Black militant wins legal victory

Black community activist Shareef Aleem went on trial in Denver on March 1, charged with second-degree aggravated assault on a cop, for which the minimum sentence is four years and maximum is 12 years in prison. The trial was of a fraudulent nature because Aleem was picked out of a crowded audience by cops while students were dissenting at a Feb. 3, 2005 public hearing after being denied their right to speak in support of an embattled professor.

Shareef Aleem

Aleem, the only Black man in the crowd, spoke up and was immediately set upon by the police. A videotape showed Aleem never assaulted anyone but was pushed from behind and pulled down on top of the allegedly assaulted cop.

The trial ended in a hung jury on March 2. But Aleem was charged with contempt of court for refusing to take off a Tookie Williams T-shirt that included a photo of the former gang leader and Nobel Peace Prize nominee along with the words “Redemption” and “Should have been saved.” Williams was executed at San Quentin on Dec. 13.

Aleem had worn a shirt the day before with the words “U.S. History 101” and depictions of lynchings of a legal and extra-legal nature. The judge had asked Aleem to remove the shirt, which also included a photo of a white slave master, and Aleem complied.

The next day, one juror wore a Bob Marley shirt and another wore a NASCAR shirt. Pre siding Judge Katherine Del gado did not address the Wil liams shirt that Aleem was wearing until the prosecution objected to it. Aleem asserted his right to express himself, refused to take off the T-shirt and was held in contempt for doing so.

The contempt of court trial was held on March 22. The judge interrupted Aleem’s attorney, Mark Burton, when he tried to bring out the political issues in the case. The prosecuting attorney for the assault case appeared at the contempt of court hearing. Aleem’s family says he sneered as Aleem was sentenced to 45 days in jail.

Immediately after the sentencing, families of victims of police brutality and Aleem’s allies rushed to his defense and held a press conference to explain what had happened. They included the Denver International Action Center, members of Aurora Copwatch, Danon Gale—who was attacked by cops at a Chuck E Cheese restaurant while eating with his children on Feb. 27—and others.

Mark Burton filed for a stay in serving the sentence with the Colorado Supreme Court, which was granted pending an appeal, but Aleem was not immediately released from jail. The Adams County prosecutor’s office said the ruling was not in their computer system and that they had not received the paperwork. Aleem was not released until March 24.

Aleem, who recently helped chase racist Minutemen away from a rally for immigrants’ rights, has reached out to another embattled Black activist, the Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Mich., who is also being attacked by the racist state on trumped-up charges. Both activists support one another’s struggle.

Leaders like Pinkney and Aleem must be supported by the progressive movement, along with the right to self-determination for nationally oppressed peoples. This kind of political solidarity is necessary to help reinvigorate the struggle here and worldwide for socialism as imperialist military adventurism continues to fail.