Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 16:53:58 -0400 From: malecki-AT-algonet.se (Robert Malecki) Subject: M-NEWS: Victory for Chicago Anti-Klan 3! >Return-Path: <notes-AT-igc.org> >Delivered-To: malecki-AT-algonet.se >Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 11:30:04 -0700 (PDT) >Reply-To: Conference "labr.party" <labr.party-AT-conf.igc.apc.org> >From: John Holmes <jdholmes-AT-igc.apc.org> >Subject: Victory for Chicago Anti-Klan 3! >To: Recipients of conference <labr.party-AT-conf.igc.apc.org> >X-Gateway: conf2mail-AT-igc.apc.org >Errors-To: billbb-AT-igc.apc.org >Precedence: bulk >Lines: 341 > > ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| > ||| ||| > ||| A N T I F A ||| > ||| ||| > ||| I N F O - B U L L E T I N ||| > ||| _____ ||| > ||| ||| > ||| * News * Analysis * Research * Action * ||| > ||| ||| > ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| > > ***** > >||/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\|/\||/\|| >|| * -- UPDATE -- * -- May 15, 1997 -- * -- UPDATE -- * || >||\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/||\/|| > > U P D A T E > _____ >_________________________________________________________________ > > VICTORY FOR THE CHICAGO ANTI-KLAN THREE! >_________________________________________________________________ > > * > > * PARTISAN DEFENSE COMMITTEE (PDC) * > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > May 15, 1997 > > PRESS CONTACT > Janet John (212) 406-4252 > Mark Kelly (312) 454-4931 > > * >_________________________________________________________________ > > `CHICAGO JURY REPUDIATES COP FRAME-UP' > VICTORY FOR ANTI-KLAN THREE! >_________________________________________________________________ > > CHICAGO -- "Justice!" With this one word, a black juror in >the case of the Chicago Anti-Klan Three summed up the resounding >"not guilty" verdict the 12 members of the jury reached after >little more than an hour's deliberation. As supporters of the >anti-Klan militants, who had filled the courtroom every day of >the trial, gathered in the corridors of the Cook County Circuit >Courthouse to cheer this victory for all opponents of racist >terror, many jurors came up to shake the hands of the defendants. >Describing how they reached their decision after the four-day >trial which opened May 5, another juror said: "We argued that >this case was much bigger than what happened at the Klan rally. >Every day, people in this country are having their civil >liberties cut back." > > Gene Herson, Labor Coordinator of the Partisan Defense >Committee, Jeff Lyons of Refuse & Resist!, and Dennis Glass, a >young black worker, faced from one to two years in jail on frame- >up charges brought by the Chicago police last June 29. The >charges stemmed from a successful demonstration -- initiated by >the PDC and the Labor Black Struggle League -- which turned back >a potentially lethal assault by Klan terrorists in Chicago's >Daley Plaza that day. Eyewitness testimony and other evidence at >the trial vividly depicted the thugs from the Arkansas-based >"Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" -- armed with bolt-studded shields >and heavy flagpoles -- who had marched provocatively against the >anti-fascist protesters. > > This Klan group, headed by fuhrer Thomas Robb, is not >unknown in Chicago. Ten years earlier, in 1986, Robb and 50 of >his murderous nightriders, dressed in white sheets and combat >uniforms, incited a would-be lynch mob of 3,000 racist bigots in >Chicago's Marquette Park. Two years later, in 1988 Robb's KKK >returned to Marquette Park for a "white pride" rally where >hundreds of racists set upon a black man who had wandered by. >Outrageously, Daniel Levitas, an expert witness on Robb's KKK, >who had been brought from Atlanta by the defense to testify in >the trial, was excluded by the judge. > > At the trial, a young black man, Mark Daniels, described how >the Klansmen had lowered their flagpoles to use them as lances >against the anti-Klan protesters on June 29. Daniels -- who had >been taunted by Klansmen saying, "Come and get it, boy" -- told >how he narrowly averted being bashed on the skull by one of these >poles. The Klansman was tackled, thrown to the ground and >disarmed by another anti-fascist protester. > > After the protesters had effectively defended themselves and >stopped these lynch-rope terrorists, the Chicago police >intervened to return the KKKers' weapons to them. The cops then >turned to exact revenge against the anti-Klan protesters. Gene >Herson, one of the organizers of the anti-Klan demonstration, was >one of the first to be singled out by the cops. A witness >described that, in a completely unprovoked attack, police >commander Patrick McNulty -- the top cop on the scene -- pepper- >sprayed Herson directly in the face. While Herson was being >treated for the potentially deadly effects of the pepper gas, >which covered him from head to waist, McNulty had him handcuffed >and arrested on charges of battery (causing bodily harm) against >a police officer! > > With no evidence that Herson had injured McNulty and failing >in their effort to try to amend the complaint, the Cook County >State's Attorney dropped the charges against Herson on the >opening day of the trial. PDC co-counsel Rachel Wolkenstein, one >of the attorneys for the Anti-Klan Three said, "Obviously, the >prosecution also knew that to continue with their case against >Herson would have provided even more