There will be a meeting focused on how to stop this act from passing into law and how to confront this climate of fear on Tuesday December 4th at 7:30 p.m. at Stone Soup. For more info Contact Anne anne@riseup.net To Sign a petition against this piece of Legislation go to http://www.petitiononline.com/S1959/petition.html You can read the version of the bill that the House of Reps passed here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1955/show Read the proposed Senate version here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s1959/show

Journalists and activists will present evidence of Mumia's innocence and an unfair trial at NOON, Tuesday, December 4, 2007, at The A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Ave. Come see a slide-show presentation of newly discovered crime scene photos, as well as presentations by local journalists David A. Love and Dave Lindorff, and Pam Africa of The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Coverage of "Murdered By Mumia" began in Sunday's Inquirer, and will continue with the Dec.6 Today Show, and beyond. Please contact the media, urging them to attend our press conference, so "the other side of the story," can be fairly presented (download press release).

While waiting for an official reponse from NBC's The Today Show, ICFFMAJ urges supporters to continue emailing NBC, and to publicize the Dec.6 NYC picket and Dec.8 protest at Philadelphia City Hall (download "MURDERED BY MUMIA?" flyer).

CopWatch and other community organizations and concerned individuals held a press conference today, Wednesday, December 5, 2007 to condemn the beating of 74 year old Bernie Dyer by the Miami Beach Police. The press conference was held in front of Bernie's apartment at 1745 Marseille Drive in Miami Beach. The beating takes place shortly after Miami-Dade police killed four (4) unarmed black men in 19 days.

Detention Hearing for Betsy Lamb and Fr. Jerry to Take Place on December 6th

A Tucson magistrate has jailed an Oregon peace activist and a Franciscan priest from Nevada following their arrest at Fort Huachuca on November 18 for acting against the torture of military detainees... Read More>>

Wrongful conviction case in county was subject of bestselling nonfiction book by John Grisham

The top assistant in the Pontotoc County district attorney's office has been named to head the office. Gov. Brad Henry announced the appointment of Chris L. Ross as district attorney for the 22nd District, which encompasses Pontotoc County, Oklahoma.

Ross succeeds William Peterson, who is resigning effective Jan. 1.

COLUMBUS DAY TRIALS BEGIN WITH MOTIONS HEARING. Motions to suppress evidence hearing set for FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2007. 1:30 P.M., Courtroom 117M, City and County Building, Denver. Media are welcome to attend. read more

Petition to be sent to the U.S. Senate requesting that they refuse H.R. 1955/ S. 1959, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

The state’s cases against T. A. C. O., Aryana and Stress, which T. A. C. O. described as “b. s.” to defense attorney Guillermo Suarez, are based on the testimony of an undercover cop who alleges that he approached the Black Riders, pretending to be Lebanese and connected to freedom fighters in the Middle East. He claims that the three defendants were involved in a plot to take possession of weapons and protective vests that he claimed to be able to provide them.

No weapons were ever involved. These charges are essentially for a “though crime” – allegedly conspiring to attempt to possess weapons.

It is no accident that the arrests took place while several of the Black Riders were up in northern California Building support for the San Francisco 8 political prisoners. Recall that in 1974 a federal court had dropped all charges against the San Francisco 8 because the New Orleans police and the San Francisco police used torture to extract a confession.

It is also no coincidence that the Black Riders were scheduled to appear in court on December 3, the same day as a hearing was scheduled in San Francisco on San Francisco 8.
From the newswire: Black Riders held on million dollars bail each, back in court Wednesday by Repost of Assata Shakur forums

On Dec 8 — 27th Anniversary of the assasination of John Lennon — Potomac Earth First! marched to the J. Edgar Hoover building(FBI) and read out the dishonor roll of snitches against pro-animal and pro-earth movements in the US. The list was not complete, but it is a lesson to those who would consider selling out their compatriots in this or any struggle! Read More>> | Audio via WSQT -- 2 min 59 sec

< < Photograph: Friends and Family of Daniel McGowan Mark 2nd Anniversary of Green Scare from NYC-imc || Related: Daniel's blog from Indybay

Both the Tribune and the Sun-Times reported on Friday, December 7, that four police torture victims under the infamous Jon Burge regime reached a collective $20 million settlement with the city.

However, it was also revealed in a subsequent newswire post that "[a]ttorneys for both sides in the four police torture cases were pledged to secrecy about the tentative settlement until it was to be broached before the City's Finance Committee on Monday. But in typical City of Chicago fashion, the story was "accidentally" leaked on Friday afternoon -– apparently by City attorneys — assuring that the news would be caught up in a "dead" news cycle just before the weekend."

