[Ppnews] Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America

[Political Prisoner News]

Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America


by Stephen Lendman
Saturday Aug 28th, 2010 indybay.org

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/28/18656989.php

An earlier article explained America's longstanding political repression
agenda, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/08/political-prisoners-in-america.html

Ramiro (Ramsey) Muniz is one of the victims, imprisoned for life without
parole on a bogus drug charge. Now age 67, he's been incarcerated nearly
17 years, earlier at Leavenworth, KS federal prison, the country's largest
maximum security one, more recently at the US Medical Center, Springfield,
MO recovering from life threatening complications from surgery.

In September 2009, he was transferred to the Beaumont Federal Correctional
Institution, Beaumont, TX.

Friends and supporters can write him there as follows:

Ramiro "Ramsey" Muniz
Prison No. 40288-115
FCI Medium Beaumont
PO Box 26040
Beaumont, TX 77705

For years, he suffered painfully from an untreated herniated disc, knee
injuries, and a deteriorated hip, only now beginning to regain his
strength, yet burdened by years of injustice.

A League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) described him as follows:

A Corpus Christi, TX native, he "contributed greatly to the Chicano Civil
Rights Movement during the 1970s as a leader for justice and equality for
all Mexican Americans, Hispanics, and Latinos throughout the United
States."

In 1972 and 1974 (at ages 30 and 32), he was Texas gubernatorial candidate
for the La Raza Unida Party (RUP), established to help Mexican Americans
achieve greater economic, social, and political self-determination,
especially in South Texas, where, though a majority in many counties and
locales, they held little or no power.

Muniz Background

A graduate of Baylor University and its School of Law, he was a legal
assistant, practicing attorney in Waco and San Antonio, TX, and activista
for Latino rights since junior high and high school as a student council
leader. Professionally, he championed their inclusion as teachers and
politicians, including on school boards, city councils, state and federal
positions. He also helped elect the first ever Mexican American Waco and
Robstown, TX mayors.

His impact was profound, noted Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin (who
represented Muniz) saying he:

"changed the face of politics in Texas. He gave power of inclusion to
Hispanic Americans. He particularly changed the face of political offices
in South Texas. There has been a lot of resentment from the Establishment
because of that. A lot of people would like to see him fall because of who
he is and what he did."

They got their wish. In 1976, he was framed, convicted, and imprisoned on
drug conspiracy charges, the idea being to discredit him and RUP. Later,
he was repeatedly stalked and spuriously charged again with crimes he
didn't commit. His present troubles began innocently.

The Entrapment Sting

On a business trip, he was arrested on March 11, 1994 in Lewisville, TX,
events unfolding as follows:

On March 10, DEA Agent Kimberly Elliott tracked Muniz to the Lewisville
Ramada Inn, checked his telephone toll calls, and recorded his license
plate number in the parking lot. The following day, he was entrapped after
agreeing to return a prospective client's car (in fact, a government
agent) to a rental company. It was a sting, 39 kilograms of cocaine
planted in the trunk, uncovered by drug-sniffing dogs when he was
confronted.

Prosecutors prevailed by withholding key information from the defense,
intimidating jurors to convict, and getting right wing justice to go
along. As a result, during proceedings, the court ruled that Agents had
probable cause to stop and search regarding a suspected drug deal, though
no plausible reason connected Muniz to an $800,000 one with a perfect
stranger.

At trial, obvious unanswered questions were: How often do drug dealers
operate this way? No money was found. Where was it? No fingerprints
either. Why not? Who supplied the cocaine, and for whom? Clearly not
Muniz, set up and entrapped for prosecution and imprisonment - to silence
a powerful voice for Latino justice.

During proceedings, prosecutors claimed he checked into his motel under a
false name to hide his identity. In fact, Ramada records proved otherwise.
He was also accused of making suspicious phone calls from the lobby. In
fact, all phone records confirmed they were for legitimate business.
Another false claim was that motel employees alerted DEA agents about him.
When interviewed, they denied it. The entire case was fabricated to
convict, prosecutors doing it by lying, their usual strategy against
political activists opposed to systemic injustice.

The trap was set. Muniz was bait. Events played out as planned, and,
though innocent, he's now imprisoned for life without parole, one of many
political prisoners in America - a shocking indictment of criminal
injustice, absolving the powerful, targeting human rights, civil
liberties, and equal justice defenders, Muniz one of the best.

Information about him can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.freeramsey.com/

His moving home page comment states:

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of
false chains and shackles, the imprisonment of innocence? I know not what
others will do, but as for me I will forever continue the struggle for my
freedom until I die."

After imprisonment, appeals to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and
Supreme Court were denied, Muniz explaining that government prosecutors
can use their "power of indictment" to invent non-existent conspiracies,
then convict and incarcerate.

"I knew what the government was trying to do. The time had come to put
pressure on who they believed would never compromise or change. Guess
what? They were right about never compromising my principles, but the
truth of what actions they took to convict me and incarcerate me will all
come with time."

Often "I was in solitary confinement and knew that the government was out
not only to confine me physically, but to break my will and power. Of
course, as we all know, I have become stronger in my principles and
convictions, and know truthfully what I advocated will" one day happen.

How? "Even now as I find myself confined in the darkness of this
oppressive political system, I firmly believe with my life and heart that
we, as a people, as a race, as a nation within a nation, will never be
totally liberated, until we formulate and establish our 'own' political
power in America."

It's why he never voted Republican or Democrat, twice ran for governor,
and voted for the first time for himself. He calls his current status "in
exile," saying "I will never give up (proclaiming my innocence and)
claiming that my trial was not conducted fairly." Nor believing that one
day he'll be vindicated and free.

A Final Comment

On August 16, Muniz's wife Irma, Chairperson, National Committee to Free
Ramsey Muniz, in a letter to Barack Obama said:

"I write to express the continued support shared by many for a Commutation
of Sentence for Ramiro "Ramsey" Muniz. His case is important as he is
remembered for bringing about political, educational, and economic
advancements for Mexican Americans, Hispanics, and others during the Civil
Rights Movement."

Incarcerated for nearly 17 years, "he has suffered greatly. (He's) been a
model inmate....We ask that you consider his conduct in your decision to
grant him Executive Clemency. National Hispanic organizations, federal and
state representatives, and many others ask that you grant (him) an
immediate Commutation of Sentence."

In a June 4 press release, the National Committee referred to "blatant
injustice," highlighting the "intentionally withheld" evidence at trial,
the unjust sentence and incarceration in "the hardest maximum security
penitentiaries" to inflict pain and break his spirit.

Civil rights activist Jaime Martinez avowed that "There is no question in
my heart and in the hearts of the people, who continue to fight against
injustice in the spirit of non-violence practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and
Cesar E. Chavez, that we will win his freedom."

More information can be gotten from the National Committee to Free Ramsey
Muniz at 409-363-1878.

Note: Irma Muniz will be the featured guest on the Progressive Radio News
Hour Sunday, August 29 at noon US Central time.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at]
sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at
10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com



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