[Freethe SF8] Kiilu Nyasha - SF8 Update

Wed Sep 19 11:01:35 EDT 2007

This goes out with much love for John Bowman, the SF8 and all their supporters:

[]

Photo by Scott Braley of Met West youth w/Richard O'Neal and Richard 
Brown (in suits!) 9/11/07

Update on the San Francisco 8
September 2007
by Kiilu Nyasha

It's not often the Movement can celebrate a victory.  So I'm 
delighted to report that we've won the release on bail of five of our 
six elders eligible for bail -- with one more expected to be out 
within days.  Richard O'Neal and Richard Brown were first, out August 
29 and 30th respectively, followed by Ray Boudreaux and Harold 
Taylor, September 11 and 12th.  Hank Jones was released September 
18th and Francisco "Cisco" Torres should be out soon.

The generation gap took a big hit on September 11 when the two 
Richards, dressed in suits and ties (instead of orange jumpsuits and 
chains) warmly embraced supporters outside the Department 23 
courtroom before the hearing.  Joining the largely elder group of 
supporters for a joyous and spontaneous celebration in the hall were 
20 10th-grade students from Met West High School in Oakland.

Surprisingly, Judge Philip Moscone stopped the afternoon proceedings 
to make sure the necessary documents for Bourdreaux's bail were 
signed and delivered by the 3 p.m. deadline so he could be released 
later that day.

Unfortunately, Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim (aka Anthony Bottom), 
previously known as the New York 3, are not eligible for bail having 
spent 34 and 36 years, respectively, in New York prisons.  They are 
eligible for parole and both will go to board again in 2008.  Since 
this case has been partly responsible for their continued 
incarceration, if it's thrown out (as it should be for lack of 
evidence), a significant barrier to their being granted parole would 
be removed.  For more information on the NY3, go to
<http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/ny3.html>http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/ny3.html.

On August 22, to a courtroom filled with supporters and three rows of 
police and FBI agents including the infamous torturer, Detective 
Erdelatz, Judge Moscone announced, "No one is going to be pleased by 
everything that happens."  That said, he reduced the bails of all six 
brothers, virtually ignoring the Attorney General's call for the 
original bails to apply.  The prosecution wanted bail raised from $3 
to $5 million each!

When I visited Harold following the hearing, he asked me what my 
reaction was to the judge's bail reduction.  I confessed I was 
shocked.  He said so was he. We never expected the judge to reduce 
the bails enough for all to get out.  And I surely didn't anticipate 
his noting the various activities and honors accrued by the 
defendants or that they posed no danger to "public safety."

For example, in reducing Harold Taylor's bail to $350,000, he cited 
the dismissal of this same charge in 1975; the acquittal in the 
so-called "L.A. shootout" in 1976 (John Bowman, Ray Boudreaux and 
Harold were fired on by police and shot back in self-defense); 
Harold's employment for 21 years or until his medical condition 
prevented him from working any longer, as well as his community service.

The judge also noted Hank Jones' honorable discharge from the U.S. 
Marines (Jones is a veteran, along with Boudreaux and Torres.), 
Richard O'Neal's Commendation from the S.F. Fire Department for 
rescuing two people from a fire, and Boudreaux's 30-year marriage and 
25 years of employment as an electrician for L.A. County.

The Bail Hearings:

During the bail hearings, defendants' attorneys described these 
elders' community service.  Hank and Ray were founders of the Black 
Student Union at S.F. State University that achieved organizing the 
first Black studies programs in colleges and universities 
nationwide.  Richard Brown, 66, spent 23 years mentoring countless 
young people in the Western Addition, worked 20 at the Ella Hill 
Hutch Community Center, has been a good father to his 11 children and 
raised five more, received awards from the Ca. State Senate and 
Legislature, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award.

Richard O'Neal, who lost his wife to random homicide in 1979, raised 
his son and another child alone, was employed by the City for 35 
years.  The judge received 60 supportive letters from O'Neal's 
friends, neighbors and coworkers.  One such friend of 45 years, 
Fannie Sanders, testified that Richard had purchased two burial plots 
when his wife died; more recently, a friend couldn't afford one for 
his deceased loved one so O'Neal gave him his plot.

Francisco Torres' attorney described how Cisco, father of two, has 
been the primary caretaker of his severely disabled son who has 
sickle cell anemia.  Having seen the video Exhibit, the judge 
commented on how his son, 34, "looks 14."  Known for his activism 
with Vietnam Vets Against the War and his mentoring of troubled 
youth, Cisco is loved and highly respected in his neighborhood.

More information about all eight defendants is available at 
<http://www.freethesf8.org>www.freethesf8.org.

We must not forget that all these elders were either members of the 
Black Panther Party or active supporters, committed to serving and 
defending Black and other oppressed people for life.  And their lives 
are living testimony to that commitment.  But it also subjected them 
to all the dirty tricks of the FBI's vicious counterintelligence 
program known as COINTELPRO.  Over 37 Panthers were killed and no one 
has been held accountable!   Not to mention countless others still 
suffering incarcerations of up to 40 years.

Take a good look at Amerikan racism and injustice clearly illustrated 
by such cases as the Scottsboro 9, Mississippi 11, Wilmington 10, New 
York 21, Queens 2, New York 3,  Angola 3, Soledad 7, The Soledad 
Brothers (3), Los Siete de la Raza, San Quentin 6, MOVE 9, and now 
the Cuban 5, San Francisco 8 and Jena 6.  You'll see a historic 
pattern of the police State blanketing groups of Black/Brown 
activists with multiple charges in hopes some will stick so they can 
jail them for life or execute them.

The real criminals are the fascists in power who continue to conduct 
illegal wars killing thousands of soldiers, committing genocide on 
civilians, ripping off other nations' resources as well as our own 
(At least $9 billion in cash was lost in Iraq and the Pentagon can't 
account for trillions of your tax dollars!), sanctioning and 
encouraging massive and illegal incarceration and torture of its own 
citizens and immigrants, often denied due process or their 
constitutional and human rights, the most egregious of which is Guantanamo Bay.

This case is based on the Ingleside shooting of a police officer in 
August, 1971.  Three Panthers, Rubin Scott, John Bowman (deceased), 
and Harold Taylor were captured, tortured in New Orleans in '73, and 
charged with the murder.  In 1975, a judge dismissed the case citing 
inadmissible evidence, namely, confessions exacted under torture (See 
Legacy of Torture, a 28 minute video available from Freedom Archives' 
website: <http://www.freedomarchives.org>www.freedomarchives.org).

Discovery issues are yet to be settled by opposing attorneys.  The 
next public hearing will be Monday, September 24, at 9:30 a.m., 
preceded by a rally at 8:30.  This is an important session because 
the judge will hear arguments about the admissibility of statements 
made under torture.

With six of the eight out on bail, the Court will hear the collateral 
estoppel motion for Harold arguing that since a judge excluded 
coerced statements in Taylor's 1976 L. A. trial in which he was 
acquitted, that judge's rulings should be respected,

The State has no new evidence despite their claims.  The murder 
weapon was "lost."  The DNA taken from all eight prisoners produced 
no matches, nor did the fingerprints.
Apparently, all the prosecution has is the coerced testimony of Rubin 
Scott whose past statements were proved perjurious by two courts.

So come to court on September 24 and bring your friends with you for 
the rally at 8:30 and to pack the courtroom at 9:30.

Free the SF8!
Long live the spirit of John Bowman!
Free em all!

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