Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Rev. Pinkney Defense Campaign Builds; Wife Says They Remain Strong Despite Racist Imprisonment

Rev. Pinkney addresses rally in Benton Harbor against Whirlpool, Emergency Manager law May 26, 2012.
Rev. Pinkney addresses rally in Benton Harbor against Whirlpool, Emergency Manager law May 26, 2012.

Editor’s Note: HEARING ON PINKNEY PRE-SENTENCING MOTIONS JAN. 15
VOD spoke with Rev. Pinkney’s wife Dorothy Pinkney and their family spokesperson Larry Pinkney (not related) Dec. 28. They informed VOD that Rev. Pinkney’s attorneys filed two motions prior to Rev. Pinkney’s Dec. 15 sentencing to 2.5 to 10 years in state prison. Berrien County Judge Sterling Schrock refused to hear them at the time, but they will be heard in his courtroom Jan. 15, 2014, at the Berrien County Courthouse in St. Joseph, Michigan. 
(L to r) Rev. Pinkney, wife Dorothy, staunch supporter and organizer Marcina Cole during support event at UAW Local 22 hall Sept. 8, 2014.
(L to r) Rev. Pinkney, wife Dorothy, supporter and organizer Marcina Cole during fund-raiser at UAW Local 22 hall in Detroit Sept. 8, 2014.
One motion alleges that the prosecution and court knowingly planted a juror, Gail Freehling, who is friends with one of the chief witnesses against Rev. Pinkney, Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler. 
It says Freehling also knows the Berrien County Sheriff, who initiated the raid on Rev. Pinkney’s home in May and continued terrorizing Benton Harbor residents  who signed petitions to recall Mayor James Hightower. The second is a motion for mistrial, which states there was no evidence for a guilty verdict. It also includes an appeals court decision affirming that violations of the election law are misdemeanors, not felonies. Both are included at Rev. Pinkney motions from attorney Tat Parish.
Rev. Pinkney's photo from Charles Egeler Reception Facility shows that he remains strong, optimistic and unbowed.
Rev. Pinkney’s photo from Charles Egeler Reception Facility shows that he remains strong, optimistic and unbowed.
Dorothy Pinkney told VOD,  “I cannot visit my husband yet because he is still in quarantine at Jackson prison, but I am able to receive calls from him. His spirit is good. His voice sounds like himself. He is still hoping to come out of this situation. He knows a lot of people are concerned and working on his behalf against this racist attack. We’re all waiting on the judge’s decision on the motions Jan. 15. An appeal is ready to go forth if they are denied. 
“My husband is the only voice in the community for the people,” Mrs. Pinkney continued. It is so obvious how they pushed this trial even without evidence, in an attempt to silence him. He wants people to continue the battle to free Rev. Pinkney, and to boycott Whirlpool, Harbor Shores, and the Senior PGA in Benton Harbor. I am holding up, holding on to my faith and beliefs, strengthened by the support out there. I still remain hopeful that my husband will be released soon.”
Rev. Pinkney asks that everyone continue the boycott of Whirlpool, as well as the Harbor Shores development, and the Sr. PGA held at its golf course, all backed by Whirlpool
Rev. Pinkney asks that everyone continue the boycott of Whirlpool, as well as the Harbor Shores development, and the Sr. PGA  which is  held at its golf course, all backed by Whirlpool.
Dorothy Pinkney said when the appeal is filed if the motions are denied, the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans to become involved in the case. She said her husband is locked down 23 out of 24 hours a day, and is assigned only one hour a day to make phone calls, so she remains available at any time for his calls.  
Larry Pinkney said, “We view this horrendous attack not only as an attack against Rev. Pinkney, but on all of us. Our intention is to publicize his case nationally and internationally, and raise funds for his defense.”
Support Pinkney croppedHe said contributions can be made online through PayPal on the Black Autonomy Community Network Organization (BANCO) website at http://www.bhbanco.org/Contributions through check or money order can be mailed c/o BANCO, 1940 Union Ave. Benton Harbor, MI 49022.
Rev. Pinkney is currently housed at the MDOC intake facility in Jackson. He can receive mail at the following address:
Rev. Edward Pinkney #294671
Charles Egeler Reception & Guidance Center (RGC)
3855 Cooper St.  Jackson, MI 49201-7547 

