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Free Lawton And Gardner

By VVAW

The absurdity of the Gary Lawton (VVAW/WSO member) and Zurebu Gardner frame-up has become full-blown with the second trial ending in a hung jury. Gary and Zurebu are black men accused of the shootings of 2 white policemen. In this trial in Riverside, Cal., the jury failed to reach a verdict and declared they were hopelessly "hung" with an 8-4 vote for conviction of Gary and a 7-5 vote for conviction of Zurebu. This is almost a reversal of the verdict of the first trial in Indio where the jury reached a 9-3 decision for acquittal of all defendants. In light of the fact that both murder trials have ended in a mistrial, the government has decided to try it one more time, tentatively scheduling a third trial to begin in March.

VVAW/WSO feels that the government's attempts to convict two men of a crime which they obviously did not commit has gotten grossly out of hand. In order to understand why this process of injustice is continuing, it is necessary to look at the history of the 2 trials and the atmosphere of racism and repression which has permeated them both.

The event which set this entire phenomenon in motion occurred on April 2, 1971, when police received notification of a burglary. The investigating officers arrived at the scene and were killed by shotguns fired by unknown assailants. Eyewitness reports said that 4 men had been seen escaping from the scene of the ambush and described them as being 3 white teenagers and one short teenage black with an Afro haircut. (It should be noted that Gary is 33, 6'3", of heavy build and partially bald.) Riverside had a reputation of being "trouble free," so in order to protect this reputation, someone had to pay for the crime. Having absolutely no evidence leading to the identification of the killers, the Riverside police decided to get the next best thing -- and that "thing" was the person of Gary Lawton.

The reasons for this outrageous harassment of Gary go back several years, and this is a clear-cut case of political repression. Gary had been active in organizing among black, poor and third world communities of Riverside since 1968. He was unanimously elected to head the city's Black Congress, an organization which worked for the rights of all oppressed people in the community. As Chukia Lawton puts it: "Gary Lawton spoke out because situations of unemployment, poor housing, segregation, and brutality by the police department on the minority communities existed." It is not hard to understand why Gary was not a popular man among the white businessmen, police and officials ruling the town of Riverside.

Even though none of the eyewitness reports even slightly resembled Gary, the police immediately began "suspecting" him as the killer. He was questioned by police several times and given a total of 3 lie-detector tests -- all proved him to be completely innocent. Gary believed he had nothing to fear, until 6 weeks after the ambush when he was arrested for murder. He was arraigned without bail, shacked in chains and continually guarded by 6 armed police officers. Shortly after Lawton's arrest, Nehemiah Jackson and Zurebu Gardner were arrested for the purpose of bolstering the prosecution's case. All were indicted for murder and conspiracy to commit murder, even though none of the defendants had ever even seen each other before.

Since these brothers were denied bail, they sat in a jail cell until September of 1972 when the first trial in Indio, Cal. began. The defense had tried to get the trial moved out of Riverside county because of the racist media coverage and Gary's history of political activism. Instead, the judge moved the trial to Indio (a predominantly white, desert community east of Riverside) and this greatly disadvantaged the defense. Not only was Indio served by the same newspapers, but it also isolated Gary's community from being at the trial and offering visible support (as well as increasing defense costs).

The Indio trial began. Out of all the prosecution's witnesses, over 2/3 were law enforcement officers. The major police witness in this (and the subsequent) trial was Officer Ronald Lund. Lund was the first officer on the scene following the shotgun ambush. He claimed that he saw Lawton near the scene of the crime, but did not detain him because he mistook Gary for being white and he figured that the killers were black men. He did not file a report about seeing Lawton until 50 days after the shootings and 1 day after Gary's arrest. On the witness stand, Lund admitted: "That's what I want to kill is a nigger right now. I want to kill him worse than anything I ever wanted to do in my whole life." Thus, it is not difficult to determine what was motivating Officer Lund as he sat on the witness stand during 2 trials and lied about seeing Gary on the night of the killings.

The most important testimony offered at the Indio trial and again in Riverside is that of the eyewitnesses. There were 5 witnesses to the shootings and 3 of them knew Gary Lawton. Two of them stated that they were "more than positive" that they had not seen Gary near the scene of the crime. The third witness who had known Gary was Sgt. Carpenter of the Riverside police force. Carpenter admitted that he couldn't say one way or the other whether or not the man he saw was Lawton. The final 2 eyewitnesses testified that Lawton looked nothing like the people they saw at the ambush. Throughout the entire trial, the prosecution could only conjure up one witness to implicate Gardner in the shootings.

