Copyright Jill Stein |
I last saw Rev. Pinkney in court 6 months ago for his appeal hearing. His so called crime was initiating a recall petition to hold the Benton Harbor mayor accountable for colluding with the Whirlpool Corporation to defeat a tax initiative desperately needed by the town. Whirlpool’s job cuts years earlier had left the town in dire straights.
There had been no evidence of Rev. Pinkney altering dates on the petitions, the allegation for which he was convicted by an all white jury. Seeing him handcuffed in court like a dangerous criminal for a petty crime he did not commit and never should have been jailed for in the first place still makes my blood boil.
It is Whirlpool executives that should be in jail for land theft – namely stealing the jewel of Benton Harbor, an invaluable waterfront public park that had been given in perpetuity to the children of the town. Whirlpool had shamelessly turned it into an exclusive Jack Nicklaus signature golf course as an attraction for its Harbor Shores luxury condo developed by the Whirlpool Foundation.
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