The Frame-Up of Mumia on Steal This Radio

Steal This Radio - An Hour of Mayhem, Music and Ecology
Host: Mitchel Cohen

listen online or download the show.

Show #45
Thursday, June 5th, 2008

The Frame-Up of Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Real Story.

Guest: Chris Kinder, coordinator of The Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal is a journalist and former Black Panther who was found guilty of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981 and who is facing state execution. He has remained on Death Row in Pennsylvania for the last 26 years. Mumia said he was parked in his cab when he "heard what sounded like gunshots.” He ran over to the scene and was shot by a cop. He has always maintained his innocence, and never “confessed.” Witness William Singletary saw the whole thing; he said that Mumia arrived unarmed, and only AFTER the cop was shot; he said the real killer fled the scene. Other witnesses corroborated this account. Mumia Abu-Jamal arrived on the scene and was shot by cops and almost died. Evidence shows that the cops present at the scene knew Mumia and didn’t like his articles exposing of their crimes and brutality.

His case has become a cause cêlebre around the world, as Mumia is a brilliant political analyst and supporter of radical progressive movements. His case is a symbol of the racist frameups that were rampant in the U.S. in the 1970s and 80s, and that in fact continue to this day.

In this show, Chris Kinder examines the evidence for Mumia’s innocence and looks at a new book, “The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal,” by J. Patrick O’Connor which is the first book to convincingly show how the Philadelphia Police Department and the District Attorney’s office worked in tandem to efficiently and methodically frame him.