Shadia Fayne Wood/Survival Media
Siwatu-Salama Ra, then 15 years old, pictured speaking at an environmental justice rally in Wisconsin.
Supporters of imprisoned Detroit activist Siwatu-Salama Ra are holding an information session on Saturday to update the community on her case.
As we previously reported, Ra was sentenced in February for up to two years in prison. Her supporters say the case highlights the problems with mandatory sentences, flawed investigative policy at the Detroit Police Department, and demonstrates how race factors into enforcement of gun laws.
Ra, 26, is a mother, environmental activist, and community leader who is also pregnant and expected to give birth in prison in June.
The event is organized by the Nsoroma Institute for Community-Self Determination and will be held at 3 p.m on May 12 at the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church at 7625 Linwood St., Detroit.
Nsoroma says the event is an opportunity, "To get accurate information about the unjust imprisonment of our sister Siwatu-Salama Ra." It will offer an update on her appeals process and provide suggestions on how community members can help.
Ra's attorneys previously told Metro Times that Ra used an unloaded, registered gun to defend herself and her family from an attack. They say a woman used her car to ram a car that Ra's two-year-old daughter was inside, then tried to hit Ra's mother with a car.
The woman filed a police report first, so DPD treated Ra as the aggressor. Michigan’s Stand Your Ground Law covers those acting in self-defense, but Detroit Police and prosecutors claimed Ra acted as the assailant. That led to felonious assault and felony firearm charges, the latter of which carries a mandatory sentence of two years
Under questionable circumstances, a jury found Ra guilty of assault. Since the incident involved a gun, the judge was required to send her to prison for two years.
The case became national news after our piece ran in early April. Read Metro Times's full story here.
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