Pack the Court Wednesday, July 16thAs many of you may know Jesus Gonzalez from Make the Road NY was arrested along with Brian Favors , a teacher from Bushwick community High School, MXGM Malcolm X Grassroots movement, and Sankofa Community Empowerment, Nkululeko Sechaba from NPDUM National People’s Democratic Movement, and Mario Cox, an Honor roll student from Bushwick Community High School soon to be graduate this week! The community support has been not only beautiful but an effective strategy for both the unlawful cases against the Bushwick 32 and these four brothers. We have to keep up the pace with support at the court dates. On July 16th there will be a trail and a possibly the concluding decision. Below I have attached three articles some of you may have seen. One is an article from the New York Times about the Bushwick 32. The other two articles will give you a brief synopsis about the case against Brian, Nkululeko, Mario and Jesus.
Show your support Wednesday, July 16th 2008, 9:00 am:
Criminal Court
120 Schermerhorn Street, AP3
Brooklyn, NY
A train to Jay street
Wednesday, July 16th the community will continue to support these four brothers by packing the court room to let the judge know with their presence that Brian, Nkululeko, Mario and Jesus are not criminals and deserve justice and their charges dropped.
Peace family,
See you there
Read the articles below for more info:
‘Bushwick 32’ supporters arrested on phony charges
By Tyneisha Bowens
Brooklyn , N.Y.
Published Dec 9, 2007 11:34 PM
On Nov. 30 than 20 Black students were in the Criminal Court of Brooklyn, N.Y., facing charges from their arrest in May while walking peacefully to the wake of a fellow student and friend. The charges they face include “unlawful assembly,” although the students had permission to attend the wake from both their parents and the administration of their high school. Originally these students were the “Bushwick 32” but some of the students had their charges dropped or had been to court before Nov. 30.
The Bushwick youths have had support from fellow students, community members, organizations like Student Coalition Against Racial Profiling and Make the Road since the May arrest, and had planned a news conference for Nov. 30….
During the court proceedings four supporters of the Bushwick students—John Mekins, Brian Favors , Mario Cox, and Jesus Gonzalez —were forced out of the courtroom for attempting to have counsel with one of the students’ lawyers and calling out injustice when they saw the court’s treatment of fellow supporters.
Once in the hall a fight between the supporters and the court officers broke out. “We could hear what was going on in the hallway but when we wanted to go out and stop it we were told to sit down before the same thing happened to us,” said one of the Bushwick youths on trial at the time.
The four men were arrested in the hall and held in the courthouse. During the initial time of their holding, Brian Favors ’ spouse and Mario Cox’s mother were not allowed to see their loved ones and were unaware of the charges and details of the incident. Due to the circumstances of the case and the arrest of the students’ supporters, the Bushwick youths’ case was moved to Dec. 7.
On Dec. 1, the four supporters were arraigned in the same courthouse where they had been the previous day standing up against racial profiling and the racism of the entire judicial system. More than 60 supporters of the four men packed the courtroom. Most of the crowd in the courtroom consisted of Latin@ and Black community members, while the judge, prosecution and the bulk of the officers present were white.
Mekins, Favors, Cox, and Gonzalez were accused of starting the altercation with court officers and resisting arrest during the prosecution’s statement. The defense teams for the four men used character statements about them to prove that they had no intention of or interest in causing an altercation with the officers and that doing so would have stood in contrast to their community work and past behavior.
Cox, a high school student, was scheduled to take the SAT at the very time he was in court. Favors is a teacher and a trusted advisor to the Buschwick students and their parents. Gonzalez is a dedicated community organizer. And Mekins’ removal from the courtroom was a case of mistaken identity which was cleared up by Favors before the arrest.
The four defendants had visible bruises during the arraignment. They had been taken to the hospital for their injuries after the fight. All four men were released without bail, but the charges were not dropped. Cox and Gonzalez will be in court on Jan.7, and Mekins and Favors on Dec. 12.
After their release the four pillars of the community greeted and thanked each of their supporters outside of the courtroom. The defense team and defendants spoke to supporters outside the courthouse.
Ray Boudreaux of the San Francisco 8, members of the Black Panther Party and political prisoners, came out in support of these men and had this to say: “They attacked these brothers because they are organizers for our community. ... This is the whole U.S. government that we are up against and what we need is a revolution.”
Full article at the link below:
http://www.workers.org/2007/us/bushwick_32-1213/
EL DIARIO LA PRENSA
LOCALES - 12/13/2007
Nueva York Activistas comunitarios realizaron ayer una protesta frente al
edificio de la Corte Criminal en Brooklyn para exigir que se retiren los
cargos contra todas las personas que han sido detenidas en el caso que ha
sido bautizado como el de los 32 de Bushwick. Los 32 fueron arrestados en
masa el pasado 21 de mayo, durante una intervencin policial previa al
funeral de Donnell McFarland, un joven de 18 aos que haba sido asesinado,
alegadamente, por otro adolescente. Las autoridades han indicado que los
arrestos fueron practicados ese da porque los adolescentes que iban
camino al funeral se estaban comportando de manera desordenada. Pero
lderes comunitarios y escolares en el vecindario han protestado
vehementemente contra los arrestos, indicando que los jvenes no estaban
haciendo revuelo y que tenan permiso de sus familiares y escuela para ir
al funeral. Hace dos semanas hubo otro incidente cuando el caso de los 32
fue presentado en corte y en el mismo tribunal fueron arrestados cuatro
activistas que han apoyado a los jovenes que fueron detenidos en mayo.
Uno de los detenidos en la corte, Jesus Gonzlez, de la organizacin Se Hace
Camino Nueva York, dijo ayer que los cuatro arrestos, como los primeros,
fueron injustificados y ejemplos de discriminacin racial, porque
ocurrieron cuando los activistas protestaron en corte contra una orden
injusta para sacar de la sala a uno de ellos. Ninguno de nosotros tiene
antecedentes criminales, dijo Gonzlez, quien acudi a la protesta de ayer
acompaado de su padre, Julio. Gonzlez, y otros activistas que han apoyado a los 32 de
Bushwick dijeron ayer durante la protesta que la Fiscala de Brooklyn
debera retirar todos los cargos que pesan tanto contra los arrestados en
mayo como contra los cuatro arrestados en la corte. Un portavoz de la
Fiscala dijo que no habra comentarios sobre el caso. Mientras tanto, los
32 han rechazado ofertas para resolver sus casos con servicio
comunitario, segn se dijo ayer. Yo ya he perdido ms de diez das de
escuela para venir a corte, por algo que no hice, dijo ayer uno de los
32, Asher Callender.
About the Bushwick 32 case:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/opinion/16herbert.html?ref=opinion
She has a dope sound. I got to interview her for Freshlikeme like 3 years ago I believe. It was a cool interview. When I opened my myspace this morning she was there as an ad on the sign in page. Congrats mama!!! Keep doing ya thing.
