Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 last week welcomed Maureen Faulkner for a rally in support of victims of violence and local police.
John McNesby, president of FOP Lodge 5, said his members support Faulkner and her family. Her police officer husband, Daniel, was shot to death by Mumia Abu-Jamal in 1981.
Maureen Faulkner and others at the rally want District Attorney Larry Krasner to put crime victims and their families first.
Krasner recently announced that his office would drop its challenge of Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker’s ruling that clears the way for Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther and radio reporter, to argue his appeal in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
In March, Tucker granted Abu-Jamal’s appeal because retired Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille — Philadelphia’s district attorney during some of the convicted killer’s appeals — did not recuse himself when the case reached the state’s highest court.
Faulkner disagrees with Tucker’s ruling and Krasner’s decision to drop the appeal.
“Judge Castille never, ever mentioned Mumia Abu-Jamal’s name in the district attorney’s office,” she said.
Faulkner has met Krasner and spoken to him on the phone. She sensed that he had already made up his mind to drop the appeal in her final conversation with him before the decision was reached.
Faulkner said she first heard of the dropping of the appeal from a reporter.
“How dare he do that to the Faulkner family,” she said. “He betrayed us. He lied to us.”
WPHT (1210 AM) morning talk show host Dom Giordano spoke at the rally. So did state Rep. Martina White and state Sen. John Sabatina.
Sabatina is sponsoring a bill, Marsy’s Law, that would provide victims of crime a variety of legal rights during the judicial process.
“What didn’t happen in this case, notification of a widow of a murdered police officer, is exactly what Marsy’s Law would prevent. The District Attorney’s office would be compelled to notify the widow or other family members,” he said.
Other elected officials on stage were City Councilmen David Oh, Bobby Henon and Al Taubenberger, and state Reps. Mike Driscoll and Ed Neilson.
The rally also attracted Republican mayoral candidate Billy Ciancaglini, GOP at-large Council candidate Bill Heeney and Pete Smith, the Republican candidate in the 6th Councilmanic District.
The crowd booed when Giordano asked where Mayor Jim Kenney was.
Families of fallen officers were also on stage. Among those in attendance were members of the Trench family. Thomas Trench was murdered in 1985. Pat Boyle, whose son Danny was killed in 1991, was on stage. So was Mindy Marynowitz, whose husband John was critically injured in a 1993 shooting that claimed the life of his partner, Robert Hayes.
Offering remarks were Ace King, whose dad Frank, a retired cop, was shot to death in 1998 during an armed robbery at the old Regan’s bar, 4149 Roosevelt Blvd.; and Kim Pawlowski, whose husband John was murdered in 2009.
Pawlowski thanked Faulkner for comforting her after her husband’s death. Pawlowski called Krasner a “coward” and a “liar,” adding that he should be ashamed of himself.
“Larry Krasner does not know who he’s messing with,” Pawlowski said of Faulkner.
Faulkner suggested that Krasner, a longtime civil rights lawyer, start acting like a prosecutor.
“He is not a defense attorney anymore,” she said.
Faulkner cannot believe that Abu-Jamal – whom she referred to as Wesley Cook, his birth name – still has a chance at freedom.
She recalls a time when she and her husband, only 26, had their whole lives ahead of them.
“He was viciously murdered by a remorseless killer,” she said. ••
