Conyers won't decry honor for cop-killer

Conyers won't decry
honor for cop-killer
Incoming Judiciary chairman, 30 other Democrats
vote 'no' on resolution condemning 'Mumia Street'

Twenty-five years after former radio journalist and Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal drew his .38-caliber revolver and shot Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in the face – after first shooting him in the back – 31 Democrat members of Congress voted "no" and 8 voted "present" on a resolution condemning the decision by the city of St. Denis, France, to name a street in honor of the convicted cop-killer.

On the night of Dec. 9, 1981, Faulkner, then 12 days short of his 26th birthday and still a newlywed, spotted William Cook, Abu-Jamal's brother, driving the wrong way down a one-way street. After Faulkner pulled Cook over, a scuffle followed and Abu-Jamal, who was sitting in the taxicab he drove at the time, ran across the street to the scene. According to prosecutors, Abu-Jamal, who was armed with a revolver, fired at Faulkner, hitting him in the back. The wounded officer turned and returned fire, hitting Abu-Jamal in the chest. Abu-Jamal then shot Faulkner in the face.

Abu-Jamal maintained his innocence and claimed he was shot by police as he ran toward the scuffle. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982, his execution warrant being signed by then Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge.

In the years that followed, Abu-Jamal has become a cause célèbre for the left, both in the U.S. and internationally. A federal judge overturned his death sentence in 2001 but let the conviction stand, resulting in appeals being filed by both sides. Last year, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to consider the appeal of his conviction.

In 2003, Abu-Jamal was made an honorary citizen of Paris and in April of this year, the French city of St. Denis named a newly constructed street in his honor, Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., who was narrowly defeated in November, losing his seat to by 1,500 votes, authored the resolution condemning the decision by St. Denis and voted on this week.

"We must stand together and send a strong message to the world that cop-killers deserve to be punished, not to be celebrated," Fitzpatrick told the Delaware County Times.

The vote was 361-31, with eight members voting "present."

Voting "no":
Abercrombie (Hawaii)
Clay (Mo.)
Cleaver (Mo.)
Conyers (Mich.)
Cooper (Tenn.)
Davis (Ill.)
Grijalva (Ariz.)
Hinchey (N.Y.)
Honda (Calif.)
Jackson Jr. (Ill.)
   Johnson (Texas)
Kilpatrick (Mich.)
Lee (Calif.)
McKinney (Ga.)
Meeks (N.Y.)
Nadler (N.Y.)
Oberstar (Minn.)
Owens (N.Y.)
Pastor (Ariz.)
Payne (N.J.)    Rangel (N.Y.)
Rush (Ill.)
Scott (Va.)
Serrano (N.Y.)
Stark (Calif.)
Towns (N.Y.)
Udall (N.M.)
Velazquez (N.Y.)
Waters (Calif.)
Weiner (N.Y.)
Woolsey (Calif.)

Voting "present":
Farr (Calif.)
Green (Texas)
Gutierrez (Ill.)    Jackson-Lee (Texas)
Lewis (Ga.)
Miller (Calif.)    Schakowsky (Ill.)
Watt (N.C.).

All those voting "no" or "present" were Democrats. The entire Pennsylvania delegation voted "yes."

Among those voting "no" was incoming Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich. The committee is responsible for overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities.

As WND has reported, Conyers, D-Mich., has been on the Mumia campaign since the start, signing letters, addressing rallies and pressuring former President Clinton to intervene. Conyers similarly has embraced the cause of Leonard Peltier, the convicted murderer of 2 FBI special agents. Conyers argues that Mumia, a Muslim African-American, and Peltier, an American Indian, are victims of a racist and bigoted system. He also sued the Department of Justice in 2002 to force an open hearing for Rabih Haddad, leader of a group that U.S. officials said raised money in the U.S. for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist group.

That's not the kind of thinking that sets well with Pat Faulkner, the slain officer's brother.

"I have no respect for any of the (Abu-Jamal) supporters because they don’t even know who Danny was or who Abu-Jamal was," he said. "He's just a poster boy against the death penalty. They have to have somebody. It's sad."