San Francisco IAC
Local Actions and Events
2940 16th Street #207
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-561-9752
actioncenter-sf@action-mail.org
 
Drop Charges on San Francisco 8
Preliminary Hearing Monday June 8th in San Francisco
On Monday June 8th the International Action Center in Los Angeles is sending a delegation to the court hearing in San Francisco in support of the San Francisco 8 - former Black Panther Party members still being victimized by remnants of the FBI's illegal COINTELPRO program to imprison or assassinate Black community leaders.
In 1973, three Black activists were arrested in New Orleans and tortured by local police, and interrogated by two San Francisco police detectives at intervals between the torture, which lasted several days, during which the three men were separated from each other, stripped naked, covered with wool blankets soaked in boiling water, beaten with slapjacks, suffocated with plastic bags tied over their heads, sleep deprived, kicked, beaten, shocked with electric cattle prods on their genitals, anus and under the neck.
Statements resulting from the New Orleans torture were used to bring charges in the mid-1970s in several jurisdictions (including charges for the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer); all of these charges were dismissed when the judges learned that these ‘confessions’ had been coerced under torture.
Now, after 36 years, the prosecution re-filed the charges against the San Francisco 8 based on the same tortured ‘confessions’ illegally obtained in 1973.
When: Monday June 8th - demonstration at 8 am, hearing at 9 am
Where: At the San Francisco courthouse, 850 Bryant Street (between 6th and 7th Streets), San Francisco.
For more information go to: freethesf8.blogspot.com.
- Herman Bell, 59, of Mississippi, a political prisoner since 1973. Cointelpro's "pattern of manipulation and lies, continuing into the present, indicates something more than the ordinary corruption and racism of everyday law enforcement. It can be understood only in terms of the power of the political movement that [we] were part of, and the intensity of the government's efforts to destroy that movement and to disillusion and intimidate future generations of young activists." Write to him - 2318931, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103. See his statement on the case. More about Herman.
- Ray Boudreaux, 64, of Altadena. "Actually for the last 25 years I've lived a pretty peaceful and quiet life. My politics are still the same. It's just that I'm not active. People come to me sometimes as a peace-maker. And all of that has to do with all of my experience." Freed on bail September 11. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
- Richard Brown, 65, of San Francisco. "For the past six years I have been a Community Court Judge Arbitrator working with the San Francisco District Attorney's office. We place a lot of emphasis on restorative justice, so most of the community service done will be done in our own community where the offender can give back to the community." See the story on his arrest. Freed on bail August 30. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
- Henry W. (Hank) Jones, 70, of Altadena. "I [have lived] under the constant threat of another ... incarceration. In essence I have been robbed of peace of mind, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am therefore compelled to resist these tactics and inform the public of my recent experience, feeling that something similar could happen to anyone given the climate of fear, paranoia, and abuse of authority that is rampant in our country today." Freed on bail September 18. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
- Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom), 55, of San Francisco, a political prisoner in New York since 1978. "The United States does not recognize the existence of political prisoners. To do so would give credence to the fact of the level of repression and oppression, and have to recognize the fact that people resist racist oppression in the United States, and therefore, legitimize the existence of not only the individuals who are incarcerated or have been captured, but also legitimize those movements of which they are a part." Write to him - 2311826, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103. See his statement on the case. More about Jalil.
- Richard O'Neal, 58, has worked for the City of San Francisco for 25 years, most recently at the Southeast Community Center in Bay View. “People who work there said they were stunned by his arrest, recalling him as a kind and gentle man who always had a smile on his face and would stay late to fix lights or other things.” (SF Chronicle) The dean of the campus noted, “He is a trusted employee who would do anything to help us...He would take the shirt off his back to try to help you.” See the story on his arrest. As of February 7, 2008 Richard has been cleared of all charges. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
- Harold Taylor, 58, of Panama City. "In 1971, two brothers and I were set up by the FBI. We didn't learn about COINTELPRO until years later. In 1973 I was arrested in New Orleans and was beaten and tortured for several days. in 2003 the detectives that were responsible for my torture came to my house to try and question me. I have not been the same since." Freed on bail September 12. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
- Francisco Torres, 58, of New York City. Cisco born in Puerto Rico and raised in this country. He is a Vietnam Veteran who fought for the grievances of Black and Latino soldiers upon his return to the states. A former Black Panther, he has been a community activist since his discharge from the military in 1969. Freed on bail September 21. Write to him c/o Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
Immediate Action Alert
from Al-Awda News
Please
make phone
calls as AS SOON AS POSSIBLE using the information below to guide you!
WE NEED TO STEP IT UP AND BUILD COMMUNTIY POWER!
IMMEDIATE ACTION
ALERT FORWARD WIDELY
Hi my name is ____________________________
I am calling about the arrests of
Mustafa Albouyha
Majdi Abu Hamdieh
Elizabeth Haskell
Mohammed Ibrahim
Nadeen Elshorafa
These individuals were wrongfully arrested
while participating in a legal, peaceful march
yesterday. We are demanding that the charges be dropped immediately
and that they be released to their families.
