Defend Minister of Information JR Monday: Rally 8am, Court 9am

JR-spoke-after-Bobby-Seale-at-BPP-43rd-reunion-Laney-102409-by-Malaika-Kambon-web, Defend Minister of Information JR Monday: Rally 8am, Court 9am, Local News & Views The Bay Area is rallying around POCC Minister of Information, Block Report Radio broadcaster and Bay View Associate Editor JR, who still faces three years in prison on a felony – even though all charges have been dropped against some 160 others arrested during the Oakland Rebellions demanding justice for Oscar Grant. Clearly he is targeted because of his journalism; his courageous coverage of police terrorism is known throughout the country.

Two influential organizations are calling for everyone to come out Monday, Dec. 7, at 8 a.m. for a rally in JR’s defense and to stay to pack the courtroom at 9 a.m. It’s Courtroom 11 of the Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St., 12th and Oak, in Downtown Oakland, the courthouse made famous by the many rallies the Black Panther Party held there.

For JR, who constantly jeopardizes his own safety to bring the truth to the people, let us stand strong and show the criminal injustice system that we will defend our defenders!

Los Angeles Dec. 12: Spread the word to everyone you know in the Los Angeles area that Minister of Information JR will be showing his new film, “Operation Small Axe,” on Saturday, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m., at the Kaos Network, 4343 Leimert Blvd, Los Angeles. Watch the “Operation Small Axe” trailer (below) and invite everyone to join JR to strategize on preparing LA for the trial of Johannes Mehserle, the BART police trigger man who killed Oscar Grant.

Here are the email messages circulating from the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Critical Resistance to rally ‘round Minister of Information JR on Monday, Dec. 7, and his co-defendant Holly Noll, aka Holly Works, on Monday, Dec. 14:

Defend JR Valrey!

Drop All Charges Against the Activists in the Protests of the Police Murder of Oscar Grant!

Rally at JR’s Next Court Hearing!

8 am, Monday, December 7th 2009, Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St., Oakland CA

Journalist JR Valrey was arrested by Oakland Police on the night of January 7th, 2009, for covering the street uprising following the police murder of Oscar Grant. JR has consistently covered police brutality and terrorism. The bogus charge he faces: felony arson! JR is accused of starting a fire in a barrel on the street, but he had no fire-making equipment (no matches, no lighter, etc.) at the time. He was working as a journalist, covering the protests over the murder of Oscar Grant – and this is what the police are persecuting him for.

JR Valrey is POCC Minister of Information, host of Block Report Radio, a producer of Flashpoints at KPFA, and associate editor of the SF Bay View newspaper

Co-defendant Holly Works, another victim of the police attacks on the protesters of Oscar Grant’s murder, has her hearing one week later, on Monday, December 14th, at the same court. Defend Holly Works, 8 AM, 14 December 2009, 1225 Fallon in Oakland.

Protest the Police Murder of Oscar Grant!

The BART cop who put a bullet in the back of the young Oscar Grant – while Grant was lying face down on a BART platform – is Johannes Mehserle. With 45 police killings in Oakland in the past 5 years, Mehserle is the only cop to be charged with murder while on duty. But the cops are pulling out all the stops to avoid a conviction. With a starkly racist argument, Mesherle’s lawyer has succeeded in getting the trial moved out of Oakland!

Demonstrate, and attend the hearing: 8 am, Monday, December 7th 2009, Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St Oakland CA

Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal

PO Box 16222 • Oakland CA 94610 • 510-763-2347

***

Oakland Community Demands Accountability

Court Support Continues for People Arrested Demonstrating Against Oscar Grant’s Murder

What: Community support for people facing felonies from Oscar Grant protests

When: December 7th & December 14th, 2009, 8 A.M.

Where: Alameda County Superior Court, 1225 Fallon St, Court Room 11

Who: Plan for a Safer Oakland

Oakland, CA – Nearly one year after the murder of Oscar Grant III by BART police, Oakland community members and organizations continue their support for three people with remaining felony charges stemming from arrests during the Oscar Grant protests in January. Supporters will gather outside the courthouse at 8:00 am on December 7 and December 14th, where JR Valrey and Holly Noll are still facing felony charges for their participation in last winter’s demonstrations against Grant’s murder.

“Dropping charges against the protesters is part of widespread community efforts to keep pressure and attention on a range of demands around law enforcement in Oakland,” said Manuel La Fontaine, a member of Plan for a Safer Oakland, which is a coalition of community members and organizations demanding amnesty for all people arrested during the Oscar Grant demonstrations. “Police violence against people of color, particularly young people of color, is a direct result of the criminalization of our communities. We must express our anger and organize for just, healthy, and sustainable communities that don’t rely on policing.”

“The police have no evidence against me. This is clearly a political case,” says JR Valrey, an independent journalist who was arrested while covering the street protest last January 7th. The Oakland Police Department has refused to release JR’s camera, which they confiscated as evidence during his arrest. “My real crime in the eyes of the government was covering the people of Oakland’s outrage to the police murder of Oscar Grant and lack of city government’s response.”

Plan for a Safer Oakland is focused around a three point plan, which demands re-entry support and services for people returning from prison; investment in people, not prisons or police; and support for Oakland youth who continue to be targeted and criminalized by the police. More information about Plan for a Safer Oakland can be found at www.criticalresistance.org.

***

Operation Small Axe theatrical trailer. 393films

“Operation Small Axe” takes a raw and unflinching look at life under police terrorism in Oakland. Through the stories of Oscar Grant, Lovelle Mixon and POCC Minister of Information JR Valrey, the film focuses on the occupation of Oakland’s communities of color by militarized and racist police forces. Oscar Grant was shot in the back and killed by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle on Jan. 1 of this year. On March 21, Lovelle Mixon was killed by Oakland police after having allegedly shot five OPD officers, killing four.