J.R. Valrey on Trial for Felony Charges in Oscar Grant Rebellion

Indybay.org

Sun Sep 20 2009 (Updated 09/21/09) Community Journalist J.R. Valrey Targeted
by Oakland Police in Bogus Arson Arrest

J.R. Valrey on Trial for Felony Charges in Oscar Grant Rebellion Update: In a
brief hearing on Sept. 21st, Judge Jacobson revoked a stay-away order which
kept Valrey away from downtown Oakland.

J.R. Valrey will stand trial in Oakland on felony arson charges, after he was
arrested while reporting on the Oscar Grant Rebellion on January 7, 2009.
Valrey is a producer at KPFA radio, associate editor and multimedia director
of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and runs the Block Report Radio
website.

Valrey believes his arrest was payback for his years covering police
brutality in print and on the radio. "I was covering it as a journalist," he
said. "But one thing that's different about me from the rest of the rebels is
that the Oakland police know me. ... I'm not a stranger to the power
structure of Oakland, so I believe like many others that I was targeted
politically... We were basically set up on trumped-up charges." Valrey's
lawyer, Marlon Monroe, says the case against Valrey is weak and will fail.

"J.R. has really been a thorn in the police department's side," says SF Bay
View publisher Willie Ratcliff, who has published Valrey's work. "His stories
are like those of Mumia Abu Jamal. He's young and really smart, and the
people love him, they are really organizing, so the police are always after
him. The judge even tried to get him to cop a plea to a misdemeanor,
something I've never seen a judge do. But they really blew it this time
because he didn't do anything except his job. The police even admitted that
they didn't see him set any fire."

The profferred plea bargain involved five years of felony probation,
warrantless searches at any time of Valrey's body, car, home, and places of
employment, time served, and restitution.

Supporters have been asked to attend a hearing on Sept. 21st to "[l]et the
judge, OPD, the City, and whoever else needs to be aware that we stand in
loving support of truth and justice and that JR is a gift and his work is
valuable to the health and well being of this community. It is unacceptable
that he be targeted and charged with crimes he did not commit - because he
serves this community."