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Date: Sun, 08 Sep 2002 03:19:19 -0400
From: John Judge
To: Dana Mott
Subject: Re: Panel: The Murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dana,
The thanks belong to you and Cynthia for pulling this together again and having the courage to do it. This travesty of a primary is your badge of honor, so wear it proud. She has been the only real "representative" in Congress for those of us beyond the political process. I still have all my notes and am ready to help on the legislation and hope we can at least mention it at the event. I'll be there.
John Judge
Dear Panelists:
Please accept our heartfelt thank you for accepting our invitation to participate in the upcoming issue forum entitled
Human Rights in the United States:
The Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Victim of Cointelpro.This historic event will be held during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, Friday, September 13th 2002 from 10:00am to 1:00pm. The location of the event is the Washington Convention Center located at 900 9th Street, NW in downtown Washington, DC.
As our event begins at 10:00am, I am asking that all panelists arrive at the Convention Center by 9:30am. We will be located in room #35. If this is a problem for anyone, please contact to let me know.
If you have any materials that you would like to distribute during the issue forum, we can provide copies if you submit the material to me in advance (at least 24 hours prior to the event). We already have bios for each of you and will make copies to distribute to the audience.
Below you will find our working agenda. I hope that it is fine with each of you. Please feel free to critique its content and make suggestions where you see fit. We look forward to working with each of you to make this issue forum a great success. Talk to you soon!
Dana Mott
Special Assistant
Office of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney
Human Rights in the U.S.: The Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Victim of COINTELPRO
Friday, September 13, 2002
10:00am to 1:00pm
Washington Convention Center
Room #3510:00 - 10:20am
Opening remarks and panelists introductionsCongresswoman McKinney will deliver opening remarks and then introduce each panelist in the order in which they will present. The introduction will consist of a brief, one-paragraph bio. All panelists will be introduced at this time.
10:20
Martin Luther King III, President of SCLC, will deliver special remarks.10:30
The Original Trial & The GovernmentThis section will address the panelists, the original MLK, Jr. murder trial as well as the government's investigation into the murder. A general overview of the government's notorious Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) will be presented. Each panelist will be allotted 15 minutes to present.
Panelist I Nkechi Taifa, Esq Overview of Cointelpro Panelist II James Lesar, Esq. The Trial Panelist III Phillip Melanson, Ph.D. The Investigation Over the past twenty years Professor Taifa has lectured nationally and published numerous op-ed articles and commentary on a wide range of topics, including Afrocentric education, racism in the criminal justice system, international human rights, reparations, death penalty, Cointelpro, political prisoners, police brutality, D.C. Statehood, and Kwanza. She has served as legislative counsel for the ACLU, policy counsel for the Women's Legal Defense Fund, staff attorney for the National Prison Project, Network Organizer for the Washington Office on Africa, and as a teacher at Watoto School.
For 25 years, James H. Lesar has worked to increase individual access to government information under the Freedom of Information Act and is widely recognized as one of the nation's information arenas. He serves as president of the Assassination Archives and Research Center, a public service organization that is dedicated to "collecting, preserving and disseminating information concerning political assassinations" and has focused primarily on the killings of John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Melanson is a Professor of Political Science at UMASS Dartmouth and the author of two books on the MLK assassination entitled "The Martin Luther King Assassination," and "Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence." He is also a former member of the Executive Board for the Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA).
11:15 - 12:00noon
Section IIThe Contradictions: Things That Don't Match
This section will address the testimonies, logistics, and circumstances that have successfully been contradicted in the trial and in both the government and independent investigations. Each panelist will be allotted 15 minutes to present.
Panelist IV Hon. Judge Joe Brown The Rifle & The Civil Suit (Pending) Panelist V Dr. William Pepper, Esq. The Civil Suit & Recent DOJ Report Panelist VI Lyndon Barsten The Contradictions The Honorable Joe Brown presided over appeals by James Earl Ray for a new trial. Judge Brown stands firm that the bullets removed from the alleged murder weapon did not match those removed from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. William Pepper is the author of Orders to Kill. He also served as the attorney for James Earl Ray during the last ten years of his life and served as the attorney for the King Family during the Civil Trial in November of 2000.
Lyndon Barsten is an independent researcher who has developed new evidence and documents concerning the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and has uncovered information linking US intelligence agencies to James Earl Ray.
12:00
Where Do We Go From Here: The Plan For The FutureThis section will consist of current and future efforts to declassify documents that have great relevance to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Panelist VII John Judge JFK Act and Declassification John Judge is an author, historian, and researcher and has spent the past twenty-six years examining the history of the Cold War, U.S. intelligence agencies, etc.
As an avid investigator into the Kennedy Assassination, John Judge found links between the characters, assassins, funding and operations in the subsequent murders of Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and numerous other public figures and eye witnesses to the killings. Judge's research includes detailed examination of the entire Warren Commission Report and Hearings, 26 volumes, some 300 cubic feet of records in the National Archives on the internal meetings and works of the Commission, related books, and thousands of articles by the critics of the report, as well as those who defend it.
12:15
During this section, former witnesses who will be invited to attend the issue forum will have an opportunity to be recognized and encouraged to answer relevant questions posed during the Q&A section immediately following.12:25
This section will consist of questions and answers with the audience and comments from our panelists.1:00pm
Wrap Up