[Ppnews] Systemic Injustice Against Two Longtime Political Prisoners

[Political Prisoner News]

Saturday, May 08, 2010




Systemic Injustice Against Two Longtime Political Prisoners

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

Systemic Injustice Against Two Longtime Political Prisoners - by 
Stephen Lendman

Their names - Marshall "Eddie" Conway and Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald, 
both activist COINTELPRO-targeted Black Panther members, unjustly 
imprisoned for four decades for crimes they didn't commit.

They're two of many targeted Panthers, victims of COINTELPRO 
viciousness, "dirty tricks," after J. Edgar Hoover's orders to 
infiltrate, disrupt, sabotage, and destroy their activist mission for 
ethnic justice, racial emancipation, and real economic, social, and 
political equality across gender and color lines.

In an earlier article, this writer explained that COINTELPRO is the 
acronym for the FBI's secretive, mostly illegal, counterintelligence 
program to neutralize political dissidents, including alleged 
communists; anti-war, human and civil rights activists; the American 
Indian Movement; Black Panther Party members, and today Muslims for 
their faith, ethnicity, and activism.

In their book, "Agents of Repression," Ward Churchill and Jim Vander 
Wall wrote:

"the term came to signify the whole context of clandestine (often 
illegal) political repression activities (including) a massive 
surveillance (program via) wiretaps, surreptitious entries and 
burglaries, electronic devices, live 'tails' and....bogus mail" to 
induce paranoia and "foster 'splits' within or between organizations."

Other tactics included:

-- "black propaganda through leaflets or other publications "designed 
to discredit organizations and foster internal tensions;"

-- "disinformation or 'gray propaganda' " for the same purpose;

-- "bad-jacketing (to) creat(e) suspicion - through the spread of 
rumors, manufacture of evidence, etc. - that bona fide organizational 
members (usually leaders) were FBI/police informants," to turn some 
against others violently;

-- "assassinations (of) selected political leaders," like Fred 
Hampton and Mark Clark on December 4, 1969 by Chicago police while 
they slept; and

-- "harassment arrests (on bogus) charges."

In October 1966, Huey P. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party 
for Self Defense (BPP), served as minister of defense with chairman 
Bobby Seale, and developed a non-violent social agenda for full 
employment, decent housing and education, an end to police brutality, 
equity and justice, peace, and other progressive ideals. They 
believed in the rule of law, preached it, and struggled to overcome 
generations of injustice and discrimination against blacks, other 
people of color, and disadvantaged people everywhere.

In his 1980 doctoral dissertation titled, "War Against the Panthers: 
A Study of Repression in America," Newton:

"analyze(d) certain features of the Party," significant incidents in 
its history and Washington's response, while "tr(ying) to maintain an 
objectivity consistent with scholarly standards...."

Most significant was "How many people's lives were ruined in 
countless ways by a government intent on destroying them as 
representatives of an 'enemy' political organization." All questions 
asked, he said, won't be answered, but he hoped his "inquiry" would 
help toward learning "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

Each targeted Panther is part of it, including Conway and Fitzgerald. 
On August 22, 1989, Newton himself was killed on his home city Oakland streets.

Marshall "Eddie" Conway

Detailed information on him can be found at www.freeeddieconway.org, 
headlined "Partnership for Social Justice (PSJ): Free Marshall 
"Eddie" Conway & All Political Prisoners!"

After 40 years of injustice, Conway thanked his supporters for trying 
to free him through "petition drives, rallies, speaking engagements, 
fundraisers, government resolutions, and theater and arts projects."

A US Postal Service employee, Conway was arrested at work on April 
26, 1970, the day after two Baltimore police officers were shot in 
their patrol car, one killed, the other wounded. An hour later, two 
BPP members were arrested, an alleged weapon involved in the shooting 
was recovered at the scene, and another officer said he saw a third 
man near where the arrests were made.

Eddie Conway was named after issuance of a warrant based on 
information supplied by an unidentified informant - the commonly used 
tactic against innocent activists, targeted for challenging federal 
or local institutionalized power.

The other men, Jackie Powell and Jack Johnson, were tried and 
convicted. Powell later died in prison. Johnson is still incarcerated.

The charges came at a time of "considerable media attention focused 
on (BPP's) Baltimore Chapter." Included was front-page coverage of 
this case, and "a mass arrest of Baltimore Panthers (for another) 
purported torture/murder of an informant who participated in local 
chapter activities."

