For over four decades, Black and other activists have protested the conviction of Mumia-Abu-Jamal for the 1981 killing of police officer Daniel Faulkner, believing that the Mumia was innocent. Protesters cite many irregularities in the case which they believe demonstrate Mumia’s innocence and biases on the part of prosecutors and the judge. Police counter-protesters have protested the protests, insisting that Mumia is guilty. Multiple appeals courts have refused to overturn the conviction, but have overturned the original sentence to death on the grounds that the instructions to the jury in the sentencing phase were confusing. In 2011, prosecutors dropped their attempts to seek the death penalty and agreed to a sentence of life in prison without parole. This article does not seek to re-litigate Mumia’s guilt or innocence and makes no attempt to assess the claims and counter-claims about the evidence in the case. Instead, it demonstrates the way the case is described in Black newspapers and contrasts Black newspaper coverage of the case with mainstream newswire coverage. It shows how this case was important in the ongoing Black movement against injustice in the criminal legal system.

General background

Around 4 am on the morning of December 9, 1981, Mumia Abu-Jamal was driving his cab through the streets of downtown Philadelphia. Mumia had been working as a taxi driver to supplement his income as a local freelance journalist. As he drove his cab through the intersection at 13th and Locust Street, he witnessed white Philadelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner in a physical altercation with William Cook, Mumia’s younger brother. Mumia parked his cab and ran across the street toward Cook’s car. A shoot out ensued, resulting in Mumia and Faulkner being shot. Faulkner died and Mumia was arrested and later convicted in 1982 for Faulkner’s murder.

Black newspapers emphasize biases and inconsistencies in the original case. At least four witnesses, including a key prosecution witness, claimed to have witnessed someone else fire a gun at Faulkner and then run away.^[1] There was also questionable evidence to explain how the 44-caliber bullet that killed officer Faulkner could have been shot from Mumia’s 38-caliber pistol. The Judge overseeing the case, Alfred F. Sabo, was a former deputy sheriff who spent 14 years as a member of the Fraternal Organization of the Philadelphia police.^[2] During the trial, Sabo limited the defense to $150 in expenses for each expert witness. According to the San Francisco Sun Reporter, Mumia could not afford to pay for the ballistics experts who conceivably could have proven his innocence.^[3] After his conviction, Mumia was sentenced to death following a penalty hearing in which the prosecuting attorney questioned Mumia about statements he made as a teenager working as a reporter for the Black Panther newspaper.

Before his arrest, Mumia Abu-Jamal was a well-known, award-winning Philadelphia-based journalist and president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Association of Black journalists. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Mumia had been a political activist since his youth. As a teenager, he was involved with the Black Panther party, working on the Black Panther Party newspaper in Oakland, California. His journalism often exposed police practices of racism and brutality.

During the 1970s, Mumia had supported and closely covered the MOVE organization, a Black liberation group in West Philadelphia. In 1978 he published articles criticizing Mayor Frank Rizzo for ordering an attack on MOVE’s Powelton Village headquarters in Philadelphia, resulting in the death of a police officer and the arrest and long-term imprisonment of nine MOVE members. Almost a decade later, on May 13, 1985, the city of Philadelphia dropped a satchel bomb on the new MOVE headquarters on Osage Avenue after a two-day standoff between the group and Philadelphia Police. The bomb destroyed 61 houses and displaced 236 people.^[4] The fire killed six adults and five children. Mumia’s sister, Romona Africa, is one of the two adults who survived the 1985 bombing.