compelling evidence of the >police rampage, led by McNulty, against the anti-Klan protesters. >Still seeking vengeance, the cops and courts continued to pursue >their legal vendetta against Jeff Lyons and Dennis Glass." > >COPS AND KLAN GO HAND IN HAND! > > In their opening statement to the jury, the State's >Attorneys argued that the police had simply been doing their >"job" to "serve and protect" on June 29 in Daley Plaza. They >tried to "prove" that anti-fascist protesters had attacked the >police by endlessly repeating the demonstrators' chant, "Cops and >Klan go hand in hand!" Lyon's attorney, PDC co-counsel Valerie >West commented, "Desperate to succeed in their frame-up of the >anti-Klan defendants, the cops and the prosecution invented a >ludicrous 'chant' they claimed was being screamed by the anti- >fascist protesters: 'We're going to make blue uniforms run red >with blood'!" She also noted that "The only witnesses for the >prosecution were the three arresting police officers, whose >testimony was a tissue of self-contradicting lies." > >In contrast, witnesses for the defense, including black youths >who were volunteers in the AFL-CIO's "Union Summer" program when >they participated in the anti-Klan protest, gave powerful >testimony that "cops and Klan go hand in hand" fit to a tee what >they had seen on June 29 in Daley Plaza. The cops protected the >Klan while going on a rampage against the anti-Klan protesters -- >including after the Klan had been escorted from the plaza! The >KKK provocation and the cop assault on the anti-racist protesters >were captured in photos and stills of television video footage >taken at the demonstration, which were presented by the defense >at the trial. > > Defense witnesses described how a phalanx of cops waded into >the anti-Klan protest swinging nightsticks. Daniels told the >court of having been pushed to the ground, then hit in the head >with a police club and pepper-sprayed. The Union Summer >volunteers described how a young black woman who was with them at >the demonstration had to go to the hospital after being hit in >the chest with a police nightstick. Another told of trying to >save a friend from being trampled and then having her own foot >stomped on by McNulty. > > A 16-year-old black co-worker of Dennis Glass at McDonald's >recounted how she had been standing beside him at the protest >when he was snatched, handcuffed and led away by a squad of cops >for no reason. Glass lives in Chicago's Austin District, where an >unfolding cop corruption scandal has forced the courts to throw >out 85 drug convictions, mainly against black youth. On June 29, >he found himself a victim of the cops' frame-up machine, charged >with battery and assault with a deadly weapon. The supposed >"deadly weapon" in the assault that never occurred was a >cardboard tube used to hold a placard! > > What the judge refused to allow into evidence was the >testimony of victims of racist harassment and abuse at the hands >of policeman Densey Cole, the cop who arrested and charged Glass. >In his four years on the Chicago police force, Cole has had 13 >complaints filed against him, including: > > * accosting a group of white teenagers and smashing a music CD > they were listening to while he screamed it was "n- - - -r > music"; > > * pulling over a car driven by a young black woman and > reviling her as a "black bitch"; > > * physically abusing a 50-year-old black grandmother in her > home after she had called the police for assistance; > > * stopping a black motorist, repeatedly calling him a > "n- - - -r" and throwing his car keys to some onlookers. > >A DEFENSE OF THE VERY RIGHT TO PROTEST > > As Jonathan Piper, the attorney for Dennis Glass, said to >the jury in his closing statement at the trial: > > Dennis Glass, a young black McDonald's worker, working for > $5 an hour, thought he had the right to join an anti-Klan > demonstration. He thought he had the right to chant against > the Klan. He thought he had the right to wave a sign. He > thought he had the right to chant 'Cops and Klan go hand in > hand' and say what he feels, what he has experienced, what > he has seen in 20 years growing up on the West Side of > Chicago in the Austin District. . . . And when the police > charged the demonstration to break it up, and they attacked > particularly the black demonstrators, they went particularly > after that young black McDonald's worker. He thought he had > rights, but the police were going to show him different. > Ladies and gentlemen, this man is not guilty. These charges > are false, a lie. > > Jeff Lyons was charged by McNulty for obstructing an arrest. >Lyons had come over to protest the police harassment of an >integrated group of Union Summer volunteers; he was hit in the >chest by a cop, knocked to the ground, then spread-eagled on a >car and arrested. McNulty testified under oath that Lyons had >grabbed his arm while he was in the midst of arresting a black >Union Summer activist who had taken McNulty's photograph. >Eyewitnesses testified that Lyons was nowhere near McNulty at the >time and that McNulty wasn't even involved in the arrest of the >photographer. > > In her summation to the jury, Lyons' attorney, PDC co- >counsel Valerie West, argued: > > When the cops victimized and brutalized these youth, they > were angry at being punished for being somewhere they > believed that they had a right to be and frightened by the > bullying and brutality. They thought they