Pittsburgh Strikes Out!
Third Innocent Traveler Locked-up
Could YOU be the next one to be locked up for something the FBI already cleared you of?
What about being under 24-hour lock-down in
SOLITARY CONFINEMENT?
Check out the facts….
Free Getu Coalition
http://www.freegetu.org (412) 361-2983 info@freegetu.org
Just the Facts
From the Media
WPXI News (“Threat Closes Down Bus Station”, Gina Redmond, Feb. 1 2002)
* Getu Berhanu Tewolde, an Ethiopian (legal immigrant), was charged by the City of Pittsburgh for making terroristic threats, causing and risking a catastrophe, and aggravated and simple assault.
* One witness heard a woman screaming that Getu had pushed her and the bus driver telling him to sit down. The witness reported that the police came 5 minutes later.
* The FBI’s anti-terrorism task force was called by the police to respond to a bomb threat.
* FBI officials say “The threat was very non specific. Just um related to people dying that kind of thing. It was very fragmented to say the least.”
* The FBI determined that there was no basis for charging Getu with terroristic threats.
* BUT the Pittsburgh Police beat and arrested Getu and the City of Pittsburgh charged him anyway.
Fox53 News (10 O’clock News, Feb. 1 2002)
* Even though the FBI did not find Getu to be a terrorist, the Police arrested him anyway because of “the totality of the circumstances” (Cmndr. Valenta)
From Getu
Interviews at the Allegheny County Jail
* Getu was traveling from Washington DC to Denver for a surprise visit with his uncle. The bus made a scheduled stop in Pittsburgh.
* After re-boarding the bus, Getu accidentally bumped into a Greyhound manager in the narrow aisle. Although he apologized, the manager started yelling at him and got off the bus.
* The driver asked Getu to leave the bus. Respecting the driver’s authority, Getu complied.
* In the Greyhound Station, the manager spoke to people who then approached Getu and told him to sit down. Getu remained standing because they had no right to tell him to sit.
* A policeman arrived, who did not show Getu a badge and did not identify himself. He told Getu to sit down, but Getu refused.
* The officer immediately attacked Getu. Getu was then able to escape and, happy to get away, raised his hand, in which he was holding a pen.
* The officer approached again. Although Getu moved the pen away – the officer beat him with the help of others and “disarmed” Getu of his pen, breaking it in two.
This is Pittsburgh’s Third Time –
What’s Going On?
#1) October 29, 2001
Art Institute of Pittsburgh student Salam El-Zaatari was arrested at the Pittsburgh International Airport for carrying an X-Acto knife in his laptop case. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, people with “non-Arab names” caught with guns and knives at the airport were not arrested. Salam ended up being charged with a felony and spent almost two months in solitary confinement. It became too much for Salam and he plea-bargained so that he could go back to Lebanon.
(Sources: “Man with box cutter arrested at the airport,” ThePittsburghChannel, Oct. 29 2001 / “Victim of post-Sept. 11 hysteria repays our intolerance with forgiveness,” Dennis Roddey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 22 2001 / “Homefront: a range of weapons seized at airport,” Dennis Roddey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 15 2001 /Zi’s interviews with Salam’s supporters, Dec. 2001)
#2) November 17, 2001
Mazen Mohamed Abdallah was boarding a train to Chicago. He was surprised that bags were not being checked by security and asked guards why they weren’t, as there might be a bomb. Instead of acknowledging the poor security at the Amtrak station, the police charged Mazen with making a terroristic threat, simple assault, and disorderly conduct. Mazen plead guilty and was sentenced on April 5.
(Sources: “Federal Court – guilty plea in bomb threat,” City Briefs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 12 2002 / “Bomb threat suspect held on $150,000 bond,” Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 20 2001 / “Bomb threat empties Amtrak Station,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 18 2002, Zi’s conversations with Mazen’s supporters, Dec. 2001)
#3) February 1, 2002
Getu Berhanu Tewolde (see reverse)
What About Getu –
What About This Time?
Getu was placed in the Mental Health pod and pressured to take 8 psychiatric pills a day without justification. He was denied lawyer visits and was in 24-hour solitary confinement, with only two hours a week to leave his cell for showers and phone calls.
Although a Behavior Clinic examination was ordered for Getu on February 11, as of March 11, when the Free Getu Coalition was formed, there was no sign that the exam would be provided. The exam, without which he could not be bailed out and his trial could not even begin, is supposed to be given within three days. The Coalition, with the help of the ACLU, got Getu a visit from a lawyer and the Behavior Clinic exam, which he passed. The Coalition protested at Getu’s preliminary hearing on March 15 and bailed Getu out – the Greyhound manager did not show up and the simple assault charge was dropped.
Since the preliminary hearing, an attorney from the National Lawyer’s Guild has taken Getu’s case pro-bono, and the “causing and risking a catastrophe” charge has been dropped. Getu has plead not-guilty to the remaining charges and wants to fight for his freedom – the trial starts December 12.
Support for Getu is growing. Speakers representing broad segments of Pittsburgh spoke on Getu’s behalf at a press conference on June 13 – including representatives from the Pittsburgh chapters of Amnesty International and the NAACP, as well as union leaders and clergy.
CALL TO ACTION
Join the free Getu Coalition to:
* Demand that all charges be dropped. Write to the D.A. –
Stephen
Zappala, Jr.
District Attorney of Allegheny County
County Court
House
435 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
* Add your voice to the growing support for Getu and opposition to his persecution. Contact us about our upcoming protests and meetings.
* Make others aware of Getu’s case and the pattern of hysteria and abuse it exposes – tell your friends and neighbors and bring them to Coalition events. Set-up tables to spread the word.
Join all of us to free Getu Berhanu Tewolde, prevent any more Salams or Mazens or Getus from falling victim to racial hysteria and draconian imprisonment parading as justice, and to work with your city to end this nation-wide farce.
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Contact the Free Getu Coalition at (412) 361-2983 http://www.freegetu.org |
Zi Thomas Merton Center Islamic Center of Pittsburgh Students in Solidarity (University of Pittsburgh) Amnesty International (Carnegie Mellon) Muslim Students Association (Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh) International Socialist Organization Pittsburgh Anti-War Coalition Socialist Workers Party Progressive Student Alliance (Carnegie Mellon)
