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<font face="Verdana" size=2><b>October 15, 2008<br>
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<a href="http://www.opednews.com/articles/ACLU-cites-COINTELPRO-misc-by-Michael-Richardson-081015-435.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.opednews.com/articles/ACLU-cites-COINTELPRO-misc-by-Michael-Richardson-081015-435.html<br>
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</a></font><font face="Verdana" size=4><b>ACLU cites COINTELPRO
misconduct of FBI in 'Omaha Two' case pending before Nebraska Supreme
Court<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Verdana" size=2><i>By Michael Richardson<br><br>
</i></font><font face="verdana" size=2>The Nebraska chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union has filed an <i>amicus</i> brief with the
Nebraska Supreme Court in the case of Ed Poindexter urging the court to
consider abuses of the criminal justice system by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.<br><br>
Poindexter and co-defendant Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice) were
leaders of Omaha's chapter of the Black Panthers called the Nebraska
Committee to Combat Fascism and targets of a clandestine operation
code-named COINTELPRO. The 'Omaha Two' were prosecuted and
convicted for the 1970 bombing murder of police officer Larry
Minard. Poindexter is now seeking a new trial from the state high
court based on withheld evidence.<br><br>
ACLU attorney Amy Miller has formally asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to
consider the improper role of the FBI in cases against members of the
Black Panther Party and wrongful convictions that have been documented in
other states. <br><br>
"In the 1960s and the 1970s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
systematically infringed upon the constitutional rights of many political
groups under an expansive operation called the Counterintelligence
Program, or COINTELPRO…In 1976, the United States Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence published the Church Committee's findings decrying
COINTELPRO as a shameful infringement on the rights of
citizens."<br><br>
"The strategy of the program was to neutralize the "Black
nationalist" groups through a program of disruption and fomenting
distrust among members, particularly by targeting the leaders of these
groups."<br><br>
"As the Black Panther Party rose to national prominence, it became
the focus of the Black Nationalist COINTELPRO and the FBI instructed its
field offices to develop measures to cripple the party….The Church
Committee found these operations "utilized dangers and unsavory
techniques which gave rise to the risk of death and often disregarded the
personal rights and dignity of the victims."<br><br>
"There is no question that COINTELPRO was one of the worst abuses of
law enforcement power in American history….Historians and scholars have
also documented how COINTELPRO was a politically-motivated operation that
systematically infringed upon the rights of American citizens and
specifically targeted black leaders."<br><br>
"The effects of COINTELPRO in specific situations are hard to
uncover due to the secrecy of the program….In <i>Jones v. FBI</i>,
Harllel Jones was a former Black Nationalist leader who sought to compel
the release of documents related to COINTELPRO investigations of him and
his party, Afro Set."<br><br>
"Jones's investigation into the targeting of Afro Set was initiated
after he was convicted of second degree murder.…The facts of that are
eerily similar to the case at bar. On August 7, 1970, there was a
shooting of two men resulting in one death. The shooting was
apparently in retaliation for the killing of an Afro Set member by a
security guard. Relying primarily on the testimony of Robert Perry,
an FBI informant and Afro Set member who was offered leniency in exchange
for testimony, Jones was convicted of having conspired with the actual
killers….Based on the State's misconduct in hiding exculpatory
evidence…Jones was finally exonerated and freed in 1979."<br><br>
"Another case parallel to the case at bar is that of Elmer Pratt, a
member of the Black Panther Party. Pratt was convicted of a 1968
murder of a woman and the shooting of her husband during a robbery.
Pratt's conviction was based almost entirely on the testimony of a single
witness, Julius Butler. Butler had been a deputy sheriff prior to
joining the BPP, and sometime between the incident and Pratt's arrest, he
became an FBI informant even though he had been convicted of several
felonies. After becoming an informant, Butler's felony convictions
were reduced to misdemeanors, parts of his record were expunged, and he
was given probation without jail time for the felonies. However,
much of this information was withheld from the defense by
prosecutors."<br><br>
"Finally, this same pattern resulted in the successful habeas corpus
petition of Black Panther leader Dhoruba bin Wahad (formerly Richard
Moore) after he spent 20 years in prison on falsified evidence.
Wahad was a leader of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party
from 1968 to 1971. In 1973, he was convicted in New York State for
the 1971 attempted murder of two New York City police officers, and
sentenced to 25 years in prison. The evidence against him was based
on an FBI informant who lied under oath."<br><br>
"Each of these cases offer a similar pattern with elements that fit
the COINTELPRO mold. In each case, the defendant was charged with a
murder, based on the testimony of an FBI informant. The informant
was either expressly under a leniency deal or there is evidence of such a
deal. Exculpatory evidence was withheld in each instance.