In that trial, jurors found prosecution witnesses "contradictory and 
not credible...." Although a mass arrest was made, one defendant was 
acquitted. None of the others were tried, and all those held were released.

Prior to both incidents, FBI agents had targeted Conway, later 
discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. 
Various letters and other documents identified him as a BPP member 
through efforts of a "highly sensitive source who is of continuous 
value to the Bureau" - aka an informant. The same memo confirmed that 
from November 1969, the Baltimore Police coordinated BPP surveillance 
activities with the FBI.

Conway's Trial

No physical or other evidence linked him to the officer's killing, 
and Conway to this day maintains his innocence. Yet at trial, he was 
denied his choice of counsel and right to defend himself, was forced 
to use a prosecution appointed attorney, and unwisely chose a 
political, not a criminal defense that might have acquitted him. In 
addition, the lawyer spent only 45 minutes with him prior to trial, 
and during proceedings "often appeared to be intoxicated. (Apparent 
from the transcript itself is the lawyer's inadequate and 
inappropriate demeanor in the afternoons, following lunch recess.)"

The prosecution relied mainly on an informant's testimony, Charles 
Reynolds, "placed....in Conway's cell under suspicious circumstances 
and against (his) written protests to the guards." He was convicted 
for assault, and contrary to Conway's claim, said he confessed.

Another officer responding to the shooting provided the only other 
evidence, saying he "followed a man who seemed to be acting 
suspiciously" near where the suspects were arrested.

He identified Conway only after being shown photos, at first 
recognizing no one. When given new ones with only Conway's repeated, 
he picked him. A more reliable lineup was never used.

Charles Reynolds had been imprisoned in Maryland, but at the time was 
in Michigan on forgery charges. He had four previous convictions, 
served earlier as a police informant, and wrote to Baltimore police 
from Detroit offering his testimony again in return for help with 
Michigan's Parole Board.

Important also was Conway's trial demeanor - a big man with a "huge 
Afro" in shackles, using raised-fist salutes to supporters in court, 
and refusing to sit at the trial table. In addition, inflammatory 
pre-trial media coverage biased sentiment, at the same time BPP 
members were getting hostile national coverage.

Documents showed COINTELPRO incitement was behind it as part of the 
Bureau's scheme to destroy the Panthers. In Baltimore alone, prior to 
and during trial, malicious stories were planted in daily newspapers. 
Jurors weren't sequestered, so easily could have seen them and 
perhaps discuss them with others, regardless of court imposed restrictions.

Incarceration after Conviction

Conway's been imprisoned since April 1970. Though classified as a 
medium security prisoner, he's being held at the Jessup Correctional 
Institution, formerly known as the Maryland House of Correction 
Annex, a maximum security prison, where at times he's been treated harshly.

In 1974, guards severely beat him, broke his shoulder and jaw 
requiring surgery and three months hospitalization. Although he 
subsequently filed a civil rights suit, an all-white jury denied him, 
and the US Court of Appeals refused to hear his case while 
acknowledging that "The severity of the injuries presents a closer 
question of whether excessive force was used, amounting to a 
constitutional deprivation."

Throughout his imprisonment, Conway's conduct and accomplishments 
have been exemplary. He earned a BS degree in Social Science from 
Coppin State College, developed computer expertise, and earned an 
Associate of Arts degree in computer science and business studies 
from Essex Community College.

He was also Penitentiary Library Inmate Coordinator, and won a 
$350,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant, then used to 
produce 50 videotaped "To Say Their Own Words" discussion sessions 
with 100 prisoners and various authors, recorded over a one year period.

In addition, he provided inspirational leadership to his fellow inmates by:

-- forming the 500 member Maryland Penitentiary United Prisoner's 
Labor Union, with labor community support;

-- counseling youths at risk for imprisonment in 10 week prisoner 
administered sessions;

-- chairing the ACLU-affiliated Prison Committee to Correct Prison 
Conditions on issues including overcrowding, brutality, and health at 
the Maryland House of Corrections;

-- forming the Maryland Lifers Association, with chapters in three 
state prisons;

-- establishing a holiday celebration for black prisoners program 
with their families;

-- beginning another program to teach prisoners computer usage;

-- forming the first ever prison-based Touchstone Project, involved 
in weekly classical literature discussions; and

-- most recently starting a Friend of A Friend mentoring project, 
training prisoners to serve other inmates; and

-- working with a local Baltimore WombWork Productions play for the 
public titled, "The Birth of Peace."

