West Memphis Three World Awareness Day

Hey, speaking of religious extremists...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      

West Memphis Three World Awareness Day 7/23/05

Supporters all over the world are working on West Memphis Three World Awareness Day 2005, with events already being planned in more than 50 cities, from San Francisco to New York City, from Boston to Los Angeles, from Australia to Antarctica (yes, we even have an event planned at McMurdo Station in Antarctica!).  We are organizing concerts and benefits to take place all over the world, all on the same day – July 23, 2005.  We are calling on everyone who has supported the West Memphis Three in the past, and all the new supporters, to come together on this one night to show the world that we care about those three young men and that we want to see justice prevail.  The next year will be crucial to the WM3 and their legal defense, and we have a chance here to make a difference, to stand up and fight for what is right.
 
You can watch our progress on our special area of the official WM3 discussion board.  All proceeds from this event will benefit the West Memphis Three’s legal defense fund (www.wm3.org).  For people who are not familiar with this case below is a brief explanation of the injustice these three young men have endured:

Shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes.  Evidence?   The same police officers coerced an error-filled "confession" from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audio-taping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes. Jessie recanted it that evening, but it was too late— Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993, and convicted of murder in early 1994.  Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution pathetically resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40.   For over 11 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. Echols waits in solitary confinement for the lethal injection our tax dollars will pay for. They were all condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment.   But there’s still hope for them, and you can help.

Supporters include Margaret Cho, Steve Earle, Metallica, Trey Parker, Henry Rollins, Winona Ryder, Eddie Spagetti, Supersuckers, Wayne Kramer, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Jello Biafra, Jack Black and many others. 

If you are the Media, please include this event in your listings.  If you would do a profile on the event, it would be greatly appreciated.  Help us make this event a success.

WEST MEMPHIS THREE WORLD AWARENESS DAY JULY 23RD, 2005