In the decades to come, mobilization efforts to free Mumia Abu-Jamal would correlate his arrest with the police bombing of the MOVE organization. Partisan Defense Committee (PDC) spokesman Deborah Mackson is quoted in a Black newspaper published in June 1995 as claiming, “It is the same Philadelphia police who are guilty of murder in the horrendous 1985 firestorm of the MOVE commune where they killed eleven Black people, including five babies and reduced an entire city block to rubble. The international campaign to save the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal is growing and will not be intimidated by thugs in uniform who act as if they are above the law.”^[5]

Initial Mumia movement and achievements

The earliest articles in our database begin in 1994 so the first protest event in our dataset is on Tuesday April 12th, 1994, when nearly 500 protestors pushed their way into the Philadelphia state capitol building demanding to meet with Governor Casey over the fate of Mumia. The supporters insisted that Mumia was a victim of a frame-up and was convicted because of his “political beliefs” and because he is Black.^[6] “We have overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that this man is innocent,” said Pamela Africa, organizer of the Abu-Jamal contingent. “This case symbolizes the racial biases of the death penalty.”^[7] Simultaneously, a counter protest was staged by Philadelphia police officers who stormed through the capitol chanting “Kill Mumia!”

On June 1st, 1995, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge signed a death warrant for Mumia and set August 17 at 10:00 p.m. as the execution date. In the following days, protests erupted in cities across the United States and around the world. The death date announcement led to nationwide rallies being organized on June 3, 1995, in Philadelphia, New York, California and Minneapolis. Protesters demanded the release of Mumia based on both his innocence and denial of a fair trial. New Yorkers joined forces to show solidarity at Penn Station, marching around the perimeters of Madison Square Garden.^[8] A rally in Minneapolis resulted in the arrest of at least eleven people, when, according to the Twin Cities Coalition to Defend Mumia Abu-Jamal, police “unexpectedly charged a peaceful demonstration … (using) mace and horses to violently disperse the crowd of over 200.”^[9]

The San Francisco Bay Area was the site of numerous protest events in 1995 on Mumia’s behalf. On June 3, over 600 people gathered to protest at a downtown Oakland rally demanding the release of Mumia. On June 26, some 600 demonstrators set out from United Nations Plaza in San Francisco to march to the Mission District Police Station on Valencia Street. Several trash bins were torched, and the police reportedly arrested 279 on felony arson charges. All were released within two days, and the charges were later dropped. On June 28, about 150 people in San Francisco held another rally in support of Mumia, marching from Market Street to the Mission District, this time ending without incident.^[10]

Letter writing campaigns were an important tactic used by Mumia’s supporters. Since signing the death warrant, faxes, letters and proclamations from politicians, celebrities and academics streamed by the hundreds into judges and the governor’s chambers, pleading on behalf of Mumia. One article reported Governor Ridge receiving over 10,000 faxes on Mumia’s behalf. “Ridge keeps changing his fax number and telephone number to stop these calls,” said Marjory Stamberg, a spokesperson for the New-York based Partisan Defense Committee for Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[11]

The next nationwide rally in our dataset was the largest gathering yet of supporters for Mumia. August 12, 1995 was named “the National Day of Protest”, with planned demonstrations in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, and two European cities, Amsterdam and Dublin.^[12] The Day of Protest was organized by the National People’s Campaign, the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, and Equal Justice U.S.A.^[13] Thousands of supporters chanted “Free Mumia now” in front of Philadelphia’s City Hall, inside San Francisco’s Jefferson Square, and at Leimert Park in Los Angeles, California.

The pressure of these local and international mobilizations in support of Mumia appeared to have been a success. On Monday, August 7, just ten days before Mumia’s scheduled execution, Judge Sabo announced that he would put off the execution until all of Mumia’s appeals had been exhausted. The Monday ruling, a surprise reversal in a chain of unsuccessful attempts including appeals to higher courts to save Abu-Jamal’s life, allowed Mumia more time to plead with the courts to reexamine his case.^[14]

Fraternal Order of Police and the publication of Live From Death Row

Three months before the surprise reversal, Mumia published his memoir, Live from Death Row. The book was a continuation of Mumia’s commentary on the “official barbarity” of the American justice system (Abu-Jamal, p. 45). It details prison conditions from inside Huntingdon’s Correctional facility, where Mumia was being held, in central Pennsylvania. Mumia describes the techniques of control, exercises in humiliation, and deadening effects of isolation employed by the state (Abu-Jamal, p.15). Behind the false promises of corrections, at the heart of this country’s death penalty scheme is what Mumia called “the crucible of race”, where the customary practices of control and dehumanization are in no way constitutional (Abu-Jamal, p. 29). “Welcome to Huntingdon’s death row” Mumia writes, “where the denizens of death row are black as molasses, and the staff are white bread” (Abu-Jamal, p. 28).

