Demonstrators in Philadelphia on July 3 demanded freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal. They carried colorful signs and banners under a blazing sun.
The rally was in front of the Municipal Services Building across from City Hall. Forty years before on the 4th of July weekend in 1982, the world-renowned political prisoner had been sentenced to death.
Abu-Jamal was framed for the death of police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was really convicted for having been a member of the Black Panther Party.
Among the speakers was Mike Africa, Jr., who was born in prison. His parents―Debby Africa and Mike Africa, Sr.―were members of the MOVE 9 who spent 40 years in prison before being released.
Mike Africa Jr. reminded people of the illegal stunts that prosecutor Joseph McGill used in order to send Mumia Abu-Jamal to death row.
One of the “lost” items later found in the District Attorney’s office files was a letter written by a lying witness. The witness asked where was his money for testifying?
Demanding the death penalty, McGill read to the jury an interview with a 16-year old Mumia Abu-Jamal. The teenager quoted Mao Zedong that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
Judge Albert Sabo allowed McGill to inflame the jury. Sabo was overheard saying “I’m gonna help ’em fry the n—-r.”
It was only the power of the people that stopped Mumia from being executed, even though two death warrants had been signed by Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Ridge. Jamal was finally taken off death row in 2011, but the wealthy and powerful want him to die in prison.
People marched around City Hall demanding justice. Some drivers honked their horns in approval.
Mama Pam denounced the racism of the wealthy and powerful. Nearby used to be a statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo who urged his supporters to “vote white.”
Authorities were forced to remove this obscene monument because of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Twenty-three prisoners have been exonerated while Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has been in office. They were convicted because of misconduct committed by cops, judges and prosecutors.
But Krassner is still trying to keep Mumia Abu-Jamal in jail, despite the same illegal practices having been used against the revolutionary political prisoner. Krasner needs to stop fighting Mumia’s release. Mumia Abu-Jamal must be set free.
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