Supporters of Rev. Edward Pinkney comfort Dorothy Pinkney after his sentencing Dec. 15, 2014. They Include Detroiters Abayomi Azikiwe, Marian Kramer, and Monica Patrick. Photo by Joh Madill/donated to People's Tribune.
Supporters of Rev. Edward Pinkney comfort Dorothy Pinkney after his sentencing Dec. 15, 2014. They Include Detroiters Abayomi Azikiwe, Marian Kramer, and Monica Patrick.  photo donated to People’s Tribune.
Activists around the US are angered over racial injustice in southwest Michigan
Pinkney serving 2.5 t-10 years in state prison for alleged “forgery under the Michigan election law;” MSP tech testified there was no evidence 
Sign petition to Eric Holder demanding release
By Abayomi Azikiwe 
Pan-African News Wire
December 20, 2014
DETROIT – Michigan political prisoner Rev. Edward Pinkney is now being held in Jackson state prison. He remains in good spirits despite what many Michigan citizens have labeled the “racial injustice” that has landed him in detention over claims he changed the dates on five signature entries on a recall petition designed to remove Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower.
$85 Million Whirlpool headquarters on St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor. Whirlpool shut down all its plants in Benton Harbor, laying off thousands, and is now in the midst of a massive land grab.
$85 Million Whirlpool headquarters on St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor. Whirlpool shut down all its plants in Benton Harbor, laying off thousands, and is now in the midst of a massive land grab.
During the course of the trial there was no material or circumstantial evidence presented that would implicate Pinkney in the purported five felonies. Many believe the Berrien County activist and leader of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO)  is being punished by the local authorities for opposing the corporate program of Whirlpool Corporation, which is headquartered in Benton Harbor.
In 2012, Pinkney and BANCO led an “Occupy the PGA” demonstration against the world-renown golf tournament that was held at the newly-created Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course on Lake Michigan. The course was carved out of Jean Klock Park, which had been donated to the City of Benton Harbor decades ago.
Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower at Whirlpool HQ event.
Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower at Whirlpool HQ event.
Berrien County officials were determined to defeat a recall campaign [in which Rev. Pinkney participated] against Mayor James Hightower of Benton Harbor who opposed a program to tax local corporations [like Whirlpool] in an effort to create jobs and improve conditions in the majority African American municipality. Benton Harbor, like other Michigan cities, has been devastated by widespread poverty and unemployment.
Statements of support pour in
This is not the first time that Pinkney has been imprisoned for his political activities. In 2007, he was convicted in a second trial, with the first ending in a hung jury, for “mishandling” absentee ballots during a recall election involving two Benton Harbor City Commissioners. The results of the elections removing the officials were overturned after criminal charges were filed against the BANCO leader.
Deutoronomy quotePinkney was sentenced to one year under house arrest and four more years of probation. Later in 2007, he was charged with violating his terms of the sentence for allegedly threatening a judge in Berrien County.
The threat charge stemmed from an article he wrote in the People’s Tribune newspaper based in Chicago where he quoted scriptures from the Old Testament. He was ordered imprisoned for 3-10 years.
[Full quote from Deuteronomy is at Biblical curses for disobedience to God.]
The charges were overturned in late 2008 by the Michigan Appeals Court after the activist received widespread support from the civil liberties, ecumenical and academic communities across the country. He was released at the end of 2008, and successfully completed his probation returning to full-time activism in Berrien County.
Rev. Pinkney ran for Congress against Whirlpool-sponsored Fred Upton on the Green Party slate in 2008.
Rev. Pinkney ran for Congress against Whirlpool-sponsored Fred Upton on the Green Party slate in 2008.
Pinkney, in 2008 from his prison cell, ran for United States Congress on the Green Party ticket in Michigan. He received 3,500 votes in a challenge to Fred Upton, a Republican congressman and heir to the Whirpool corporate dynasty.
In a Dec. 17 statement issued by Green Party Watch, the organization says, “The overt targeting of an African American activist for a politically-motivated prosecution is reminiscent of recent episodes involving Chuck Turner and Elston McCowan, both Greens who challenged the power structures in their communities. In a system where police officers regularly kill unarmed African American men without facing trial, it is especially galling that the same system sentences an African American activist to up to 10 years imprisonment on trumped-up, politically-motivated charges.”
The New Jim Crow bookBlack Agenda Report, a well-known media outlet opposing the corporate influence over African American politics in the U.S., wrote in an editorial last week, entitled, Whirlpool and Racism Imprison another Black Leader, “This may seem like an Old Jim Crow story, about a preacher from a small, mostly Black town who wanted only to help his people through the voting process, but is set upon by backward whites determined to maintain their monopoly on political power. And, it is true; Old Man Jim Crow is alive and well on the banks of Lake Michigan.”
The same editorial continues, “But it is the New Jim Crow, the Mass Black Incarceration State, that has snatched 66 year-old Rev. Pinkney away to what could become life in prison. The judge and prosecutor said Pinkney’s 12 past and present felony convictions make him a career criminal, even though each count stems from an elections process. The Old Jim Crow would have unapologetically sent Pinkney to the chain gang for being an uppity Black man, but the New Jim Crow simply piled on a bunch of felonies to put him away as a serial criminal, allowing the system to claim race had nothing to do with it.”
Truth OutA national conference call was held on Dec. 18, designed to build a defense campaign. Former Vermont State Senator Ben-Zion Ptashnik initiated the call through the People Demanding Action organization. (Ptashnik is also co-editor of Truth Out.)
The conference call included activist members of the clergy, electoral reform organizers, former Green Party candidates, progressive Democrats, the People’s Tribune newspaper, Moratorium NOW! Coalition, and others. The call provided an update on the case, plans to publicize the plight of Rev. Pinkney and the people of Berrien County, recruiting a legal team and a fundraising drive to proceed with an appeal.
Ptashnik and Victorial Collier wrote in on Dec. 16 that “Concerned activists and clergy associated with People Demanding Action, a national social justice organization, are circulating a petition to ministers and various organizations. The petition is to be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for an investigation into the circumstances of Pinkney’s trial and sentencing. To sign the petition, click on:
Related stories:
Dorothy Pinkney article on Rev. Pinkney’s first jail term:  http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/1878  
BAR story on Pinkney sentence http://blackagendareport.com/node/14574
- See more at: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/12/28/rev-pinkney-defense-campaign-builds-wife-says-they-remain-strong-despite-racist-imprisonment/#sthash.gTXxyRST.dpuf

