‘Drop racist frame-up charges!’

The Committee to Defend the Somerville High School 5 Against Police Brutality is calling on everyone to put pressure on Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley to drop the racist frame-up charges immediately.

The SHS 5 are Calvin Belfon Jr., Cassius Belfon, Earl Guerra, Isaiah Anderson and Marquis Anderson.

On April 20, these five young Black men were the victims of racial profiling and a brutal, unprovoked attack by Medford, Mass., police. Police beat, clubbed, maced and arrested them.

A massive police cover-up ensued, with the police spreading outrageous lies about what happened that night. They charged the five with assault with a deadly weapon, assault and battery, and disorderly conduct.

The police, with the backing of Coakley, are now trying to force the cases of Calvin Belfon and Isaiah Anderson to Superior Court. Belfon and Anderson are both 17 and are being tried as adults. They face the most severe charges of the five youths.

On May 24, in a strong show of support, family, friends and representatives of the Nation of Islam, Women’s Fightback Network and International Action Center packed the courtroom in Somerville District Court.

“These young men are good students and fine athletes. They have no prior records. This is nothing but an orchestrated cover-up by the police and the D.A. and the media to take the focus off of who the real criminals are here,” said Robert Trayhnam of the Committee to Defend the SHS 5.

“It is the Medford police who should be put on trial for racial profiling and police brutality! We must keep the pressure on and make our voices heard,” Trayhnam concluded.

Readers are urged to contact Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, 40 Thorndike St., Cambridge, MA 02141, phone (617) 679-6500, fax (617) 225-0871, and make the following demands: no indictment; drop the racist-frame-up charges against all five youths immediately; independent community investigation into Medford Police; stop racial profiling and police brutality.