The horrors of this case continue because Krasner, who was supposed to be a
progressive choices for DA, has turned out to be as biased against Munia as
previous DA's, judges, and police officers.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2019 10:31 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Keep the pressure on DA Krasner to free Mumia!
https://socialistaction.org/2019/01/20/keep-the-pressure-on-da-krasner-to-free-mumia/
Keep the pressure on DA Krasner to free Mumia!
/ 17 hours ago
feb. 2019 rachel w. (sam)
Attorney Rachel Wolkenstein speaks at Jan. 15 news conference in Philadelphia
for Mumia Abu-Jamal. (Photo: Sam Mastriano / Socialist Action)
By JOHN LESLIE
On Dec. 28, one day after the decision by Judge Leon Tucker opening the door
to further appeals by Mumia Abu-Jamal, employees of the Philadelphia District
Attorney’s office “found” six boxes in a storage space, while allegedly looking
for office furniture. Five of the six boxes are marked with the name McCann,
the name of a former head of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office
Homicide Unit. Five of the boxes were also marked with Mumia’s name. This
discovery was revealed to the public more than a week later in press reports.
At a Jan. 15 news conference in Philadelphia, attorney Rachel Wolkenstein, a
supporter of Mumia and member of a previous legal team for Mumia, said: “What
these missing boxes represent is confirmation of what we’ve known for decades:
There’s hidden, exculpatory evidence in Mumia’s case, and that is evidence that
Mumia’s guilt was intentionally manufactured by the police and prosecution, and
the truth of his innocence was suppressed.”
Wolkenstein told the press that “every single witness in the case was coerced
and encouraged to lie. … There is police and prosecutorial misconduct
throughout this case.” She pointed out that if Krasner chooses to appeal
Tucker’s decision, Mumia would be tied up for years awaiting justice.
Supporters believe that the hidden boxes hide evidence of Mumia’s innocence; in
essence, it is a cover-up of a frame-up. The contents of the boxes should be
released to the public, and all charges against Mumia should be dismissed.
Judge Tucker has asserted his jurisdiction over the boxes and the case; Mumia’s
attorneys have said that they will inspect the contents of the boxes as soon as
they can.
A history of suppressing evidence
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has a history of suppressing
evidence and is known for the infamous training video that taught Assistant DAs
how to keep Blacks off juries. The sudden release of the boxes demonstrated the
systematic denial of due process in Mumia’s case.
Mumia was denied justice at every turn, with no right to self-representation
and no jury of his peers.
In the case of Jimmy Dennis, who spent 25 years in prison for a murder he did
not commit, Philadelphia DAs withheld information about a witness who
identified others as the killers, failed to reveal the existence of a receipt
that confirmed Dennis’ alibi, and failed to provide the statement of a witness
who said she recognized the shooter from high school. Even after a federal
court decision in Dennis’ favor, the DA’s office continued to drag its feet,
delaying his release for years.
The notion that the “finding” of boxes of material from Mumia’s case is the
result of their having been “misplaced” seems particularly suspicious in light
of earlier efforts to tamper or withhold evidence in the case. The ballistics
evidence was very questionable, for example.
The bullet that police recovered was too damaged to be matched to Mumia’s gun.
A forensics report from the medical examiner noted that the bullet was a .44
caliber—but Mumia’s pistol was a .38 caliber.
Similarly, crime scene photos taken by photojournalist Pedro Polokoff showed
cops holding guns taken in evidence with their bare hands and showed the hat of
deceased Officer Daniel Faulkner placed on top of Mumia’s brother Billy Cook’s
Volkswagen, though it appears on the sidewalk in the official police photos.
Mumia has been in the sights of law enforcement, from local cops to the FBI,
for his youthful role in the Black Panther Party, and for his later role as an
award-winning journalist. As a reporter, Mumia covered the
1978 Philadelphia police attack on the MOVE house in the Powelton Village
neighborhood, after a 50-day siege in which no one was allowed in or out of the
property. Police bulldozed the house almost immediately after the standoff was
over, destroying any evidence of police misconduct.
During a press conference following the Powelton Village assault, then Mayor
Frank Rizzo singled out Mumia’s “new breed” of journalism as responsible for
the death of Police Officer James Ramp, saying that Mumia would be “held
accountable and responsible.” The MOVE 9 were convicted and imprisoned for the
death of Ramp despite his having been killed by “friendly” police fire.
