David Jones, Killed by Cop
His name, David Jones. In his 31st year of life, about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: marriage and founding a family in Philadelphia. He loved riding dirt bikes so he took his bike for a last spin and listed it online for sale. As a father and husband just recently turned 31, he was moving on, or so he thought.
On June 9th, his last day on his dirt bike, he was stopped by a Philadelphia cop, Ryan Pownall, who said Jones was riding erratically. A stop – or rather – a stop and frisk, and then disaster. Pownall allegedly fired a Taser at Jones and though it stunned him it didn’t stop him. He cast a pistol aside, left his bike and ran for his life. Pownall pulled his pistol and fired and Jones fell down, a smoking hole in his back, dead.
This was June 9th 2017 and afterwards, official silence from public officials, but not the people. Asa Khalif of Pennsylvania’s Black Lives Matter and blogger/journalist Christopher “Flood the Drummer” Norris have broken the silence by megaphone and internet posts demanding that the Mayor, D.A., and Police Chief address the killing of David Jones. Every week since, and whenever public officials appear, BLM is there, demanding Justice for DJ.
Working online and on the streets, they are on the move for David Jones and committed to having the killer cop indicted and prosecuted. Their cry, “Justice for DJ,” is only getting louder.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu Jamal.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
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