Mumia Abu-Jamal
Near 4 AM on December 9, 1981 Mumia Abu-Jamal was working a second job as a nighttime cab driver in the hope of making additional money for the upcoming holiday season. He was driving west on Locust St. when he saw that his brother's Volkswagen had been pulled to the side of the road by a Philadelphia Police cruiser. Mumia pulled into a parking garage on the North side of Locust so he could question his brother to make sure he wasn't in any trouble. After emerging from the parking garage he saw Officer Daniel Faulkner holding his brother "spread eagle" over the hood of the squad car, bludgeoning him with what appeared to be a flashlight. Eyewitness Mark Scanlan, who was on the northwest corner of 13th and Locust collaborates this story saying he saw Faulkner spin Jamal's brother around and throw him against the hood. He said that Jamal's brother then turned back around and struck the police officer at which point Faulkner proceeded to strike Jamal's brother. After arriving on the scene officers found Faulkner's flashlight, broken and covered in blood propped against the curb. One officer also noted that Jamal's brother had a deep laceration on his temple.
Upon seeing this scuffle, Mumia broke into a run to cover the distance between the parking garage and the squad car. It was 4 AM, it was dark, Officer Faulkner had just been "assaulted" by a suspect in a neighborhood that wasn't known to be police friendly, and now another black male was running in his direction from across the street. We can only speculate as to what happened next. None of the witnesses called to trial saw who shot whom first. A series of gunshots erupted on the scene, at least five in all, and both Mumia Abu-Jamal and Officer Faulkner d...
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...ntities of important legal documents from Mumia Abu-Jamal further impeding his ability to raise a defense. Pathological evidence indicates that Mumia could not have possibly fired the shots that hit Officer Faulkner due to the respective trajectories of the bullets and the relative positions of the men as described by the prosecution. A copper jacket was found at the scene a few feet from Officer Faulkner's body. Neither Mumia's weapon or Faulkner's revolver are capable of firing a bullet with a copper jacket. Lastly, the original autopsy report clearly demonstrates that a .45 caliber bullet was found in Officer Faulkner's brain. Mumia's pistol was a .38 caliber.
Unless Mumia Abu Jamal's final petition is answered, and he gets the fair trial he deserves, America will see it's the first explicitly political execution since the Rosenbergs were put to death in 1953.
The Bryan v McPherson case is in reference to the use of a Taser gun. Carl Bryan was stopped by Coronado Police Department Officer McPherson for not wearing his seatbelt. Bryan was irate with himself for not putting it back on after being stopped and cited by the California Highway Patrol for speeding just a short time prior to encountering Officer McPherson. Officer McPherson stated that Mr. Bryan was acting irrational, not listening to verbal commands, and exited his vehicle after being told to stay in his vehicle. “Then, without any warning, Officer McPherson shot Bryan with his ModelX26 Taser gun” (Wu, 2010, p. 365). As a result of being shot with a Taser, he fell to the asphalt face first causing severe damage to his teeth and bruising
Facts: On October 3, 1974, Memphis Police Officers Hymon and Wright were dispatched to answer a “prowler inside call.” When the police arrived at the scene, a neighbor gestured to the house where she had heard glass breaking and that someone was breaking into the house. While one of the officer radioed that they were on the scene, the other officer went to the rear of the house hearing a door slam and saw someone run across the backyard. The suspect, Edward Garner stopped at a 6-feet-high fence at the edge of the yard and proceeded to climb the fence as the police officer called out “police, halt.” The police officer figured that if Garner made it over the fence he would get away and also “figured” that Garner was unarmed. Officer Hymon then shot him, hitting him in the back of the head. In using deadly force to prevent the escape of Garner, Hymon used the argument that actions were made under the authority of the Tennessee statute and pursuant to Police Department policy. Although the department’s policy was slightly more restrictive than the statute it still allowed the use of deadly force in cases of burglary. Garner’s fathers’ argument was made that his son was shot unconstitutionally because he was captured and shot possessing ten dollars that he had stolen and being unarmed showing no threat of danger to the officer. The incident was then reviewed by the Memphis Police Firearm’s Revie...
