San Francisco 8 preliminary hearing starts Monday, June 8

June 4, 2009

8 a.m. rally to drop the charges, 9 a.m. court hearing, 850 Bryant St. at Seventh, San Francisco

The San Francisco 8 are Black community elders and activists – former Black Panthers and associates – arrested in January 2007 on charges related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer. The case against the SF8 is a frame up based on torture-induced “confessions” and fabricated evidence. The same case was thrown out of court 30 years ago but was revived after 9/11 with money from Homeland Security. After two and a half long years, the preliminary hearing is finally starting on June 8 and is expected to last for three months. The hearing will determine whether or not the SF 8 will go to trial.

In an effort to bolster the very weak case against the SF 8, the San Francisco Chronicle just published a sensationalistic article filled with racist innuendos and unsubstantiated implications. Without offering one shred of evidence, the article – by John Koopman, dated May 24, online at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/23/MNU217OU14.DTL – implies that the murder of a young white woman in 1971 is somehow linked to the SF 8. We must demand that the Chronicle and other corporate media stop circulating such blatant misinformation!

What you can do to help

Attend court during the preliminary hearing from June to September
Sign the open letter demanding that Attorney General Jerry Brown drop the charges against the SF 8: http://www.freethesf8.org/what_to_do.html
Write the SF Chronicle demanding that they retract Koopman’s inflammatory article: letters@sfchronicle.com
Invite a speaker from the SF 8 Defense Committee to your school or organization; call (415) 226-1120
Donate to support the work to free the SF 8: http://www.freethesf8.org/donate.html
Sign up to get regular information and updates about the SF8 case: http://freedomarchives.org/mailman/listinfo/CDHRsupport_freedomarchives.org

For more information, call (415) 226-1120 or go to www.freethesf8.org.