CM: Rev. Pinkney please give our readers some background on the struggle for justice in Benton Harbor.

RP: It started in 2003-2004 when they decided to take over the city of Benton Harbor. It started with Cornerstone Alliance, Whirlpool, and a big part of the city commissioners. And we decided we were going to recall one of them. So we got together and we recalled Glen Yarbrough [the most powerful political figure in Benton Harbor - editor]. So, he went to [Berrien County Prosecutor] James Cherry, who said that if he could find someone that was paid $5 to vote, he could start an investigation. So they went out and got Mansel Williams and paid him $10 to say I paid him $5.

They only had six or seven votes that they could find that were signed by somebody else. So they set aside the election; they actually stole the election. And the following Monday they came out and arrested me and charged me with voter fraud. They had my bond at $100,000, but I got out the next day. The first trial ended in a hung jury. We figured we had won. We were still fighting them taking over the city of Benton Harbor -- Whirlpool, Harbor Shores, planning commissioners, Cornerstone Alliance. They were all working together against the people that live inside the city; so their whole plan was to drive the people of Benton Harbor out of the city. We did everything we could to stop them.

Right now, we’ve got them in a stalemate; they are protected by the federal government only because we went out there and did what we had to do. But they still got me. Without me, this whole thing would’ve blew up. So what we are thinking of doing is continuing to fight this battle, hold up our end of the deal. The second trial I was convicted on all 5 counts and we’re appealing, in fact we are in court right now. We are just waiting for the transcript to come. Once the transcript comes, we are going to take it to a whole different level. [From this second trial, Rev. Pinkney was placed on probation, on an electronic tether and forced to pay thousands of dollars for court costs, tether rental, etc. -editor]

CM: So Judge Butzbaugh jailed you for quoting the Bible?

RP: Absolutely. My first amendment rights. He said it was a violation of the probation which isn’t true. It is freedom of speech. They also seized my computer from my home that is violation of the privacy protection act. That was a no-no too. We’ve got to go back for a hearing at the end of this month, I think.

But we’re right on top of them; we’re trying to stay focused. He says that was a threat on his life, quoting from the Bible. Sounds to me like he’s got a date with the devil.We think we’re going to beat them down but we’ve got to beat them down in public. But we can’t beat them down [in court.] They don’t practice law here. They don’t really know the law.

CM: What is Whirlpool up to?

RP: They are trying to drive all theAfrican-Americans out of the city and have a recreation program for people coming from Chicago, people coming from the rich areas, we plan on stopping it. It’s just that simple.They can’t have Jean Klock Park for the beach which they want for the golf course; we didn’t want that. We are in stalemate. But they’re definitely continuing to press for it; we’re talking about a billion dollar project.

CM: What role has race played in your struggle and in the attacks on you?

RP: It has been racist from the start. If you think about driving all the African-Americans out of Benton Harbor, that’s racism. [Benton Harbor is 92% African-American.] I’ve been spearheading the struggle against racism so they went after me. It’s a personal attack. If I were anybody else, they probably wouldn’t have done it; they probably wouldn’t have even taken the vote to trial. By it being me, by me being Black, they decided that was the best option.

CM: Isn’t Benton Harbor poorer than St. Joseph’s?

RP: Very poor. 70 percent of people living in Benton Harbor are unemployed. 90 percent of them live below the poverty level. St. Joseph’s couldn’t exist with Benton Harbor. It is designed to keep us down. [St. Joseph is the twin city of Benton Harbor which is nearly all white, the home of Whirlpool.-editor]

CM: What are the main issues facing the people of Benton Harbor in this struggle and what are your solutions?

RP: They are trying to drive the African-Americans out by not providing jobs for them. They told us that there were going to be 2000 jobs [from this project], but after we reviewed everything there weren’t going to be any jobs for the people of Benton Harbor.We were proposing to bring a factory here as a matter of fact, a textile plant. They did everything they could to stop the project. In order to bring the factory here, we have to wait until I get free. The key thing is to bring jobs into this community. They have no intention of bringing jobs for the African- American people.

CM: Young people are probably leaving because there are no jobs, no future.

RP: Absolutely. If they can drive you out of here, that is what they want to do.

CM: How is your health?

RP: I saw the doctor the other day. Everything is ok. He checked my back out. I’m sleeping on the floor with six other people. I’m no young guy so it’s hard to get up.

CM: What are the conditions in the jail?

RP: Terrible. Just terrible. There are over 500 people in a jail for 350. They got people all over the floor.

CM: Have you been singled out?

