The heart of the Kangaroo Court "trial" of Mumia Abu-Jamal was the penalty phase in which the prosecutor questioned Mumia about his political beliefs as a basis for urging the overwhelmingly white jury to vote for the death penalty. The core of the prosecutor's argument had nothing to do with the alleged "crime."
The prosecutor argued that Mumia held dangerous revolutionary beliefs. What follows is from the transcript of the penalty phase of the trial. The questions are by the prosecutor and the answers are by Mumia:
Q. Now listen to this quote. You've often been quoted saying this: "Political power grows out ofthe barrel of a gun." Do you remember saying that, sir?
A. I remember writing that...That's a quotation from Mao Tse-tung of the Peoples Republic of China. It's very clear that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun or else America wouldn't be here today. It is America who has seized political power from the Indian race, not by God, not by Christianity, not by goodness, but by the barrel of a gun.
Q. Do you recall making that quote, Mr. Jamal, to Acel Moore?
A. I recall quoting Mao Tse-tung to Acel Moore about 12 to 15 years ago.
Q. Do you recall saying: "All power to the people"? Do you recall that?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you believe that your actions as well as your philosophy are consistent with the quote: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"?
A. I believe that America has proven that quote to be true.
Q. Do you recall saying that: "The Black Panther Party is an uncompromising party, it faces reality"?
A. Yes.
This questioning was based on an article on the Black Panthers by Acel Moore from the Philadelphia Inquirer, that quoted Mumia who was then known as West Cook. Here is the context for the quotes:
... Black men and women bundled in coats and jackets against the cold of the unheated interior are busy with telephones, paperwork, or huddling in earnest conference and rarely take time to acknowledge new arrivals or departures. When they do, the standard salutation is a slogan, "All power to the people."
... "Since the murders," says West Cook, Chapter Communications Secretary, "Black brothers and sisters and organizations which wouldn't commit themselves before are relating to us. Black people are facing the reality that the Black Panther Party has been facing: political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
... Murders, a calculated design of genocide and a national plot to destroy the party leadership, is what the Panthers and their supporters call a bloody two year history of police raids and shootouts. The Panthers say 28 party members have died in police gunfire during that period.
Referring frequently to the Party's newspaper, The Black Panther, West stressed the aim of the Black Panther Party of helping Black Americans gain a sense of dignity and of the Party's insistence on self-defense.
... "Genocide is coming to the forefront under the Nixon, Agnew and Mitchell regime," says West, "and that's exactly what it is. The Panther Party is an uncompromising party. It faces reality."
The truth is that Mumia Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death for his political beliefs which, then as now, are seen by the government as too dangerous to be allowed expression.
SOURCE: Transcript of the trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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