The book’s insights on the “mentality of the criminal system of injustice, suffused by the toxin of racism” seemed to mobilize the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) to silence Mumia and intimidate his supporters to expedite his execution. Two weeks after the book was published, the FOP escalated their campaign against Mumia by inviting President Clinton to appear at their national gathering alongside Maureen Faulkner, Officer Faulker’s widow. On May 14, 1995, three hundred police officers held a rally in July 1995 at the corner where Faulkner was killed, a “silent vigil of outrage,” said Richard Costello, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police. “It’s important to keep his spirit alive,” Officer Gary Bell was reported saying. Officer Bell was Faulkner’s police partner and best friend. The FOP also succeeded in pressuring National Public Radio to abruptly cancel the broadcast of Mumia’s scheduled commentaries from the book on All Things Considered. ^[15] This further inflamed debates across the country about censorship and the death penalty (Abu-Jamal, p. 188).

The late 1990s

Protests persisted through the end of the 1990s demanding the release of Mumia. Mobilization efforts peaked again in late 1998 following the State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s denial of a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Several rallies and demonstrations were organized in the wake of the denial, including a rally at New York’s Grand Central Station, where Dr. Joel Kovel, a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, read a statement criticizing the criminal justice system and demanding a new trial. “Mumia’s case has taken on broad historical proportions that go beyond a cruel fate meted out to an innocent man,” Dr. Joel Kovel stated. “In a larger sense, it is no longer Mumia on trial, but the American system of criminal justice. The odor of police brutality and racism hung over the case from the start, along with the frankly prejudicial and arbitrary behavior of Judge Sabo.”^[16]

1999 was another important year of protests and counter protests. In January 1999, a sold-out concert was organized to benefit Mumia Abu-Jamal at Continental Arena in New Jersey. Headliners included Rage Against the Machine, the Beastie Boys, Bad Religion and Black Star. The concert became controversial when several New Jersey state troopers asked not to be assigned to help with security. The New York Amsterdam reported that the protesting officers claimed the concert was benefiting someone who was convicted of killing a police officer and working at the concert would send the message that they supported the cause.^[17] Later that month on the 26th, a protest was held inside of Philadelphia’s town hall demanding a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. On the steps outside of town hall a counter rally was organized by the Policemen’s Benevolent Association in support of the slain officer.^[18]

April 24, 1999, was the next nationwide demonstration to protest Mumia’s pending execution. The April 24 “Millions for Mumia” was a national day of protest coordinated by Monica Moorehead of Workers World. A reported 10,000 protesters attended. Later that year, in October 1999, the U.S. The Supreme Court, without comment, declined to review Mumia’s appeal.

The 2000s

In February 2000, Amnesty International released a 39-page report calling for a new trial. On February 28, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition organized a demonstration outside the US Supreme Court during their consideration of William vs. Taylor, a landmark case that challenged restrictions to habeas corpus law by the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Over 3,000 people gathered outside of the Court to demand a new trial for Mumia and the abolition of capital punishment in the United States. 185 protesters were arrested and over 300 people were arrested at related demonstrations nationwide.^[19]

The next large Mumia protest came in early May 2000. Some 6,000 people crammed into Madison Square Garden in Manhattan to show their support for Abu-Jamal on Sunday May 7, 2000. Organizations in many cities were reportedly filling buses and vans to join the New York event.^[20] Meanwhile, off-duty New York police officers held a counter rally outside the event. A newswire article quoted Police Officer Joseph A. Alejandro, treasurer of the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, as saying: “We’re just trying to counter the anti-police sentiment — not just in New York City — but throughout the country.”^[21]

