Diallo case outcome illustrates Amerikan injustice By a 
prisoner in Oregon

New York City police commissioner Bernard B. Kerik decided 
not to discipline four uniformed killers in the shooting 
death of Amadou Diallo. On the night of February 4, 1999, 
police officers Kenneth Boss, Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon 
and Richard Murphy fired 41 gun shots with 19 striking and 
killing Mr. Amadou Diallo. Mr Diallo, a 22-year-old street 
vendor from West Africa, was murdered on the vestibule of 
his Bronx apartment building. The officers claim they 
thought Mr. Diallo was reaching for a gun when in reality 
all he had was a wallet. The officers were acquitted of 
criminal charges and in January the united $states justice 
department decided that federal civil rights charges were 
unwarranted. People have demonstrated to express their 
outrage and disbelief. Despite all the protest, no justice 
was forthcoming, indeed the token solution of Bernard B. 
Kerik in ordering the officers to undergo retraining in 
tactics is nothing short of a mockery in light of the facts. 
In seeking justice, I must mention Chariman Mao's statement 
that justice comes from the barrel of a gun. Although MIM 
doesn't advocate armed struggle at this time, it is still of 
importance to analyze the revolutionary aspect of this truth 
in relation to the Mr. Diallo case. First and foremost, Mr. 
Diallo's killing was not an isolated event, any meaningful 
research will turn up numerous cases of pigs gunning down 
innocent people in the streets across the country. Around 
the world other Amerikan agencies can be found gunning down 
innocent people or exploiting them for the sake of 
imperialism. Mr. Diallo was not an isolated incident! The 
lack of justice in these cases should be no surprise for 
upon closer examination one will discover that the courts 
are not on the side of the oppressed. The so-called justice 
system serves the interests of the ruling class. The courts 
rarely punish their own unless it seems to be the 
appropriate political move to maintain control over the 
masses. This is one aspect of Mao's dictum, overlooked by 
bourgeois pundits: The reactionaries maintain political 
power because they use force to defend it. Once those 
outraged demand justice as opposed to begging for justice 
then they are looking in the right direction. Where the 
government will impose no consequences then the people must. 
When it is decided that justice can not be had from the 
current system then the system must be replaced. It will be 
interesting to see how the courts in Cincinnati will deal 
with police officer Roach for killing Timothy Thomas after 
they had just a little taste of rebellion. The courts, 
justice departments, police departments and all other 
agencies serve to maintain the oppressive nature of the 
united snakes government. We can demand justice within the 
system but we must pick these battles to be winnable and use 
them to educate the people about the injustice system. Even 
when the people demand it, far more times than not justice 
will be denied. Now in analyzing Mao's statement about 
justice coming from the barrel of a gun, we apply the 
revolutionary message to the case at hand. Upon adopting a 
revolutionary stance you no longer beg for justice from the 
unjust, instead you begin to organize and develop means to 
demand justice or to replace the unjust system with one that 
is just. Although armed struggle is not advocated at this 
time, you begin to plant seeds in the minds of would be 
revolutionaries by helping them understand that you can not 
"ask" for justice from an unjust system nor can the 
powerless seize power by begging and crying. Develop 
revolutionary agendas instead of looking to the problem 
itself for a solution, organize and create ways to solve the 
problem ourselves. Revolution is the only solution!!

Notes: New York Times, April 27, 2001