From: Wil b, of The Political Power of Hiphop
Hello Friends and Comrades,
I’m reaching out to you at a critical moment of my life as an art-activist, and come to you in need of your support.
On April 14th, 2015, I joined forces, in solidarity, with family members of more than 100 innocent victims of police brutality, activists from various outreach organizations, members of clergy, and other concerned citizens, in a National Day of Protest designed to heighten awareness, and shine a light on this dark tragedy of police brutality sweeping our country.
As a show of resistance, and further out efforts to raise awareness, our march led us to an action that culminated in the temporary stoppage of the Metro Blue Line train, as our members stood in front of the train as it was at a stop light disallowing it to continue its route.
Here’s a short 10 min. video shot on the day of:
A14 - Day of Global Resistance Against Police Brutality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bym491Qa3OE As a result, the L.A. County Sherriff and the LAPD responded to our peaceful protest, and arrested a small handful of us, out the near 1000 of people represented, hence we are the LA10 of the A14 Protest (Los Angeles Ten of the April 14th Protest).
A multi-ethnic, multi-denominational, group of innocent activist from various walks of life, have been brought together in the face of this great debate, and we need your help.
The Los Angeles Prosecutor’s office has begun prosecuting us, we are currently in jury select on the first of three separate trials, as the judge denied our request for consolidation and has divided us into three groups of co-defendants.
So what do I need from you…If you know any of the defendants personally, as many of you know me, we need your character statements, letters of support for us as activists, and for what we stand for. Talk about your association with us, how you know us, short stories of actions we’ve participated in together.
More importantly, talk about your position about police brutality and some of the stories you may have heard or experienced.
And finally, we need MEDIA, bloggers, Newspapers, TV, Online, Radio, and Social networks…
Watch this trial, talk about this trail, and invite others to engage in this important dialogue.
Theses prosecutors are pushing for “justice” against us, a group of innocent citizens, who through the use peace and our right to assemble, inform, encourage those who've not taken a side in this important issue, while the true violators of these crimes, vile and violent police officers who've rampantly abuse the trust of people, walk free, unscathed, and facing no prosecution for the murder of the innocent.
Much Respect
Wil b
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William Bannister
Executive Director of The Political Power of Hiphop
Email:
hiphopunited@gmail.com www.myspace.com/wilbandthepoliticalpowerofhiphop
www.youtube.com/PittsburghWil
And Below, A letter of support from Frank Dorrel
Here is the letter I wrote supporting Wil. I sent it to:
William.bannister@gmail.com .
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To Whom It May Concern
My Letter in Support of William Bannister, Regarding His Arrest & Pending Trial for His Actions on April 14th 2015 – A Day of Global Resistance Against Police Brutality.
I write in my total support of William Bannister, also known as Wil B. I have known Wil since 2002, when I first heard him sing at a big anti-war conference in Inglewood, hosted by Congresswoman Maxine Waters. From that first time I saw Wil, I knew he was a man of truth, respect, love and courage. Since then, Wil has performed at many events I have hosted over the years. He is against war, against injustice and against violence & brutality of any kind, committed by the police or anyone else. Wil is one of the kindest, most sincere and loving human beings I have ever known. I understand that he and others may have broken the law on April 14th, 2015 by blocking metro trains in Los Angeles. But there was a larger agenda that day, which was to speak out against the many illegal and immoral police shootings in this country, that have resulted in the deaths of so many innocent people, especially people of color. Please listen to what Wil and the others have to say. If he was alive today, I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. might very well have taken part at this same action that Wil was at and been arrested along with him and the others. The number of innocent people who have been killed by police in this country is completely out of control. I recently read that in March of this year, there were more people killed by the police in the United States than were killed in the last century by the police in England. That is more people killed in one month here than were killed in one hundred years in England. Someone has to speak out against this. Wil and the others arrested that day were doing just that. Please don’t punish them for speaking the truth, a truth that needs to be told and heard all over this country. Please listen to them and take appropriate actions to correct the situation. The protesters are not the criminals. Wil is not a criminal. He is a man who supports what is right. He is a man of conscience. Wil supports the human race.
In Peace,
Frank Dorrel