Juneteenth

As popular recognition of Juneteenth grew in 2000, protests in support of Mumia Abu Jamal and against the death penalty merged with the Juneteenth movement. Following the rally at Madison Square Gardens, organizers issued a call to all anti-death penalty activists and organizations, to organize emergency demonstrations, marches, rallies, and other forms of resistance to the death penalty from June 16th through 19^th, the anniversary of Juneteenth.^[22] Protests occurred on June 16 in eleven states including Texas, Philadelphia, California, Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, Washington, Georgia, Florida, and New Jersey. As one Black newspaper reported, “It is fitting that we turn the days leading up to this historic anniversary associated with the abolition of slavery into an occasion to demand the abolition of the death penalty.”^[23] Many if not most of the protests in 2000 continue to call for a moratorium on capital punishment as part of the Mumia movement.

Another appeal

Mumia’s 2001 appeal case was scheduled for August 17 in Philadelphia. However, Mumia was not allowed to make a court appearance after Court of Common Pleas administrator Joseph DiPrimio determined that Mumia could not be moved to Philadelphia for the trial due to overcrowding in the city jail.^[24] While Mumia could not attend, droves of supporters and anti-death penalty advocates did.

The International Concerned Family and Friends for Mumia Abu-Jamal organized a national fax and phone blitz campaign and a crowd of protesters around 1,000 gathered outside the Criminal Justice Center. Protesters held signs and banners as they gathered in an area behind metal barricades just outside the Center. Across the street on City Hall, construction workers held a counter protest, holding signs reading “Fry Mumia.” “He killed a cop,” said construction worker Danny Brown, a newswire article reports, “Why should they free him?”^[25]

The struggle continues

In March 2013, Philadelphia’s district attorney, Seth Williams, succumbed to the global pressure of millions of Mumia supporters and announced that his office would not continue to seek the death penalty. A Black newspaper quotes Mumia stating, “My dear friends, brothers and sisters, I want to thank you for your real hard work and support. I am no longer on death row, no longer in the hole; I’m in the population. This is only part one, and I thank you all for the work you’ve done. But the struggle is for freedom!”^[26]

The last protest event appearing in our data is on April 24, 2013, in Philadelphia. Activists gathered on the 59th birthday of Mumia to demand his conviction be overturned and secure his release from prison.

Data and Methods

This analysis focuses on the perspectives of Black newspapers and the movement. The primary sources used for the qualitative analysis were U.S. newswire sources (Associated Press Worldsteam, New York Times, Los Angeles Times/Washington Post) and Black newspapers (New York Beacon, New York Amsterdam, Michigan Citizen, Philadelphia Tribune, Los Angeles Sentinel, Sun-Reporter, New Pittsburgh Courier, The Cape Verdean News, and Miami Times) published from 1994 to 2013. In analyzing the news stories, the author looked for: (1) how Mumia and the movement were characterized (2) how protests were portrayed, specifically how the actions and perspectives of protesters were described; (3) the extent to which the police appeared to be sources for the article, specifically by emphasizing the police perspective on the episode.

Police perspectives include an emphasis on police efforts at crowd control or police tactics, but specific attention was paid to the quoting of police sources regarding the protest event or the police viewpoint on the Mumia trial and movement. Protester perspectives include quotations from protesters, community members, and other activists, as well as information about how the protests were organized that would have activists as the source. In many cases, the newswire coverage highlights perspectives of police officers, city officials, and Officer Faulkner’s friends and family. Black newspapers focus the perspective of activists, the diversity of Black mobilization efforts, and the need for systemic change in the criminal justice system.

Variations in Coverage: A Qualitative Comparison

Mumia’s case became the rallying cry for death penalty opponents around the world. Our data provides insight into the variations in coverage of the movement by Black newspapers and the newswire.

