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Mumia Abu-Jamal on the 25th Anniversary of the Arrest of the MOVE 9

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Twenty-five years ago today in West Philadelphia, hundreds of armed police officers raided the homes of the African American political group known as MOVE. By the end of the day, one police officer was dead, and 12 members of MOVE were arrested and jailed. Nine of them would later be convicted in a controversial trial. They have long insisted that the officer was shot by another police officer in a case of friendly fire. The eight surviving members remain in jail today. They are commonly known as the MOVE 9.

One of the journalists who closely covered the case of the MOVE 9 in the late 1970s was Mumia Abu-Jamal, who at the time was an aspiring Philadelphia-based journalist. Mumia would himself later be convicted in the killing of a police officer. Supporters have long charged Mumia was targeted because of his political activism and his support for the MOVE 9.

On this the 25th anniversary of the arrest of MOVE 9, we will take a listen to an excerpt of a recent prison commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

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Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We move now, on this 25th anniversary, to a commentary of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Twenty-five years ago in West Philadelphia, hundreds of armed police officers raided the homes of the African American group known as MOVE. By the end of the day, one police officer was dead, 12 members of MOVE arrested. Nine of them would later be convicted in the controversial trial. They’ve long insisted the officer was shot by another police officer in a case of friendly fire. The eight surviving members remain in jail today. They’re commonly known as the MOVE 9. On this 25th anniversary, Mumia Abu-Jamal, in prison on death row in Pennsylvania, remembers the day.

MUMIA ABU-JAMAL: August 8th, 1978, one of the earlier MOVE confrontations, some nine MOVE men and women were sent to prison for hundreds of years, stemming from a deeply flawed trial. MOVE members continue to fight for the release of their imprisoned comrades. MOVE veterans of the August 8th police assault have been in prison for 25 years in dungeons throughout Pennsylvania. They remain rebellious spirits who oppose a repressive status quo.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Mumia Abu-Jamal from death row in Pennsylvania.

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