Thursday January 21 9:09 PM ET NJ Cops Oppose Concert for Convict
By S. MITRA KALITA Associated Press Writer
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey State Police are outraged over having to provide security at a benefit concert for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted cop killer on death row in Pennsylvania.
However, the troopers will be on hand for next Thursday's sold-out show at the Meadowlands, near New York City, because officials concluded they had no legal way to cancel the rock concert.
The Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, and Bad Religion will be the headliners at the $30-a-ticket concert. A portion of the $480,000 in proceeds will go to the defense fund of Abu-Jamal, a black former radio reporter on death row for the 1981 killing of a white Philadelphia police officer.
State police routinely back up private security at the Meadowlands, but Col. Carl Williams, superintendent of the State Police, said Wednesday he would write a letter to protest the use of troopers at the concert.
``We're putting our troopers in with a hostile crowd and my people are going to be there trying to maintain law and order,'' Williams told The Record of Hackensack. ``This is amazing. I'm dumbfounded.''
Williams released a more subdued statement Thursday, supporting the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority ``and the quandary they face in scheduling events that swirl with controversy.''
Philadelphia police also were offended by the concert.
``It appears that police are the last group in American society where it's politically correct to celebrate their murder,'' said Richard Costello, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Troopers scheduled to work the concert will not be able to request a change in assignment. ``State police put their emotions aside every single day,'' spokesman John Hagerty said.
The president of the Sports and Exposition Authority, Dennis Robinson, said the show's promoter, DelsenerSlater in New York, told him about the concert's purpose only a week before tickets went on sale.
Robinson said he didn't support the cause, but ``we were forced to make a very pragmatic, legal decision.'' The promoter had no comment.
Gov. Christie Whitman urged patrons Thursday to ``exercise their discretion and not go.''
Attorney General Peter Verniero said the show must go on because of a 1997 federal judge's decision that went against the state when it tried to block a Marilyn Manson concert. The judge said the state-run arena was a public venue.
``As much as I deplore this concert and its cause, legally our hands are tied,'' Verniero said.
Abu-Jamal's jailhouse writings, including the 1995 book ``Live from Death Row,'' have made him a celebrity around the world, attracting the support of death penalty opponents and politicians.
Abu-Jamal was convicted in the shooting of Daniel Faulkner, 26, who had stopped Abu-Jamal's brother for a traffic violation. Police found the dying officer and a wounded Abu-Jamal lying near his own gun.
Abu-Jamal has said police coerced an eyewitness to testify against him and stacked a jury with whites. Police and prosecutors have said he was fairly convicted.
Greg Graffin, lead singer of Bad Religion, said the bands organized the concert to raise awareness about the racial inequities in the use of the death penalty. ``We also believe that Mumia should be given a fair trial,'' he said.
Rage Against the Machine publicist Lisa Markowitz said the band strongly supports Abu-Jamal and raised $8,000 for him at a 1995 concert in Washington.
The Beastie Boys declined comment through a publicist.