Newswire

Numerous newswire articles characterize Mumia as an “out-of-work radio journalist” with a “mediagenic personality who appeals to activists with extremist political views.”^[27] He is described as a “black militant”^[28] and “convicted police killer” and his case is frequently correlated with resentment for Philadelphia police.^[29] As one newswire article wrote:

“Only a small core of protesters argue that Abu-Jamal is innocent. A far greater number say they are protesting because they regard his treatment in the courts as unfair. But amid the fervent support in Philadelphia for Abu-Jamal is an undercurrent of resentment among police officers over the attention he has garnered at the expense, they contend, of the memory of Faulkner, their slain colleague.”^[30]

Another newswire article emphasized an “undercurrent of resentment against the Philadelphia Police Department” as one of the leading reasons why the case has gained such attention and people joined the movement. His fame is framed as unprecedented, strange, and almost irrational, as one New York Times article in August 1995 wrote:

“When Mumia Abu-Jamal is led into the courtroom each morning, dreadlocks swishing against the back of his prison-issue shirt, supporters leap to their feet in applause, chanting his name, professing their love and stamping their feet as one man inevitably proclaims: “Mumia will be free.” It is strange treatment for a man who is a convicted cop killer, but in the last several months Abu-Jamal, a radio reporter turned death-row essayist, has become so much more.”^[31]

Perspectives of police officers, city officials, and Officer Faulkner’s friends and family are more frequently highlighted in newswire than Black newspapers. Mayor Ed Rendell is quoted by a newswire article as describing the current hearing as a distraction, calling the evidence against Abu-Jamal “overwhelming and compelling” and claiming that the protesters “simply do not know the facts of the case.^[32] The same article quotes Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez describing Abu-Jamal’s supporters as “nitwits.”^[33]

The perspective of Maureen Faulkner, the widow of the police officer Mumia was accused of killing, is particularly emphasized in the newswire:

“But debates have little meaning to Maureen Faulkner, who sits silent and seething in court each day, watching Abu-Jamal receive the applause of his supporters. She is the wife of Daniel Faulkner, the Philadelphia police officer who was shot five times while making a traffic stop at about 4 a.m. on Dec. 9, 1981.To her, the proceedings have added insult to death. “The people supporting Mr. Jamal does not know the facts of the case,” Faulkner said Thursday in an interview. “He was not a journalist at the time of the murder. He was an unemployed, part-time taxi driver. I have flown 3,000 miles to look at the supposed new facts in the case, and I have seen nothing that has absolved Mr. Jamal. He is still guilty of murder in the first degree, the murder of my husband. I am tired of the defense delays, day after day. “I am willing to sit down and talk to Ed Asner,” the Hollywood actor and Jamal supporter, “and the others to review court records,” she added. “I would like them to look me in the eye and tell me that Mr. Jamal is not guilty of murder.”^[34]

Another New York Times article published in the same month (August 1995) describes how the support that has been showered on Abu-Jamal has shaken and saddened Faulkner’s widow:

“To Mrs. Faulkner, Abu-Jamal is a killer and a thief who stole her dreams. The Faulkner’s were married for slightly more than a year when he was gunned down a few blocks from the site of Saturday’s rally, and they did not have a chance to start a family. “It’s becoming quite draining on me to come here day after day and relive what happened,” she said last week as the hearing broke for lunch. “Mr. Jamal murdered my husband in cold blood.”^[35]

Black newspapers

There is significantly more coverage of the Mumia case by Black newspapers than newswires in our data. The newswire sources published 24 articles covering the Mumia movement while Black newspaper published 106. Black newspapers described the Mumia conviction as a “legal lynching.”^[36] Articles tended to focus on the diverse mobilization efforts by various groups of all ethnicities and from around the world who banded together in support of Abu-Jamal and to protest a pattern of racist capital punishment practiced in the United States.^[37]

