Portland Anarchist Black Cross

Angola 3

(Only 2 of the Angola 3 remain in prison.  The third, Robert Wilkerson, was released in 2001 after spending 27 years in solitary confinement.)

Herman Wallace                                                               

Herman Wallace, originally from New Orleans, is one of the Angola 3; the three men who successfully started the first Black Panther Party chapter within the confines of a prison. They were making significant gains in reducing abuse within the notorious Angola Prison and in expanding prisoner rights, when in 1973 they were framed for the murder of a prison guard.  All 3 were then placed in solitary confinement where Herman and Albert Woodfox remain.  Robert Wilkerson spent 27 years in solitary until he was finally released in 2001.    Nearly all of Herman Wallace’s adult life has been spent in prison and most of it in solitary confinement.

Albert Woodfox

Almost half a century ago, three young black men in a Louisiana prison tried to expose the institution for what it was and still is – a hell hole of corruption and racism, run by a brutal prison regime that is notorious for its abuses of black prisoners.  Angola prison was built upon a former slave plantation and that is an appropriate foundation for it.  The Angola 3 had become politicized from the horrific conditions they had been witnessing daily.  They formed a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party, with the aim of bringing about reforms to the prison.  When their campaign came to the attention of prison officials, they were silenced by being charged with the murder of a guard.  None of the physical evidence in the crime matched any one of the 3, yet no attempt was ever made to match it to anybody else.  All of the evidence that could have potentially cleared the 3 men was “lost” by prison officials. Herman and Albert both had multiple witnesses who testified they were nowhere near the scene when the murder occurred, yet no statements from those witnesses were ever taken.

Albert’s conviction has been overturned twice by judges citing  suppression of exculpatory evidence, race discrimination, prosecutor misconduct and inadequate defense. Unfortunately, habeas protections which limit federal power by bowing to State’s Rights, recently allowed the U.S. Court of Appeals to hand his case down to the State of Louisiana, where vindictive prosecutors have decreed that the federal judgement has no merit, or standing and that Albert is to remain in prison.  For more about the Angola 3, please visit their support site: http://www.angola3.org/

Nebraska 2

The Nebraska 2, were charged and convicted of the murder of Omaha Police Officer Larry Minard. On August 17, 1970, a call was made to the police reporting a woman screaming at a vacant house near 28th and Ohio Street. Patrolman Michael Lamson and five other members of the Omaha Police Department (OPD) responded to the call. They noticed a suitcase sitting in the front room.  Shortly afterward, Patrolmen Larry Minard and John Tess arrived. With Tess looking on, Minard picked up the suitcase. The resultant explosion killed him and seriously injured Tess.  In August, Duane Peak was arrested for the crime. He confessed to placing the bag and implicated six others, but mentioned neither Rice nor Poindexter. In a later statement, Peak told police that Rice and Poindexter had made the bomb, told him to plant it, and to lure the police to the vacant house with an anonymous phone call.

Poindexter and Rice were members of the Black Panther Party, and their case was, and continues to be controversial. The Omaha Police withheld exculpatory evidence at trial. The two men had been subjects of the FBI’s COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program), which operated against and infiltrated anti-war and Civil Rights groups, including the Omaha Black Panthers. The US section of Amnesty International recognizes Rice and Poindexter as political prisoners. The state’s parole board have recommended the men for release, but political leaders have not acted on these recommendations. Support site for the Two:  n2pp.info

Ed Poindexter

ED POINDEXTER
#27767
P. O. Box 2500
Lincoln, NE 68542

Imprisoned since 1970, Ed was the former head of the Omaha chapter of the Black Panthers.  He has filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska. Poindexter’s petition seeks an order reversing his “illegal conviction and sentence” for the 1970 murder of an Omaha policeman. Poindexter and his co-defendant Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice) were convicted following a controversial trial tainted by COINTELPRO tactics. Operation COINTELPRO, the FBI’s illegal war on American political activists, was unknown to the public at the time of Minard’s death and was officially terminated shortly after Poindexter’s 1971 trial.

