Received today from The Love Park 4 Defense Committee:

Our lawyers have informed us that in light of a discovery motion being filed on our behalf - and due to the fact that the District Attorney’s Office is not yet ready for trial - our court date on Thursday will be far less important then originally expected. Instead of a trial date, the judge will hear a defense motion for discovery, and then continue the hearing to a later date to give the State a chance to respond. Further, our lawyers were alerted to the fact the District Attorney’s Office planned to ask for a continuance anyway, claiming that even though it has been over 2 months since our status hearing - and almost 5 months since our arrest - the State is still not ready to present its case at trial.

While we would still love support during our court date on Thursday, we understand that with work and school, it is hard to get a day off. If you don’t have work or school - or already took off and can’t get the day back - please still come to court to support us. But we would also prefer a large turnout at our actual trial date, so for those people who can’t get that many days off, please save your time off for more important court dates in the future.

For those of you who can still come, court starts at 8:30AM Thursday morning at the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert Street, Philadelphia - Room 1003.

Bulletin received today:

CALL FOR COURT SOLIDARITY FOR THE LOVE PARK 4:
PACK THE COURT ROOM ON DECEMBER 13th

Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 8:30AM
Criminal Justice Center - Room 1003
1301 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

On July 23rd 2007, four Philadelphia-area anti-racist activists were arrested on multiple trumped up charges stemming from a counter-demonstration against a Ku Klux Klan rally that was scheduled to take place in Center City that morning.

Two men wearing neo-Nazi t-shirts were verbally confronted by anti-racists and forced to leave. The men then boarded a waiting SUV, at which time another verbal confrontation ensued, at the end of which one of the SUV’s windows was damaged. Police personnel waited until this point to break their cover and identify themselves - the driver of the SUV was a Philadelphia Police Detective while the passenger and owner of the vehicle was an FBI special agent.

The initial charges against each activist consisted of 4 felony and 6 misdemeanor counts, but were quickly reduced to 8 misdemeanor charges when the arresting offices realized the original trumped up charges were just too exaggerated to ever stick.

On December 13th, the Love Park 4 will have their day in court.

We are happy to report that the defendants are confident in their lawyer’s ability to help them beat these trumped up charges, and are currently proceeding towards trial in December with cautious optimism. We are encouraging friends, family, and fellow activists to pack the courtroom on December 13th to show their support and solidarity for the defendants.

It is important that as many people as possible attend this court date. We must show the State the large amount of support that exists for these anti-racists arrested in a situation that - for all practical purposes - was straight up entrapment. We must send a clear message that State-sponsored harassment of political activists will not go unchallenged.

We have also received word that local white supremacists are planning to attend this court date to intimidate and harass both the defendants and their supporters. With this new information, it is even more imperative that people turn out in large numbers on December 13th. We must not allow this attempt at intimidation to go unchecked. Let’s pack the court room with signs of solidarity for our comrades – fill those seats early and keep the neo-Nazis out!

We are asking that everyone who comes to court please dress in an appropriate manner, and behave professionally. Coming to court will help show the judge and district attorney just how much support the Love Park 4 has - but anything negative will only hurt their case. Please keep that in mind when you are planning to attend.

In Solidarity with ALL Political Prisoners,

The Love Park 4 Defense Committee
www.myspace.com/supportlovepark4

Please attend and show support if you can, or donate to the defence campaign if you can’t.