After more than 28 years, amidst the controversy surrounding Mumia's guilty conviction and later receipt of the death penalty, there are those who are not convinced. Many Mumia supporter and some advocating for abolition of the death penalty believe corruption in the Philadelphia Police Department, coupled with a flawed judicial system, backed by racist judges, have lead to a conspiracy to commit murder on the part of the State. Abu-Jamal Mumia, a well known journalist and community activist from Philadelphia has been on death row since 1983 for the shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Because of his political views and his former involvement with the Black Panther Party, Mumia has been viewed as a hero by some and a "menace to society" by others. At this point, guilty or not guilty is merely a rhetorical question that may never be answered. Many believe that Mumia is being set up as the “fall guy” for a "hit" ordered on Officer Faulkner by the "Mafia". On the other hand, there are those who believe that him is an insensitive, cold blooded "cop kil...
Happening in today’s society, there have been countless number of citizens being killed by law enforcement. Some situations may not cause for force and others may. This case can be a reference in regards to making sure that the force you use is appropriate for the situation. As for the justice system, it is all about being fair and listening to both sides and issuing out the right punishment if there is any. Many people in today’s time needs to get educated when it comes to the reason behind why law enforcement uses force to handle the situations they have to deal with. But in the end it all comes down to right and
When they handcuffed and brought him to the conference room, he raced off from four police offers and leaped through a glass window. Witnesses of the event say that he had fallen headfirst and broke several bones when he hit the sidewalk. Investigators of criminal law are looking at how the man got a gun past courthouse security.
Malcolm X was a very interesting and complicated person. Throughout his life, Malcolm had exposure to practically every type of person the world had to offer. In his younger years, he excelled in his community predominately surrounded by whites. He then got into the hustling business within the black community which supplied for all types of people. After that, he joined the Nation of Islam, joining himself with many Muslims. Lastly, Malcolm went on a Hajj to Africa, where his communication with a diverse group of people expanded. Each time Malcolm had a new group of people in his life, he had a different alias to go by. Whichever one is remembered most, Malcolm Little, Malcolm X or El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, his impact on society will be remembered forever.
According to Assata on May 2, 1973 she along with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped by two white cops who acclaimed that they were driving with a broken tail light. The first officer (Trooper Forester) came to the car and asked to see the driver’s driving license. Soon after the officer supposedly shot Assata while she had her arms up. She then was shot in the back and left to die; once she did not die she was taken to a hospital where she was threatened and beaten. The law enforces interrogated her trying to make her confess to them what they wanted to hear. Wanting her to admit to the murders of her friends and the policeman, but when her finger were examined there were no signs of gunpowder nor did they find her fingerprints on any weapons. Even though the officer of the scene Trooper Harper confessed to having lied in his police reports about the other officer yelling or Assata pulling a gun out of a red pocketbook. She de...
Malcolm X was born May 19, 1925, and he was assassinated on February 21, 1965. Malcolm X was a Muslim leader and Civil Rights leader. He was born Malcolm Little to Earl Little and Louise Norton, who were both activists in the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Malcolm X was a bright student but was very bitter towards white authority figures. X quit school after a teacher said that his desire to become a lawyer was not a “realistic goal for a nigger.”
Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska. His life is full of discrimination and racial violence. When Malcolm as a child he moved to Michigan with his family where they continue to experience persecution and violence. White people murder Malcolm’s father and forced his mother into a mental hospital. Malcolm moves to Boston, to live with his half-sister, Ella. In Boston Malcolm quickly becomes involved in urban nightlife. Malcolm was into gambling, drinking, doing drugs, and dating an older white woman, Sophia. He then moves to New York, where he begins working as a hustler in Harlem. Malcolm’s various jobs there include running numbers, selling drugs, and steering white people to black brothels. When life becomes too dangerous is Harlem, he returns to Boston, where he becomes a house burglar and is eventually arrested. In prison, Malcolm transforms himself, converting to the branch of Islam promoted by the Nation of Islam. Inspired by faith, Malcolm stops using drugs, he reads voraciously, prays, and studies English and Latin. The prison releases Malcolm on parole. Malcolm rises quickly from the rank of temple assistant in Detroit to the Nation’s first national minister. Malcolm X becomes known throughout the United States, even outside of Muslim circles, as a fiery advocate for black unity and militancy. The Nation of Islam’s leaders resent and fear Malcolm despite his allegiance to their cause, and they suspend him from the organization. The Nation of Islam’s frustration with Malcolm intensifies, and Malcolm begins receiving death threats. After a divisive argument with Elijah Muhammad the leader of Nation of Islam, Malcolm leaves organisation.
