From: "Greg Butterfield" Save Address - Block Sender To: youth-4-mumia@egroups.com Save Address Subject: [Y4M] Fwd: Mumia Organizers Denounce Riordan Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 11:28:11 -0400 Stop the execution! New trial for Mumia! Youth & Students for Mumia http://www.mumia2000.org To subscribe or unsubscribe email: youth-4-mumia-owner@egroups.com From: "Editor" To: gregb@wwpublish.com Subject: Fwd: Mumia Organizers Denounce Riordan Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 11:13:30 -0400 --- the forwarded message follows --- From: "IAC/NPC--LA" To: "iacsf" Subject: Mumia Organizers Denounce Riordan Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 20:27:07 -0700 August 13 March for Mumia 422 South Western Ave. Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90020 m (213) 487-2368 m Fax: (213) 387-9355 National: 39 W. 14th St., Ste. 206, New York, N.Y. 10011 m (212) 633-6646 m Fax: (212) 633-2889 Web page: www.iacenter.org m Email: iacenterla@earthlink.net Ramsey Clark, Chairperson CONTACT PERSONS: Tahnee Stair, Richard Becker 213-487-2368 July 13, 2000 ACTIVISTS DENOUNCE THREATS BY MAYOR RICHARD “BULL” RIORDAN TO USE VIOLENCE & REPRESSION AGAINST PROTESTORS NATIONAL MOMENTUM GROWING FOR AUGUST 13 MARCH DEMANDING NEW TRIAL FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL AND END TO RACIST DEATH PENALTY A coalition of organizations and activists working to build the August 13 march and rally demanding a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal and an end to the death penalty today condemned the threats made by Mayor Richard Riordan to use violence and repression against demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention. “Mayor Riordan’s outrageous threat in today’s L.A. Times to use the LAPD – notorious worldwide for its brutality, racism and corruption – against people expressing their First Amendment right to free speech and assembly is an attack on the rights of the people he pretends to represent and everyone who will be here during the Democrats convention,” said John Parker, a leading activist in the International Action Center/Millions for Mumia which is playing a key role in the Aug. 13 demonstration. “Even more astonishing are the mayor’s comments that ‘we cannot tolerate non-violent civil disobedience.’ Comparing the demonstrators to Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mayor Riordan states: ‘Then, like Gandhi and King, they must be prepared to pay stiff fines and face arrest and jail.’ Apparently the mayor approves of the punishments handed out to those who have historically resisted colonialism, racism and other injustices! “Mayor Riordan, who now threatens protestors with rubber bullets and pepper spray, aspires to play the role of the infamous Alabama Sheriff Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor who unleashed gas, dogs, water cannon and other violence on Dr. King and all those who marched against racism in the 1960s. “We will not be intimidated by the threats of Mayor Richard ‘Bull’ Riordan,” said Parker. “We will be marching and rallying by the thousands on Sunday, August 13, demanding a new trial and stay of execution for Mumia Abu-Jamal and an end to the racist, anti-poor death penalty.” Support for the August 13 National March and Rally for Mumia is growing quickly. “The momentum is building,” said Preston Wood, a leading organizer for the L.A. Coalition to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. “Buses are coming from as far away as Seattle, and committees are mobilizing in more than 50 cities throughout California and the western U.S. to be in LA on Aug. 13 and the following days. “We call upon the city officials to stop threatening violence against the demonstrations taking place that day and week,” Wood continued. “It is the mayor, the police chief and other officials who are responsible for deliberately attempting to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. But they will not deter us or the thousands of others who are coming to LA. The city should immediately issue the requested permits for the Mumia march, the D2K activities, the protest against the Iraq sanctions, and the other protests scheduled for Aug. 13-17.” Prominent endorsers of the August 13 National March include former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr. of Pastors for Peace, former political prisoner Geronimo ji Jaga (Pratt), poet Martin Espada, and many others. For more information, or to schedule an interview, call 213-487-2368.