LINCOLN, Neb. — Supporters of freedom for former Black Panther Edward Poindexter urge all those who care about justice to back his application for commutation of his sentence, filed on Aug. 17. Aug. 31 marked 50 years Poindexter has been in prison. He is presently held in the Nebraska State Penitentiary here. His supporters are asking Gov. Pete Ricketts to expedite Poindexter’s application because of the risk of COVID-19 in prison today, and because at age 75 he suffers from a heart condition and diabetes.
Known as the “Omaha Two,” Poindexter and Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice), were leaders of the Black Panther Party in Omaha in the late 1960s. Like others, they were targeted both by the Omaha police and by the FBI under their notorious Cointelpro spying and disruption program. After a long illness, we Langa died in 2016 after 45 years in prison.
In August 1970, they were framed on charges of killing an Omaha police officer, who died after being lured into a home where a suitcase bomb exploded.
Over years, supporters of Poindexter and we Langa have forced out into the open government documents showing how the cops and FBI systematically spied on and harassed African American activists in Omaha. The documents show authorities were out to discredit and dismantle the two Panthers’ political work and the FBI denied crucial evidence to their defense team.
With the evidence of the authorities’ campaign against the two suppressed, and even though witnesses placed them elsewhere at the time of the killing, Poindexter and we Langa were convicted.
Supporters urge people to write, email and call the Nebraska Board of Pardons, at P.O. Box 95007, Lincoln, NE 68509; email: ne.pardonsboard@nebraska.gov; call: Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (402) 471-2244. Request they expedite Poindexter’s application and schedule his hearing for the October 2020 parole board meeting and commute his sentence. Please send a copy of your letter to freedomfored@gmail.com. Free Ed Poindexter!