Other important testimony offered at both trials includes that of the alibi witnesses. Zurebu Gardner had been at a birthday party for a friend and several people from the party testified in his behalf. Mrs. Faye Nelson, a neighbor of the Lawtons, stated that on the night of the shootings she heard shots. She immediately looked out her window and saw Lawton standing on his front porch. This testimony proved without a doubt that neither Gardner nor Lawton were anywhere near the scene when the officers were shot. Despite this evidence, the Indio jury could not make a definitive decision as to the innocence of the brothers, and the trial ended with a hung jury in February, 1973.

The second trial was moved back to Riverside and began in June, 1973. During the time between the 2 trials, the defendants were finally granted bail and released from nearly 2 years in jail. Also, Nehemiah Jackson was severed from the case. He was a well-liked college student and the prosecution felt that his appearance and reputation would make it much more difficult to get a conviction -- which they were most definitely determined to get this time around. At this time, a future trial for Jackson is still uncertain, though it is probable that all charges will be dropped since the only witness against him (a voice print expert) was recently convicted of perjury in a California trial.

The Riverside trial contained much the same testimony as did the Indio trial. There were the many police officers proclaiming the defendants' guilt; there were the same eyewitnesses; there were the same alibi witnesses. The most astonishing new testimony was presented by 4 inmates of the Blythe Correctional Institute who were in jail with a prosecution witness, Jonathan Cameron. Cameron testified that Gardner and Lawton had "confessed" their guilt to him while in the Riverside jail. However, the 4 Blythe brothers testified that Cameron told them he had been offered a new identity, $5,000 and a ticket to anywhere in by a Riverside detective if he would lie on the witness stand. Apparently, this evidence of police bribery of witnesses did not impress the jury because, as with the Indio jury, they were unable to reach a decision and a mistrial was declared on November 25th.

Now with a third trial of Lawton and Gardner approaching, the question we must ask is "Why?" The prosecution has thus far intimidated witnesses, exploited professional police informants, dragged a series of highly uncredible characters onto the witness stand, and spent a couple of million dollars; yet they have failed to get a conviction -- the reason being that these brothers are simply not guilty. So, why does the government continue to try? Because they must somehow justify their own policies of racism and repression. The trial of Gary Lawton and Zurebu Gardner is a symbol of the corruptness within our society. It is a symbol of the lack of justice within our courts; it is a symbol of the racism practiced by our rulers as they frame black and third world people for the crimes committed by unknowns; and it is a symbol of the growing political repression within this country.

It is no coincidence that Gary and Zurebu have been denied the right to a fair trial in an unprejudiced community by a jury of their peers. It is no coincidence that 2 black men are being tried on murder charges for which the police have no evidence, or even clues as to the identity of the real killers. And it is no coincidence that a conviction of Gary Lawton will effectively silence him. Gary Lawton is a man who is a much too effective community organizer who continues to speak out for the rights of all oppressed people, and for this alone, his silencing is a necessity on the part of a government which must stifle political dissent in order to retain its control.

What the government does not seem to realize, however, is the fact that the dissent which is continually growing within this country can not be easily "convicted away." There is a struggle going on in America, and though individuals are being singled out to suffer more intensely what is the repression of us all, the dissent will not be ceased. Gary Lawton is a symbol of our repression, yet he himself realizes that the struggle does not end with the silencing of a few. As Gary says: "To those who have placed their trust in me, I say this: that I will continue to Say On and with whatever tools left at my disposal I will continue to struggle against the principles of evil and against the traditional misuse of black people. And if my enemies should succeed in ripping me off, I am more than confident that another will come to take my place."

It should be clear by now that the "Outrage in the Desert" will continue until either the people of this country or their oppressors can claim the victory. If the trial of Gary and Zurebu is to be a victory for the people, it will also have to be a victory by the people. This means that if we are to deliver a blow at those attempting to silence political unrest, this blow must be delivered in unity. Gary and Zurebu are going to need more nation-wide support than ever before as they approach their third trial. The case of this frame-up must be taken to the American people because the fight for freedom going on in Riverside, California is the fight of us all. As the defense has said: "There are those men and women who feel such a deep and abiding commitment to the dignity of all working people, that they will brave the most despicable outrages of repression and retribution in their attempt to expose the injustices of the American social and economic system. These individuals are rare, indeed, for they pay a high price for their commitment to those silenced by poverty and the discipline of the work place." Gary Lawton and Zurebu Gardner are such men. 

The Riverside Political Prisoners Defense Committee is in desperate need of funds if Gary and Zurebu are to be defended. Send contributions to: RPPDC, P.O. Box 5154, San Bernardino, California 92412.

Freedom For One Is Not Enough, Free Us All, Say On!