Monday, December 29, 2014

"...political prisoner Rev. Edward Pinkney is now being held in Jackson state prison...on trumped-up, politically motivated charges..."

National defense campaign building for Rev. Edward Pinkney

December 23, 2014
by Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Rev. Pinkney – Photo: Dorothy Pinkney
Rev. Pinkney – Photo: Dorothy Pinkney
Michigan political prisoner Rev. Edward Pinkney is now being held in Jackson state prison. He remains in good spirits despite the racist injustice that has landed him in detention over manufactured claims that he changed the dates on five signature entries on a recall petition designed to remove Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower.
During the course of the trial there was no material or circumstantial evidence presented that would implicate Pinkney in the purported five felonies. Many believe that the Berrien County activist and leader of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO) is being punished by the local authorities for opposing the corporate program of Whirlpool Corp., which is headquartered in Benton Harbor.
In 2012, Pinkney and BANCO led an “Occupy the PGA” demonstration against the world-renowned golf tournament that was held at the newly-created Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course on Lake Michigan. The course was carved out of Jean Klock Park which had been donated to the City of Benton Harbor decades ago.
Berrien County officials were determined to defeat a recall campaign against Mayor Hightower of Benton Harbor, who opposed a program to tax local corporations in an effort to create jobs and improve conditions in the majority African American municipality. Benton Harbor, like other Michigan cities, has been devastated by widespread poverty and unemployment.

