Monday, March 17, 2014

Shannon Nyamodi's not a Juvenile, But YOUR Kids Are

Justice for Shannon Nyamodi Telephone Campaign


North Carolina has traumatized an innocent, black teenager for too long without us doing something to help Shannon Nyamodi and his mother, Elizabeth Crudup. It is time for justice-minded people to act. Please call all the officials on the list below, which includes phone and fax numbers, even if you only call one a day.

Shannon Nyamodi has had two birthdays in the Franklin County Detention Center without being convicted of any crime. None of the ordinary methods of fighting wrongful arrests have helped Shannon, who was charged with attempted murder of a Caucasian woman who he actually helped after a white person shot her, according to witnesses who saw the white man fleeing from Rhonda's house. Shannon was arrested a few hours after he helped the injured woman into his friends' home, which is several houses away from Rhonda's house. She had stumbled there and collasped on the porch. Lucky for her that Shannon saw her. He even flagged down emergency responders who were called.


Somebody shot and robbed Rhonda on August 16, 2012. Shannon Nyamodi happened to be the only black youth around, so he was arrested. Shannon was originally charged with stealing Rhonda's 22-calliber rifle, also, but it was found in her bedroom where it belonged. In a few days, most of the $65,000 was found, too - in an abandoned house. Shannon was arrested the same day Rhonda was shot, but a couple of days after his arrest, a Caucasian youth falsely alleged that Shannon knew Rhonda's daughter and corresponded with her on Facebook. He also falsely claimed that Shannon had asked him on Facebook if he could help Shannon get a gun. A search of Facebook records proved the Caucasian youth lied about both assertions. There was absolutely no correspondence between Shannon and the victim's daughter or the white kid who made the allegations. Drawing everyone's attention to Facebook was a bad idea, since the picture on the Caucasian guy's page was one of him surrounded by money, posted on August 17, the day after Rhonda's robbery.

Elizabeth Crudup could really use our help advocating for Shannon Nyamodi. This article is not for entertainment. The people I write about are really experiencing cruelty by the system and require your help. Elizabeth Crudup was beaten by Dunn, North Carolina police on Friday, March 14, and arrested for resisting arrest. That was probably to prevent her from speaking on two popular radio shows about her son's indefinite detention without trial and his torture in solitary confinement to break him mentally and enforce a plea deal. A false confession would let everyone off the hook, and there would be no chance of ever arresting the real robber and shooter who they seem to be protecting. 

Elizabeth and supporters plan to picket the courthouse today at lunchtime. People throughout America should also go to their local jails or courthouses with "Justice for Shannon Nyamodi" signs either at lunchtime or after work. Show racists that the Shannon Nyamodi matter is already well known, so there is no need for further beatings and arrests of Shannon's mother. There is no way to keep this silent.

Please call the seven officials listed below and notify them that know that you know and care about justice for Shannon Nyamodi. We believe the denial of Shannon's Sixth Amendment rights and solitary confinement torture and the police brutality against Elizabeth Crudup are meant to enforce "What's done in North Carolina stays in North Carolina." When officials get phone calls from states all over the USA and beyond, from African Americans and Caucasians alike, they will understand that we all care about Shannon Nyamodi's right to have a fair, public trial immediately or be released immediately. We care about the U.S. Constitution and our own Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. 

NC officials to call and write and demand that Shannon Nyamodi be treated justly. He should also be given an attorney, since his own lawyer works against him. Nyamodi should be tried or released.


Franklin County Sheriff Jerry Jones (919)496.2186

Defense Attorney Maitri (MIke) Klinkosum (919)497-4290

Franklin County D.A. Samuel Currin, III, Franklin County Courthouse, 102 S. Main Street, Louisburg, NC 27549, Phone (919) 497-4290

NC Governor Pat McCrory - 20301 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-0301, 

Phone: (919) 814-2000, Fax: (919) 733-2120

NC DOJ website - http://www.ncdoj.gov/

Attorney General’s Office
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001
Telephone: (919) 716-6400
Fax: (919) 716-6750

Legal Services Division
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001
Telephone: (919) 716-6400
Fax: (919) 716-6750

State Bureau of Investigation
Post Office Box 29500
Raleigh, NC 27626
Telephone: (919) 662-4500
Fax: (919) 662-4523

If people in Franklin County, North Carolina want to protect the real robber and shooter, that is unfortunate. But framing Shannon Nyamodi and torturing him in solitary confinement for the better part of two years to force a false confession and avoid trial are not acceptable. Attorney Klinkosum also needs to return the $50k he allegedly charged to "defend" Shannon. Writing one letter after a year and a half to ask the court for a continuance in this case because he is too "busy" to go to trial is unacceptable for that kind of money. Nobody wants to be represented by a defense lawyer who works with the prosecutor against them, anyway. 

North Carolina is one of the states that enforced sterilization on blacks from the 1930's to the 1970s to prevent births of African Americans. Well Shannon Nyamodi was already born, and he was born in the United States of America after the Civil War. That makes him an American citizen, not a North Carolina slave. If ANY officials intend to run for reelection, they should do their jobs and get this innocent youth home to his family.

UPDATE:  Without notice to Shannon Nyamodi or his family, Shannon was transferred to a North Carolina prison. He was relieved to be out of solitary and away from the sheriff. For approximately two weeks, he was allowed visits with his family, phone calls, and the opportunity to communicate with other inmates. He wrote a letter firing Klinkosum and filed it with the court, in hopes that the court would appoint him another attorney or that one of the attorneys his mother had communicated with would accept his case pro bono. Everyone felt relieved and optimistic. However, it was apparently a trick.

After two weeks, Shannon was transferred without warning back to the Franklin County Jail and remanded again to solitary confinement. Klinkosum then visited Shannon and coerced the traumatized youth into signing a plea deal. Authorities had shown Shannon that prison didn't have to be as torturous as he had endured for two years in solitary. The mind game worked, and Shannon signed the false confession. Shannon Nyamodi was sentenced to prison for 10 years, having been denied his right to trial as stated in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The system was saved from prosecuting the person(s) who really did this crime, and another innocent black man is behind bars. 


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