Vol. 79/No. 34      September 28, 2015

The Omaha Two, as they are known, were leaders of the Black Panthers who were framed up in 1970 on false charges of killing Larry Minard Sr., an Omaha cop, and sentenced to life in prison. Minard died after being lured into a home where a suitcase bomb exploded.

Poindexter, a U.S. army veteran who worked in the post office, and we Langa (formerly David Rice), a student and community activist, had helped organize protests against police brutality. They were targets of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program, or COINTELPRO, a spying and disruption campaign directed against Black rights organizations, anti-war coalitions, the Socialist Workers Party and others.

Witnesses placed the two elsewhere at the time of the bombing, and the prosecution’s “physical evidence” linking them to the case was dubious at best.

The main testimony against them came from Duane Peak, a 15-year-old who police initially charged with murder in the case. Peak didn’t mention Poindexter and we Langa until days after his arrest, at first denied their involvement in court, and changed his story numerous times.

Despite all the irregularities in the trial, the courts have rejected all their appeals.

“We need to get this case known more widely outside of Nebraska to help bring pressure to bear,” Mary Dickinson, a leader of Nebraskans for Justice, told those at the meeting.

Pressure is also needed to get prison authorities to let people visit Mondo and Ed, Tariq Al-Amin, another leader of Nebraskans for Justice, added. “In the past we had free access,” he said, but recently prison authorities denied a request for a press interview. Al-Amin encouraged people to write to the two to let them know they have support.

Audience members discussed taking advantage of greater opportunities today to get word about the fight, pointing to the growth of Black Lives Matter and other anti-police brutality actions in the last year. “More people have seen how the cops and prosecutors have lied, planted evidence and framed people,” said Dennis Richter of the Socialist Workers Party, who has been active in actions against police brutality. “Now is a good time to win more support for their case.”

Al-Amin said we Langa and Poindexter remain active, writing about politics and working with others in prison. They both suffer from serious medical conditions.

For more information and to get involved, contact Nebraskans for Justice at P.O. Box 11725, Omaha, NE 68111 or visit www.NebraskansforJustice.org and www.n2pp.info.

To write to the Omaha Two, address letters to Edward Poindexter #27767 or to W.M.E. we Langa #27768 and mail to P.O. Box 2500, Lincoln, NE 68542-2500.  
 
 
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