Statements of support pour in

This is not the first time that Pinkney has been imprisoned for his political activities. In 2007 he was convicted in a second trial, with the first ending in a hung jury, for “mishandling” absentee ballots during a recall election involving two Benton Harbor city commissioners. The results of the elections removing the officials were overturned after criminal charges were filed against the BANCO leader.
After Rev. Pinkney’s sentencing on Dec. 15, his wife, Dorothy Pinkney, a longtime activist in her own right, discusses with other supporters how to move forward. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
After Rev. Pinkney’s sentencing on Dec. 15, his wife, Dorothy Pinkney, a longtime activist in her own right, discusses with other supporters how to move forward. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
Pinkney was sentenced to one year under house arrest and four more years of probation. Later in 2007, he was charged with violating the terms of his sentence for allegedly threatening a judge in Berrien County.
The threat charge stemmed from an article he wrote in the People’s Tribune newspaper based in Chicago where he quoted scriptures from the Old Testament. He was ordered imprisoned for three to 10 years.
The charges were overturned in late 2008 by the Michigan Appeals Court after the activist received widespread support from the civil liberties, ecumenical and academic communities across the country. He was released at the end of 2008 and successfully completed his probation, returning to full-time activism in Berrien County.
Pinkney in 2008 from his prison cell ran for United States Congress on the Green Party ticket in Michigan. He received 3,500 votes in a challenge to Fred Upton, a Republican congressman and heir to the Whirpool corporate dynasty.
A statement issued Dec. 17 by Green Party Watch says: “The overt targeting of an African-American activist for a politically motivated prosecution is reminiscent of recent episodes involving Chuck Turner and Elston McCowan, both Greens who challenged the power structures in their communities. In a system where police officers regularly kill unarmed African-American men without facing trial, it is especially galling that the same system sentences an African-American activist to up to 10 years imprisonment on trumped-up, politically motivated charges.”

“In a system where police officers regularly kill unarmed African-American men without facing trial, it is especially galling that the same system sentences an African-American activist to up to 10 years imprisonment on trumped-up, politically motivated charges.”

Speaking to the press, Rev. Pinkney supporter Marcina Cole condemns his unjust conviction and sentence. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
Speaking to the press, Rev. Pinkney supporter Marcina Cole condemns his unjust conviction and sentence. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
Black Agenda Report, a well-known media outlet opposing the corporate influence over African American politics in the U.S., wrote in a Dec. 17 editorial: “This may seem like an Old Jim Crow story, about a preacher from a small, mostly Black town who wanted only to help his people through the voting process, but is set upon by backward whites determined to maintain their monopoly on political power. And, it is true; Old Man Jim Crow is alive and well on the banks of Lake Michigan.”
This same editorial goes on, saying: “But it is the New Jim Crow, the Mass Black Incarceration State, that has snatched 66-year-old Rev. Pinkney away to what could become life in prison. The judge and prosecutor said that Pinkney’s 12 past and present felony convictions make him a career criminal, even though each count stems from an elections process. The Old Jim Crow would have unapologetically sent Pinkney to the chain gang for being an uppity Black man, but the New Jim Crow simply piled on a bunch of felonies to put him away as a serial criminal, allowing the system to claim that race had nothing to do with it.”
A national conference call was held on Thursday, Dec. 18, designed to build a defense campaign. Former Vermont State Senator Ben-Zion Ptashnik initiated the call through the People Demanding Action (PDA) organization.
Supporters of Rev. Pinkney demonstrate their anger and determination to win justice. They refuse to be intimidated into silence, though they see clearly the corruption in Berrien County. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
Supporters of Rev. Pinkney demonstrate their anger and determination to win justice. They refuse to be intimidated into silence, though they see clearly the corruption in Berrien County. – Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
The conference call included activist members of the clergy, electoral reform organizers, former Green Party candidates, progressive Democrats, the People’s Tribune newspaper, Moratorium NOW! Coalition and others. The call provided an update on the case and plans to publicize the plight of Rev. Pinkney and the people of Berrien County, recruit a legal team and organize a fundraising drive to proceed with an appeal.
Ptashnik and Victoria Collier wrote in Truth-out.org on Dec. 16: “Concerned activists and clergy associated with People Demanding Action, a national social justice organization, are circulating a petition to ministers and various organizations. The petition is to be forwarded to the U.S. Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for an investigation into the circumstances of Pinkney’s trial and sentencing.”
To sign the petition in support of Rev. Edward Pinkney log on to: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6405/c/10113/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=10735

A national conference call was held on Thursday, Dec. 18, designed to build a defense campaign.

