People’s Tribunal on Police Murder:
Families Speak Bitterness about Stolen Lives

 

July 13, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

A coalition of individuals and organizations of family survivors of people killed by law enforcement throughout the U.S. held a family-led tribunal on July 11 in New York City. Families from around the country gave testimony about their loved ones murdered by the police, before a distinguished jury of experts and an audience gathered at The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in Washington Heights, [the site where Malcolm X was assassinated]. The tribunal was sponsored by New York City-based Mothers Cry for Justice, a national networking organization for a growing number of parents and family members seeking justice for their loved ones.

Members of the jury: Lynne Stewart and Ralph Poynter, lynnstewart.org; Pam Africa, disciple of John Africa, Minister of Confrontation, and Chairwoman of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Ingrid Hill, Vice Chair, People’s Organization for Progress; Carl Dix, Co-founder of October 22 Coaltion to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, co-founder of Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Revolutionary Communist Party; Efia Nwangaza, Founder and Director of the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination and WMXP 95.5 FM Community Radio in South Carolina; Roger Wareham, December 12th Movement, Human Rights attorney, former political prisoner, one of the attorneys on the Central Park 5 case.
Members of the jury: Ralph Poynter and Lynne Stewart, lynnstewart.org; Pam Africa, disciple of John Africa, Minister of Confrontation, and Chairwoman of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Ingrid Hill, Vice Chair, People’s Organization for Progress; Carl Dix, Co-founder of October 22 Coaltion to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, co-founder of Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Revolutionary Communist Party; Efia Nwangaza, Founder and Director of the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination and WMXP 95.5 FM Community Radio in South Carolina; Roger Wareham, December 12th Movement, Human Rights attorney, former political prisoner, one of the attorneys on the Central Park 5 case.

Attorney King Downing was the Head Prosecutor for the Tribunal and members of the jury included: Lynne Stewart & Ralph Poynter, lynnstewart.org; Pam Africa, Disciple of John Africa, Minister of Confrontation, and Chairwoman of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Ingrid Hill, Vice Chair, People’s Organization for Progress; Carl Dix, Co-founder of October 22 Coaltion to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, co-founder of Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Revolutionary Communist Party; Efia Nwangaza, Founder and Director of the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination and WMXP 95.5 FM Community Radio in South Carolina; Roger Wareham, December 12th Movement, Human Rights attorney, former political prisoner, one of the attorneys on the Central Park 5 case; Larry Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization for Progress; Charles Pinderhughes, ex-Black Panther and professor at Essex County College, New Jersey.

Over five hours of testimony was heard. Some family members traveled to New York to testify; many others Skyped in to enter their stories into the record. Some families in Baltimore had just finished speaking at a Town Hall meeting and called in together.

Testimony included:

Sheila Reid, mother of Jerame Reid, who was killed by police in Bridgeton, New Jersey on December 30, 2014, Bridgeton, New Jersey. Marcus Pettiford, son of Anthony Anderson, killed by Baltimore police on September 21, 2012 [by Skype from Baltimore]. Cynthia Clark, whose brother, a plainclothes police officer, was killed by four Baltimore police officers [by Skype from Baltimore]. Michele Kimal, mother of Abdul Kimal, who was killed by police in Newark, New Jersey on November 11, 2013. Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson who was killed by NYPD on March 1, 2000. Tawanda Jones, sister of Tyrone West, killed by Baltimore police, July 18, 2014 [by Skype from Baltimore]. Nicholas Heyward, Sr., father of 13-year-old Nicholas Heyward, Jr. who was killed by NYPD on September 27, 1994, while playing with a toy gun. Ward Churchhill, author and political activist, testified about political repression by the police against members of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s [by Skype from Colorado]. Joshua Lopez, nephew of John Collado, killed by NYPD, September 7, 2011. Carriel Frazier, grandaunt of Jacob “JC” Wright, killed in Green Pond, South Carolina, January 13, 2009. Ramona Africa, testifying as a survivor of the May 13, 1985 bombing of a MOVE house by the Philadelphia police in which 11 were burned to death, including five children. Monique Cullars-Doty, grandaunt of Marcus Golden, killed in St. Paul MN, January 15, 2015. Regina Ashford, mother of 23-year-old Kashad Ashford, killed by police in Rutherford, New Jersey, September 16, 2014. J. Andree Penix Smith, mother of Justin Smith, beaten to death while unarmed and handcuffed by five Tulsa, OK police officers Aug. 14, 1998, also one of the organizers of the People’s Tribunal.

Revolution newspaper/revcom.us will have more coverage of this tribunal, including excerpts from of some of the testimony.

 

 

 

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