THE FACTS
On April 28, 1998, Montrail Collins, a Black man, was shot to death by a police officer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Collins, whom police said was a burglary suspect, was shot 17 times, sustaining several bullets while lying injured on the ground. Police allege that he fired first at an officer. Witnesses said there was no shootout.
On May 7, 1998, Chattanooga police killed another Black man, Kevin McCullough. McCullough, who was unarmed, was killed at his job where three officers went to arrest him on an alleged rape charge. Police said McCullough resisted arrest. His co-workers said that police had been harassing McCullough for weeks before he was killed.
Following the killings, Black Autonomy Copwatch monitored police activities and called for community control of the police. On May 19, 1998, when the Chattanooga City Council held its regular meeting, Copwatch organized a demonstration at City Hall against police brutality attended by over 150 people.
Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, an organizer for Copwatch and a former member of the Black Panther Party, was promised that he could address the City Council. However, when the scheduled time came for Lorenzo to speak, he was ignored. When he took over a microphone and began to read a statement denouncing police brutality, he was seized, beaten and arrested by police. Damon McGhee, also an organizer for Copwatch, and Mikail Musa Muhammad (Ralph R. Mitchell), who defended Lorenzo against the police, were also beaten and arrested.
The three Black activists were jailed for violating Tennessee's "disruption" law, a misdemeanor charge which outlaws political protests. The trial of The Chattanooga 3 is scheduled to begin October 28, 1999. if convicted, they face up to a year in prison.
**Chattanooga has a long history of police brutality. It ranks No. 1 among U.S. cities with populations under 200,000 for reported acts of police brutality.**
"DISRUPTION" LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
Tennessee's "disruption" law mandates a prison sentence. Similar laws exist in almost every state. If The Chattanooga 3 are convicted, a dangerous legal precedent may be set that could be used by those states that have not yet enforced their "disruption" laws, which violate the First Amendment right to free speech. The prosecution of The Chattanooga 3 is an attack on Black political dissent reminiscent of the FBI COINTELPRO campaign that crushed the Black Liberation Movement during the 1960's and 1970's.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
**Write letters of protest to the district attorney and the mayor demanding that the charges against The Chattanooga 3 be dismissed:
Bill Cox
Hamilton County District Attorney
City-County Courts Building\601 Market Street, 3rd Floor
Chattanooga, TN 37402
email:
BillCox@hcda.cps.kl2.tn.us
Jon Kinsey
Mayor of Chattanooga
101 E. 11th Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402-1403
email:
mayor@mail.chattanooga.gov
**Attorneys and scholars who are experts on the First Amendment are needed to help prepare the case. If you are qualified, volunteer. Or, email your suggestions.
**Send email and/or postal addresses of individuals and organizations concerned about preserving First Amendment rights and who are active in the fight against police brutality.
**Send contributions for the legal defense fund.