Make your call immediately to all of the
following
SFPD Public Affairs
(415) 553-1651 (ph)
(415) 553-9229 (fax)
sfpd.online@sfgov.org <mailto:sfpd.online@sfgov.org>
SF
District Attorney
Bureau of Investigation:
(415) 553-1030
Public Inquiries:
Erica Terry Derryck (415) 553-1167
Connie Chang (415) 553-9108
Mayor
(415) 554-6141
gavin.newsom@sfgov.org <mailto:gavin.newsom@sfgov.org>
If you find out any update about these
arrests during your call please let us know by calling (510) 534-7933.
Additional calls for action are to follow.
Forward Widely
March
21, 2009
What started off as a peaceful demonstration on March
21st, 2009 ended in severe police brutality and
arrests of innocent young Arab Americans
in the streets of San Francisco. Young Arab Americans turned out in
record numbers this year compared to the last 6 years of demonstrations
against the war on Iraq. They marched along with the International
League of People’s Struggles Contingent at the end of the
demonstration and filled in the civic center. When an 8 year old Arab
boy was grabbed by San Francisco police for allegedly carrying rocks in
his backpack, young members of the Arab community intervened by first
attempting to speak with police and retrieve the boy. After the police
expressed an immense distaste for negotiating or discussing anything
with the Arab American teenagers, a young Palestinian woman wrapped her
arms around the boy to console him as he cried and to protect him from
being taken by police.
The police agreed to allow the boy to go and the young
woman and boy walked down the street. As I stared at the police, the
young woman and the boy to ensure their security, I then saw a team of
officers snatch the boy out of the young woman’s arms droppi ng her and
another young woman immediately to the floor using batons and excessive force.
As the crowd of young Arab Americans stared on an immediate sense of
shock and urgency emerged in which members of the crowd tried to cross
the barrier to pick up the two women off the floor and protect the
young screaming child. As I ran in shock toward the child a police officer
slammed the barrier with his baton about an inch away from my elbow. I
then stared shocked and put my hands up as he jammed his baton across
my mid section dropping me to the ground. From the ground I looked up
only to find another officer slamming his baton onto the the previously
broken arm of an Arab American boy. The Police
were swinging batons excessively knocking down only who appeared to be
of Arab descent to the ground. About ten Arab American youth were
brutally attacked by police as they screamed “back up” while they
surrounded the crowd of activist by a mob of officers turning the
screaming, angry and fearful crowd into an enclave of police brutality.
The police officers
pushed the barriers hard and fast jamming them into the stomachs of the
youth at the front lines. Police arrested three and about an hour
later sealed the entrances of the Civic Center Bart Station detaining
six young Arab American men lining them up against a wall and later
arresting them. Several youth went home injured or to the hospital in
ambulances.
The Arab American community in the Bay Area
is deeply saddened by this incident and is steadfast on holding those
accountable for police brutality against innocent civilians. However
before we can embark on this pursuit of justice, it is our
responsibility to protect the civil rights
of our youth and make them feel supported and understand the value of
community power. The youth are in jail right now and we need to post
$250,000 to release them. The money will be put up as a bond so can
therefore be returned to you. We are asking for every Arab American
in the San Francisco Bay Area community to contribute at least what
they would for their own children. As we chanted in the demonstration
today “aint no power like the power of the youth because of the power
of the youth don’t stop” We are asking for you to believe in your
community and support our youth in a much needed time. To loan these
youth some money please contact Tev at 774-240-3403. We are
trying to release them from jail this evening or tomorrow at the
latest.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Loubna Qutami
Video Clips on You Tube about the arrests:
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Seeking
Eyewitnesses & Video of Mar. 21 SFPD Attack;
Demand Release of Those Arrested
San Francisco police arrested 10 people and
assaulted many more during and after a permitted March 21 rally in the
Civic Center marking the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Dozens of people suffered bruises, cuts and other
injuries in unprovoked attacks. The police particularly focused their
attack on young Palestinians and other Arab Americans.
As of this writing, eight of those arrested
remain in jail, all but one facing felony charges, their average bail
is set at $50,000. One of the women arrested remains hospitalized for a
head injury inflicted by an SFPD officer.
Legal
Update from the National Lawyers Guild on Mar. 21 Anti-War March in S.F.
There was a large amount of police violence at yesterday’s anti-war
rally and march. The SFPD arrested ten people. Five are being held on
felony Lynching and Resisting charges after a skirmish with police in
the Civic Center. Their bails are $53,000 each.
At least one woman reportedly suffered a head
injury during the arrests. During the same incident SFPD also
reportedly seriously injured two women who were not arrested but were
hospitalized with numerous injures including reports of head trauma and
multiple broken bones.
Another five people were arrested in the BART
station as the rally was ending after an incident involving pepper
spray. Police arrested five Arab youths who were reportedly the victims
of the pepper spraying. Two of them who were under eighteen were
released to their parents; the other three are being held on Battery
and Conspiracy charges also with bails of $53,000 each.
The NLG and legal volunteers are keeping track of
evidence concerning these arrests. If you witnessed the incidents or
know anyone who did, please have them call the legal support hotline at
415-285-1011. The NLG will also be looking for lawyers to
help with arraignments.
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