WHAT: Jason Vassell’s Pre-Trial Hearing WHEN: Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 TIME: 9 AM WHERE: Northampton Superior Court, 15 Gothic Street, Northampton, MA Please join us on Wednesday Dec. 31st at 9AM  for what may be Jason’s FINAL pre-trial hearing. It has now been 10 months since Jason was a victim of a racist hate crime–and a racist prosecution. On Dec. 31st, Jason needs his supporters to continue to show their solidarity as he continues to endure such an agonizing experience. Your presence means more than you can imagine. Lets keep this pressure up and make sure the courts and the DA know that we are paying attention!

{ Background: On February 3, 2008 Jason Vassell was the victim of a racist hate crime. Since then he has been further victimized by a racist prosecution. We, a coalition of community organizations, students and faculty, seek solidarity in challenging this racist prosecution. Early on the morning of February 3, 2008, Jason, an African American student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was in his dormitory. Two intoxicated white men, Jonathan Bowes and Jonathan Bosse, approached Jason’s dormitory window repeatedly referring to him as a "nigger" and breaking in the window. They then forced their way into the dormitory lobby where they assaulted Jason, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion. Under this continuing assault Jason was forced to defend himself with a pocketknife, injuring his assailants. As a result of defending himself against this unprovoked assault Jason, the victim of the  attack, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon. These charges carry a possible thirty year prison sentence. One of the perpetrators, Jonathan Bowes, was charged only with misdemeanors carrying a maximum eighteen month sentence. The other, Jonathan Bosse, was not charged at all. It was disturbing enough that Jason Vassell was subjected to a severe physical attack and an assault on his spirit. What we have subsequently witnessed has been an even more shameful violation both of Jason’s rights and of the community’s values of justice and equality, irrespective of race. We have watched the Northwestern District Attorney’s office march forward with no apparent regard for the potentially explosive racial implications of this case. The question here is one of justice and fairness; one of making a decision that is right. It is a question of justice for Jason and, equally important, of whether the interests and well being of the community are being served by this prosecution. It is not a question of whether criminal charges can be brought, but rather, whether they should be brought and against whom. Faced with a case in which the violent and racist motivations of Jason’s white attackers were clear, the District Attorney has chosen to pursue excessive charges against a young black victim with no criminal record and an exemplary academic and personal reputation. Concurrently, the DA has also chosen to pursue minor charges against only one of his two white attackers, both of whom have a reputation for racial bias. One of the assailants, John Bowes, has been previously arrested for racist violence. The District Attorney’s decision to prosecute a black man and slap the wrists of two white men is yet another example of the long history of racist prosecutions that plague our country’s legal legacy. Therefore, we stand as a community united for true justice, demanding that the District Attorney drop all charges against Jason Vassell. }