Rev. Pinkney given probation in political frame-up
Published May 25, 2007 8:08 PM
May 14—Today’s sentencing hearing at the Berrien County Courthouse
in St. Joseph’s, Mich., located in the southwest region of the state, for
Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizers’ leader, Rev. Edward
Pinkney, resulted in the activist being given five years of probation for his
conviction on five counts of felonious and misdemeanor fraud.
Rev. Edward Pinkney with bullhorn, May 14.
Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe
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Pinkney, who was allowed to walk free from the courtroom after the hearing,
faced the potential of up to twenty years in prison.
The charges brought against Pinkney derived from a successful recall election
in 2005, when Glenn Yarbrough, a Benton Harbor City Commissioner, was voted out
of office as a result of a political campaign led by BANCO. Supporters of BANCO
and Rev. Pinkney believe that the charges were politically motivated because of
the activist’s outspoken work against officials in Berrien County.
Over 100 supporters of Rev. Pinkney attempted to enter the Berrien County
Courtroom for the hearing; however, because of lack of space, dozens were
turned away. The people who could not enter the courtroom joined an ongoing
picket line outside which called for the release of Pinkney and the overturning
of the convictions.
Attorney Hugh Davis emerged from the sentencing hearing saying that presiding
Judge Alfred M. Butzbaugh wanted another seven days to decide the final terms
of the sentence imposed on Pinkney. The defense team has repeatedly pointed to
the numerous constitutional violations against Rev. Pinkney during the process
of the prosecution and of the jury selection.
All potential African-American jurors were disqualified, resulting in Rev.
Pinkney being judged by an all-white jury in Berrien County.
BANCO leader remains under house arrest
Even though Rev. Pinkney was allowed to walk out of the courtroom today in St.
Joseph’s, he remains on a tether and under house arrest. Pinkney is not
allowed to leave his residence without the permission of the court. He cannot
even walk out into his yard without being in violation of the conditions set
down by the judge in the aftermath of his conviction earlier this year.
On May 13, Rev. Pinkney and Attorney Hugh M. Davis were interviewed over the
“Fighting for Justice” program broadcast weekly on WDTW, 1300AM, a
Detroit-area affiliate of Air America Radio. During the interview, Pinkney was
constantly interrupted by noise and distortion over his landline telephone.
Eventually he had to call the station again using a cell phone so that the
interview could be conducted with program co-hosts Ron Scott and Sandra
Hines.
The terms under which Rev. Pinkney is being confined are reminiscent of the
“banning orders” carried out under the former apartheid regime in
South Africa. For political reasons, activists were brought to trial on
trumped-up charges, and if not sent to prison or the gallows, were confined to
their homes and prohibited from participating in political activities.
Rev. Pinkney was tried by an all-white jury in Berrien County, a community that
has a long history of racial tensions and violence. In 2003, African-American
youth rose up in rebellion in the aftermath of the death of a motorcyclist who
was chased down by Berrien County police in Benton Harbor.
BANCO took the lead in seeking justice for the police brutality victim and
organized a region-wide demonstration from the predominately African-American
city of Benton Harbor across the bridge to the exclusively affluent
majority-white St. Joseph’s, the seat of Berrien County and its power
structure.
Pinkney was a constant thorn in the side of the authorities in the county, by
charging the police, the political officials and the courts with racism and
corruption. When BANCO organized the successful recall in 2005 of Commissioner
Yarbrough, whom Defense Attorney Hugh M. Davis called “the major lackey
of the power structure in the city,” the courts intervened to overturn
the results of the recall elections.
Pinkney was initially charged and put on trial in 2006, with the proceedings
ending in a hung jury. The re-filing of charges against the BANCO leader
demonstrated the determination of the authorities in Berrien County to teach
the activist a lesson in small town politics.
The Whirlpool Corporation has been a major employer in Berrien County and
surrounding areas. As a result of downsizing and outsourcing, there is mass
unemployment in Benton Harbor within the African-American community. Pinkney
and BANCO have also called for a boycott of Whirlpool products as well as the
goods distributed by other companies allied with the elite interests in the
region.
Broad based support from throughout Michigan
The delegations attending today’s hearing and protest came from as far
away as Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Flint. There were also
people present from Chicago, which is 90 miles west of Benton Harbor, as well
as Portland, Oregon.
This prosecution of a political activist in southwest Michigan has shined the
spotlight on the problem of continuing institutional racism in this region of
the state.
Supporters of Rev. Pinkney pledged to continue their struggle to win justice
for the BANCO leader. Some of the organizations present at today’s
hearing were the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice
(MECAWI), the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO), the Call Em Out
Coalition in Detroit and the National Lawyers Guild of Detroit, among
others.
Abayomi Azikiwe is the editor of the Pan-African News Wire and has traveled
to Benton Harbor and St. Joseph’s on numerous occasions over the last
four years to cover political developments in this area of the state of
Michigan.
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