Bro Yus,
Interesting enough,here you are saying the wines saw two dreadlocks and the
one who shot was Mumia,do you know the witnesses who were involved,did you
check their background.Is Mumia going to get free because of Justice or
because the injustice American system,Who bomb the MOVE office,was it done
in the name of democracy or against.The burning of the radio station in the
Gambia was it not a cry by many of us for democracy.
I have tried,but could not separate this case with the issue of Democracy in
the USA,you see how political opponents who are not part of the establish
political system are treated in the USA,just investigate there are more of
such cases.
Before closing here just to say I enjoy the exchange.But please join to say
"Free Mumia"

For freedom
Saiks
----- Original Message -----
From: Yusupha Jow <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2000 1:51 AM
Subject: Re: US Election Card (On Mumia Abu Jamal)


> Saiks:
> You misconstrued my point.  It was not in defense of the American
democratic
> system, but a rebuttal to your assertion that Mumia Abu Jamal was framed
for
> murder.
>
> I remember seeing a rash of "Free Mumia" posters in Boston a few years
ago.
> It was one of those cause celebres that tends to give one the impression
that
> the popular opinion is right.  However, upon closer scrutiny of Mumia and
the
> actual physical evidence in this case, one starts to realize that his
> innocence is not that clear-cut.
>
> In the late 70s, Mumia was an award winning journalist/writer in
> Philadelphia. He was also part of the Black Panther movement and his
> antiestablishment and antipolice slant eventually got him fired.  To
> supplement his income, he started moonlighting as a cab driver while
working
> as a part-time journalist.  Around the same time that these changes were
> taking place in Mumia's personal life, MOVE, an antiestablishment, radical
> group that Mumia sympathized with, was coming into national prominence.
> This, to the chagrin of local authorities who branded the members of this
> organizations as trouble makers.
>
> During a confrontation and subsequent shoot-out with local authorities,
> MOVE's HQs was fire-bombed by the authorities. A number of members were
> killed, and, naturally, their supporters were very unhappy about the
outcome
> of the confrontation. Mumia was no exception.  It was against this
backdrop
> of events that the famous crime occurred.
>
> After one of his late night moonlighting sessions, Mumia stumbled upon the
> scene of a police officer beating his brother with a 17 inch flashlight.
He
> ran across the street, gun pulled out, towards the scene of the crime and
> subsequently gunfire was exchanged between the two.  Many people claimed
that
> both men sustained hits initially.  But, most importantly, they saw a MOVE
> member (Dreadlocked Individual) standing over the officer and emptying the
> rest of the chamber into him.  It is important to note that the only two
> people with dreadlocks at the scene were Mumia and his brother, the gun
used
> in the shooting was Mumia's.  Also, the testimony of witnesses at the
scene,
> conclusively establish that he was the shooter.  In fact, when the police
> arrived at the scene, Mumia was still wearing the gun's holster.  In
defense
> of Mumia, the witnesses have changed their stories since probably after
some
> coercion by the police.  But this not excuse that he was the owner of the
gun
> neither does it excuse the fact that he was identified by several people
as
> the shooter.
>
>
>  I will further proceed to postulate that any policeman who sees an
adversary
> running towards him with gun drawn out will immediately open fire on the
> perceived threat.  Therefore, the fact they exchanged gunshots is no
> surprise.  What has to be determined here, is whether there was a motive
for
> the crime and whether Mumia assassinated the officer after he was already
> gravely wounded?
>
> Based on his political affiliations with the Black Panther movement and
his
> leanings towards the MOVE movement the motive for the killing seemed to be
> there.  Note that both these organizations had a serious distrust of law
> enforcement.  With the fire-bombing of MOVE HQs still in the minds of many
> and the fact that Mumia had some point in his life advocated violence
against
> the PIGS, as they call law enforcement. A violent confrontation between
> himself and a police officer was inevitable.
>
> In regard to whether this was a premeditated killing or not, Mumia was not
> that seriously injured and did stand over the police officer and finish
him
> off.  Several witnesses have testified to seeing a dreadlocked man
standing
> over the gravely injured police officer, guns blazing away.  Also, though
> this is disputed, Mumia supposedly confessed to the crime, saying: "I shot
> the officer and hope he dies."  Then there is also the fact that his
brother,
> while present at the crime scene, has never testified in a court of law
about
> this case.  Why?
>
> I do give Mumia credit in that he is a remarkable writer who, with the
help
> of his politically charged articles, has managed to convince many
> political-activists that he was framed simply because of his political
> beliefs.  Other sympathizers have postulated that he was inadequately
> represented in that the jury was mostly white and the judge that presided
> over his case had put many minorities on death row.  I doubt the political
> orientation theory and believe he is guilty as sin.  Nevertheless, he does
> deserve a better trial with a less biased judge and a jury that is more
> representative of the ethnic make-up of Philadelphia.
>
> I believe that a new trial might get Mumia of death row but will not
> vindicate him of a crime that he clearly committed.  The evidence that he
was
> the shooter is too overwhelming.  What is disputable is whether this was a
> premeditated murder and thus whether he deserves to be on death row?
>
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