Photoessay: April 24 Rally for Mumia in Philadelphia

On April 24, supporters of black death-row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal gathered in Philadelphia to celebrate Mumia’s birthday, and to publicize the upcoming oral arguments before the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on May 17, for which Mumia’s international support network has called for a mass demonstration. The court will consider four different issues that it has already certified for appeal. It will then decide to either grant a new trial, affirm the life sentence, or re-instate the death sentence.

After the May 17 date was set for oral arguments, the Philadelphia DA filed a motion asking the entire Third Circuit Court to recuse itself from the case. Mumia’s attorney felt the DA move was meant to delay the hearings, and to move the case to a more conservative circuit. On April 20, the court ruled in favor of Abu-Jamal in two ways. The court (1) ruled against the recusal request and (2) agreed to give each side one full hour to present their arguments.


The day began at noon, when supporters organized a “Honk for Mumia” at City Hall, then in the evening, supporters gathered a few blocks away, for a viewing of “Framing an Execution,” which critiques the bias of ABC’s 20/20 report on the case in 1999.
Accompanying the film were several guest speakers, including Danny Glover, Sonia Sanchez ( http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/audio/april_24/sonia_sanchez.mp3 ), Linn Washington, Jr. ( http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/audio/april_24/linn_washington.mp3 ) , Ramona Africa ( http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/audio/april_24/ramona_africa.mp3 ), and Sgt. DeLacy Davis, from Black Cops Against Police Brutality ( http://www.abu-jamal-news.com/audio/april_24/delacy_davis.mp3 ).




The event at the Friends Center (a few blocks from City Hall) was met by over a hundred police officers (see photos below) protesting the event for Mumia, which was a culmination of recent intimidation tactics by the Fraternal Order of Police. A benefit event in New York City had to change locations after extensive NYPD harassment. An NYPD website later boasted that the rally was “Bitch Slapped”. Then, the April 24 event in Philadelphia had to change locations after police intimidation, as documented by journalist Linn Washington, Jr., who noted that the “anti-Abu-Jamal barrage of emails and telephone calls unleashed on the Clef Club included declarations perilously close to terroristic threats.”

Inside the Friends Center, numerous speakers spoke about recent FOP intimidation.

Danny Glover said: “We want to be allowed to organize, demonstrate, and hear all sides of the situation, like it should be in a true democracy.”

Sgt. DeLacy Davis, from Black Cops Against Police Brutality, said he had received “nothing less than 10 or 15 death threats over the last four weeks from so-called Philadelphia police officers. I assured them that I would show up today, so they would have an opportunity to kill me. They’ve intimidated and scared folks. They’ve done what the Ku Klux Klan has always done in America: terrified black people, poor people, immigrants, and good white people” into stepping down and not confronting racism.

“I wanted my colleagues to see that there are black police officers in this country who will stand up and do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do.”

“In 1998, I witnessed the Ku Klux Klan for the first time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the behavior and tactics that I just observed from my colleagues is exactly what I saw from the Klan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is that intimidation factor that we have to address and deal with.”

After citing a long list of police and prosecution misconduct, Philadelphia journalist Linn Washington, Jr. declared that “if the law was followed in this case, Mumia would be out. If the law is followed on May 17, Mumia will get a new hearing, a new trial, or be released. Mumia could walk out of jail today if the law was followed.”

Mumia supporters are now setting their sites toward the May 17 oral arguments here in Philadelphia. Stay Tuned!

Abu-Jamal-News.com

Special Thanks to Ed Mertex and Nathaniel for the excellent photos!