Charging that laws in several states violate the First Amendment right of free speech, supporters of three black activists who face prison for protesting against police brutality have started a national campaign to overturn these laws.
Similar laws exist in several states.
Letters have been sent to some 200 law schools, attorney organizations, and civil and human rights groups and activists asking them to join the campaign, added Abron, an associate professor in the journalism program of the department of English at Western Michigan University and a former editor of the Black Panther newspaper. Many people in the city's black community did not accept accounts by police that they killed Montrail Collins and Kevin McCullough in self-defense. Following the killings, members of the coalition contacted city council chairman David Crockett to arrange to present a proposal for a citizens' police review board. It was agreed that Ervin, a spokesman for the coalition, would present the proposal at the start of the city council meeting on May 19. When the meeting convened, Ervin, who is a former Black Panther, was not allowed to speak.