Fry Mumia

Forget the needle, charge up Old Sparky

25 years ago today Philadelphia police officer Daniel J. Faulkner was shot in the back by leftist darling Mumia Abu-Jamal after Faulkner attempted to arrest Mumia's brother. After the initial shot, Faulkner returned fire, wounding Mumia, who continued to fire, emptying his weapon into Officer Faulkner at close range.

Convicted and sentenced to death, Mumia has been imprisoned, filing appeal after appeal since 1982, succeeding only in getting the death penalty overturned. He has become a cause celebre for everyone from innocuous death-penalty opponents to rabid, often violent, activist groups of a leftward persuasion.

Faulkner's wife Maureen has spent half her life challenging Mumia's many appeals.

Fuck Mumia. Despite the many who hail him as a social activist and role model, at the end of the day he's still no more than a cheapskate cop-killer who should have been dragged off and shot a quarter of a century ago.