Justice for the Chattanooga 3
As a former member of the Black Panther Party, an
organization that over thirty years ago brought the problem
of police brutality to national attention, I am writing to
ask your support of three African-American activists who face
up to a year in prison for protesting against police
brutality.
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Damon McGhee, and Mikail Musa Muhammad (Ralph R. Mitchell) are scheduled to go on trial in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Oct. 28, 1999, for violating the state's "disruption" law. The three activists were arrested on May 19, 1998, after a large rally against police brutality at Chattanooga City Hall. The rally was held to protest the April 27 and May 7, 1998, police killings of two Black men, Montrail Collins and Kevin McCullough. Many people in the Black community did not accept accounts by police that they killed Collins and McCullough in self-defense.
Chattanooga has a long history of police brutality and racial discrimination. It ranked no. 1 for years among U.S. cities with populations under 200,000 for reported acts of police brutality. This unfortunate record is a primary reason why Lorenzo, who is a former member of the Black Panther Party, has led protests against police brutality in Chattanooga, his hometown, for many years and why he helped to create Black Autonomy Copwatch, which was part of the Coalition Against Police Brutality.
The prosecution of the Chattanooga 3, as Lorenzo, Damon and Mikail are known, is an attack on free speech and Black political dissent. The case also has national implications. Disruption laws similar to that of Tennessee, which mandate prison sentences for political protests, exist in almost every state. These laws violate the First Amendment right of free speech.
Write or e-mail letters of protest to the district attorney and the mayor demanding that the charges against the Chattanooga 3 be dismissed: Bill Cox, Hamilton County District Attorney, City-County Courts Building, 601 Market Street, 3rd Floor, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402, e-mail BillCox@hcda. cps.k12.tn. us; Jon Kinsey, Mayor of Chattanooga, 101 E. 11th Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402- 1403, e-mail mayor@mail. chattanooga.gov
JoNina M. Abron
Chattanooga, Tennessee
U.S. gov't also responsible
If tobacco companies can be made to pay damages, why can't
the United States be sued for the brain tumors, cancer,
neurological disease, and related hell this country has
caused by its poison and destruction of the environment.
J.L.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.