Current Efforts to Free Conway

Throughout his imprisonment, Maryland's Parole Board denied him on 
executive orders to keep "lifers" in prison, except the aged or 
terminally ill. Meanwhile, a habeas petition was sent to Maryland's 
Supreme Court to let a Clemency Petition be sent to the governor. The 
Baltimore NAACP chapter, various church leaders, and some members of 
Maryland's General Assembly, Baltimore City Council, and the 
community also voiced support.

More recently a federal habeas petition was filed, requesting a 
review of state rulings and a new trial, "based on the fact that I 
did not receive a fair trial in accordance with both the 6th and 14th 
Amendments."

After 40 years, Conway remains imprisoned, but hopeful and grateful 
to his supporters. In a recent 2010 letter, he reiterated that he was 
incarcerated "because of what I believe, not for anything that I have 
done," then said he delayed writing pending release of his book, "The 
Greatest Threat."

It "examines the plight of the Black Panther Party Political 
Prisoners/POWs and the role of the FBI's Counter-Intelligence Program 
in their imprisonment." In 2011, his next book will be released, 
titled "Marshall Law: The Life and Times of a Baltimore Black Panther."

His new legal team is also researching new ways to win his release, 
long overdue for an innocent man after 40 years for a crime he didn't commit.

Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald

Detailed information on him can be found at www.freechip.org, titled 
"Free Chip Fitzgerald: 40 Years is Enough" for another innocent man, 
convicted for crime he didn't commit - now a "political prisoner, (a) 
prisoner of war" for his activism.

Fitzgerald belonged to the BPP's Southern California Chapter where a 
fellow member, Bruce Richard, called him tireless:

"in various capacities in the Westside office....To be a Panther was 
a 24/7 commitment, and every single day seemed like weeks due to the 
volume of activities during (the) explosive (1969, early 1970s) 
period. We were totally consumed in the Party's Free Breakfast 
Program (what Hoover most feared because of the community good will 
it fostered), the tutorial program, selling Panther papers, political 
education classes and other projects. Chip was a favorite of many in 
the communities we served, and the children, especially, loved him, 
reflected in their smiling little faces when he appeared...."

In September 1969, Fitzgerald was wounded and arrested during a 
police instigated shoot-out, tried for assault and other related 
charges, including Barge Miller's murder, a security guard at Vons 
Shopping Center in Los Angeles at 1:42AM.

Two men were seen fleeing, a witness, James Coleman, later 
identifying Fitzgerald as one of them, even though he said he 
couldn't see him clearly. In court, he then admitted he looked 
different from the man he identified, and during the investigation, 
he was shown photos, including Fitzgerald's, but didn't recognize him.

Because of his head wound, Fitzgerald wore a hard to miss two-inch 
bandage for close to a month, removing it several days before his 
October 9, 1969 arrest. Coleman said nothing about it in describing 
the man he saw. All the time, Fitzgerald denied being in the vicinity 
of Vons during the incident's early morning hours.

Nonetheless, at age 19, he was arrested, indicted, tried, convicted, 
and sentenced to death despite his innocence, and remains a political prisoner.

In California v. Anderson (1972), the California Supreme Court 
declared the death penalty unconstitutional in violation of Eighth 
Amendment protection against "cruel and unusual punishments" and the 
state's same constitutional ban. Along with 100 others on death row 
at the time, his sentence was commuted to life "with" the possibility 
of parole.

No matter. Unlike most 1972 death row inmates released, Fitzgerald 
remains incarcerated, still dedicated to black liberation and all 
oppressed people everywhere - why he's still held, of course. At his 
July 2008 parole hearing, he was challenged for his political views, 
past and present, and turned down, the same reason for all his other 
denials, for his "revolutionary" beliefs for justice he won't 
renounce after a lifetime of support.

With the help of his new attorney, Keith Wattley, the Committee to 
Free Chip Fitzgerald filed a habeas petition to challenge the Board's 
decision. Currently, he's in solitary confinement at Corcoran State 
Prison, protesting on a hunger strike to be transfered to the general 
prison population, and threatening to stay on it until death if he's 
refused. More on that below.

Prison authorities are in violation of the US District Court for the 
Northern District of California's 2001 order to provide all inmates 
proper medical care, Judge Thelton E. Henderson saying:

"....it is beyond a reasonable dispute that the State has failed," in 
transferring authority to a receiver, J. Clark Kelso, at the time. He 
also stated it's:

"an uncontested fact that, on average, an inmate in one of 
California's prisons needlessly dies every six to seven days due to 
constitutional deficiencies in (its) medical delivery system."

