IWW: Omari Tahir-Garrett a Political Prisoner

[Danielle Ni Dhighe <nidhighe@xxxxxxxx>]

Dear Activists, Organizers, and supporters of justice:

On a special meeting called for July 15th, 2001, the Seattle IWW
declared Omari Tahir-Garrett a Political Prisoner, currently being
held in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, Washington,
USA.

It is our opinion that he is being held, and denied basic human rights
while inside the jail, in response to his 30 years of activism in the
Black community, and his work to keep the African American Heritage
Museum and Cultural Center into being turned into condominiums for
downtown developers. He is running against Paul Schell for mayor of
Seattle.

Tahir-Garrett was tackled and arrested by the Seattle Police
Department on Saturday, July 7th, 2001, literally a few feet from the
spot where the Seattle Police had killed another Black man just weeks
prior. This took place at an event in the Central District, a largely
African American neighborhood of Seattle, where many working class
Africans and African Americans are being displaced through a process
knows as gentrification.

Mayor Paul Schell was present, and was attacked from a crowd of
protesters, according to "official" accounts, and was knocked out and
sent to the hospital for 2 days. The Police, and witnesses that are
unnamed, and Pam Schell (the mayor's wife) all claim that
Tahir-Garrett was the  attacker.

Omari has stated that it was not him, and that he handed off the
bullhorn (the "weapon") to someone else before approaching Mr. Schell.

Yet, no proof, other then hearsay has been presented. The police claim
that there is videotape; local TV station KIRO channel 7 had announced
on the air the following Monday that the tape would be aired for all
to see on the 11:00 news; the tape, for whatever reason never aired
after the on-air plugs were made.

The Judge presiding over Omari's bail hearing, set bail at $250,000.
Since then, Omari has been locked up in the "hole" or solitary
confinement, is in chains, is being denied regular meals, and has been
isolated from the rest of the prisoners under the guise of
"psychiatric watch". He is not a threat to himself or others, yet he
is being treated like an animal. It is likely that the criminal
just-us system is bent of making Omari crazy, to conform with the
local medias assertions that he is "not stable", in their
drive to destroy his credibility to his supporters and citizens of
Seattle.

In fact, we believe, just as with the cases of Leonard Peltier, Mumia
Abu-Jamal, Lorenzo Ervin Komboa, the "Charleston 5", and even Joe Hill
and Bill Haywood; that Omari Tahir-Garret is not in jail for hitting
the mayor; he is in jail for opposing corruption in the Mayors office,
for activism to establish a Cultural Center for African Americans in
Seattle, as well as his campaign to expose corruption at the hand of
the City in that project. he was part of a successful campaign to keep
a police Precinct out of the Central District. At a rally, the day
after the police's recent murder of another Black man he told us
"...the last thing we need to do is things that will get us caught up
in the criminal justice system...".

We are asking that other organizations concur with our resolution of
support, and that the international community of individuals and
organizations actively support Political Prisoner Omari Tahir-Garrett;
here is how you can help:

1) Send e-mail to the Mayor's Office and City Council:

Mayor Paul Schell: Mayors.Office@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

City Attorney Mark Sidran: mark.sidran@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

City Council:

jim.compton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,richard.conlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
jan.drago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,nick.lacata@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
richard.mciver@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,judy.nicastro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
margaret.pageler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,peter.steinbrueck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
heidi.wills@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


2) Write to Omari in jail at:

James Cordell Garrett
#201130045
King County Correctional Facility
500 5th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104
USA

3) Send funds for jail support (or books for Omari) to:

Seattle IWW
5215 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
USA
(206)706-6250

4) Send this e-mail to anyone else you think need to know about this
case

5) Have your organization or union local adopt a similar resolution in
support and act on it (see below):

Resolution in Support of African American Heritage Museum and
Cultural Center chair and Political Prisoner Omari Tahir-Garrett

WHEREAS,

The IWW in Seattle supports Reparations, Self Determination, and the
abolition of White Supremacy for Africans and African Americans, and

WHEREAS,

In supporting the realization of those goals the IWW has gone on
record in support of the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural
Center and has actively supported the project under the leadership of
Omari-Tahir Garrett, and has materially and organizationally supported
the project from time to time for nearly 3 years, and

WHEREAS,

The IWW understands the connection between the imprisonment of Omari
Tahir-Garrett, and his campaign to keep the project under community
control, and out of the hands of "leaders" hand picked by the very
institution that has imprisoned Garrett and in the past at least two
other Museum Board members;

WHEREAS,

The IWW understands and acknowledges the political motivations of the
imprisonment of Omari-Tahir Garrett on the part of Mayor Paul Schell,
and City Attorney Mark Sidran, in cooperation with those leaders that
have opposed the Cultural Center and those that have denounced him.

WHEREAS,

Omari Tahir-Garrett has declared himself not guilty of the charges
pressed upon him by the City, and that we believe that all members of
the working class are innocent until proven guilty in the courts;

WHEREAS,

The US government has a history of taking political prisoners under
pretextual frame ups, such as the cases with Leonard Peltier Mumia
Abu-Jamal, Joe Hillstom, and Bill Haywood,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED:

The Seattle IWW hereby declares Omari Tahir Garrett a political
prisoner of the United States, we demand his immediate unconditional
release on personal recognizance, and that all charges be dropped;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

The Seattle IWW condemns the denunciations of Garrett by community
leaders, and the presumption of his guilt on their part as well as by
the local media,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the Seattle IWW asks all social justice organizations and unions
to concur with this declaration of Political Prisoner Status for Omari
Tahir-Garret,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That we will circulate this resolution internationally and  sponsor
the formation of defense committee for the purpose of actively
campaigning for Omari Tahir-Garrett's release.

In Solidarity,

Seattle Industrial District Council, Industrial Workers of the World
5215 Ballard Ave NW Seattle WA 98107 206-706-6250 bp172@xxxxxxx