RP: They singled me out by putting me in this cell; I’m locked down 24/7. We have no hot water, no exercise; we can’t hardly walk in this small room. No recreation. There are eight people in my cell with two beds.CM: Who has declared support for you?RP: The Black Caucus, most of them as individuals. We want John Conyers to do a complete investigation of the whole system. It’s really not about me, it’s about everybody. We had over 2,500 letters of support sent to the judge. Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders has supported me.

CM: What do you want people to do right now to help?

RP: Write letters to the governor, congress people and send them to my attorney. Let them know that they cannot
take away my first amendment rights.

Last year, the American Movement for Israel invited Ray Tanter, PhD, to speak at the UM. In his 1998 book, Rogue Regimes, Tanter admitted that in October of 1980, at a high-level meeting Tanter participated in, future President Ronald Reagan "raised the possibility" of the illegal arms deal that became the Iran-Contra scandal. According to Tanter, "not one of the participants spoke out against" the proposal, which didn't "seem so outrageous at the time." In October, 2002, Tanter told the Michigan Daily that the coming US invasion of Iraq would be " 'an antidote' and that there would be no backlash. 'Arab people won't go crazy, Muslim people won't go crazy. They'll roll over because they hate Saddam Hussein.' " Vanity Fair reported that in a speech in late 2005: "Tanter went as far as to suggest that the U.S. consider using tactical nuclear weapons against Iran." During his 2006 UM presentation, Tanter advocated reversing the State Department's designation of Mujahedeen-e Khalq as a "foreign terrorist organization" so that they could receive funding to expand their terror campaign in Iran and bring about a civil war."

It was against this backdrop that an informal group of local peace and justice activists, including Dr. Wilkerson, decided to stage a nonviolent protest. The protest began calmly outside the UM's Michigan League, where Tanter was to speak on November 30, 2006. It was inside the building that things went awry. UM police physically attacked an Iranian-born woman who was heckling Tanter, supressing her free speech rights. Heckling is explicitly permitted under the UM's policy on "Freedom of Speech and Artistic Expression," which says, in part:

"[The University's] prohibition against undue interference does not include suppression of the usual range of human reactions commonly displayed by an audience during heated discussions of controversial topics. Nor does this prohibition include various expressions of protest, including heckling and the display of signs. Protesters have rights, just as do speakers and artists. The standard of 'undue interference' must not be invoked lightly, merely to avoid brief interruptions, or to remove distractions or embarrassment."

Nevertheless, at the behest of the event organizers, UM police did lightly invoke the standard of 'undue interference.' In the ensuing police riot three people were arrested. As the senior medical professional on scene, Dr. Wilkerson took responsibility for the well-being of a middle-aged man who was forced by police to the floor. The man told the two police officers on top of him, at least twice, that he couldn't breathe. After he lost consciousness, Dr. Wilkerson exhorted police to get off him and allow her to check his breathing and pulse. Wilkerson described the scene in an article published online by CounterPunch:

"Eventually an ambulance arrived, … I tried to fulfill my obligation to my patient. … What I witnessed in the course of their treatment appalled me.

When the patient didn't respond to a sternal rub, one of the paramedics popped an ammonia inhalant and thrust it beneath the patient's nostrils. … That it's 'just bad medicine' is sufficient to make the paramedic's actions unacceptable, but what happened next made my blood curdle. He popped a second inhalant and a third, then cupped his hands over the patient's nostrils to heighten the noxious effect. 'You don't like that, do you?' he said.

At that point I issued a direct medical order for him to stop, but he ignored me. 'What you're doing is punitive,' I said, 'and has no efficacy.' Then as the patient retched, rather than rolling him onto his side to avoid the chance of his choking on his own vomit, a firefighter held his feet down and yelled, 'Don't spit.' In thirty years of doctoring, I have never witnessed such egregious maltreatment of a patient. Again I spoke up: 'This is punitive.' I hoped to shame the paramedical into stopping his unethical behavior."

It was at this time that she was physically assaulted by Ann Arbor police and detained. To this day, Wilkerson still requires physical therapy for the shoulder injury she suffered at the hands of Officer Warner. Wilkerson was never handcuffed or even required to produce identification because she had committed no crime in advocating for a patient in her care. However, nearly two months after the incident and just seven days after she filed a police brutality complaint, she was charged by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie's office, at the request of the UM police, with two attempted felonies—one against Officer Warner and one against the EMS personnel.

Dr. Wilkerson and her supporters are calling for UM President Mary Sue Coleman and Prosecutor Mackie to drop all charges against her. She is represented by attorneys Dennis Hayes and Buck Davis. The Committee to Defend Catherine Wilkerson meets weekly and welcomes your support and assistance. The Committee's work is supported by the Nationals Lawyers Guild, Detroit & Michigan Chapter; Council on American Islamic Relations, Michigan Chapter; and the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality.