Mumia Abu Jamal Essays - Mumia Abu-Jamal, Commonwealth V. Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu Jamal Wesley Cook was born in 1954. While he was protesting at a George Wallace for president rally in 1968, several white men attacked him. He claims that two men grabbed him. One kicked his face and skull, while the other kicked him in the groin. As the beating progressed, "he looked up and saw the two-toned gold-trimmed pant leg of a Philadelphia police officer." He yelled for the police, who saw him on the ground being beaten to a pulp. "A police officer marched over briskly, and kicked him in the face."1 "I have been thankful to that faceless cop ever since, for he kicked me straight into the Black Panther Party."2 Wesley Cook became a founding member of the Black Panther Party's Philadelphia chapter in 1969 at the age of 15. After joining mainstream news organizations in the 1970's, Wesley Cook changed his name to Mumia Abu-Jamal. As a teenage journalist, Jamal took an interest in stories about police brutality. Jamal was known to be a rare talent of radio journalism. He had a powerful intellect and a burning empathy for poor people. He was known as a skillful interviewer and became a well-known figure in local broadcasting journalism. Jamal appeared on National Public Radio, the National Black Network, and local Philadelphia stations including WUHY-FM (now WHYY). He had a lot of admiring friends in journalism and politics, and had no prior record of crime or violence. Despite his personal experience of police brutality and years as a teenage Black Panther, he kept his noise clean even under the microscope of the FBI and Philadelphia police surveillance. By the late 1970's, Jamal was also an ardent sympathizer and supporter of MOVE ? a black militant antiestablishment, antipolice group. He started wearing his hair in long dreadlocks like a MOVE member. By mid 1981, Jamal's growing obsession with MOVE had compromised his standing as a journalist and cost him his job at WUHY. He started freelancing his writing skills, while moonlighting as a cabdriver. He was robbed while on duty with his cab, so he started to carry a gun. 3 During this time, the Philadelphia Police Department was so notorious for violence and police brutality, that the United States Justice Department, in an unprecedented 1979 civil suit, charged then mayor (and former police commissioner) Frank Rizzo and the top police brass with "encouraging rampant police brutality, racism, and lying." This suit was later dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.4 On December 9, 1981, Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner was shot to death. On July 3, 1982 Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of Officer Faulkner's murder and sentenced to death. Beyond these two facts, there are a number of versions of the incidents that lead to Mumia Abu-Jamal's conviction. This paper will review the incidents of December 9, 1981 and show that Mumia Abu-Jamal was not provided a fair and impartial trial by his peers, and was wrongly convicted and sentenced for the death of Officer Faulkner. What the Jury Heard: On December 9, 1981, at 3:51 a.m. Officer Faulkner stopped Mr. William Cook (Jamal's brother), who was driving a Volkswagen Beetle for a traffic violation, on the south side of Locust Street about 80 feet east of 13th Street. The area at the time was known for its seediness. The area had many late-night bars, nightclubs, cafes, and streetwalkers. Officer Faulkner radioed his location and then added: "On second thought, send me a wagon."5 He was apparently planning to arrest Mr. Cook or someone in Mr. Cook's car for an unknown reason. According to two prosecution witnesses, both Faulkner and Cook got out of their cars. Faulkner spread-eagled Mr. Cook across one of the cars and then suddenly turned and slugged Officer Faulkner. Faulkner responded by clubbing Cook several times with his 17-inch flashlight. Mr. Cook's face and neck were bloody when police arrived. By coincidence, Mumia Abu-Jamal was parked in his cab and came out of a parking lot on the northeast corner of Locust and 13th. He accelerated from a walk to a run as he charged toward Officer Faulkner across Locust Street. It was never fully disclosed at the trial, why Jamal's cab was parked nearby. He just happened to be around. In any event, this is when the point blank shooting started to occur. According to the prosecution's theory, Jamal ran up behind Officer Faulkner to within one foot, and shot him in the back. The wounded Faulkner turned around and returned fire, hitting Jamal in the chest, and falling onto his back. Jamal then