| Today, eight men await a pretrial
hearing for the murder of a police
officer committed 36 years ago. This
is familiar territory for the aged Black
Panther Party members dubbed the
San Francisco Eight they stood
for the same crime before a federal
court in 1973. That case was thrown
out. Now, in a twist right out of a bad
sequel, the Department of Homeland
Security is reopening it with the
justification of new evidence.
On Sat., March 8, defendant Hank
Jones and two members of the Committee
to Free the Eight screened the
documentary Legacy of Torture at an
old firehouse in the Central District. In
the film, members of the SF8 recount
the torture they endured in the 70s
at the hands of New Orleans police.
They were beaten, suffocated, and
shocked with cattle prods until they
would sign FBI-scripted confessions.
In light of these unlawful and untrustworthy
methods of interrogation, the
evidence was thrown out and the
men were freed. But members of the
SF8 were brought before a grand jury
in 2005 and refused to testify.
Prosecutors are planning to bring
forth evidence that had been reported
as lost, said Claude Marks, producer of
Legacy of Torture and member of the
Committee to Defend the SF8. Marks
said previous fingerprint and DNA tests
on the accused were negative.
Jones and four other men were
jailed for a month and a half after the
grand jury trial. While in jail they met
weekly. Laughing, the soft-spoken,
70-year-old Jones recalls, It was like a
family reunion.
A pretrial hearing is set for April 21.
More information is available at http://www. freethesf8.org |
