Dept literature called me a "national expert" in this field. I wrote articles and co-wrote several books on education technology. Today I own and run private middle school Thunder Mountain Academy in Juneau, Alaska.
Asking my 7th graders to write an essay on "Ten Years From Now" half of them wrote about their own deaths. This hopelessness is from the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn. Participating Sioux were captured and confined in squalor on Federal reservations. In 1880 the Sioux, broken as a culture and as individuals, embraced the Ghost Dance, a form of cultural hysteria. Government agents at Pine Ridge incorrectly interpreted the Ghost Dance as an aggressive threat to non-Indians and called in the army. The responding army unit was the 7th Cavalry, with a score to settle with the Sioux. At Wounded Knee Creek on a cold winter day the 7th Cavalry extracting revenge massacred over 200 old men, women, and children. The Battle of Little Big Horn was between armed soldiers. Wounded Knee was a massacre of unarmed people by military bent on revenge. Women and children were found as far as two tribes from the site. Women threw blankets over children so they wouldn't see their executioners.
Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded to several of the soldiers in the massacre and never recalled. Pine Ridge lives with the cultural memory of a government massacre. In 1973, Day 2 of the siege of Wounded Knee, I looked through a powerful field scope in the hills above Wounded Knee. 1 hour later I told the FBI roadblock north of Wounded Knee about a bunker north of the village's Catholic Church. I said the bunker was no threat, only a media symbol far forward of military lines on the hill in an exposed position. Alarmed agents, without military field experience, couldn't comprehend tactical information.
Next day I was reassigned from my normal BIA teaching duties (schools were closed anyway) to become an FBI "spotter". Armed with an assault rifle I became part of the FBI operation, observing it under live fire. FBI agents were unprepared and untrained for tactical Indian reservation operations. They did not understand field operation and were unprepared to conduct a siege. Most of them, flown in from urban areas, were disoriented and bewildered, like being in a foreign country with no roadmap or plan. Younger, less experienced agents overreacting to perceived threats brutalized locals.
FBI stopping their unmarked cars on reservation roads aimed their M-16s at approaching vehicles whose drivers frequently panicked and fled, then chased and caught them. An old couple with their grandson, 6, and granddaughter, 10, were run offroad and made to lie spread eagle on the ground. An FBI agent nudged the girl with the barrel of his gun like he was going to roll her over. She trembled and whimpered in fear. A tribal employee and I reported this incident to FBI leadership in Pine Ridge. The two agents denied any wrongdoing. Other agents verified our report. I told the number two agent in charge of the siege that what was done to the child would affect her the rest of her life. As a teacher I didn't want to be in direct conflict with armed, out-of-control FBI agents. He said the agents were removed from the reservation immediately. Needing me he asked me to stay on as FBI liaison. Younger agents not knowing what they were doing needed guidance or people would be killed. He promised to support me if anything like this happened again. After he put that responsibility on me I agreed to continue.
The American Indian Movement said as long as I "keep those animals from killing anyone" they had no problems with me. AIM also said to never fire a weapon or point a rifle at anyone. Several weeks later I saw two young FBI agents panic under fire. They were on the perimeter in a bunker. They were under fire and, in one of the strangest events I ever saw, they lost their nerve and yelled and screamed for help. I asked Federal Marshals to extract them in M113 (armored personal carrier) much to the Marshals' chagrin.
The Wounded Knee siege lasted over 70 days. The following two years were hell on Pine Ridge. People were killed in beatings, driveby shootings or disappearances. Government records substantiate at least 60 unsolved murders during this time. The actual number may be several hundred. The main instigators of the violence were the Guardians of Our Oglala Nation-the GOON Squad, supporters of Tribal Chief Dick Wilson. It was common knowledge on the Reservation at the time that several members of the GOON Squad were off-duty tribal police. In the plains South Dakota, America had a situation similar to present day Columbia: police participating in killing squads assigned to neutralize political opposition, paid with Federal money and the situation was allowed to continue on a Federal Reservation. Victims of the violence were mostly full-blooded traditional Sioux, were political, opposed to what they perceived as corrupt, self-serving tribal leadership.
