Los Angeles Activists Denounce Threats By Mayor  Richard "Bull" Riordan To Use Violence Against Protesters at Democratic  National Convention 

San Francisco Bay Area Organizers Sending Buses to  L.A. Protest

July 14, 2000  

A coalition of organizations and activists working  to build the August 13 march and rally that calls for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal and an end  to the death penalty today condemned the threats  made by Mayor Richard  Riordan to use violence and repression against  demonstrators outside the  Democratic National Convention.

 "Mayor Riordan's shameful threat in today's Los  Angeles Times to use the  LAPD against people expressing their First Amendment  right to free speech  and assembly is an attack on the rights of the  people who will protest the  Democrat convention. This is especially appalling  considering the latest  revelations of the LAPD's record of brutality,  racism and corruption," said  John Parker, a leading activist in the International  Action Center/Millions  for Mumia, which is playing a key role in the Aug. 13 demonstration.

 "Even more astonishing are the mayor's comments that  'we cannot tolerate  non-violent civil disobedience.' Comparing the  demonstrators to Gandhi and  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mayor Riordan states:  'Then, like Gandhi and  King, they must be prepared to pay stiff fines and  face arrest and jail.'  Apparently the mayor approves of the punishments  handed out to those who  have historically resisted colonialism, racism and  other injustices!

 "Mayor Riordan, who now threatens protesters with  rubber bullets and pepper  spray, aspires to play the role of the infamous  Alabama Sheriff Eugene  'Bull' Connor who unleashed gas, dogs, water cannon  and other violence on  Dr. King and all those who marched against racism in  the 1960s.

 "We will not be intimidated by the threats of Mayor  Richard 'Bull'  Riordan," said Parker. "We will march and rally by  the thousands on Sunday,  August 13, demanding a new trial and stay of  execution for Mumia Abu-Jamal  and an end to the racist, anti-poor death penalty."

 In the San Francisco Bay Area, a wide range of  community activists are  organizing buses to take people to the August 13  protest. At least 5 buses  will be filled. Support for the August 13 National  March and Rally for   Mumia is growing quickly. "With the passing of  Proposition 21 in California  and the targeting of youth of color by the state,  youth feel a greater need  to protest at the Democratic National Convention,"  said Rachel Aoanan, a  youth organizer for Millions for Mumia/International  Action Center. We have  dubbed this 'the Summer of Resistance,' and we will  fill the streets of Los  Angeles to tell the Democrats that we consider them  equally responsible for  increased repression from Los Angeles to San  Francisco.

 "Mumia Abu-Jamal is a hero to youth activists, and  we are committed to  working with hundreds of thousands in the U.S. to  win him a new trial,  which we know will free him," said Aoanan.

 "Buses are coming from as far away as Seattle, and  committees are  mobilizing in more than 50 cities throughout  California and the western  U.S. to be in LA on Aug. 13 and the following days.  We call upon the city  officials to stop threatening violence against the  demonstrations taking  place that day and week," Wood continued. "It is the  mayor, the police  chief and other officials who are responsible for  deliberately attempting  to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.  But they will not deter  us or the thousands of others who are coming to LA.  The city should  immediately issue the requested permits for the  Mumia march, the D2K  activities, the protest against the Iraq sanctions,  and the other protests  scheduled for Aug. 13-17."