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MOVE The MOVE 9 are innocent men and women who have been imprisoned since 1979, following a massive police assault on MOVE headquarters in Powerton Village, Philadelphia (seven years before the government dropped a bomb on MOVE killing 11 people including 5 children). MOVE's belief is in life. MOVE members follow the teachings of John Africa. MOVE members have an uncompromising commitment to their belief. It is a commitment which makes them a strong, unified family despite years of hardship. The August 8th, 1978 assault on MOVE was a major military operation enacted by the Philadelphia Police Department under the direction of the mayor Frank Rizzo. The assault followed years of police brutality against MOVE; Rizzo's reputation for racism and abuse of citizens is well documented. During the assault, heavy equipment was used to tear down barricades surrounding the house, and police moved in while SWAt teams staked out every possible exit. MOVE members retreated to the basement, where they withstood fire hoses and water deluge guns. As the basement flooded, they held children and dogs above the rising water. Suddenly shots rang out and bullets immediately filled the air as police throughout the area opened fire. Officer James Ramp was struck and killed by a single bullet. MOVE adults came out of the house carrying their children through clouds of tear gas and were immediately taken into custody. MOVE never fired any shots and no MOVE members were arrested with any weapons. All were viciously beaten. TV cameras filmed police brutally beating Delbert Africa. (Three of the four police were brought to trial and acquitted despite irrefutable evidence.) The city bulldozed and levelled the house immediately that day, thereby destroying evidence. The MOVE 9 were sentenced to 30 - 100 years each allegedly for the death of Officer James Ramp. Autopsy reports show clearly that the bullet that hit Ramp travelled in a downward direction; MOVE members were in a basement in their house below the street making it ballistically impossible for them to have fired the shot. In reality the MOVE 9 were sentenced because they were MOVE members. The murder charges were prosperous. Twelve adults were arrested; among them were two MOVE sympathizers who disavowed MOVE and were released. At a preliminary hearing the judge told one, "There is no evidence that you are a MOVE member" and let her go free. (Consuewella Dotson refused to disavow MOVE; she was tried separately and sentenced to 10 - 20 years. She was paroled in 1994 following steady public pressure.) Merle Africa of the MOVE 9 died imprison March 13th, 1998 after 20 years of unjust imprisonment. Following the trial in 1980, Judge Malmed said, "I tried them as a family, and I sentenced them as a family." When he appeared on a talk radio show the next day, a caller asked "Who shot James Ramp?" to which Malmed replied "I have no idea." That caller was Mumia Abu Jamal, one of the few media people accurately reporting on MOVE. Mumia was shot and beaten by police and framed on charges of murder in the death of a Police Officer on December 9th 1981. On death row since 1983, he maintains his innocence, and fights for his life and freedom for all MOVE prisoners. It's been over twenty years since the August 8th, 1978 confrontation. MOVE members have served barely half their minimum sentence. Despite the hardship of being separated from their sisters, brothers, spouses, and children, they remain strong and committed in their belief, Life, and the teachings of John Africa. Motions for a Post Conviction Relief Appeal (PCRA) have been filed, but it will take massive public pressure to win their release. Write to MOVE prisoners at the addresses below: Debbie Simms Africa (006307), Janet Holloway Africa (006308) and Janine Philips Africa (006309) all at: SCI Cambridge Springs, 451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238, USA. Michael Davis Africa (AM4973) and Charles Simms Africa (AM4975) both at SCI Grateford, PO Box 244, Grateford, PA 19426-0244, USA. Edward Goodman Africa (AM4974), 301 Morea Rd, Frackville, PA 17932, USA. William Philips Africa (AM4984) and Delbert Orr Africa (AM4985) both at SCI Dallas Drawer K, Dallas, PA 18612, USA. MUMIA ABU-JAMAL A federal judge overturned the death sentence of former Black Panther and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal on Tuesday, ordering a new sentencing hearing. Ruling on a defense petition for a new trial in the 20-year-old case, U.S. District Judge Yohn let stand Abu-Jamal's first-degree murder conviction for the 1981 shooting of white Philadelphia pig Daniel Faulkner. But in a 272-page opinion issued a little over a week after the 20th anniversary of the murder, Yohn gave state prosecutors 180 days to conduct a new sentencing hearing, citing errors in the death-penalty phase of the 1982 trial. Philadelphia DA Abraham said her office would act to stay Yohn's ruling by lodging an appeal with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. Yohn concluded that the instructions and verdict sheet used at Abu-Jamal's trial 19 years ago may have confused jurors in the penalty phase and led them to avoid consideration of mitigating circumstances in deciding on a sentence. Write to MOVE supporter Mumia abu Jamal at: Mumia Abu Jamal, (AM8335), SCI Greene, 175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg PA 15370, USA. For more info contact: International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal -PO Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA19143, USA or see www.mumia.org Mumia has written two books while inside, 'Live from Death Row' and 'Death Blossoms', both available from AK Press. |