Pine Ridge people feared for their lives. Driving from Pine Ridge to Wounded Knee I saw 8 or 9 vehicles stopped by the road. I stopped to see what was going on. People lined up on the roadside looking down at the body of a woman in the ditch. Then I saw her move. No one moved to help her. People were concerned but too fearful to help, to align themselves against those who had her in this condition. I, a non-Indian and a mission teacher, having resigned from the BIA after the siege, was under no such constraint. Addressing her as "Grandmother" I helped her to my car. No one helped. Fear of retribution overcame sympathy. Traditional Reservation people felt abandoned. Actually they were. When the GOON Squad came to Wamblee to punish the community for opposition to tribal chairman Dick Wilson, residents told the FBI office in Rapid City they were under attack. The FBI saying they're an investigative agency, not an enforcement agency took no action. Shooting went all night without intervention. A resident was killed that night, verified by the U S Commission on Civil Rights.
When I worked with the FBI other liaisons and I tried to educate younger agents about the danger of aggressiveness in this climate of fear. I tried to impress on them that the "hands up" mentality works in town but reservation people assume if you point a gun at them you're out to kill them. They also knew no one would be held accountable for their deaths. We told agents to lead with kindness, not with guns. Call men "Sir" and women "Ma'am" even if you're doing a march or arresting somebody. Add to this climate of intimidation, fear and killing agents Williams and Kohler, who approached a compound with weapons drawn and sent the message "We'll kill you!" They at Pine Ridge and of fear in the minds of traditional Sioux. Their deaths were part of the ongoing Pine Ridge tragedy.
Manufactured evidence against Peltier is thoroughly documented. The FBI demands a victim for the deaths of their men. The FBI and the Federal Government take no responsibility for conditions leading to the agents' deaths. No one cares about killing Native American Joe Stuntz during the incident that took Williams' and Kohler's lives. Please ignore politics and racism and send Leonard Peltier home.
Paul Berg
I finally got through to Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica news broadcast Democracy Now! on WBAI-FM New York and Pacifica Radio.
AG: On the line after much difficulty is our guest Mumia Abu-Jamal, wrongly convicted in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in a trial riddled with constitutional and other errors. Mumia, welcome to Democracy Now.
MAJ: Thank you, Amy. My pleasure.
AG: Mumia I'm sure you heard of the conditional release of 16 PR political prisoners.
MAJ: Saw it on TV. My thoughts: Free all Puerto Rican Political Prisoners! Their Constitutional freedom of association is dead. They can't associate with each other and must renounce violence. Amy, where've we heard this before? Racist South Africa: Nelson Mandela and other imprisoned ANC members -
The phone went dead as a guard pulled the wire from the jack, disconnecting me. Another guard at the cell door yelled at the top of his lungs: "This call is terminated!" Asked why, he replied, "This order came from the top!" I asked the Sgt where the order come from. He shrugged, answering, "I dunno. We got a call to cut you off." Writeup #A69958 charged me with Class 1 Misconduct: Unauthorized Use of Mail or Phone.
Inmate Jamal phoned Pacifica Radio Network's Democracy Now. DC-ADM 009 News Media Relations states News Media requests for inmate phone interviews shall be approved at the discretion of the Facility Manager. Inmate Jamal did not request from the Facility Manager permission to be interviewed by news media. Inmate Jamal placed a news reporter on his IPIN list knowing the person was a reporter. This is verified by the attached document. Per DC ADM 6.5.8 all communications between capital inmates and news media shall be conducted in accordance with DOC and institutional policies on visit and phone privileges. Inmate phone calls are a privilege. Because inmate Jamal didn't request permission from the Facility Manager to be interviewed or speak with the news media his call was terminated after 11 minutes. The writeup was signed by a Lt and a Captain of the guards. To produce this writeup, ranking staff members ignored their own rules, for example DC-ADM 009-1, Nov 11, 1996:
News media are entitled to the same access to inmates as the general public, with no special arrangements made for news interviews with inmates. All communications between inmates and news media shall be conducted in accordance with DC-ADM 812 (inmate visiting) and DC-ADM 818 (inmate phone calls) If an inmate wants to talk with a news media representative by phone it's his responsibility to call the reporter collect under DC-ADM 818 - Inmate Phone Calls guidelines.
