Category Archives: Statements and Articles

OEA Statement on Colin Kaepernick’s Call for Mumia’s Freedom

The Oakland Education Association (OEA), representing nearly 2,800 educators in the Oakland Unified School District, applauds Colin Kaepernick’s statement calling for freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal. In a video statement, Kaepernick documented how nearly 40 years ago Abu-Jamal was framed for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer, framed by a police department notorious for its systematic racist brutality and for tampering with evidence to convict the innocent.

Kaepernick himself has been blackballed by the NFL for protesting police violence against the African American community since he first took a knee as an SF 49er. His courage in the forefront of anti-racist struggle inspired much of the NFL to take a knee, leading athletes to protest police violence and to boycott sporting events following the murder of George Floyd.

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Mumia Abu-Jamal : New Chance for Freedom

Police and State Frame-Up Must Be Fully Exposed!

Click here for a PDF version of this statement

Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent. Courts have ignored and suppressed evidence of his innocence for decades. But now, one court has thrown out all the decisions of the PA Supreme Court that denied Mumia’s appeals against his unjust conviction during the years of 1998 to 2012!

This ruling, by Judge Leon Tucker, was made because one judge on the PA Supreme Court during those years, Ronald Castille, was lacking the “appearance of impartiality.” In plain English, he was clearly biased against Mumia. Before sitting on the PA Supreme Court, Castille had been District Attorney (or assistant DA) during the time of Mumia’s frame-up and conviction, and had used his office to express a special interest in pursuing the death penalty for “cop-killers.” Mumia was in the cross-hairs. Soon he was wrongly convicted and sent to death row for killing a police officer.

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LAC Statement on the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Withdrawal of Appeal

Click Here for a PDF Version of This Statement

April 23, 2019

 The recent decision by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, withdrawing the DA’s opposition to Mumia’s appeal from the Tucker decision, came about because of the persistent and dedicated efforts of political organizers across the United States and internationally.

This decision did not come out of nowhere. If rallies and marches had not been organized in Philadelphia; if individuals and organizations had not taken action to convince the RebLaw Conference at Yale, in February 2019, to do the right thing and disinvite Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner; if activists had not repeatedly and consistently shown up at the DA’s office to confront DA Krasner; if individuals of conscience had not contacted DA Krasner to place personal pressure on him; and, most importantly, if the supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal had not kept up the political fight on his behalf, the District Attorney’s office would not have made this decision at all.

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DA Krasner Withdraws Appeal of Order Allowing Mumia Abu-Jamal New Rights to Appeal His Conviction—Free Mumia, NOW!

Click here for a Word Doc version of this statement.

[The LAC is forwarding on this statement from Rachel Wolkenstein.]

April 17, 2019: This withdrawal of his appeal of Judge Tucker’s grant of new appeal rights to Mumia Abu-Jamal is DA Krasner’s concession to the international protest in support of Mumia’s freedom, including the condemnation of Krasner for continuing the cover-up of Mumia’s frame-up.

Krasner’s decision means that Mumia’s appeals of his conviction can proceed. We won’t be faced with years of legal challenges just to get to a new appeal of all the evidence of Mumia’s innocence, the frame-up and denial of virtually every due process right at trial.

This is an historic win for Mumia and all those held in the grip of this racist criminal injustice system facing biased judges, many in the pay of the police, and subjected to police, prosecutor’s and judicial misconduct.

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BREAKING NEWS: Philadelphia DA Drops Appeal of Judge Tucker’s Ruling

[This announcement is posted for informational purposes only. The LAC has consistently maintained that Mumia is factually innocent, and does not agree with the Philadelphia DA’s characterization of the case.]

PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ben Waxman
Phone: 215–686–8711, [email protected]

PHILADELPHIA (April 17th, 2019) — Today the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office withdrew its recent appeal of an opinion granting a re-hearing of some previously decided issues in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. We withdrew the appeal because the opinion we appealed has been modified consistent with our primary concern — -that ruling’s effect on many other cases.

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