Contributions for the defense of Rev. Pinkney can be sent to BANCO at 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022.
Messages of support for Rev. Pinkney and concern for his welfare should be sent to Warden Randall Haas, G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility, 3500 North Elm Road, Jackson MI 49201, phone 517-780-5600. Encourage the media to ask the warden to arrange an interview with Rev. Pinkney.
Send some love and light to Rev. Pinkney, who is said to be locked down 23 hours a day: Rev. Edward Pinkney, 294671, G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility, 3855 Cooper St., Jackson MI 49201.
Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of Pan-African News Wire, can be reached at panafnewswire@gmail.com. Pan-African News Wire, the world’s only international daily pan-African news source, is designed to foster intelligent discussion on the affairs of African people throughout the continent and the world.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Gail Freehling has an attorney

Gail Freehling was a juror for Berrien County (and Whirlpool...) in the most   
recent trial of Rev. Edward Pinkney. It appears that she has hired a lawyer. This particular lawyer is a power house for the Republican Party.

Berrien County prosecutor Mike Sepic and judge Sterling Schrock are working with Gail Freehling against Pinkney.

Freehling voted to convict Pinkney with absolutely no direct evidence.  

During the week long trial the look on her face and in her eyes was deadly.
Reflecting on the trial Pinkney said that if Freehling's eyes could shoot, he would be a dead man. 

The judge sentenced Pinkney to 2 1/2 - 10 years in prison.  He's an innocent man sitting in a Jackson, MI prison cell.  

Repeated below is the December 14 post on this blog concerning Gail Freehling.


Gail Freehling: A dishonest juror

Rev. Edward Pinkney filed a motion for a new trial based on the violation of his rights to impartial jury.  He became aware after the verdict that Gail Freehling did not truthfully respond to inquiries as whether she knew or was connected with one of the prosecution's main witnesses, Sharon Tyler.

Freehling was called to the petit jury box around 1:39pm October 23, 2014 when defense attorney Tat Parish specifically asked the jurors during the voir dire, while juror Freehling was in the petit box, whether they knew or had connection with either of the two particularly important witnesses James Hightower and Sharon Tyler. This was around 4:18-4:19pm in the video for October 23, 2014. Gail Freehling lied to get on the jury in order to help her friend Sharon Tyler.

Gail Freehling was also asked at other times, more than once, whether they knew or had connection with any of the persons on the witness list, including Sharon Tyler. Juror Gail Freehling said nothing in response to these inquiries and did not honestly respond that she is a friend of Sharon Tyler and has had contact with her through the Three Oaks Flag Day Parade from 2010 through 2014 and through the Miss Blossomtime Festival pageant. Juror Freehling in fact listed Sharon Tyler on Freehling Facebook web page as a friend. We have the page to prove it. 

Gail Freehling lied to get on the jury to convict Rev. Edward Pinkney.

Juror Gail Freehling also is chairperson of the Three Oaks Flag Day Parade and has held this position from January 2010 to present. We have the documentation to prove it. Sharon Tyler was a participant in the Three Oaks Flag Day Parade each summer between 2010 and 2014. We have documentation.

The parade in 2014 was held in June, a few months before Pinkney's trial. During the voir dire of the jurors, they were asked if they knew or had contact with police officers. Juror Freehling did not respond to these inquiries and did not honestly respond that she knows 
and has contact with a number of police officers.

Several police officers and police entities are at the forefront of the Three Oaks Flag Day Parade. The first thirteen are all police officers. Thirty-four is the Berrien County Sheriff Department Mounted Division. Also included are Berrien County judges, elected officials including Fred Upton, and many more. Also, Juror Gail Freehling is a Chairperson for the Miss Blossomtime Festival pageant and has been in this position from 1991 to present.

Sheriff Bailey and Undersheriff Chuck Heit are on the board of Directors for the Blossomtime Festival, with Heit being on the board from 2010 to the present.

Undersheriff Heit's daughter, Kyra Heit, won Miss Blossomtime in 2010. During the Blossomtime pageant, Sharon Tyler was invited to be in a photo with the blossom time court. Kyra is also one of Freehling's Facebook friends. Rev. Pinkney filed 11 recalls on Sharon Tyler the county clerk.

Juror Freehling was actually biased and impartial as a juror during Rev. Pinkney's trial based on her relationship with Sharon Tyler and her relationship with law enforcement officers and other officials.

Gail Freehling had one thing in mind: to convict Rev. Pinkney at all cost. Even to commit perjury and violate the law. 

We are also investigating several other jurors who may have been part of this corruption.  How can you convict a person with absolutely no evidence against him?  Part of the answer is to hand pick biased jurors.

Monday, December 22, 2014

"Whirlpool controls not only Benton Harbor and the residents, but also the court system itself..."

