Support Our Friend Kwazi Nkrumah, Who Has Been Falsely Accused of Organizing a Riot
Kwazi Nkrumah: Co-Chair, Martin Luther King Coalition of Greater Los Angeles: FOR JOBS, JUSTICE AND PEACE - NOT WAR, POVERTY AND PRISONS www.mlkcoalitionforjobsjusticeandpeace.org Dear Friends, I have known Kwazi for over 12 years now. He is a great activist and a wonderful person. I have the highest respect for him. I am not sure what date this happened. I know it was very recently. Come to show support your for Kwazi this Wednesday, October 9th, 9:30 AM at the LA City Attorney's Office - 312 South Hill Street, Los Angeles - 2nd Floor. In Peace, Frank Dorrel Message from Kwazi Nkrumah: kwazinkru...@aol.com Victory in Long Beach Superior Court Yesterday: The main charges against me from the Occupy the Ports action in December of 2011, plus a totally false "failure to appear" charge which was added later, were dropped by the Long Beach Prosecutor's office yesterday. In exchange for 8 hours of community service, the 2 minor misdemeanor charges remaining will be dismissed. Thanks to all my friends from Occupy and the community who supported me! Now, on to the "organizing a riot" charges in L.A. I invite all supporters who can to come down to the LA City Attorney's Office, Wednesday, October 9th, 9:30 AM. The address is 312 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, 2nd floor - to protest the attempt to classify non-violent protests as "riot-making", as well as the recent decision of City Attorney Mike Feuer (a so-called "liberal") to impose a gang injunction on Echo Park against the will of the Neighborhood Council and the majority of residents living there. Please join us if you can! -- Kwazi Nkrumah, Co-Chair, Martin Luther King Coalition of Greater Los Angeles. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sent from Dorothy Reik: dorothyr...@pdsmm.org Unbelievably our friend Kwazi Nkrumah, has been accused of starting a riot when he participated in a peaceful demonstration in Los Angeles. I hope you will join me in writing a letter to Mike Feuer expressing your objections! Last night at our Gasland showing we discussed the part of the film dealing with Psyops and John Cromshaw asked if I had experienced it - I said yes - Occupy was destroyed by psyops - convincing the public that Occupy participants were criminals - separating the middle class supporters from the others by portraying them as criminals and treating them so harshly that middle class participants were frightened away. Now they are calling peaceful protests "riots". A message from Kwazi is below. Please copy him on any messages to Feuer. You can e-mail me your letters and I will print and fax them. I will send a letter from PDSMM if no one objects. If you can go to Feuer's office to support Kwazi please go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Activist Kwazi Nkrumah Arrested at Long Beach Port By <http://www.laprogressive.com/author/sharon-kyle/> Sharon Kyle of LA Progressive www.laprogressive.com/kwazi-nkrumah-arrested Occupy Activist Arrested This morning, one of our readers contacted the LA Progressive to report that long-time activist, Kwazi Nkrumah, had been arrested in Long Beach where the Occupy Movement was gathering as part of “Occupy the Ports”, a coordinated West Coast port shutdown. I met Kwazi several years ago in law school and have grown to respect and admire him for his unyielding commitment to public interest causes. Kwazi Nkrumah is nationally respected as a community organizer and labor activist. Long before there was an Occupy movement, Kwazi was leading campaigns against mortgage foreclosures in Maryland and California and fought on many fronts in the labor movement. Recently, Kwazi and his partner, Sabina Virgo, have been leading an effort in Los Angeles to support families who are losing their homes. I contacted Sabina this afternoon and learned that the Long Beach police arrested Kwazi at approximately 8 a.m. this morning – a full hour before the police issued an order to disperse to the crowd that was assembling at the port. When I spoke with Sabina at approximately 3 p.m. today, she told me she had had two telephone conversations with Kwazi since his arrest. She said he is being held in Long Beach on $10,000 bail. I asked about the conditions at the jail. Sabina said that Kwazi told her that he was warm and dry — on this rare cold, rainy day in Southern California. Unfortunately, although bail has been set, Sabina learned that Kwazi cannot be released until the Long Beach Police Department completes its procedural requirements, which include contacting other law enforcement agencies and getting some form of clearance from them. Sabina seemed to think that might not be complete until Wednesday. According to Sabina, Kwazi was arrested along with another man whose identity she did not know. The arresting officers booked him on three charges : * resisting arrest; * walking in the street; and * not following the lawful orders of a police officer. Unlike many of the protestors who willing to be arrested and are often fully prepared to be arrested, Kwazi had not anticipated his arrest. In fact, he was scheduled to be interviewed today on “ <http://uprisingradio.org/home/> Uprising,” a KPFK radio program hosted by <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPFK> Sonali Kolhatkar. When he was unavailable for the interview, Kolhatkar announced the arrest. The news of Nkrumah’s arrest spread like wildfire through the progressive community — reportedly igniting a greater sense of solidarity among the Occupiers at the port. According to Sabina, public interest attorney, Carol Sobel, of the National Lawyers Guild, has been contacted. Since the inception of the movement, the <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lawyers_Guild> National Lawyers Guild has been an ardent supporter of the Occupy Movement providing <http://www.nlg.org/occupy/> National Occupy Protest Support hotlines and various other services including legal representation to occupiers who have been arrested. UPDATE: At about 6:15 pm activist and reporter Linda Milazzo informed me that Kwazi was released on his own recognizance and was on his way home. Stay tuned. Sharon Kyle Publisher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ king arrested.png [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:la...@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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