Over fifty students walked out of Riverside High School in Milwaukee on December 14 in solidarity with Pennsylvania Death Row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. The students, Black, Latino, Asian, and white, held a two-hour rally at nearby Gordon Park, attracting television and print media coverage. Police in at least seven vehicles kept watch. The students carried signs, leaflets and a fifteen foot banner demanding a new trial for the imprisoned journalist. While similar walk-outs have taken place in other cities, this is believed to be the first organized in Milwaukee.
A walk-out scheduled for the same morning at the city’s High School of the Arts was prevented when the school’s principal reportedly learned of the plans and locked down the school. According to students, he did agree to allow an assembly at the school to examine the case.
Administrators from Riverside and the High School of the Arts were unavailable for comment.
In other developments, an influential committee of the State Bar of Wisconsin has unanimously passed a resolution calling for a new trial for Mumia and his immediate release from Death Row. The Oct. 22 resolution by the Individual Rights and Responsibility Section of the statewide attorney association also called on “all Wisconsin elected officials to join in these requests and so communicate to [Pennsylvania] Gov. Ridge.” An article by Milwaukee attorney Arthur Heitzer in the Summer edition of a State Bar publication gives an excellent summary of the case, particularly in its legal aspects. (Copies of the resolution and article may be obtained from the Milwaukee chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, 606 W. Wisconsin Ave., #1706, Milwaukee, WI 53203.)
Meanwhile, support for Mumia continues to grow across the country. On Dec. 11, thousands of people turned out in Philadelphia and San Francisco to press demands for a new trial. The same day in Chicago, Mumia supporters rode in a car caravan through various neighborhoods, distributing leaflets and talking with local residents about the case. There was also a demonstration in Minneapolis and a vigil in Madison.
Local activists in Milwaukee have been distributing leaflets about Mumia each Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 pm across from the Grand Avenue Mall at 3rd and Wisconsin. Leaflets were also distributed outside the recent Sting concert at Riverside Theater. The British singer-songwriter is one of many celebrities who have endorsed the call for a new trial.
A death warrant signed by Gov. Ridge and scheduled to be carried out on Dec. 2 was lifted by the federal judge now hearing Mumia’s appeal for a new trial. However, the Effective Death Penalty Act, signed on Mumia’s birthday by President Clinton in 1996, places severe restrictions on the federal appeal process. Because of this, the present stage of the appeals may be Mumia’s last real hope of winning relief through the courts. For this reason, supporters are being asked to write the judge and urge him to grant a new trial. Letters may be addressed to: Judge William H. Yohn, Jr., c/o Leonard Weinglass, Esq., 6 West 20th St., #10-A, New York, NY 10011.
For more information on local or statewide activities in support of Mumia Abu- Jamal, contact: Wisconsin for Mumia, c/o PO Box 06053, Milwaukee, WI 53206. Phone/Fax: 374-1034. Email: ajrc@execpc.com.