In Philadelphia, hundreds of people gathered Friday for a march and protest to demand life-saving medication for imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, and for all Pennsylvania prisoners suffering from the unconstitutional denial of treatment for their hepatitis C. The protest marked 35 years since December 9, 1981, when Mumia Abu-Jamal was shot by Philadelphia police, arrested and then charged with the murder of white police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal has always maintained his innocence, and Amnesty International has found he was deprived of a fair trial. Mumia Abu-Jamal has spent the majority of his time in prison on death row. This is Baltimore Reverend C.D. Witherspoon.

Rev. C.D. Witherspoon: “We understand that when they took him off of death row, what the strategy was was for him to die sick, behind bars. But we’re not going to allow for our brother to die behind bars, because when we were in incarceration, he fought for our liberation. And so, brothers and sisters, we’re going to fight for him to be liberated. We’re going to be fighting for him to receive dignity and respect. What kind of nation would have our brother be imprisoned and not to receive the proper medication that he deserves? I call that barbaric.”