"It's a modern day lynching..."

Rev. Edward Pinkney Imprisoned for Fighting the Whirlpool Corporation

Tuesday, 16 December 2014 13:50 By Victoria Collier and Ben-Zion Ptashnik, Truthout | News Analysis 
2014.12.16.Pinkney.1Rev. Edward Pinkney and his lawyer Tat Parish (Photo: John Madill)"Here, Whirlpool controls not only Benton Harbor and the residents, but also the court system itself. They will do anything to crush you if you stand up to them. That's why it's so important to fight this. I'm going to fight them until the end. This is not just an attack on Rev. Pinkney. It's an attack on every single person that lives in Benton Harbor, in the state and around the country." - Rev. Edward Pinkney
On December 15, Rev. Edward Pinkney, a leader in the struggle for social and economic justice for the residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison, on the basis of thin circumstantial evidence that a few dates had been altered on a recall petition against the city's mayor, James Hightower. The recall was prompted by the mayor's continued support for tax evasion by the Whirlpool Corporation, the Fortune 500 company and $19 billion global appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Benton Harbor.
As we wrote last week in depth, the politically motivated prosecution against Pinkney killed the petition to recall Hightower, who many believe would have been ousted due to his ongoing protection of Whirlpool's interests at the expense of impoverished Benton Harbor, which is over 90 percent African-American.
There was absolutely no evidence to convict Pinkney, and, legally, the altering of a petition document should have been a misdemeanor offense. Instead, they charged him with felony forgery - though no signatures were forged and all signatories testified that they signed willingly on the correct day. A forensics expert for the prosecution testified that there was no way to determine who changed the handful of dates. Incredibly, the all-white jury was urged by the prosecutor to believe that direct evidence was not required; they only had to "believe" that Pinkney was motivated to cheat and that he "could" have changed the dates while circulating the petitions.
Mary Alice Adams, a Benton Harbor commissioner stated, "Rev. Pinkney was accused of writing and changing my date on a petition when, in fact, I wrote my own date and changed it after realizing I had put the wrong date down." The jury at Pinkney's trial rejected Adams' testimony.
Witness after witness stood up to the prosecutor who put not only Pinkney on trial, but also his community organization, BANCO. The prosecutor hounded the witnesses to "confess" that somehow the dates were altered, and questioned if they were card-holding members of the BANCO organization. The scene held shadows of a McCarthy-era House Un-American Activities Committee witch-hunt.
2014.12.16.Pinkney.2Rev. Edward Pinkney (Photo: Dorothy Pinkney)Pinkney had helped organize the petition to unseat Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower, who residents consider a "yes-man" for Whirlpool. Instead of supporting a tax that would make Whirlpool pay its fair share for city services and employees, the mayor signed a $3.2 million loan that the residents of Benton Harbor, one of the poorest cities per capita in the United States, would now have to pay. Meanwhile, Whirlpool pays absolutely no income taxes to the federal government or to Michigan.
Pinkney was also a leader in the fight against what he called an "illegal" ceding of a Benton Harbor public park to Whirlpool and a development firm which privatized the park and gentrified that prime real estate into a golf course and wealthy gated community on Lake Michigan - excluding the people that the property was deeded to serve. Pinkney led a protest against the PGA Senior golf tournament at the private new golf course, sponsored by Kitchen-Aid, a division of Whirlpool.
And so, with the complicity of a white, "highly political" right-wing prosecutor, Whirlpool reached into the court system and publicly "lynched" the town's most prominent and outspoken black community activist who dared to stand up to the powerful company and the state's elite. Pinkney's sentencing is as blatant a kangaroo court as seen since Hurricane Carter, a black power advocate, was framed by New Jersey prosecutors decades ago - a typical case of the white power structure icing an "uppity Negro" with trumped up charges. In Carter's case, the witnesses were two men facing charges for burglary, who were enticed to provide false testimony with reduced charges.
Pinkney says he was similarly set up to take a fall for a paltry smattering of election fraud charges in 2006 during an attempt to recall a city commissioner. He was finally convicted of possessing four absentee ballots, but pointed out that the women who fingered him - all members of a family - mysteriously avoided jail time for the multiple criminal charges they were facing, including a drive-by shooting and kidnapping.
"I'm not angry with them for doing that," Pinkney said. "It's a deal that's hard to pass up."
Pinkney was put on probation at the time, until he had the audacity to quote a particularly scathing section of Deuteronomy to the judge, who then sentenced him to three to 10 years in prison. During his seven months in the county jail and four months in prison, Pinkney ran for a seat in the US House and received more than 3,500 votes as a Green Party candidate. The American Civil Liberties Union finally got him released on an appeal bond, and he was allowed to return home under house arrest. Later the appeal court overturned Pinkney's conviction, and reversed his sentence of 3-10 for quoting verse 28:15 of the Fifth Book of Moses.
But if Pinkney is a man who's hard to keep down, his enemies are just as determined to put him away for good.
"It's a modern day lynching," said Adams, the Benton Harbor commissioner, of Pinkney's latest conviction. "After hearing the 'evidence' it would seem that the decision was made before the trial began. They are looking at Michigan as a glove for dictatorship. And the predominantly black communities are the test tubes. When you stand up against the largest manufacturer of appliances in the world, of course there will be a backlash."
Pinkney was straightforward in his description of his conviction:
Here, Whirlpool controls not only Benton Harbor and the residents, but also the court system itself. They will do anything to crush you if you stand up to them. That's why it's so important to fight this. I'm going to fight them until the end. This is not just an attack on Rev. Pinkney. It's an attack on every single person that lives in Benton Harbor, in the state and around the country. We got to fix this jury system. There was not one person from Benton Harbor, not one person from Benton Township on the jury. Anytime a Black man is sitting inside that courtroom and the jury is all white, that is a major problem.
Michigan is a state where virulent racism followed the Great Migration of southern blacks into northern industrial states in the 20th century. With more than two dozen racist hate groups still active in the state, Michigan has essentially turned into the Mississippi of the North. In fact, Pinkney organized his community against the KKK when they began to hold rallies in Benton Harbor in the 1990s.
Pinkney points out how class intersects with race, when it comes to the oppression of the people of Benton Harbor. "It's a class war," he said. "It's us against them. Rich against poor. That's what it adds up to. The point is we have to take a stand. It's about you, your children, and your grandchildren. I never thought for a minute that the system could be this broken and would go to this extreme. They could care less about you, me or anybody else. They only have one thing in mind. That is to make sure they protect the rich."
Judge Schrock denied Pinkney's lawyer's request for release pending his appeal. Pinkney was handcuffed and hauled off to jail from the county courthouse as his wife, Dorothy, and supporters stood aghast, having witnessed US justice for an African-American minister at its racist best.
Concerned activists and clergy associated with People Demanding Action, a national social justice organization, are circulating a petition to ministers and various organizations. The petition is to be forwarded to the US Justice Department and Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for an investigation into the circumstances of Pinkney's trial and sentencing.
Support for Rev. Edward Pinkney's appeal should be sent to his organization: BANCO, 1940 Union Street Benton Harbor MI 49022
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28050-whirlpool-corporation-sentences-edward-pinkney-to-prison-with-no-evidence

