Black Lives Matter Leader Hawk Newsome Demands Bronx District Attorney Drops All Charges Against Mamadou Diallo

  NEW YORK CITY, NY - 08/19/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Imagine receiving a terrifying phone call from your wife that she just had a complete stranger force himself into your home, punched her in the face, told her all he wanted to do was rape her, and then left her half-naked. This is the type of phone call Mamadou Diallo received as he was trying to find a parking spot outside of his apartment building this past spring.  

The call was from his wife screaming to her husband that a stranger had just tried to rape her in their apartment. The perpetrator forced his way into their apartment, punched her, and told Diallo’s wife all he wanted to do was rape her, ripping nearly all her clothes off. Earl Hall was still upstairs at the time of the call. Diallo grabbed a tire iron and met the perpetrator at the elevator. He beat Hall with the tire iron. Hall was rushed to the emergency room and died later in the hospital from body trauma.  

Diallo’s initial charges of manslaughter were dropped to two counts of assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office this past spring. The community, however, is demanding that all charges be dropped against Diallo because he is not the criminal.

Bronx Native and Community Leader Hawk Newsome has released the following statement in solidarity of the Diallo family:

“It is unfortunate that Mamadou Diallo and his family are being treated like criminals in this case. Mr. Diallo should not be facing charges for assault when all he did was defend his wife after she was nearly raped by a serial criminal. At the time of the assault on the Diallo family, Earl Nash had been recently released from serving nine-years in prison for drug possession and bribery. At some point, he was arrested for holding a teenage girl captive against her own will. Nash’s track record has proven that he posed a great threat to others.

The broken criminal justice system failed to rehabilitate Earl Nash. Yet, District Attorney Darcel Clark continues to push assault charges on a hardworking, 61-year-old man that defended his wife after she was assaulted by the Nash, the real criminal in this case. Mr. Diallo should be celebrated for the heroic act of protecting his family from a man that repeatedly showed his disregard for others in society.

Isn’t it time that D.A. Clark becomes more concerned with prosecuting people who terrorize the streets in our Bronx community? Violent crime is consistently rising! More rapes have occurred this year than there was this same time last year. There has been a 12% increase in robberies. Felony assaults have risen an astonishing 42 percent. It is obvious that NYPD are not keeping South Bronx residents safe. With the abundance of violent crime in our community, the District Attorney should not be putting all her efforts in bringing charges to Mr. Diallo. That is the true tragedy.

It is time for African Americas, Latinos, and all other ethnic groups to unite with our African Community here in the Bronx. The criminal justice system continuously fails us all. We have to hold the system accountable for all its shortcomings.

I stand behind Mr. Diallo and demand the Bronx District Attorney—Darcel Clark—drop all charges placed on him so he can go back to work and support his family. So, he can continue to be a productive member of our Bronx community.”

There will be a #JusticeForDiallo Solidarity Rally Saturday, August 20 at 11:00 a.m. at 1240 Washington Ave, Bronx, NY.

Newsome has most recently spoken out about voting in this year's presidential race through his campaign #IAintVoting Until #BlackLivesMatter. 
 

About Hawk Newsome
HAWK NEWSOME is an activist at the forefront of the New Civil Rights Movement and former County Committee Member of New York’s District 79. He has dedicated his adult life to the betterment of his community & our nation as a whole. The Bronx native was raised in a devout Christian household. As a youth, Hawk succumbed to the temptations of his environment and dropped out of high school.  With the love and support of his family, mentors and athletic ability he was able to push forward and obtain a GED and Bachelors of Science.

After graduating from Concordia College, Hawk worked for the Honorable Robert T. Johnson at the Bronx County Office of the District Attorney, as a paralegal assisting Assistant District Attorney’s to prosecute crime. Hawk was then promoted to the position of Special Projects Coordinator. As the DA’s liaison to the community, he worked with N.Y.C.H.A tenants’ associations and social service organizations throughout the Bronx. In his spare time, he organized drives to send medical supplies to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Hawk joined Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP as a project manager overseeing efforts inthe law firm’s 22 national and international offices. During this period, Walter founded the Bronx Sharks an athletic club that has sent numerous risk youths to college on scholarship. Walter went on to follow his childhood dream of attending law school. Hawk attended the prestigious Howard University Law School in Washington, DC. and completed his Jurist Doctorate at Touro Law School in Long Island, NY. After which he ran for City Council for the Bronx district where he grew up.

Throughout his life Hawk has engaged in protests and activities to combat injustice. Over the past few years, he has worked tirelessly leading protests and seeking justice for the families of those slain by overzealous police officers. In 2014, Hawk joined the Justice League NYC and has engaged in their national campaign to fix the broken criminal justice system. Hawk's parents actually met at a civil rights rally in the 1960’s, so you can say that he was born into this fight. Hawk is the single parent to his thirteen-year-old autistic son, whom he loves dearly. Hawk loves his family, he loves his people, and he has pledged his life to bringing justice to this unjust system.