> Jurriaan Bendien wrote:
>
>> I am convinced Mumia is innocent as charged.
>
>
> How could you know that? I have no idea what happened. He got an awful
> trial, and capital punishment is evil, but how could you be so convinced
> of his innocence?
Awesome, Doug. Good to see another person who is capable of thinkign for himself on this issue.
I was involved in a lot of Free Mumia activism during the mid to late 90s. I've also been involved in many other prisoner support campaigns, including activism for Leonard Peltier. It's understandable that the friends and family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, as well as his lawyers, are sticking to the line that Mumia is innocent. You pretty much have to stick to the innocence argument as long as you hope to win more court battles in the future. But the needs of the legal strategy don't excuse dogmatic rhetoric among activists that support Mumia Abu-Jamal.
I'm glad that Michael Moore has said this. His words are a cooler of Gatorade dumped on the heads of the more fanatical Mumia supporters. This rabid defense of Mumia's "innocence" by Mumia supporters had gone a long way towards discrediting the campaign for Mumia. And when Mumia supporters scold other activists for having different opinions, this just alienates everybody from the Free Mumia campaign.
I happen to agree with the arguments put forth by an anarchist comrade in Philadelphia who is close to MOVE and the Mumia movement there. We should be arguing that: 1) Mumia was railroaded into prison by a racist system of injustic; and 2) the punishment (death row) does not fit the crime. In my opinion, Mumia most likely shot Officer Faulkner in a rage after coming upon the officer assaulting his brother. The circumstantial evidence shows that Mumia was involved--he was shot by Officer Faulkner. He was then railroaded into death row by a racist justice system that wanted to make an example of this articulate black radical. I argue that Mumia should be released immediately, because his punishment does not fit the crime: unpremeditated manslaughter.
Mumia does not need a new trial. He should be freed immediately. We can't make convincing arguments about a racist injustice system and then put all of our energy into trying to get that system to provide justice.
I think that this is the best argument that can be made which recognizes the facts of the case. It's also a radical argument that sticks in the craw of the "Fry Mumia" crowd. Conspiracy theories about confessions will not get Mumia out of prison.
<< Chuck0 >>
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