Mumia is portrayed not only as a victim of a racist criminal justice system, but as being framed for the murder because of his outspoken criticism of the system and ties with the Black Panther Party and the M.O.V.E. organization. The Michigan Citizen described Mumia as the “voice of the voiceless” and “the victim of a racist frame-up” who was going to be executed “for his political activities and beliefs.”^[38] The Sun Reporter described Mumia as “one of the most outspoken voices in American journalism” with no criminal record.^[39] Mumia’s trial is characterized by Black newspapers as a mockery^[40], a case tainted by the flagrant bias^[41] where Mumia is being railroaded by a hostile judge^[42] and for “who he is rather than what he has done.”^[43]

A diverse and sustained global movement

What is most significant about the Mumia movement is its diverse and sustained momentum. For over four decades, ​​people around the world have staged protests, organized marches, written thousands of letters, and garnered international attention on Mumia’s behalf.

The supporters named in our protest data are diverse, including celebrities, writers, college professors, organizations, religious leaders, and international human rights advocates. Filmmakers Spike Lee, author Alice Walker, Nobel Laureate George Wald, actor Ed Asner, actress Whoopi Goldberg, Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Amnesty International and PEN, the international writers’ organization, all participated in the global effort to stop Mumia’s execution.^[44] American scholars formed the Academics for Mumia Abu-Jamal, an ad hoc group of college professors in the United States, joined picketing efforts^[45] alongside representatives of the ACLU, Amnesty International, the National Lawyers Guild, the United Teachers Los Angeles and Black Journalists of Southern California.^[46] The Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, Political Prisoner Kazi Committee, Dec. 12th Movement, New African Liberation Front, New Black Panther Party, CODE and the Black Power Brigade were among the myriad of grassroots groups involved in organizing marches.^[47] As one Black newspaper wrote:

“From Seattle, Wash. to Miami, Fla. students and youth; activists and organizers; academics and educators; people from religious and civic organizations are outraged at the denial of a fair trial and demand justice in this controversial case.”^[48]

Mobilization efforts to free Mumia, who is no longer on death row but remains in prison under a sentence of life without parole, continue to this day.

Notes

1. The Sun Reporter, “Mumia Death Warrant Signed Three Weeks After Big Lie.” June 8, 1995. ↑

2. Abu-Jamal, Mumia. (1995). Live From Death Row. Addison-Wesley Publishing. Pp 183. ↑

3. The Sun Reporter, “Mumia Death Warrant Signed Three Weeks After Big Lie.” June 8, 1995. ↑

4. The New Pittsburgh Courier, “Ridge Signs Abu-Jamal Death Warrant: Governor makes no apologies, as opposition sounds in Pittsburgh” June 7, 1995. ↑

5. The Michigan Citizen, “Black Panther to be executed.” June 24, 1995. ↑

6. The Philadelphia Tribune, “Abu-Jamal supporters pack capitol; demand to see Casey.” April 15, 1994. ↑

7. ​​ Philadelphia Tribune, “Abu-Jamal supporters pack capitol; demand to see Casey.” April 15, 1994. ↑

8. The New York Beacon, “The World Screams, “SAVE MUMIA.” June 14, 1995. ↑

9. The Sun Reporter, “Mumia Death Warrant Signed Three Weeks After Big Lie.” June 8, 1995. ↑

10. The Sun Reporter, “Time Running Out for Abu-Jamal.” July 6, 1995. ↑

11. The Sun Reporter, “Time Running Out for Abu-Jamal.” July 6, 1995. ↑

12. The Sun Reporter, “August 12 ‘Day of Protest’ Continues Despite Mumia’s Stay Of Execution.” August 10, 1995. ↑

13. The Philadelphia Tribune, “​​Thousands rally for Mumia at City Hall.” August 15, 1995. ↑

14. The Los Angeles-Sentinel, “Abu-Jamal Granted More Time to Plead Case.” August 16, 1995. ↑

15. The Michigan Citizen, “Black Panther to be executed” June 24, 1995. ↑

16. The New York Amsterdam News, “New trial denied for Abu-Jamal.” November 5, 1998. ↑

17. The New York Amsterdam News, “​​Mumia supporters rock the house to save his life.” February 4, 1999. ↑

18. ​​The New York Amsterdam News, “Mumia supporters gear up for Philly.” March 4, 1999. ↑