Friday, December 19, 2014

Rev. Edward Pinkney’s statement to the Judge

Community Leader Jailed for 2 1/2 to 10 years
This Fight Will Go On Until We Win!

Rev. Edward Pinkney’s statement to the Judge
Editor’s note: The following are excerpts from a statement that Rev. Pinkney made in the courtroom to the judge right before he was sentenced.
“I’ve committed no crime. In fact, if I was anyone else, I would not be here. I can’t say if anyone changed the dates on the petitions. The prosecutor knows I haven’t committed any crime. I minister to people in this courtroom. I’ve been fighting to bring about a change in our community. Nowhere in the history of mankind can a person be convicted of a crime with no evidence. The jury was motivated by something other than the truth. I am very disappointed in the system itself. The jury took an oath that justice would be served. They failed the people of Benton Harbor and Berrien County. I know there was a jurist who lied to be on the jury. Still, I’m standing here. I could not believe the jury would find me guilty if they followed the instructions. We have to take a stand against some of the things that have happened in Benton Harbor. I can’t say if someone changed the dates but the prosecutor knows I didn’t do it. My wife and children are hurt. I will continue to fight. Over 90% of the people of Benton Harbor stand with me and understand there’s no evidence. I’m hurt. I can’t see how something like this can happen.” — Rev. Edward Pinkney

