Plainfield, NJ – Four members of People’s Organization for Progress (POP) were arrested here Nov. 17 during a peaceful rally. They were protesting against police brutality and the violence that is permitted to rage in low-income communities.

The following is a special editorial from Fight Back! that's being distributed as a leaflet among the evacuees in Houston, Texas.

Plainfield, NJ – The People’s Organization for Progress (POP) called a rally here, Dec. 15 to protest the Nov. 19 arrest of four of its members. The 4 were peacefully rallying against police brutality and violence in the community when they were arrested, photographed and charged with unlawful assembly.

Newark, NJ – The chanting rang out: “Shoot…and shoot! And lock and load and shoot!” at a rally here, April 26, called to protest New York Judge Arthur Cooperman’s exoneration of three police officers for killing Sean Bell. The victim was 23 when he was killed in 2006 in a barrage of 50 shots. He was to be married the next day.

East Orange, NJ – On August 15, seventy-five people protested the brutal treatment of 12 year-old Az-Jhane Hayes by police in East Orange, NJ. The People's Organization for Progress called the protest at the request of Corey Bracey, the girl's father.

Philadelphia, PA – On April 24, tens of thousands of people, some from as far as France, gathered here at the Millions for Mumia March. A simultaneous demonstration took place in San Francisco, California. Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former member of the Black Panther Party, has been on death row for over a decade for a crime he did not commit. Attempts by the city officials to prevent the march by not granting a permit failed, as people united around the rallying cry: Free Mumia! Speakers ranging from the Black Police Officers Federation to the Move organization called for Mumia's release.

Philadelphia, PA – On October 13 1999, Governor Ridge of Pennsylvania signed a new warrant for “the execution by lethal injection of Mumia Abu-Jamal of Philadelphia.” The execution date is set for December 2.

There has been a positive new development in the struggle to free Mumia Abu- Jamal. Judge William H. Yohn, a Pennsylvania District Court judge, has agreed to review the entire trial record before he makes his decision on whether or not to grant an evidentiary hearing in Mumia's case.

Washington, D.C. – 1,000 people descended on the Supreme Court, February 28, demanding a new trial for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Protestors blocked traffic and clogged the streets in a civil disobedience action. Police arrested 185 people. The Washington D.C. demonstration coincided with a protest in San Francisco where 166 people were arrested for jamming the streets around the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Demand Relief, Action and Justice Now!

Statement by Freedom Road Socialist Organization