On Jan. 5, activists for the Mobilization4Mumia delivered 4227 signed petitions
asking District Attorney Larry Krasner not to appeal the Tucker decision, as
well as labor movement statements of support for Mumia. This included letters
from International Longshore and Warehouse Union International Executive
Secretary-Treasurer Edwin R. Ferris and Japanese rail workers.
The petitions were handed to a Krasner assistant as the DA passed through the
lobby. Krasner, however, did not stop to speak with activists, some of whom had
supported his campaign for the office.
District Attorney’s Office Director of Communications Ben Waxman, a former
Occupy Philadelphia activist, spoke briefly with activists, but refused to
address any specifics of the case as “above [his] pay grade.”
Speaking at the Philadelphia press conference on Jan. 15, Pam Africa, a leading
organizer for Mumia’s defense, demanded Mumia’s freedom, saying, “After almost
four decades in prison suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, Hepatitis C and
related ailments, years of court delays will be nothing less than a death
sentence and a denial of justice for Mumia.
The evidence is here! Our job is to stop the conspiracy to torture and murder
Mumia. After 37 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, we are demanding
that the charges be dismissed and he should be freed.”
Earlier, at a Jan. 12 meeting at the People’s Forum in New York City, Pam
Africa said that the recent court victory and the “discovery” of the boxes must
be credited to the “power of the people.” She went on to point out ,“We must
organize as if the death warrant was signed, ’cause if it was left up to them,
Mumia would’ve been dead a long time ago.
There’s a whole lot of other boxes that’s missing. Now that the appeal is in,
the following day they find the boxes?”
Africa continued, “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.
Radio stations, churches, subways, communities—letting people know what is
going on ’cause every minute, second, Mumia’s closer to death. We’re doing what
they said we’d never be able to do, and that’s bring Mumia home.”
Mumia also addressed the New York meeting, via telephone. Moderator Robyn
Spencer asked him, “How are you feeling now with the potential of the doors
opening?” Mumia responded, “This is probably the first time I’ve been before a
state judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who was not paid by the FOP,
and that means something.”
Spencer then asked, “What can we take away from this [meeting]?” Mumia
answered, “Resistance, organizing, movements, work. To quote John
Africa: ‘When you’re committed to doing that which is right, the power of
righteousness will never betray you” (quoted in the New York Amsterdam News,
Jan. 17, 2019).
All out on April 20!
Supporters of Mumia are projecting a mass action in Philadelphia on April 20 to
demand his release. That will be followed by a student walkout on Mumia’s
birthday, April 24.
We must keep the pressure on the “progressive” District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Krasner, formerly a defense attorney, was known in activist circles for
defending protesters in court. Those credentials inspired liberal and left
activists, including the local Democratic Socialists of America, to get active
in his campaign. In office, Krasner has offered up some reforms and promised to
review wrongful convictions.
However, in Mumia’s case, it appears that Krasner has hesitated because of his
relations with the Fraternal Order of Police.
Now is the time to re-energize the fight to free Mumia— a man who was
railroaded to death row solely for his political beliefs and actions; a man who
was innocent of the charges against him but was framed-up because he dared to
tell the truth about the corrupt and racist police and the court system.
We cannot rely on politicians or their courts to win a victory. To win we need
to build a powerful, united movement to free Mumia. We need to reach out to and
to energize new forces in the movement—above all in the Black community, and in
the labor movement, among students, and among all of the oppressed. It was the
mass struggle in the streets by supporters of justice that stopped previous
attempts to execute Mumia.
For decades the working class and its organizations have been under attack. Our
unions have been decimated. Hard-won civil rights have been destroyed. The
left and the Black liberation movement continue to suffer the aftereffects of
COINTELPRO. The national security state has expanded and spying is rampant. The
incarceration of radicals like Mumia, the MOVE 9, Leonard Peltier, and the
almost two-dozen former Black Panther Party members who remain in America’s
prisons points to the fundamental injustice of the system.
Together we can fight to free all political prisoners! Now that, after
37 years of struggle in the courts and in the streets, victory is finally
within our grasp, we need to redouble our efforts to bring Mumia home! Free
Mumia! Free the MOVE 9 and all political prisoners!
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January 20, 2019 in Black Liberation, Prisons, Uncategorized. Tags: Mumia
Related posts
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Pack the courtroom for Mumia on Aug. 30!
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Jules Verne
“ Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add
nothing to them. ”
― Jules Verne