J.R. Valrey on Trial for Felony Charges in Oscar Grant Rebellion

From Indybay.org

On Sept. 21st, J.R. Valrey
will stand trial in Oakland on felony arson charges, after he was
arrested while reporting on the Oscar Grant Rebellion on January 7,
2009. Valrey is a producer at KPFA radio, associate editor and
multimedia director of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and runs the Block Report Radio website.

Valrey believes his arrest was payback for his years covering police
brutality in print and on the radio. "I was covering it as a
journalist," he said. "But one thing that's different about me from the
rest of the rebels is that the Oakland police know me. ... I'm not a
stranger to the power structure of Oakland, so I believe like many
others that I was targeted politically... We were basically set up on
trumped-up charges." Valrey's lawyer, Marlon Monroe, says the case
against Valrey is weak and will fail.

“J.R. has really been a thorn in the police department's side,” says SF Bay View
publisher Willie Ratcliff, who has published Valrey's work. “His
stories are like those of Mumia Abu Jamal. He's young and really smart,
and the people love him, they are really organizing, so the police are
always after him. The judge even tried to get him to cop a plea to a
misdemeanor, something I've never seen a judge do. But they really blew
it this time because he didn't do anything except his job. The police
even admitted that they didn't see him set any fire.”

The profferred plea bargain involved five years of felony
probation, warrantless searches at any time of Valrey's body, car,
home, and places of employment, time served, and restitution.

Supporters have been asked to attend the trial to "[l]et the
judge, OPD, the City, and whoever else needs to be aware that we stand
in loving support of truth and justice and that JR is a gift and his
work is valuable to the health and well being of this community. It is
unacceptable that he be targeted and charged with crimes he did not
commit - because he serves this community." Details

Reporter faces felony charges for covering Oscar Grant rebellion | KPFA programmer and reporter JR Valrey of the Block Report arrested at Oakland protest over BART murder of Oscar Grant