For those who don’t know. The murder of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman was a defining moment in history. An 17 year old adolescent was murdered on his way home from the store by a self proclaimed “Neighborhood Watch” volunteer.
1. George Zimmerman called the police about a “suspicious person” and called Trayvon a “Coon” while speaking to the 911 dispatch who ordered him not to follow Trayvon.
2. Any self proclaimed “Neighborhood Watch” volunteer would know their neighbors. However this piece of trash didn’t.
3. George Zimmerman cited the “Stand Your Ground” law in his defense which allows people to use maximum force when defending themselves from hostile aggressors. The only problem was, the child that he murdered was the only person who could have cited that law as a justification for force. Zimmerman attacked Trayvon, even after being ordered by the police to not follow him.
4. A grown man attacks an unarmed child and shoots him. It is clear who the threat was in this instance and it’s clear who should have had the sense to stand down.
This murder divided the country. Racists and bigots on one side calling Trayvon a “thug”. While the rest of humanity viewed this as the type of murder most often perpetrated by law enforcement personnel.
Enter the Trayvon 2.
Oakland California is a city where police murder and violence is rampant, but it is also a city where people fight back.
It is in that context that we have the Trayvon 2, Hannibal Shakur and Tanzeen Doha, who are both muslims, both organizers, and are the only two people the state has isolated for prosecution.
Aside from these two being innocent, the court has not even been able to fabricate evidence against them. Officers testimonies have contradicted each other, and not one video has been submitted to substantiate OPD’s allegations. For those that don’t know, Oakland Police have been in the longest decent decree in American history. They are that brutal and corrupt that they were nearly taken over the by feds last year. Oakland Police are mandated to wear body cameras, and are required to activate them when they engage with members of the public, yet only one of the arresting officers had a camera activated.
Like the George Zimmerman trial, the Oakland Trayvon 2 case has been muddled with racism and bigotry from the beginning, and tomorrow is the first day of Trial.
If you are in the bay, come support them, and if you are further away, be aware of this case as it is yet another tragic assault on black and brown people who are taking a stand for those who lives have been cut short by Police and Vigilantes. . .
For more about the Trayvon 2 check out http://thetrayvon2.wordpress.com/
and here is some more info about the case. .
1) The Trayvon 2, Hannibal Shakur (Lamar Caldwell) and Tanzeen Doha are two local activists being prosecuted for protests last July against the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict in the murder of Trayvon Martin. According to the San Jose Mercury News, they are the only two people being prosecuted in relation to the July protests.
2) They are being railroaded through the judicial system on false charges of felony vandalism of a window. Why? Because they are Muslim and they speak out against racist injustice, and because of their past activism against racism and imperialism. Tanzeen worked actively on questions of race, religion, and colonialism at UC Davis and other universities like San Francisco State and San Jose State. Hannibal was active in the protests around Oscar Grant’s 2009 murder by BART police.
3) The case against them is full of irregularities already and they are still just in the pre-trial phase. Hannibal and Tanzeen were initially charged separately, Tanzeen only with a misdemeanor. Oddly, they were made co-defendants well after the arrest. They were arrested on the spurious charge of felony vandalism.
4) The state has been dragging its feet since August on these totally false charges, maximizing the impact of this lengthy prosecution on the lives of Tanzeen (who is a husband and father) and Hannibal (who is battling cancer). One week, the prosecution even forgot the court date!
5) The state is acting like it has something to hide. And at the last court date, they asked for another continuance because the arresting officer has not responded to repeated subpoena attempts. Then, something really unusual happened: The judge had to issue a warrant for the arresting officer.
These young men are entitled to a speedy trial and they should not be prosecuted on such flimsy evidence. Why is the state dragging this out? Why is the state avoiding presenting its evidence? Why won’t the officer answer the subpoenas? The police and prosecutor are trying to stretch this out to maximize the level of inconvenience and the problems these two men face.
The Trayvon 2 are being charged with felony vandalism of a window, an outrageous charge designed to arrest activists found anywhere near a broken window. Clearly, the DA is using the threat of non-existent evidence to force these young activists to admit to something they did not do.
We’ve seen the state targeting activists in this way before.The only reason the state and its white supremacist allies have failed is because the resolve of oppressed people has been stronger than the resolve of the oppressive state.
