Justice Now, Help to Prevent My Being Kidnapped and Politically Imprisoned once again

    The Fire and Spear in DC for “Jim Crow” Judges:

A Call for Action from Kwasi Seitu

    On Monday, November 26^th, 2013, I ask that you join me, if you live in DC, at a hearing in DC “Superior” court on a warrant issued out of Virginia for my arrest. The warrant is bogus in law and fact, and relates to an ongoing criminal scheme intended to “disrupt, discredit, and destroy” me and the work that I have been doing through the Institute for Tsunamic Justice. My work has involved exposing racist criminal practices by police, prosecutors, and judges. With my keen knowledge of the law, I have helped others to stand up to and defeat these practices, and raise public awareness of them.

    On Monday, I will turn myself in to the MPDC on the warrant, at which point I am supposed to be taken to DC “Superior” court to appear before a judge, who is supposed to then determine whether the warrant is valid in form and substance. The proceeding is governed by Section 23-701(b) of the DC codes, which states in pertinant part that:

“If, upon the examination of the person charged, it shall appear to the court that there is reasonable cause to believe that the complaint is true and that the person may be lawfully demanded of the chief judge, the person shall be detained or released according to law, in like manner as if the offense had been committed in the District of Columbia, ... which may be overcome only by clear and convincing proof.”

    A valid arrest warrant contains four elements, the first element is that it should contain an adequate showing of probable cause, reasonable set of facts to support the charge. In this case there are no such facts, in fact, the officer's arrest report clearly states that there was no basis for arrest. The second element is that the warrant was issued by a neutral and detached magistrate, which is not the case here, all of which is documented. The third element is that the warrant be issued on the basis that the police affidavit has no known or reckless falsehoods, which not the case here. And the fourth element is a brief description on the person to be seized.

In this case, on June 2^nd, at the conclusion of my participation in a youth retreat as a guest presenter in Faber, Virginia, I was drugged and rendered unconcious. When I awoke over 8-hours later, I was some 50-miles away in Charlottesville, and in the regional jail. I was charged with 1) public drunk, 2) assault on a police officer, and 3) simple possession of marijuana. However, for four-days not only was I not given any detail as to the arrest, but was denied the right to call anyone. When I was finally given a copy of the police report it immediately confirmed my belief that I had been drugged and kidnapped. The claim by the officer that he arrested me for public drunk did not mention anything about observing drunken behavior or even any attempt to establish intoxication, the officer states in his report that he seized me for being what he considered as me being 'beligerent.” The officer does not say that I cursed or screamed at him, but that I had supposedly declined his offer to “assist” me for no specific reason. The officer stated that “for that reason,” and no other, he had “no choice” but to seize me and charge me with public drunk.

The officer's report goes on to state that some time after he seized me, while driving me into Charlottesville, that I all of sudden began cursing him and spitting about the backseat. The assault supposedly came from the officer's claim that I had spat on him, the onboard computer, and even the windshield in spite of there being a plexiglass partition between the front and back seat in order to protect the officers from people spitting on them. The problem for the system here is that I cannot be charged with assault on a police officer where the officer openly admits that he was not acting lawfully, within his capacity as a law enforcement officer. The simple possession charge derived from the equally illegal seizure and search of my property, which supposedly turned up marijuana.

The magistrate began to engage in a scheme to string the matter out without ever addressing the total absense of lawful cause and authority behind the actions of the officer, and those subsequently committed by he and the prosecutor. After my initial appearance before the magistrate, and only on a finding of probable cause, I should have appeared before a judge. Yet, the three-times that I appeared in court in the matter, with two of them involving my having to travel there, I only saw the same magistrate. And even though the assault is a class 6 felony and triable only in the circuit court, the matter was never referred there and in spite of my formally informing the judges of this fact, no judge has ever responded. To date, I have never received an order to appear in any court, accept those issued by this same magistrate, which he had no authority to do.

It then became evident that both my life and liberty were in serious jeopardy if I were to return to the area under the circumstances. What I have been subjected to is a routine practice to which black people in America have been subjected from the very outset, racial oppression. False arrests, bogus warrants, and lawless judges have always played a major role in the oppression of black people in this racist white-settler nation-state and at one time was widely known as “Jim Crow.” I have asked Attorney Thomas Ruffin to assist, he will help to inform people as to which courtroom I will be taken. I need as many eyes and ears in the courtroom in order to hopefully keep the judge from violating my rights.

Please visit www.itj-pdn.org and read “Waylaid at Wayside” and related reports, be informed. And also please call or text me at (202) 538-3792 to let me know that you will make a point to be there, I need you to witness. Remember that Jim Crow loves operating in the dark and fear, the more eyes on this snake the better. I thank you in advance.

Kwasi Seitu