There are rules and there are rules, especially when the state deals with Mumia Abu-Jamal. Here the DOC writes me up using a rule no longer existing! Since when do rules get in the way of corrupt bureaucracies following foul winds of political masters? Clearly we're not working with rules. We work with state exercise of political power to censor a captive they once again acted to silence. Like before, it don't work. I thank Amy and her fervent politically adept Democracy Now! listeners for the opportunity to show solidarity. Keep listening. I'll keep rapping!
MAJ *1999
Inadequate health care. Racist doctors and nurses mislead us. Serious medical problems ignored. Particles in day shift food. Can't exchange sneakers with holes in them. They pocket new boots money or sell the boots, giving us used boots risking athlete's foot. They took $1.00 gloves off our list and won't let us buy raincoats from our prison store. We're forced 1 hour yard time without rain gear or gloves. We're locked down 23 hours a day. We go out to keep from going crazy in these cells. Morning shift guards took our law library typewriters so we can't work on our cases. Secretary Horn mandated typewriters in each booth. We had 4 but they removed 2. We quit signing up.
They took our extended visits so our families can't take the bus every other month from Philadelphia. They deny us extended time saying visits are crowded, a flat out lie. Visiting rooms are never full. When my dad visits there's only 3 or 4 people in the room. Day shift quards don't like taking us there. 3 times a year a bus brings our families for $10. Even then all the booths aren't filled. They eavesdrop on our legal calls, passing our case information to State procecutors.
They won't give us commissary lists. Secretary Horn mandated it specifically for us. We get dirty plastic food trays with disposable inserts to combat germs so food borne illness won't spread. In Pennsylvania plastic must be used once and discarded. They discard spoons and cups but not trays. The State Agriculture Dept of Health Unit inspects twice a year but never inspects level 5 capital cases. We're entitled to yard 5 days a week for 1 hour. On inclement days yard is supposed to be made up. They quit giving us make-up days.
We need worldwide support. We did all we can from inside. Our protest is nonviolent, not eating or signing up for yard. Unit Manager Warmun says everyone protesting didn't stand for count and says we must be at the door with lights on. Policy states clearly just be standing and visible. If we don't stand for count we'll be issued a misconduct in retaliation for our protest. The document saying we didn't stand was signed by Pennington, who never takes count. They falsify documents. Di Ciano takes count. They won't say that because it would be clear retaliation. They'll separate us and give out misconducts. I expect the situation will continue.
MAIN TARGETS Jermont Cox, Ronald Gibson, Jessie Bond, Donyell Paddy, Ronald Clark, Craig Williams, Jimmy Dennis on B-Pod for protest. Death row is retaliated against, separated and set up for misconducts.
From the Green Left Weekly newspaper....
Song for Mumia by Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis for Sept 11 international day of action for justice for Mumia. Has own tune, also fits well to Woody Guthrie's song Sacco and Vanzetti
Mumia Abu-Jamal Was Framed There's a man on death row framed Mumia is his name If you want to know what he's in there for It's 'cos there ain't no justice in the law They say he gunned a policeman down Right there in Philadelphia town A fair trial would have cleared his name But fairness never was their game Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed Clearer than dawn turning night to day Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed Corruption and brutality He laid it bare for all to see Police went after him And made up more tales than Brothers Grimm With intimidation, threats and bribes Mumia's face was in their sights I guess you might believe them right If night was day and day was night Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ... What about four pairs of eyes Whose recollections turned to lies? What about the mystery man With the smoking gun seen in his hand? What about that racist judge And the jury rigged to bay for blood? What about the evidence Not allowed for the defence? Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ... What about the three now dead Who faked the words Mumia said? What about two bullets switched The ballistic evidence then ditched? What about those secret files Where Mumia's good name was reviled? Who's behind this plan To crucify a decent man? Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ... Whoever has a need to fight Mumia's right there at your side Many know him as a friend Through his microphone and his fountain pen Whenever there's a cause that's fair Be sure Mumia's always there Where people cry for liberty Mumia's voice will always be Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed We'll not give up the struggle 'til justice is paid Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed
Free MP3 version TIME TO PICK UP THE PACE! ONA MOVE!