Mumia Abu-Jamal on Kevin Cooper

By Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Col. Writ. 1/9/04]
Source: Afrikan Frontline Network, nattyreb [at] comcast.net
- Sunday, 1 February 2004 -

A man named Kevin Cooper has been given a date to die: On Feb. 10, 2004,
the State of California plans to kill him, by pumping him full of poison.

Cooper, convicted back in 1984 of the slaying of 3 members of the Ryen
clan, and a visiting family friend, was also charged with stabbing an
8-year old boy, but luckily the child survived.

Why lucky? Well, apart from the obvious reason (his sheer survival), Joshua
Ryen saw who attacked him, and upon recovery told police that it was 3
white or Latino men who slew his family, his friend, and tried to kill him.

When young Josh saw TV news accounts of the attacks, he turned to a cop who
was present, and exclaimed, when the picture of Kevin Cooper flashed across
the screen, "That wasn't the guy who did it. It was 3 Mexicans."

... out of the mouths of babes, eh?

But, San Bernardino officials didn't care; what does it matter that the
lone surviving victim cleared their suspect? It meant nothing. They had
their man -- and on the 10th of February, they wanna kill him.

Kevin Cooper, now a man of 45 years, has spent the last 19 years of his
life on California's Death Row, for a series of brutal crimes -- that he
did not commit.

Cooper turned his cell into a school room; studying writing, politics and
African-American history. He has grown into a vibrant, talented and
educated individual -- yet California still wants to extinguish his light.

It is important to note that he is an African-American man. That wasn't
lost during his Dec. 1984 trial, around which time demonstrators, calling
for his death, hung a toy gorilla in effigy. Indeed, the media coverage was
so hyped, the demonstrations so hostile, that the trial was moved to San
Diego.

Not only was the only living eyewitness ignored; but shortly after the
murders, a local woman came forward to tell police that she thought her
boyfriend was involved in the grisly killings. Why? When he came home the
night of the slayings, she said, he was wearing a pair of overalls,
drenched in blood. The woman turned them over to the cops. Before the day
was over, the overalls were pitched into the station's dumpster. Did it
matter that the man was wearing a t-shirt the color and brand of the
t-shirt found in the scene -- it also, bloody? No. Did it matter that he
owned a hatchet, like a weapon used in the Ryen home, and it was
conveniently missing from the couple's home. No.

None of it mattered.

They wanted, and focused on, Kevin Cooper; nothing else mattered.

Police and prosecutors told jurors that a bloody shoe- print found at the
scene conclusively proved Cooper's guilt. Were the jurors told that Deputy
William Baird had a pair of prison shoes in his (crime) lab, which were
Cooper's size? What they also didn't know was that the Deputy, post-trial,
was fired for stealing five pounds of heroin from the evidence locker --
*five pounds* -- both to use and to sell -- to drug dealers!

Kevin Cooper is on Death Row, awaiting a date with death, based on
'investigators' such as these!

Incredible!

Welcome to the American Way of Death!

Help save--no; help Free Kevin Cooper!

(Visit http://www.savekevincooper.org/ and make sure to check the Feb. 3
Day of Action Info!)

Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal. All rights reserved.

Mr. Jamal has written widely about war and other issues. His latest work,
*Faith of Our Fathers* (Africa World Press, 2003) was named one of "The
Most Remarkable Books of 2003" by *Black Issues Book Review* (Nov/Dec '03).

Check out Mumia's NEW book: "Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the
Spiritual Life of African and African-American People":
http://www.africanworld.com.

These are VERY SERIOUS TIMES for political activists in this country and
around the world. Get full details and keep updated by reading ACTION
ALERTS!! at http://www.mumia.org and http://www.movenet.org.

To download Mp3's of Mumia's commentaries visit http://www.prisonradio.org
or http://www.fsrn.org

The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!

CHECK http://www.mumia.org FOR IMPORTANT ACTION ALERTS!

PLEASE CONTACT: International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ; P.O. Box
19709; Philadelphia, PA 19143; Tel: 215-476-8812; Fax: 215-476-6180:
E-mail: icffmaj [at] aol.com AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!

Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at:
Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI-Greene
175 Progress Drive
Waynesburg, PA 15370

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN NOT REST!!

locally, see http://www.freemumia.org