[Ppnews] Ojore Nuru Lutalo Won't Be Charged In Train Threat Arrest

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/03/ojore-nuru-lutalo-wont-be_n_447856.html>Ojore 
Nuru Lutalo Won't Be Charged In Train Threat Arrest

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/03/ojore-nuru-lutalo-wont-be_n_447856.html?view=print

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/03/ojore-nuru-lutalo-wont-be_n_447856.html?view=print>P. 
SOLOMON BANDA | 02/ 3/10 02:06 PM |
AP




DENVER ­ Prosecutors in southeastern Colorado 
said they won't pursue charges against an 
ex-convict accused of making a threat against an 
Amtrak train because further investigation 
revealed the man displayed no bizarre behavior or even made a threat.

Ojore Nuru Lutalo, 64, of Elizabeth, N.J., was 
arrested Jan. 26 on suspicion of felony endangering public transportation.

Otero County District Attorney Rod Fouracre said 
Wednesday the Amtrak steward who reported the 
threats to police later said she hadn't heard the 
alleged threatening statements herself but 
reported concerns voiced by other passengers. The 
passengers on the train later told police they 
never heard any specific threats to the train.

Lutalo, a self-described anarchist who spent more 
than 20 years in solitary confinement in New Jersey, said he's relieved.

"I never said anything, I never did anything. I'm 
not surprised at all," Lutalo said when reached 
by phone in Denver, where he is staying pending 
his case. Lutalo had been freed on $30,000 bail.

Fouracre said police had probable cause to arrest 
Lutalo based on the reports phoned in while the 
train was 10 to 15 minutes away from La Junta.

"But based on the investigation we didn't believe 
it could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," 
Fouracre said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

In an affidavit filed in La Junta, a small 
farming and ranching community about 140 miles 
southeast of Denver, police said passengers 
reported hearing Lutalo saying he hadn't killed 
anyone yet, and that he talked about going to jail.

The steward reported one passenger hearing Lutalo 
mention al-Qaida, saying, "17th century tactics 
won't work, we have 21st century tactics."

"Once she was re-interviewed after her initial 
statements to police, her statements were different," Fouracre said.

"She heard nothing about weapons nor specific 
threats against this train ... she noted no 
bizarre behavior from Mr. Lutalo," read court 
documents filed Wednesday by prosecutors and 
signed by District Judge Jon Kolomitz dismissing the case.

Lutalo, who is well known among prison rights 
activists for his time spent in solitary 
confinement, was returning to New Jersey after 
speaking at a Los Angeles book fair sponsored by 
the Anarchist Black Cross Federation. He had said 
passengers apparently overheard his cell phone 
conversations about the book fair but that he never made a threat.

Lutalo was released from a New Jersey prison in 
August after serving 28 years for armed robbery 
and weapons offenses involving a shootout with a 
police officer in 1975 and another shootout with 
a drug dealer in 1981. Lutalo spent most of his 
time in prison in solitary confinement because of 
the anarchist material he was reading was a 
deemed a security threat, according his New Jersey attorney, Bruce Afran.

Lutalo said he avoided flying and decided to take 
a train because he feared extra scrutiny at 
airports because of his criminal record and known political views.

"I might consider the bus," he said.




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