We encourage reproduction of this article so long as you credit the source. Copyright@2015 People’s Tribune. Visit http://www.peoplestribune.org

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Imprisoning our leaders will not stop the movement
From the Editors of the People’s Tribune
On December 15, Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Mich. was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 10 years in prison on a trumped-up charge of changing dates on petitions to recall Benton Harbor’s mayor. There was no evidence to prove he had done anything wrong. Everyone familiar with Rev. Pinkney and the struggle in Benton Harbor knows this was a political show trial, intended to remove a leader in the fight against the corporations and intimidate the people. But the people will not be intimidated.
This is the second time in seven years that Pinkney has been charged with so-called “election fraud,” when his real crime has been to try and use the electoral process to represent the true interests of the people. At the sentencing, Judge Sterling Schrock had the nerve to say Pinkney had “disenfranchised” people by undermining their faith in the electoral process. Wasn’t it really the State of Michigan, which the judge represents, that has disenfranchised people by imposing unelected emergency managers on a number of cities, including Benton Harbor? Hasn’t the people’s faith in government actually been undermined by the government’s refusal to provide justice in the numerous police killings, and by the government’s denying even food, water and housing to those who need it?
The government at every level, from the president down to the street cop, is in the pocket of the corporations and their billionaire owners. We are living under a corporate dictatorship that is steadily moving toward open fascism. This is so because the billionaire-controlled economic system we have today is providing for fewer and fewer people. The computer and the robot offer the corporations more production with less labor, and so the jobs have been wiped out in Michigan and throughout the country. The result is growing permanent unemployment for many and poverty-wage jobs for those still working. Today, those demanding jobs and living wages are a threat to the system because they are demanding what the system can no longer provide. So the corporations make war on us. Democracy is wiped out to hobble our ability to resist, racism is used to keep us from uniting around our common class interests, and we are threatened with police terror and prison cells.
What Whirlpool Corp. and their servants in Berrien County have done to Pinkney is a metaphor for what the corporations are doing to the whole country. The entire working class is under attack. This case makes clear, once again, that the people will never get justice from a government that is in the hands of the corporations.
Imagine the society we could have if the people controlled the government and owned the means of producing the wealth, instead of the corporations and billionaires. We could end poverty. We could guarantee democracy, justice and fairness. As we defend our leaders and confront every act of injustice, we, the people, should think about how we can build the consciousness and organization to wage the struggle for a new society. Uniting around the demand that the government guarantee the basic necessities of life for all is key. Such fighting unity will make us unstoppable.
The People’s Tribune has been in this struggle since the beginning in 2005 and will continue to publicize it until justice is served.We encourage reproduction of this article so long as you credit the source. Copyright@2015 People’s Tribune. Visit http://www.peoplestribune.org

Voices from Benton Harbor
From the Editors of the People’s Tribune

Editor’s Note: Cops banged on people’s doors, intimidating the community, but people are still fighting. Here are voices of some Benton Harbor leaders.
“They wrongfully convicted a man who did no crime. This is like a set up. They don’t ship people off that fast to prison. They took him immediately. We have a lot of people, a lot of groups, and we need to come together. – Marquette Coates, Benton Harbor
This is Berrien County, home of the KKK. They are hanging us like they did in the old days, but they do it in the courts now. What they did to Rev. Pinkney was a shame. They have people in high places found guilty of theft who get no time. Even the Sheriff has violated laws and has been in court for weeks. He still gets paid and still runs this county. We need to get out here, stick together and fight. — Emma Kinnard, Benton Harbor
“They say you have a right to the first amendment and a right to be a activist. But you have a brief in your hand that shows there was a plant on the jury. You have evidence that this juror knew law enforcement and the county clerk, that she is in with them. They chose not to discuss this. They are just buying time to decide how to handle this. — Dorothy Pinkney, Benton Harbor
“The County Commissioners have been stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they’re not going to jail. Pinkney tries to speak the truth and they railroad him!” — Pati Heinz, Benton Harbor
“The sentencing, the ruling by the jury reflects that this was a kangaroo court.” — Marcus Muhammad, Benton Harbor City Commissioner (speaking to WINDU.com)
Free Pinkney! There will be an appeal. For information on future efforts, go to peoplestribune.org. We encourage reproduction of this article so long as you credit the source. Copyright@2015 People’s Tribune. Visit http://www.peoplestribune.org