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<font size=3><b>PAROLE FOR HERMAN BELL<br><br>
</b>Dear Friends,<br><br>
Herman Bell is requesting your support when he goes before the New York
state parole board this summer. A U.S. political prisoner and a
former Black Panther, Herman was part of the brilliant liberation
movements of the 1960s and early 1970s, and as such was targeted by the
government for "neutralization" via their infamous and illegal
counterintelligence ("COINTELPRO") program. His first
trial ended in a hung jury. The second time, the prosecution used
illegal tactics (including making a secret deal to drop charges against
one witness in exchange for her testimony, and calling a witness who had
been previously tortured by law enforcement who later admitted to lying
on the stand) to obtain a conviction of Herman and his co-defendants
Jalil Muntaqim and Nuh Washington (now deceased) for killing two New York
City police in 1971. Herman, Jalil, and Nuh are known as the New
York Three (NY3). <br><br>
Now, after nearly 35 years of imprisonment, Herman faces new
charges. In spite of suffering decades of removal from society,
Herman has been deemed an imminent threat, evidenced by the government's
prosecution of Herman and 7 other Elder Black activists and former
Panthers for a police killing that took place nearly 40 years ago in San
Francisco. Herman, his NY3 co-defendant Jalil Muntaqim, and their 6
co-defendants are known as the San Francisco 8, or SF8. The FBI's
illegal COINTELPRO has morphed into Homeland Security's Joint Terrorism
Task Force. These domestic witch-hunters pad their fat payrolls not
by looking for those who are actually a danger to society, but by casting
their vengeful net towards activists of past liberation movements, trying
to reshape these peace-loving activists into heinous criminals. The
Black liberation movement, the Puerto Rican independence movement, and
environmentalists are all in the government's sites. The government
is not just targeting a handful of individuals – they are threatening any
movement to resist tyranny and stand up for a healthy society. <br><br>
Herman Bell is a courageous, loving man. He is a beautiful husband,
father, grandfather, teacher and friend. He is an elder who has
sacrificed his entire adult life to stand against government persecution
of Black communities. Even from within the confines of prison walls, he's
continued to be a positive example and mentor for the ever-increasing
numbers of Black youth who are being herded into America's prison
system. Should Herman be paroled in New York this summer, he will
be returned to San Francisco to face the preliminary hearing in the SF8
case, now set for early September. He will have an opportunity to
make bail, rejoin his family and friends in the community, and will be in
a better position to work to defeat this vengeful
prosecution. <br><br>
Your support of Herman Bell's parole is absolutely critical. This letter
is a call to action. Herman needs you to make your voice heard. We ask
that you review the attached background materials, and then write your
letter of support. Your letter should be addressed to "To Whom
It May Concern" or "Dear Parole Commissioner."
Please use the <i>Re:</i> line of "Herman Bell,
79C-0262." Please send your letter to Herman's son:<br><br>
Kamel Jacot-Bell<br>
Ankh Marketing<br>
179 – 11th Street, 2nd Floor<br>
San Francisco, CA 94103<br>
Fax #: (415) 865-0376 <br><br>
or email your letter of support to:
<a href="mailto:jacotbell@gmail.com">jacotbell@gmail.com</a><br><br>
Please write about the nature of your relationship with or knowledge of
Herman, and how long you have known him. <i>Some points you might
want to include:<br><br>
</i>* If paroled, Herman Bell will not be released, but will immediately
be sent to the San Francisco County Jail to face charges in that
jurisdiction. Therefore, New York State would be relieving its
taxpayers of the considerable financial burden of continued incarceration
of Herman.<br><br>
* In a 11/30/07 press conference in New York, Nobel Laureates Archbishop
Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mairead MacGuire called for the release on
humanitarian grounds of Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom).
