Strong support for today's SF 8 - Cisco Torres hearing

A spirited demonstration Monday morning included
many members of the community, five of the San
Francisco 8, leading members of the Black clergy,
SF supervisors Eric Mar and John Avalos, and the
rhythms of the Brass Liberation Orchestra. The
crowd demanded that the charges be dropped
against Francisco Torres, the last remaining defendant in the case.

The actual court hearing was packed with
supporters but was extremely brief. It merely set
a drop-dead compliance date (May 28th) for the
prosecution to either come up with additional
discovery or admit that evidence referred to in
previous documents is missing or destroyed. This
stipulation will underscore the prejudicial delay
that has been argued since the beginning of this
39–year old case based on torture and rooted in
the government’s COINTELPRO attack on the Black
Panther Party. The next scheduled court
appearance is currently set for July 1st.