The appeal is mainly grounded on the fact that the 911 tape recording the bomber’s voice was kept secret from the public. This was an order given by FBI Direct J. Edgar Hoover.  A copy of the tape (the original was destroyed) surfaced years later and the voice on it contradicts testimony given by the government’s star witness, Duane Peak; the self-confessed 16 year old killer, who implicated Ed and Mondo in the crime.  Also troubling is the fact that in their eagerness to convict the two men, the prosecution failed to disclose to defense counsel, the court or the jury that it had made a bargain to go easy on Duane Peak and prosecute him only as a juvenile in exchange for his testimony. Duane Peak was released after 33 months in juvenile detention.

Mondo We Langa

MONDO WE LANGA (David  Rice)
#27768
P.O. Box 2500
Lincoln, NE 68542-2500

Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice) worked with the Black Panther Party against police brutality and helped set up community service programs.  He is also a published poet and playwright. He was born in Omaha in 1949.  While in college at Creighton University, he wrote for the local underground paper, Buffalo Chip, from 1969 to 1970. It was in college that he also joined the Black Panther Party (BPP). Rice ran a breakfast program for inner-city youth and was a well-known community activist.  Mondo we Langa is a published poet, playwright and a major voice for justice and the arts in Nebraska.

NY3

On May 21, 1971, two New York City police officers were fatally shot. This shooting occurred within the context of two major national trends: the growth of black revolutionary groups; and the FBI mission under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover that sought to destroy them. With the cooperation of the Nixon administration, Hoover resolved to stop all civil rights and militant black organizations by any means necessary. This counterintelligence operation, called COINTELPRO, targeted black leaders by infiltrating the Black Liberation Movement, framing members of the movements for crimes, or assassinating them.

In May of 1971, 5 days after FBI’s Director Hoover had met in secrecy with the Nixon White House, the FBI launched operation NEWKILL, or New York killings – a plan to frame the Black Panthers for killing the 2 NY cops.  At first they tried 5 defendents for the crimes, however, that trial ended in a hung jury; so charges were dropped against two of them as to better facilitate a conviction.  The subsequent trial ended in the conviction of the New York 3. For more information on the NY3, visit: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/ny3.html

Herman Bell

HERMAN BELL
79C0262
Great Meadow Correctional Facility
11739 State Route 22
P.O. Box 51
Comstock, New York 12821-0051

Herman Bell is a former Black Panther framed for the murder of a police officer in New York and is serving 25 years to life in prison.  Herman was born in Mississippi and moved to Brooklyn, NY as a boy. He was a talented High School footballer and won a scholarship to the University of California in Oakland. While in Oakland, Herman joined the Black Panther Party and became active around human rights issues in the Black community. In 1971, he went underground because of relentless FBI attacks on the Black Panther Party. While underground, Herman joined the Black Liberation Army and in September of 1973, Herman was captured and extradited to New York on charges of having killed 2 New York City police officers– a case for which Jalil Muntaquim and Nuh Washington were already serving time. No witnesses were able to put Herman at the scene of the crime.  The first trial ended in a hung jury but he was convicted at his second trial and given 25 years to life.

Herman is a prison activist and has coached various prison sports teams.  In 1990 he earned a B.S. degree from the State University of New York. Most recently, Herman was indicted as one of the San Francisco 8, 8 former Black Panthers all accused of murdering a police officer in San Francisco in the 1970’s. Herman pled guilty to a smaller offense and was not given any additional time to his sentence.  Support Site: freethesf8.org

Jalil Muntaqim

Jalil became affiliated with the Black Panther Party at age 18.  Less than 2 months before his 20th birthday he was captured with Albert Nuh Washington in a midnight shootout with San Francisco police. He was subsequently charged with a host of revolutionary activities including the assassination of two police in New York City. It is for this that he is currently serving a 25 years – a life sentence in New York State.

Support site, with a link to a petition to free Jalil: freejalil.com                                                                                                                     To read some of his articles and poetry: http://www.freejalil.com/writings.html