CRIME VICTIM BECOMES VICTIM OF THE AMERICAN INJUSTICE SYSTEM

THIS REPORT FROM DEMOCRACY NOW/ PBS.

Excerpts:

An environmental activist and young black mother in Detroit may be forced to give birth behind bars, after standing her ground during a frightening encounter. Since she was 19 years old, Siwatu-Salama Ra has fought for environmental justice. She campaigned against the Marathon oil refinery and the Detroit Renewable Power trash incinerator. She represented Detroit at the Paris climate summit. She's also worked to engage kids and educate young mothers about nutrition. Now, at age 26, Siwatu has been sentenced to a mandatory two years in prison, following an incident in which she brandished her unloaded - and legally registered - handgun while defending her mother and 2-year-old daughter. She was sentenced last month to two years in prison even though she is scheduled to give birth in June. We speak to two of her attorneys and Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter.


AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

AMY GOODMAN: In this video provided by her support team, Siwatu and her mother describe the verbal dispute between Siwatu and a neighbor. They say the neighbor confronted Siwatu, ramming Siwatu's car, which at the time contained Siwatu's toddler, with her own car. Fearing for her, her child and her mother's lives, Siwatu brandished a gun - she is a licensed concealed gun owner - hoping to prevent the neighbor from running them over. The weapon was not loaded.

 

SIWATU-SALAMA RA: She had come to our house upset, very upset, very angry. She started yelling at me, screaming at me, cursing at me. In the midst of this, I'm asking this woman to leave, right? I'm asking her to leave, just go, you know, and she wouldn't. And so the next thing that she did was ram her car into my car. Plus, my baby was in the car. She was in the car playing. That shocked fear in me, and I jumped and got my baby out of the car. So, she's literally going back and forth with this car, putting it in reverse and fixing herself to come at us again and go after my mom. My mother, who was also standing very close to me, wasn't able to run.

 

RHONDA ANDERSON: She's using her car as a weapon. When I could not move, that's when I was the most frightened. She was so close to hitting me that I can feel the car on my clothes.

 

SIWATU-SALAMA RA: That's when I made the decision to reach for my firearm, that was unloaded, with no bullets. I was afraid. And I told her, "You have to leave now."

 

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Even though no shots were fired and no one was harmed in the incident, Siwatu was convicted of one count of felonious assault and given a mandatory 2-year minimum sentence. She is now fighting to be released before the birth of her second child in June.


https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/18/freesiwatu_pregnant_black_detroit_activist_jailed

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. IT SMACKS OF NAZI GERMANY. THE AMERICAN SYSTEM THAT IS ALLOWING THIS TRAVESTY IS CRIMINAL!

WHO CAN POSSIBLY TRUST THE JURY SYSTEM WHEN JURORS TURN JUSTICE UPSIDE DOWN ON ITS HEAD? AND A JUDGE AGREES TO IMPRISON AND TORTURE THE VICTIM IN THIS CRIME! HOW CAN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TOLERATE SUCH ABUSES?

THIS INNOCENT WOMAN IS TO BE SHACKLED WHILE DELIVERING HER BABY IN PRISON, WHILE HER ATTACKER WALKS FREE AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS CARRY LOADED GUNS EVERYWHERE - IN RESTAURANTS, THEATRES, AMUSEMENT PARKS, HOSPITALS, BUSES, PUBLIC WASHROOMS.

WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON HERE?

BLACK LIVES MATTER?  HONOUR MATTERS. JUSTICE MATTERS.

SHAME ON YOU, AMERICA! YOU HAVE LOST YOUR REASON AND YOUR DECENCY.