[Peace-discuss] Free Mumia rally

[Brian Dolinar]

Sat, Dec 9 was the 25th anniversary
of the illegal arrest and incarceration of
Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Here is a post about the rally on Philly IMC:

Despite the bitter cold today, over one hundred people came into the
street to support justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The march route from
City Hall to the American Friends Service Committee building on 15th
and Cherry Sts. was devoid of counter demonstrators and the crowd
marched in the street chanting "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, brick by brick,
wall by wall!" Heavy police surveillance was evident along the march
route as officers snapped photos and took video of the march.

One thing that caught my eye was officers operating in plainclothes
out of mini-vans with civilian license plates. Upon arriving at the
AFSC building much of the crowd remained in the street blocking the
intersection and speaking on Mumia's case through bullhorns. At this
time a long line of motorcycles attempted to approach the intersection
but were re-routed into an ally adjacent to the parking lot opposite
the AFSC building. For approximately 30 minutes the bikers opened the
throttles on all of their motorcycles in unison drowning out the
amplified sound of the bullhorns.

As I neared the gathering of bikers to take pictures, I noticed
several of them had Philadelphia Police patches affixed to their
jackets and denim vests. From what I could see, the crowd was made up
of three biker organizations: the Centurians, the Leathernecks, and
the Little Rams. Many were adorned with Iron Crosses and Confederate
flags, all were white.

I quickly removed the Mumia pin from my jacket and approached one of
the men to ask some questions. Upon asking what they were doing here,
I was told they were all police affiliated motorcycle groups here to
support deceased officer Daniel Faulkner. I witnessed several Civil
Affairs officers talking and joking with the bikers before attention
was drawn to the fact that I was taking pictures of each biker. This
was a direct attempt by the Philadelphia Police Dept. to disrupt the
rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal as well as intimidate attendees of the
rally. I was also worried about the amount of officers recording the
event and particpants through pictures and video.

BD
-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com