October 9, 2009
by Dawn Edwards
Due to the U.S. Government's use of COINTELPRO, and several days of
torture which brought about a false confession, eight members of the
San Francisco chapter of the Black Panther Party were falsely accused
of murdering a SF Police Officer in 1971.
COINTELPRO was used by the US Government to sabotage, dismantle,
and ultimately destroy social justice community organizations, and
unfortunately succeeded in completely obliterating the Black Panther Party.
The charges against the members were subsequently thrown out, yet in
2007, the BPP members found themselves arrested on similar charges once again.
Now, after 38 years, the charges have been dismissed against five
members of the BPP-Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Harold Taylor, Ray
Boudreaux, and Richard Taylor. Two members- Herman Bell and Jalil
Muntaqim- entered pleas, and were sentenced to probation and time
served after having served almost 40 years in prison in New York. The
remaining member- Francisco Torres- still faces charges.
From October 5-9, community members generated a phone/fax campaign
calling for Attorney Jerry Brown to drop all charges against Torres.
There is no case against Torres, and he maintains his innocence, yet
Attorney Jerry Brown continues the baseless prosecution. A rally was
held at 8 am this morning, before a 9 am court hearing at 850 Bryant
St. in San Francisco.
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For more info:To show your support for Francisco Torres,
visit www.freethesf8.org
For more information on the campaign visit www.sfbayview.com
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