Back to the February, 2008 issue

VOICES FROM BENTON HARBOR, MI

Dorothy Pinkney (left) and Belinda Brown,
speaking at a Detroit Martin Luther King celebration.
PHOTO/JIM APSEY

By Belind Brown

My husband, Rev. Edward Pinkney, was convicted of voter fraud by an all white jury in 2007. The jury was motivated by something other than the Truth. Legal abuse and prosecution of Blacks, poor whites and Hispanics is flourishing in Berrien County, Michigan.

My husband was placed on house arrest, with an ankle bracelet and portable monitor. He was re-arrested recently for violation of probation. My husband should never have been charged, much less convicted. Judge Butzbaugh witnessed Tommie Travis say his life was threatened by the lead detective, Sgt. Dannifel and the prosecutor, Gerald Vignansky, if he didn’t lie. Mr. Travis said on the witness stand that he was paid by Dannifel to give false testimony. The judge did nothing. On the tape the prosecutor produced as evidence, Mr. Travis asked them, “Are you still going to pay me?” Detective Dannifel said, “Yes.” Judge Butzbaugh did not request an investigation.

My husband took a polygraph test to prove his innocence and passed with flying colors, but the Judge refused to allow that in as evidence. My husband is in the corrupt Berrien County jail because his probation was revoked for quoting from the Kings James Bible, Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 28 and Verses 15-22, in a newspaper article. On Dec, 20, 2007, the Judge ruled that the quotation from Moses was inflammatory and threatening. Therefore, the Judge confused Biblical law and prophecy with human threats. The word of God is True Prophecy, given to His inspired anointed men and women to point out the very seriousness of Divine consequences for sinful, wicked, unlawful and disobedient behavior of others. If God’s Truth is rejected by whom it is for automatically open the door and allow curses to enter in. If a person can’t deal with Biblical Truth, I suggest one must deal with God.

At no time did my husband state or imply that he would commit any of these actions! Indeed, the idea that a human being can cause another to be cursed by God or to be smitten with consumption, fever and inflammation is far fetched and a bizarre interpretation. And to throw someone in jail for simply pointing them out is a fearful assault on the First Amendment, freedom of speech and religious rights. Biblical Truth revals that our Savior, Jesus Christ is the perfect example of this type of injustice.
We’re asking everyone concerned with First Amendment freedom of speech and religious rights to write support letters to: Atty. Hugh Davis, Constitutional Litigation Assoc., PC, 450 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI 48226. We have sacrificed for many of you. We need you to stand with us!

Together we can change a Nation.



FREE PINKNEY!!
HELP WITH HIS DEFENSE FUND!
PLEASE CALL:
1-269-925-0001
Write or send donations to:
Rev. Edward Pinkney Defense
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

So goes Benton Harbor, so goes Michigan and the world. People need to wake up and realize we can make a difference if we support Pastor Pinkney. This is our chance to stand up to the injustice and unify.
~Belinda Brown

Corporate Greed, Power and Control of Our Rights

By Rev. Mary Gault

In an article titled ”States at War,” Time Magazine (November 9, 1998) chronicles the war for corporate presence in various geographical areas within the United States through Million Dollar incentive packages. The article asks why are these huge tax breaks needed when the corporations already have huge profits? The states are competing for jobs at a high price. The competition for the corporate giants isn’t just between states but also between countries. U.S. corporations are busy negotiating contracts with other countries for goods and services, moving their factories abroad, and buying other country’s corporations in order to become more profitable.  Kellogg’s just announced their purchase of Russia’s largest cereal corporation. The corporations now dictate the rules by which we live — all in the name of gigantic profits.

This has brought us to an America, the supposed “Land of the Free’, where judges can ignore the Constitution of the United States and send innocent people to jail for exercising their rights to vote and for free speech? The land where the appliance giant Whirlpool and their sidekicks in local, state and the federal government can and will stomp on anybody standing in the way of their pet project that is designed for the rich to the detriment of the poor and those in the ever-shrinking “middle class” — all done in the name of a few jobs, most of which will be minimum wage category.
Rev. Pinkney is an example of what has happened to a citizen that stood up to this corporate giant to prevent these corporate dictators from initiating the Harbor Shores project, a project that is not in the best interest of the people that live in Benton Harbor. The price Rev. Pinkney is paying is his conviction for voter fraud resulting in probation on a tether now being revoked because the judge said Rev. Pinkney’s quote of scripture was a threat and placed him in jail.  Not only is Rev. Pinkney innocent of the charges of voter fraud (proven by his lie detector test) but, as a minister of the gospel, he is supposed to preach the word of God. It is his right of free speech. He now resides in a 14 x 12 foot cell with 8 other men forced to sleep on a thin mattress on a cement floor with no room to walk around The question of what happened echoes of corporate greed and power. It is a theme not only played across America as exampled in Benton Harbor, Michigan but of one that extends throughout the world.

This article originated in the People's Tribune
PO Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654, 773-486-3551, info@peoplestribune.org.
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