This pattern appears to be symptomatic of COINTELPRO-era prosecutions of
Black Nationalist leaders."<br><br>
"It is clearly established that Edward Poindexter and the Omaha
chapter of the BPP/NCCF was targeted by COINTELPRO prior to the events of
August, 1970. The FBI already had a file on Poindexter, containing
references to his political activities. As early as 1968, the FBI
records indicate an active "harassment campaign" against Omaha
BPP members."<br><br>
"Thus we know COINTELPRO was active in Omaha and was targeting
Poindexter. This targeting did not end after the isolation of the
Omaha NCCF. [Jack] Swanson was in charge of the Omaha Police
Department Intelligence Division at the time. He testified that the
Intelligence Division amassed a file of the NCCF's publications as part
of their surveillance. Swanson also testified that it was part of
his job to gather evidence about the NCCF. Swanson also suggested
that as the NCCF advocated violent killing of police officers so it was
natural to arrest members of the NCCF when such a killing occurred.
However, he acknowledged that the BPP's platform did not advocate
killing."<br><br>
"Placed in context with what is known about COINTELPRO, Swanson's
testimony verifies the Omaha Police Department was engaging in COINTELPRO
activity on behalf of the FBI. First, the Intelligence Division was
gathering information on the Black Panther Party, a known target of
COINTELPRO. Second, the use of informants for gathering information
was the main COINTELPRO tool. Third, the FBI records with false
disruption letters prove there were active efforts to neutralize
Poindexter."<br><br>
"Poindexter's original trial reflected COINTELPRO bias on the part
of the prosecuting attorneys, as they introduced inflammatory newsletters
and other Black Panther materials. The written materials introduced
by the prosecution were clearly protected by the First Amendment yet were
calculated to inflame the jury's emotions against the defendants….While
the zeal of prosecutors in the early 1970's before Congress had fully
uncovered the depths of COINTELPRO's illegality could be excused as a
symptom of the times, it is of concern that at Poindexter's 2007
evidentiary hearing, the state repeated the same effort to color the case
against Poindexter by re-introducing the issue of BPP's political
work. There is simply no explanation for a modern prosecutor to
return to the issue of Poindexter's political work--unless Poindexter
continues to be a target of retaliation for his First Amendment
activities of almost forty years ago."<br><br>
"Finally, there is similarity between Poindexter's situation and the
Jones, Pratt and Wahad cases above. First, Poindexter was convicted
primarily on the testimony of Duane Peak. While it is not known
whether Peak was an FBI or Omaha Police informant, there are facts that
suggest that his testimony may have been in exchange for leniency.
Most notable is that he was charged as a juvenile and not an adult, and
thus received an extremely light sentence. Second, key exculpatory
evidence (the actual 911 tape) was kept away from the defense in
Poindexter's case. Memos between the FBI and OPD indicate a clear
plan to deliberately avoid doing any testing on the tape for voice
identification. In October, 1970, one such memo said, "Omaha
PD advised that…any use of tapes of this call might be prejudicial to the
police murder trial against two accomplices of Peak."<br><br>
"The FBI's COINTELPRO operations violated the civil liberties of
American citizens. This program has been condemned by the United
State Senate and the Federal Judiciary. It is demonstrably clear
that prior to the August, 1970 bombing, Edward Poindexter and the Omaha
NCCF were COINTELPRO targets. Given the deliberate withholding of
key evidence such as the 911 tape and the reliance on a single juvenile
witness, Poindexter's prosecution appears to have been a continuance of
COINTELPRO. This was clearly a politically-motivated prosecution of
a black leader."<br><br>
"The facts in this case bear too close a resemblance to the illegal
activities that resulted in wrongful convictions of other black
activists. We urge this Court to bear these historical facts in
mind while weighting the evidence in this case, particularly in regard to
the plausibility of the government's evidence and in evaluating the
amount of misconduct demonstrated by police and prosecutors."<br>
<br>
***<br>
<i>Permission granted to reprint.<br><br>
<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Verdana" size=2>Authors Bio: Michael Richardson is
a freelance writer based in Boston. Richardson writes about politics,
law, nutrition, ethics, and music. Richardson is also a political
consultant. <br><br>
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