Crisis of Civil Rights:
The Case of Getu Berhanu Tewolde
FACT SHEET
While traveling from Washington DC to Denver on February 1, 2002, Getu Berhanu Tewolde, a legal immigrant from Ethiopia, was arrested at the Greyhound station in Pittsburgh. He was charged with making terroristic threats, causing and risking a catastrophe, and aggravated and simple assault.
(Sources: “Threat Closes Down Bus Station”, Gina Redmond, WPXI News, Feb. 1 2002 )
The news media reported that the FBI counter-terrorism team determined that Getu made no terroristic threats and refused to charge him. Despite the FBI’s determination, the Pittsburgh Police arrested him due to “the totality of the circumstances…” (Cmndr. Valenta).
(Sources: “Threat Closes Down Bus Station”, Gina Redmond, WPXI News, Feb. 1 2002 / WPGH Fox 53 10 O’clock News Broadcast, Feb. 1 2002 )
According to Getu, during a scheduled stop in Pittsburgh he brushed against a Greyhound employee while trying to take his seat at the end of the layover. The employee then yelled accusations at him, after which the driver ordered Getu to disembark. Once inside the bus station, someone ordered Getu to sit. He refused and tried to get the crowd gathering around him to calm down. A policeman was called and asked Getu to sit, but because he didn’t identify himself as an officer and Getu didn’t see any badge, Getu again refused. The policeman attacked and beat him, “disarming” Getu of the pen he was holding with the nib-end in his palm. Getu’s memory of the subsequent events is unclear.
This is the third time in Pittsburgh that hysteria on the part of transportation employees, the public, the police and the media has lead to the arrest of an innocent person despite a lack of evidence.
(Sources: “Victim of post-Sept. 11 Hysteria Repays Our Intolerance with Forgiveness”, Dennis Roddey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 22 2001/ “Bomb Threat Suspect Held on $150,000 Bond”, Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 20 2001)
Because Getu was beaten by the police, Getu was considered to be undisciplined and was placed on Disciplinary Housing Status at the Allegheny County Jail. In addition, he was placed in the Mental Health pod under 24-hour solitary confinement and given eight pills a day with no Behavior Clinic examination. He was allowed only two randomly selected hours per week to leave his cell and to shower. Getu could not meet with a public defender because he was in solitary confinement.
According to a social worker at the Allegheny County Jail, Getu’s trial was postponed until March 15 because he first had to be cleared by the Behavior Clinic, a requirement based upon the felony charge. However, there was no sign that Getu would be afforded the required Behavior Clinic exam in time for his hearing. Fortunately, Getu received an 11th hour exam and lawyer visit within the week of his preliminary hearing due to pressure from the Free Getu Coalition and the ACLU. He passed the Behavior Clinic exam, allowing his case to proceed in court and his subsequent release on bail.
The “simple assault” charge was dropped at the preliminary hearing on March 15. By the time of Getu’s formal arraignment on May 20 the “causing and risking a catastrophe” charge was dropped and a second “terroristic threat” charge was added. Getu’s trial date has been set for December 12.
Getu is a victim of the removal of civil liberties, police brutality, and an abusive penal and courts system. Getu wants to fight his case and is asking others to join him and the Free Getu Coalition. Find out more about the case and take action on the plight of Getu and others in his situation – please contact us at info@freegetu.org or call (412) 361-2983 and visit http://www.freegetu.org.
(Note: Information from Getu based on interviews conducted between February and March, 2002)