had the right to > get the commander's badge number and take his picture so > they could file a complaint. And they did have that right... > Out there on Daley Plaza, Commander McNulty had power and he > took out his frustrations on the counterdemonstrators. And > the bullying and the lies go hand in hand. Commander McNulty > filed a false complaint against Jeffrey Lyons, he followed > that with more lies in this courtroom. But now he is before > you, ladies and gentlemen, and you have the power to correct > some of the injustice that was done that day. You have the > power to send a message to the commander that you do not > condone his attack on the counterprotesters and his brutish > behavior. You have the power to return a resounding "not > guilty" in answer to the commander's false charges. > >The jury then deliberated and acquitted Dennis Glass and Jeff >Lyons. > >A VICTORY FOR ALL OPPONENTS OF RACIST TERROR! > > The night following the verdict, more than 90 people came >out for a victory rally. Among those in attendance were two >members of the jury, several defense witnesses, the defense legal >team of David Thomas, Rachel Wolkenstein, Jonathan Piper and >Valerie West, as well as trade unionists -- from Katie Jordan of >the Coalition of Labor Union Women to transit workers -- who had >been in court in solidarity with the Anti-Klan Three. Speaking to >the crowd, Dennis Glass declared: "This is not only a victory for >the three defendants, it's for everyone that stood up to the Ku >Klux Klan to stop them from preaching their racial hatred. I'd >especially like to thank the members of the jury for not >listening to the lies of the cops against a young black man." > > Glass introduced Jeff Lyons, who pointed out that "from >beginning to end"--from those who came to protest the Klan last >June 29, to the lawyers who fought the lying charges of the cops >in court, to the witnesses and the jury -- "everybody did the >right thing." Gene Herson made special mention of the case of >Cassandra Seay, who was there to join in celebrating the victory >of the Anti-Klan Three. In 1987, Seay and her mother were >brutally beaten and arrested by Chicago cops and then charged >with attacking the cops who had victimized them. Herson pointed >out that the police frame-up of Cassandra Seay was beaten back >through the mobilization of the social power of the integrated >Chicago transit unions, and indicted the AFL-CIO union misleaders >who did nothing to mobilize their ranks against the KKK >provocation last June. > > Addressing the victory rally, Spartacist League spokesman Ed >Clarkson concluded: > > I think there is something interesting and symptomatic here. > One juror said it very nicely, finally "justice." The fall > of the Soviet Union has set the stage where all people are > miserable. And unfortunately they suffer this now in > passivity. So it is interesting when people get a rare > chance to express their outrage against an injustice, albeit > in a very strange form -- because the norm for juries is > that they abide by the system of the capitalist state. It is > to be noted that this is not the only jury in the country > which has been unfavorably disposed to the state. That > expresses something, that there are reservoirs of outrage in > this society that we need to tap, by mobilizing labor under > a communist leadership for a socialist revolution. We need > to celebrate our heroes, to savor this sweet moment and we > need to go forward! > > * > > VICTORIES COST $$$! > > The successful defense of the Anti-Klan Three -- and of the > right to protest racist terror -- cost thousands. Mail your > urgently needed donations for legal expenses (earmarked > "Anti-Klan Protesters") to: > > PARTISAN DEFENSE COMMITTEE (PDC) > P.O. Box 99, Canal Street Station > New York, NY 10013-0099 > > For more information about the PDC write to the address > above, phone (212) 406-4252 or E-Mail > 75057.3201-AT-compuserve.com > >* * * * * > > ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN (AFIB) > 750 La Playa # 730 > San Francisco, California 94121 > E-Mail: tburghardt-AT-igc.apc.org > > On PeaceNet visit ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN on pol.right.antifa > or by gopher --> gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:7021/11/europe > > On PeaceNet visit BACORR's <women.clinicdefense> conference. > For subscription information e-mail Wendi Jones, > wjones-AT-igc.org > > AFIB & BACORR text files can also be found on the following > sites: > > ARM THE SPIRIT > WWW:gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/BACORR > FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/BACORR > FTP: ftp.etext.org --> > /pub/politics/Arm.The.Spirit/Antifa/Antifa.Info-Bulletin > > INSTITUTE FOR ALTERNATIVE JOURNALISM (AlterNet) > http://www.alternet.org/an/demworks/html > gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:70/00/orgs/alternet > > +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ > +: A N T I F A I N F O - B U L L E T I N +: > :+ :+ > +: NEWS * ANALYSIS * RESEARCH * ACTION +: > :+ :+ > +: RESISTING FASCISM * BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY! +: > +:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+ > > ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ > ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++ > ++++ see: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ > > >
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