California Federation of Teachers supports cop-killer
**Posted by Phineas
You have got to be kidding me!
If you want a measure of just how badly screwed up the educational system in California is consider this: At its recent convention, the CFT passed a resolution of support for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted cop-killer:
Between negotiating for more benefits and teaching their students, the California Federation of Teachers has adopted a resolution of support for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.At the CFT’s 2011 Convention in late March, the delegates passed 30 resolutions, from solidifying support for anti-bullying legislation to supporting transitional kindergarten. Among the resolutions largely pertaining to education and collective bargaining rights was Resolution 19 – to “Reaffirm support for death row journalist.”
“Therefore, be it resolved, that the California Federation of Teachers reaffirm its support and demand that the courts consider the evidence of innocence of Mumia Abu-Jamal,” the Committee Report reads.
Mumia Abu-Jamal was a former member of the Black Panthers who was found guilty of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel J. Faulkner during a routine traffic stop in 1981. Abu-Jamal was subsequently sentenced to death
His supporters, such as the California Federation of Teachers, argue that his trial was unfair and that he is a civil rights hero.
Bear in mind that this two-legged cockroach was not only convicted by the original trial court; his conviction was upheld by every appeals court since then. The case is not flawed: he did the deed, and now he’s exploiting a bunch of suckers looking for a cause to fill their empty lives, so he can avoid the justice he has coming.
And these idiots teach our children.
If you’re not familiar with Mumia’s crime, here’s a recap:
At roughly 3:50 a.m. on December 9, 1981, Officer Daniel Faulkner stopped the car of William Cook [corrected] on a street in Philadelphia. Cook is the brother of Abu-Jamal. Coincidently, Abu-Jamal was parked nearby in a taxi he was driving. Upon seeing an altercation between Faulkner and Cook, Abu-Jamal ran across the street and shot Faulkner in the back. Faulkner was able to get a shot off at Abu-Jamal, seriously wounding him. With the wounded Faulkner on the ground, Abu-Jamal shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
At the time there were only three people in the immediate area of the crime: Faulkner, Abu-Jamal, and Cook. But others were nearby. Within minutes there were statements taken by separate police officers from several different witnesses who identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter. There were only two guns on the scene, Faulkner’s and Abu-Jamal’s. Ballistics show that the bullet in Abu-Jamal came from Faulkner’s gun, and that those in Faulkner came from a gun like Abu-Jamal’s. In the presence of a hospital security guard, Abu-Jamal shouted “I shot the m__f__r, and I hope the m__f__r dies.”
It did not take much deliberation for the jury to convict Abu-Jamal, and he was sentenced by the jury to death on July 3, 1982. His conviction for the crime has withstood the seemingly endless appeals, post-conviction hearings, and massive publicity campaign.
If this is evidence of the ethical and moral compass of our state’s teachers union, then it should be decertified and those who supported it fired as unfit to teach our children. Would we tolerate teachers who made heroes out of Al Capone or Richard Ramirez?
(Crossposted at Public Secrets)