<br><br>
* Quoting from the victim impact statement by Waverly Jones Jr., son of
one of the police NY3 were convicted of having killed, who requested to
meet with the NYS Parole Board in 2004: "Me, personally, have
forgiven these men for the positions that they took back then . . . I
don't see them as someone that's going to come out of prison and commit
violent crimes or anything of that nature. . . I feel that Herman Bell
and Anthony Bottom were both victims as well of a much larger scheme
which got them incarcerated to this day, . . . and to me they have shown
great resilience in prison, that their mind is still intact, that their
spirit is still eager to do good, and I just pray that the Parole Board
will look at the context and the time and send a message to me of
healing."<br><br>
* With Maine farmers, Herman initiated the Victory Gardens Project, which
brought urban and rural activists together for 8 years to learn how to
grow and harvest free food for their communities and thereby learn how to
work together for progressive social change.<br><br>
* As Parole Commissioners have noted in Herman's previous hearings,
Herman Bell has had an impressive institutional record and list of
accomplishments in the course of the past nearly thirty-five years of his
imprisonment. He has completed his BA and MA in Sociology while in
prison. Parole <i>should</i> be decided on the basis of one's
record while in prison, rather than on one's charge of conviction.
<br><br>
* Through self-study, Herman has acquired a knowledge of music theory and
is mastering the flute.<br><br>
* Herman has participated in many educational and cultural activities
benefiting prisoners, including teaching Black history and English
grammar and writing skills.<br><br>
* Herman has brought prisoners together a multitude of times with his
football and basketball coaching skills.<br><br>
* Herman is a dedicated grandfather, father, and husband, who has a
loving and supportive family working for his release, waiting for him to
join them on the outside.<br><br>
* Because of Herman's age, educational achievements, and decades in
prison, he falls into the U.S. Justice Dept. category of the extremely
low recidivism rate of 3%.<br>
* Herman has already served almost 35 years in prison B enough is
enough.<br><br>
Please also review Herman's Case Synopsis, below. Please send your
letter by <b>June 16, 2008</b>.<br><br>
We sincerely thank you for your support,<br>
Herman Bell's Family:<br>
Nancy, Kamel, Kihana, Sage, & Simone <br>
<br><br>
<b>CASE SYNOPSIS</b>, by Herman Bell<br><br>
In the aftermath of the murders of Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Dr. King,
Fred Hampton, and Mark Clark, to name a few, coupled with the Civil
Rights Movement, the burgeoning Black consciousness movement, and the
anti-war movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the tone and spirit of those
times can be described as highly charged and volatile. And in the
wake of what had been perceived as an unambiguous racist policy of police
malevolence, willful brutality, excessive use of deadly force and general
disrespect of Black people's rights, scores of policemen at that time
were seriously injured or fatally shot in the Black community. <br><br>
I come out of that time period. In 1975, after 2 trials, I was
convicted (along with my two co-defendants) of having killed two New York
City policemen, to which we all pled not guilty. No eyewitness
identified me as one of the assailants. Coerced witnesses,
manufactured and circumstantial material evidence, along with
prosecutorial and judicial misconduct are what persuaded the jury to
convict at the end of the second trial. Years and years of state
and federal appeals have been unsuccessful.<br><br>
I am a former member of the Black Panther Party. It's now generally
known from documents revealed by the congressional 1976 Church Committee
(which were not admitted as evidence during my trial) that a domestic
program of political repression (Cointelpro) existed to neutralize or
destroy the Black Panther Party. In fact, any Black political
organization or individual deemed to be a threat to U.S. security, as
determined by then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, was a prime
target. Hoover gave his agents a wide range of discretionary power
"legal and otherwise" to achieve this objective. Thus the
Church Committee report revealed a U.S. government 'secret war' initiated
against the Black protest movement which I was part of.<br><br>
Since being granted our "paper freedom," Black Americans have
long claimed the right to pursue happiness in our own fashion. Our
historic fight since slavery has always been one that focused on carving
a political and economic niche for ourselves in America. During the
1960s and 1970s, people were killed on both sides. To the degree
that my humanity compels me to value and feel remorse for the loss of all
life, human and otherwise, I feel remorse that people were killed and
families and lives were destroyed. The past is behind me now.
Many from those days have moved on and have been forgiven, but I've not
been permitted to do so. In the Summer of 2008, I hope to again
appear before the New York State Parole Board. I am requesting your
help. I ask you to please consider my personal evolution these past
nearly 35 years of imprisonment in composing your letter of support for
my release. <br><br>
<br>
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