MARK CURTIS WAS FRAMED! by Colin Mulholland

This subject literally hits close to home, being Mark Curtis is a Des Moines Iowa man and me being a Cedar Rapids Iowa resident. He's a socialist, I am an anarchist. With all the things we have been seeing in the news lately about the Baltimore riots and the case of Freddie Gray. I thought it would be a refresher to, not only show police brutality is a two way street, but to remind everybody that even your social beliefs can be under attack. Mark Curtis was a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a political party whose beliefs celebrated the idea of socialism, the social ownership of the means of production and co-operative management of the economy, as well as a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system. (Google/ Wikipedia) AKA:

 

In 1988 Curtis' life took a dramatic turn when he was confronted at a stoplight by a woman who claimed she was being followed, being a generous person Curtis offered the woman a lift home. Once at the woman's home he walked her to the door to assure her safety all the way, from there police handcuffed him, pulled down his pants to ensure no escape, beat him and took him to jail. He was than later accused and prosecuted in the attempted rape of a 15 year old girl by the name of Demetria Morris. Curtis was sentenced to twenty five years in prison (was released after eight) and the Morris family received  $80,000. In the case of Mark Curtis, In Michael Parenti's lecture "Lazy Law and Social Control" Michael Parenti goes on to explain that Demetria Morris' statement claimed that her attacker was 5'6, and had the smell of cigarette smoke on his breath. He further explains that "Curtis is over six feet tall, does not smoke, and was in a restaurant with a dozen other people at the specified time of the rape." Only one cop testified, and even before the verdict four members of the jury had openly stated that they did not feel that Curtis was guilty. Even with the provided evidence of his innocence, he was found guilty.

 

Mark Curtis' only real crime was that he was a hard working American packaging worker who happened to be a Socialist in a time when Communists were seen as an enemy. The story of Mark Curtis is a tragic indictment into the sad truism behind political censorship in America. Noam Chomsky even stated in his lecture "The Class War" "There is no law protecting workers' freedom of speech in the work place." Mark Curtis was the victim of a setup by (obviously) a fellow employee who saw his socialism as a threat to the workers around him. Mark Curtis openly spoke out against the raid at his meat packaging plant in which many workers, legal and illegal were arrested. Mark Curtis loved his job so much that eventually it incarcerated him. It is my belief that Mark Curtis' case should be thoroughly re-investigated and that he should earn a reparational stipend from the Des Moines Police Department to compensate for their mistake!