Despite the settlement and the "burial" of the settlement story, the Burge controversy rages on. Dozens of unjust police torture cases remain without restitution, and those implicated in such torture remain unprosecuted.

Additional Resources: Police Torture in Chicago: The Chicago Reader's John Conroy Archive | Human Rights at Home: The Chicago Police Torture Archive | Summary of Amnesty International's Concerns on Police Abuse in Chicago

An outspoken leader in the fight against racial injustice, poverty, corruption and corporate greed, Rev. Pinkney was sentenced to jail by an all White jury for voter fraud. His crime was leading a successful effort to unseat a city powerbroker, and resisting corporate development of his poor Black community.

--Philadelphia lawyer and journalist David A. Love has also recently written Hanging Hate: Backlash against the Jena Six case sparks an epidemic of public nooses, America failing its less fortunate young, The Intelligent Racists Are the Most Dangerous Kind, and reviewed "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror," By David Cole & Jules Lobel. Listen to Love's presentation at the Dec.4 Journalists for Mumia press conference, which he covered for The Black Commentator.

It is unfortunate that we live in a world in which our government makes decisions about what we can say and when and where we can say it. The erosion of personal liberties in this country has monumentally increased since 9/11.

RT writes, "Myspace, blogs, and online networks are like a dream for police investigators. Where they used to have to go out and interview people, check records, walk the street, now they merely have to go online. Investigation from the convenience of their offices.

I took part in a demonstration and was arrested. Afterward, the police contacted my employer to suggest that they check up on me. I got a copy of the police report yesterday and was surprised to find that the police had gone beyond just the basic facts of my arrest.

They had tracked down the website for my band, followed a link to our myspace page, and from there tracked down my personal myspace page. In my profile I had some pretty cheeky anti-authoritarian hyperbole and that was quoted in the report. "Subject says in his myspace profile that he is 'looking for someone to turn over and burn police cars with,'" a dumb comment that had been part of my online profile for many years. There was a print out of my entire myspace profile, band website, etc. All of this info had been passed on to my employer." Read More

see also: CrimethInc Primer on Security Culutre | The ABCs of Fuck MySpace (A Very Rough Draft) | Does what happens in the Facebook stay in the Facebook?

First locked out of their homes for more than 2 years, and now locked out of the very City Council meeting in which the city’s politicians are set to vote for tearing down their homes, residents and activist today were attacked by police to keep them from entering the City Council chambers. Read More... (photo by fraugg)

Additional Coverage Tasers, Pepper Gas Greet Protesters At City Hall | | images from city council meeting | | Videos

Reverend Edward Pinkney is a longtime political activist in the nearby Michigan community of Benton Harbor. In an effort to combat waterfront gentrification, Pinkney had successfully led a recall effort against a corrupt Benton Harbor official. But the city fought back by charging Pinkney with voter fraud under an overbroad state law, and placed Pinkney on probation and under house arrest.

On December 13, Pinkney was charged again for violating his probation. The reason: he openly criticized the judge who sentenced him on dubious grounds. Pinkney has now been forced into jail, but has now responded back with a hunger strike which has now extended into a week. Full article from The Black Commentator

Additional Resources: BANCO: Black Autonomy Network Community Organization | Chicago Indymedia video: March to St. Joseph (2003) | Coverage from Pan-African Newswire | Coverage from the Black Commentator: May 10 and Dec. 13 | Media Mouse covereage

". . . They used the Southern California Anarchist show as an excuse to attack the work of the Centro. The Centro de Accion Popular has English classes for the community and does community, educational, and cultural events out of the center. They will not be able to do all that anymore until we are able to make the space 'fire safe' and add another door in the rear. . . ."
Story: Southern California Anarchist Show Shut Down by Police by Joaquin Cienfue

County Attempts Crackdown on Community Foodsharing in the Courthouse Lawn

On Sunday December 23 people sharing food with Food Not Bombs, a free community meal, were asked to leave the Prescott Courthouse lawn or sign a permit. No one represents Food Not Bombs, so permits do not apply. Sharing food is not a charity, it's what people do in a healthy society.... Read More>>

UPDATE 1/3/2008: County Apologizes, Backs Down on Community Foodsharing

On Dec. 26th, 2007, attorneys for Briana Waters, a Berkeley mother and violin teacher accused of acting as a lookout during a politically-motivated arson in 2001 at the University of Washington, filed a motion asserting that the Seattle-based prosecutor and FBI agents on the case committed perjury and obstruction of justice, and asked the court to conduct an inquiry into the misconduct. Waters, who could face 35 years in prison if convicted, has steadfastly maintained her innocence.