19. The New York Beacon, “​​349 Arrests Nationwide.” March 15, 2000. ↑

20. The New York Beacon, “May 7 Organizers Condemn Threats of Police Counter Demonstration.” April 19, 2000. ↑

21. The Associated Press Worldstream, “NY Rallies for Condemned Murderer.” May 7, 2000. ↑

22. The New York Beacon, “Mass Protest Called to End Death Penalty.” June 7, 2000. ↑

23. The New York Beacon, “Mass Protest Called to End Death Penalty.” June 7, 2000. ↑

24. The Philadelphia Tribune, “​​Supporters, but no Mumia for today’s hearing.” August 17, 2001. ↑

25. ​​ The Associated Press Worldstream, “RETRANSMITTING to correct slug style As hundreds protest peacefully outside, lawyers make new court.” August 17, 2001. ↑

26. The New York Amsterdam, “Campaign to free Mumia.” April 18, 2013. ↑

27. Los Angeles Times/Washington Post newswire, “Abu-Jamal Case Draws Attention of Activists (Philadelphia).” August 7, 1995. ↑

28. The Associated Press Worldstream, “Writers Demand Retrial For Condemned U.S. Journalist.” August 1, 1995. ↑

29. The Los Angeles Times/Washington Post newswire, “​​Convicted Police Killer Begins Latest Court Battle (Philadelphia).” July 26, 1995. ↑

30. The Los Angeles Times/Washington Post newswire, “Abu-Jamal Case Draws Attention of Activists (Philadelphia).” August 7, 1995. ↑

31. The New York Times newswire, “CONTROVERSY SEETHES OVER DEATH PENALTY FOR CONVICTED MURDERER.” August 3, 1995. ↑

32. The New York Times newswire, “CONTROVERSY SEETHES OVER DEATH PENALTY FOR CONVICTED MURDERER.” August 8, 1995. ↑

33. The New York Times newswire, “CONTROVERSY SEETHES OVER DEATH PENALTY FOR CONVICTED MURDERER.” August 8, 1995. ↑

34. The New York Times newswire, “CONTROVERSY SEETHES OVER DEATH PENALTY FOR CONVICTED MURDERER.” August 8, 1995. ↑

35. The New York Times newswire, “PROTESTERS DEMAND RETRIAL FOR ABU-JAMAL.” August 12, 1995. ↑

36. The Los Angeles Sentinel, “Abu-Jamal Granted More Time to Plead Case.” August 16, 1995. ↑

37. The Los Angeles Sentinel, “Abu-Jamal Granted More Time to Plead Case.” August 16, 1995. ↑

38. The Michigan Citizen, “Black Panther to be executed.” June 24, 1995. ↑

39. The Sun Reporter, “Time Running Out for Abu-Jamal.” July 6, 1995. ↑

40. The New York Amsterdam, “​​Thousands cheer Mumia.” May 11, 2000. ↑

41. The New Pittsburgh Courier, “Mumia Abu-Jamal protest scheduled for Philly, S.F.” April 24, 1999. ↑

42. The Cape Verdean News, “​​Major demonstration planned in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal.” April 15, 1999. ↑

43. The Philadelphia Tribune, “Abu-Jamal pays price for expressing a given right” December 18, 1998. ↑

44. The Miami Times, “Miamians join fight to save life of condemned journalist.” August 3, 1995. ↑

45. The Los Angeles Times/Washington Post newswire, “Abu-Jamal Case Draws Attention of Activists (Philadelphia)” August 7, 1995. ↑

46. The Los Angeles Sentinel, “​​Local Rights Activists Call for Overturning Abu-Jamal Conviction.” May 16, 2000. ↑

47. The New York-Amsterdam News, “Harlem activists join forces for Mumia.” September 9, 1999. ↑

48. The New Pittsburgh Courier, “Mumia Abu-Jamal protest scheduled for Philly, S.F.” April 24, 1999. ↑