February 8, 2000, Philadelphia Inquirer

GOP is asked to boycott arena

The police union wants the convention out of the First Union Center. A show by a band that backs Abu-Jamal ignited the FOP's protest.

By Thomas Ginsberg INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The union representing 14,000 Philadelphia police officers formally has asked the Republican Party to move its 2000 national convention out of the First Union Center, challenging the party to join its boycott of the South Philadelphia arena complex over a December concert by a rock band that has supported death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.

"The Republican Party has publicly supported the law-enforcement officers of this nation. We now need to know whether this support is sincere or merely eloquent but empty rhetoric," Richard B. Costello, local president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said in a letter last week to party officials in Washington.

Republican officials yesterday rejected the request, saying they do not "bear responsibility for actions by other organizations that have held previous events in this widely used facility."

It was unclear whether the FOP's request would throw a wrench into Republicans' convention plans. The event is expected to draw 45,000 people in late July.

The FOP stopped short of threatening action against the convention itself. But by invoking the support of thousands of police, the union was seeking to create a political dilemma for the party on a law-and-order issue.

"The use of the First Union Center . . . will send a subtle but disturbingly clear message to law-enforcement officers throughout the nation regarding the Republican Party's true platform position on law enforcement," Costello wrote.

After hearing the party's answer, Costello added in an interview: "We'll . . . get the word out not to take too seriously what the Republicans say when they tell you they support you."

Since Abu-Jamal's 1982 conviction, the onetime Philadelphia radio commentator and Black Panther has become an international cause over alleged racism in the death penalty.

Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld his conviction twice, and Gov. Ridge has signed his death warrant twice. An appeal is pending in federal court.

His supporters demand a new trial, contending that the judge was biased, that blacks were kept off the jury, and that a court-appointed lawyer was inexperienced in criminal law. An international grassroots movement has sprung up to support Abu-Jamal.

A countermovement also has coalesced around the FOP and Faulkner's widow, Maureen, now living in California. It has elicited support from police and elected officials across the region and country, including Ridge and New Jersey Gov. Whitman, both Republicans.

The FOP last December launched its boycott of the center, along with First Union Bank and a local music promoter, after the band Rage Against the Machine held a concert at the First Union Spectrum on Dec. 6. The rock group has been a strong supporter of Abu-Jamal and last year performed a concert in New Jersey to benefit the death-row inmate.

Costello's three-page letter, which was addressed to James "Chip" DiPaula, the Republicans' convention manager, with copies sent to Ridge and presidential contender George W. Bush, suggested that the GOP look again at the Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, the same site that the party laboriously considered and rejected last July for logistical and security reasons.

Since settling on the First Union Center, the party, in conjunction with the city's host committee, Philadelphia 2000, already has signed a $2.5 million contract for the construction of huge, temporary media facilities on the arena's parking lot.

"At this point, it would be virtually impossible for them to scrap a half-year of planning and shift the centerpiece of the convention," said Tim Reeves, a spokesman for Ridge, also a board member of the host committee.

One of the difficulties with the Convention Center involved security. Because so many top-ranking political leaders attend conventions, security plans typically create a buffer zone around the main building.

Creating such a zone around the Convention Center would have required surrounding streets to be kept clear for days, according to one security plan.

While rejecting the FOP's request to relocate the event, Republicans took pains to express their support for police officers.

Tim Fitzpatrick, spokesman for convention manager DiPaula, said the planners "certainly agree with the importance of respecting the law and those charged with upholding it."

Ridge's spokesman played down any political damage from alienating the FOP.

"That is a very human reaction," Reeves said of Costello's comments, "but it does not negate a long Republican record of standing with our police officers generally."

Inquirer staff writer Jane M. Von Bergen contributed to this article.