In 1998, Fitzgerald suffered a stroke, caused by bleeding in his 
brain. He became partly paralyzed, required an intense physical 
therapy regimen, and given the absence of treatment, likely spinal 
and cervical surgery will be needed.

In confinement, his condition continues to worsen. Without treatment, 
he risks another stroke, permanent paralysis or death. He reportedly 
also suffers from depression. As a result, by refusing food, and 
apparently water, he's very much in jeopardy, another victim of 
America's war against activism, people of color, and justice.

In his own words, he vows to "remain a revolutionary," at the same 
time calling the prison system:

"a complex, dysfunctional resource-wasting parasite of social 
control, political repression and revenge! Human beings are 
warehoused in these concrete and steel bunkers that destroy human 
sensibilities and the human spirit. (They're) desensitized, (and 
become) frustrated, angry and bitter, unprepared to become productive 
members of society. (It's) why California's recidivism rate is above 75%."

On May 4, the Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald reported that he 
ended his hunger strike after prison officials agreed to free him 
from solitary confinement and transfer him to Kern State Valley 
Prison's general population where conditions may be better, including 
access to medical care. Based on past experience, he wrote: "we'll see."

The system is designed to perpetuate itself, to remove political 
activists from society, cage them like animals, the result of 
"corruption, criminal mismanagement, thievery, (and) brutality" to 
deny freedoms and sustain injustice. Fitzgerald and Conway are two of 
its victims. Many others are in prison hell with them, America's 
gulag, the shame of the nation.

A Final Word

On December 10, 2008, this writer examined "The Persecution of Syed 
Fahad Hashmi," saying:

"It's a familiar story. A Muslim American is accused of terrorism for 
supporting Al Qaeda and conspiracy to provide support for a Foreign 
Terrorist Organization (FTO)....Once again, an innocent man is 
arrested, charged, indicted and convicted with no substantiating 
evidence," bogus charges, much of it classified and withheld from the defense.

Witnesses are enlisted to cooperate. Proceedings are orchestrated, 
and juries intimidated to convict at the wrong time to be Muslim in 
America when we're all equally vulnerable.

See the complete article at: 
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/12/persecution-of-syed-fahad-hashmi.html.

Held in solitary confinement for three years, facing 70 years 
imprisonment if convicted, Hashmi coped a plea for a lesser 15 year 
sentence, even though he committed no crimes. Like dozens of others, 
he was targeted for their activism, prominence, faith, race, and ethnicity.

Since first arrested in the UK in June 2006, he been brutally 
treated, the past three years in merciless solitary confinement at 
New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), the effects of 
which harmed his health, emotional well-being, and spirit enough to 
accept 15 years in federal prison despite his innocence.

On April 30, Faisal Hashmi said this about his brother:

"Earlier this week our beloved son and brother Fahad pleaded guilty 
to a single charge of material support for terrorism. He took the 
plea after spending four years in prison, three of them in complete 
isolation. Fahad's lawyer, David Ruhnke, said (he) "made the best 
deal that was available under the circumstances....the government 
wanted to lock him up for the rest of his life. They were not 
successful in that goal."

Though he may be free by age 40, "we are extremely troubled by the 
process that has brought us to this point. We are troubled not only 
for our family but by the message a case like Fahad's sends to our 
community. It disturbs us greatly that a young man known as a pillar 
of his Queens community, who worked and studied hard and who, in the 
tumult of growing up Muslim in America, choose a path of religious 
and political activism, (yet) came to be demonized as an extreme 
danger to the country he called home."

They bogusly called him a terrorist, tortured him in solitary 
confinement, and left him no choice than a one count lesser sentence, 
given his prospect of "going before an anonymous jury based in part 
on the prosecution's ugly assertion that his friends and family were 
as dangerous as they alleged he was."

What does this say about a nation that reigns terror on its own?

Given the barbarous treatment of innocent people, charging them with 
crimes they didn't commit, locking them in federal gulags for 
political advantage, and denying some of our most dedicated no chance 
for justice, America is no longer fit place to live in. For blacks, 
Latinos, Native Americans, the poor and disadvantaged, and today 
Muslims it never was nor will be as long as wealth and power trump 
equity, democratic freedoms, and principles that have been desecrated 
from the beginning.

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/.

posted by Steve Lendman @ 
<http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/05/systemic-injustice-against-two-longtime.html>3:05 
AM




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