Socialist Action (US)

The monthly paper of Socialist Action, San Francisco, 1983–2010

Free Geronimo Pratt! Panther Party), which had been

Socialist Action, Vol. 9, No. 8, August 1991 · scan p. 11 · about 720 words

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van artialle wam at the time Iman. AAAAAAA the FBI and listed as a "threat" to the government. Not working-class hero left to rot in jail for a crime he did not long before his indictment, the Los Angeles police depart- commit, while the true criminals of this society-the ment (under the directives of COINTEPRO) attempted Democrats, the Republicans, the big business swindlers the official but unspoken U.S. goverment strategy to to murder Pratt in his sleep (on Dec. 8, 1969), just as the who lie, cheat, and steal from working people all over the discredit and destroy the Black liberation movement. In Chicago police had murdered Fred Hampton and Mark world—go not only unpunished but very handsomely 1968, the Counter Intelligence Program, or COINTEL- Clark in the Chicago Black Panther office four days earli- rewarded Their assassination attempt failed, however, and so the the last few yearsespecially in the San Francisco Bay leader .. to prevent these militants from gaining FBI went on to frame Pratt for the unsolved murder of Area, where the International Longshore and Warehouserespectability and to prevent the growth of these groups Caroline Olsen, which had taken place in Santa Monica, man's Union has helped build support. Resolutions Calif., in 1968. The star "witness" for the Los Angeles calling for Pratt's release have been passed by the AlamePratt was a leader of the Los Angeles Black Panthers. Pratt was with them in Oakland, Calif., at the time of the the price for being Black in a white, capitalist society. Because of Pratt's leadership role in the Black Panther murder did not do so because of what they now recognize His release has been long overdue. We must all demand Party, he had been designated a "key Black extremist" by as interal factionalism (between the Huey Newton and "Freedom for Geronimo Pratt!". you actually were at the time. Imagle you had concrete evidence of your whereabouts, but this evidence suddenly and mysteriously disappears. And imagine that after being wrongly convicted of these crimes, you spend the next 20 years of your life in jail— eight of those years in solitary confinement with no bed, toilet facilities, or books.

Where in the world could such a nightmare take place? South Africa, some would say. Or perhaps the Soviet No, these incidents took place right here in the United States, bastion of "freedom and democracy." And the prisoner we are talking about is Geronimo Pratt, a former Black Panther Party leader.

The persecution of Pratt was and continues to be part of 'Geronimo Pratt is one of the longest held political prisoners in the United States today. He is another working-class hero left to rot in jail for a crime he did not commit.' PRO, defined its goal as: "to prevent the coalition of er. militant Black nationalist groups, to prevent the rise of a among American youth."

"Key Black extremist" Geronimo Pratt police was a paid FBI intormant, Juhus Butler. Other Panther members who could have testified that new evidence proving Pratt's innocence as well as evidence that had been suppressed by the govemment.

Evidence of a frameup surfaces Some key pieces of evidence include the fact that Kenneth Olsen, the surviving victim of the 1968 murder, had made a positive identification of another man a year before he ever saw Pratt. But the results of that previous lineup and Olsen's positive I had mysteriously "disappeared" from the case file.

In addition, two private investigators (who were pursuing a separate case) examined FBI logs of telephone wiretaps of the Oakland Panther headquarters. They have stated that those records show a call received by Pratt in Oakland at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, 1968. The murder was committed at 8 p.m. that same day, 400 miles to the south in Santa Monica And now, six former Panthers-including David Hilliard and Bobby Seale-have come forward to testify that Pratt was indeed with them in Oakland at Panther headquarters on Dec. 18 and 19, 1968.

Geronimo Pratt is one of the longest held political prisoners in the United States today. He is another Labor support for Pratt has been growing steadily over da and San Mateo County Central Labor Councils.

For the last 20 years, Geronimo Pratt has been paying we throw dirt on it? Do we evacuate the

← Contents of Vol. 9, No. 8, August 1991

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