During Malcolm's speech two men acted out in order to get the bodyguards attention away from Malcolm. A man pulled out a gun and shot Malcolm then two other guys did the same and ran in the crowd of people to blend in. one man out of the three was shot in the leg by a bodyguard, he was the only one known to be rightfully accused the other two men that were suspected and later accused of killing him yet with no hard evidence. Five years later the guilty man wrote a letter while serving time saying that the other two men that were accused of being a part of the assassination were innocent and that he hated being part of the reason that they were serving time for a crime he knows they did not
Similarly talking about racial discrimination, in United States, if somebody commits violent activity, it is judged, viewed and treated differently depending upon that person’s race and gender, For example, Collins mentions “the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African-American journalist, who was accused of murdering a white police officer, received a death penalty and many false evidence, coerced eye-witness and inadequate legal counsel were presented against him to arrest him” (Collins 922). Since he is black race person, he is punished although he is
Malcolm X was a great Civil Rights leader that was ahead of his time, dealing with the inequalities and the black struggle of the 1960's. The 1960's was an era that defined the black race as a lower status than the white race merely based on color. Malcolm X defined race through his Muslim religion believing that blacks would one day reign supreme if only they accepted Allah as God, took Islam as their only religion, and followed the honorable Elijah Muhammad as their messenger. He also believed that the White race was ungodly and they were doomed for their unjust rule unable to accept Allah because of there evil nature. Clearly X's definition of race was that the Black race was "good" and "godly", and the White race was wrong and evil. This idea of race was taken from author David Howard Pitney's book, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and the Struggle of the 1950s and the 1960s A Brief History with Documents. The main source document of these ideas is based on one of "Malcolm's classic, fiery denunciations, as spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, of white America and the Western word" (Pitney113). Called "From God's Judgments of White America". The strengths of Malcolm X s approach towards his definition of race appealed to Black America by giving hope to the struggle of the civil rights movement. However, the weakness of his approach was one-sided alienating the white race, non-violent black people taking part in the Civil Rights struggle, and all other religions besides Islam. Malcolm X's intended audience for his views on race were the American people of the 1960's during the civil rights movement and all future generations of America. Malcolm X's views both fit into and countered the views of the time.
A father purchased a toy gun as a birthday gift for his young son. His son went outside to play and and encountered a police officer who shot him seven times. This incident occurred in Sonoma County in October 2013. A similar incident occurred in November 2014 when Cleveland police killed a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun. Use of excessive force by police is common in impoverished "black" or "brown" communities.
Racism is a problem that the American people have grappled with since colonial times. The 1960's saw the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X, who not only influenced the civil rights movement but attempted to solve the problem of racism in this country. On February 16, 1965, Malcolm X gave a speech called Not Just An American Problem, but a World Problem. In his speech he provides a theory on the relationship between media and racism called image making which still has validity today. On first reading, Malcolm's tone is angry and his theory on image making sounds absurd. He states: They (racists) use the press to get public opinion on their side. . . this is a science called image making. they hold you in check through this science of imagery. They even make you look down upon yourself, by giving you a bad image of yourself. Some of our own Black people who have eaten this image themselves and digested it -- until they themselves don't want to live in the Black community. Yet, current television programming seems to favor this idea. Local news programs continue to show colored communities as dangerous and gang-infested. They continually rely on the reports of these areas for the bulk of their news and overlook the positive images that residents of these areas try to create. For example, KNTV news continually reports on the thefts and shootings in East San Jose but does not make an effort to show how residents are dealing with these situations.
Malcolm X Read an excerpt from the book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley. In this part of the book, Malcolm discusses his quest for knowledge. He starts off by telling us about how he wrote to his Harlem, hustler friends and told them all about Allah and Mr. Elijah Muhammad, the two main figures in the Islamic religion. He never got a single reply and figured it was because the average hustler and criminal couldn't read. He also thought that maybe they thought he had gone crazy, because after all he was writing to them about the devil; the white devil.