“Knee on the neck now everybody riot, they been killing ****** do the math peep the science.”
Westside Gunn [Buffalo]
To know history is to grow enraged. The truth will set you free – but first it will piss you off.
In the 1980s it is common knowledge that Reagan flooded the streets with crack cocaine to fund the Nicaraguan conflict. Don’t believe me? Do a Google search for journalist Gary Webb who just “happened” to off himself after his name was dragged through the mud.
Police brutality ran rampant in Philadelphia during the 80s. Mayor Frank Rizzo who was former head of the Philadelphia Police Department was the chief reason. The day Philadelphia bombed its own people took place under his ‘leadership.’ Since the MOVE organization would house newly released prisoners, Philadelphia cops took it upon themselves to harass and brutalize those involved.
As MOVE members megaphoned profanities from their windows the conflict grew. The city responded by barricading the entire block so that no food or water could get to the location. Next, they shut off the water and electricity to the buildings. And finally in 1985 they bombed the MOVE property and surrounding structures which incinerated 65 houses killing 11 – 5 of which were children.
Arising from the ashes of this movement was Mumia Abu Jamal a Philadelphia Journalist and Black Panther. He worked for the MOVE black liberation group and WHYY radio where he would highlight the brutality dealt by the hands of Philly policemen. His efforts earned him a watchful from the COINTELPRO sector of the FBI since age 14.
On his most uneventful night – December 9, 1981 Mumia ran to defend his biological brother William Cook who was pulled over by Officer Daniel Faulkner on the corner of Locust & 13th St. @3:50 A.M. As a struggle ensued Mumia took one bullet to the chest and the officer ended up dead. It is tough to tell exactly what went on that night as no fair trial ever occurred.
Mumia was deprived a fair trial, in which key witnesses were
CLDC
not allowed to testify, exculpatory evidence was excluded,
and a key witness had been arrested numerous times for
prostitution, opening the possibility that her testimony was
paid or coerced. Although no motive was ever shown for why
Mumia would have killed a police officer, there was a
certainly a motive to neutralize and frame him.
Mumia was granted the chance to represent himself in court which was then revoked as he was banned from the courtroom without explanation. Many facets of basic investigative protocol were violated as police were photographed handling the weapons at the scene of the crime with their bare hands and planting evidence to make things seem more sensational.
“During that trial, if you look at the paperwork, everything was criminal that they did,” she said. “Officer Faulkner was murdered, and I don’t believe in murder for nobody. And neither do Mumia. But it is evident. It is evident, and they want closure, so let’s have this trial and close this out.”
Pam Africa
The trial was rushed with foregone conclusions already made before hearings even took place. Mumia has been on Death Row many times but is still with us today. All of his appeals have been faulty as well. For instance, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille who was the Philadelphia DA during original trial ruled against Mumia on one of his death sentence appeals.
While this case is very touchy, all citizens deserve due process of law and a fair trial. So it was written or so it may seem.
FreshNewsNow 