The supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal can work up a teeth-gnashing hate when they run across someone who isn't convinced that the convicted cop-killer is the victim of a massive racist and political frameup.
The way they see it, if you don't accept their version of The Truth, you are (take your pick) a white racist, a fascist, a fawning tool of the establishment, senile, stupid, or all of the above.
But I suppose that type of passion is to be expected, since Mumia - a former Black Panther and public radio journalist - has become world-renowned as a victim of American racism and treachery.
Not every American convict is elevated to hero status by literary and academic elites of Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and New York. Or such Hollywood legal scholars as Ed Asner and Whoopi Goldberg. I'm impressed by the number of people - here and abroad - who know so much about what REALLY happened one night in Philadelphia when a cop was gunned down.
They know far more than the jury that took only four hours to find Mumia guilty in 1982. They know more than the reporters at the Philadelphia Inquirer, a fine paper, who have sifted through testimony and the evidence. They probably know more than the judges who will hear Mumia's appeal.
These people seem to really know how ridiculous it is to think that Mumia was convicted of killing the cop based on such flimsy and faked evidence.
Consider what is known to have haptened the night in question: A cop was giving a ticket to Mumia's brother, William Cook. They argued and got into a tussle. Mumia, who also drove a cab, happened to arrive. How he happened to be there isn't known. There were gun shots. The cop was found dead on the street. His gun had been fired. A few feet away, Mumia was found wounded by a bullet from the cop's gun. Near him was his own .38.