SF Rolls Out the Punk Rock Red Carpet to Host Benefit Auction for the West Memphis Three

Gearing up for a federal appeal and in the midst of a lengthy DNA testing process, the WM3 hope they will finally be able to produce enough forensic evidence to exonerate themselves. The precise reason we were at 111 Minna. And the reason that Rollins, Michale Graves, Jello Biafra, Jonathan Richman and a host of other punk rock faves were also there – to raise money for the WM3 legal defense fund. Perhaps these illustrious and notorious rockers see themselves in Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley and feel empathy with three boys who were misunderstood and unpopular in their hometown. Whatever the reason, the punk community has banded together around this cause and was definitely a force to be reckoned with at the event.

“I saw the documentaries just like everyone else, but was smart enough not to draw all of my conclusions from them,” Rollins told us, referring to the HBO Paradise Lost films. Instead, he got in touch with the WM3 support group who got him up to speed, showed him the grisly crime scene photos and went over the events of the trials. “Unfortunately for them, the judge and prosecutor really pissed me off … I am the wrong person to fuck with, and that is the long and short of it.” We don’t doubt it, Henry.

Rollins has completed a benefit tour, recorded an album and taken flak from reporters in the south in particular for his support of the WM3, but of his vilification he says, “I was righteous, I dug the hate.” He’s not the only one. Michale Graves of seminal punk band, the Misfits, is currently on tour playing songs he wrote based on lyrics Echols penned in prison.

“These words and these lyrics, I read them and for a brief moment I can be where Damien is at," Graves says on his web site. “With this gift I've been given, the gift of song and music, I can grab my guitar and strum some chords and everyone who hears the song can feel those emotions.”

Emotions on Friday night ran the gamut. There was a lot of buzz and excitement over the auction and the opportunity to bid on Echols’ own artwork – surrealist collages of magazine cutouts and drawings done in prison – and that of such notable urban artists as Winston Smith and Shephard Fairey whose pieces almost caused a fistfight nearing the final five minutes of the silent auction. (We went home with a lovely piece by erotic photographer Jay Mueller – yes, we’re kinky like that).

There was also a feeling of reverence and solemnity in the crowd, especially when an audio recording was played of Echols reading from his new book. A very loud and crowded bar became instantly hushed and we could literally see everyone straining to hear each word in Echols’ very pronounced Southern drawl. Most moving was Echols’ description of a polluted lake behind his grandmother’s home which, when he was a teenager, disgusted him. But now he says, “The lake has come to represent home.” Even the most horrible of places has become idealized and longed for after 12 years of imprisonment.

In addition to readings from Echols’ book, his lawyer, Dennis Riordan (who is one of three lawyers making up the WM3 primary council, all based in SF) and former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez were present on stage to offer insight into the legal proceedings of the case. Both claim that because the jury had read accounts in the local newspaper about Misskelley’s confession – which was not admitted into evidence at the trial, and therefore never challenged by the defense council – means that the conviction should be overturned. Riordan also states, as we’ve heard over and over again, that there was no credible evidence linking the boys to the crime. His hope is that as DNA testing continues, it will show strong evidence of other third parties involved who have left behind biological specimens with no link to any of the WM3. The reason there was no DNA testing in the past was due to lack of funds and appropriate technology.

By the time Rollins finally took the stage, we’d been at the event for about five hours, bid on artwork, had our portrait taken by Christopher Irion (who has his incredible show “The Photobooth Across America” up right now), spoken with the original WM3 supporters from the “Paradise Lost: Revelations” documentary Kathy Bakken and Burk Sauls (they still maintain the WM3 web site) and almost got slapped by Matt Gonzalez for taking this photo – in short, we were exhausted and feeling a little sorry we chose to wear 3” heels.

And then Rollins reminded us why we were there: three boys were likely convicted of a horrific crime they did not commit, raped and tortured in prison for more than 12 years, one of whom sits on death row, waiting as patiently as possible for the evidence and the opportunity to present it which might spare his life – and it is only with our support that this will ever happen.

Leave it to Henry Rollins to stir up a crowd, but we were right there with him, shouting “Free the West Memphis Three!”

For more information about the WM3, visit: www.wm3.org
West Memphis Three Worldwide Awareness Day is June 3, find out how you can help.

If you were at the event, please let us know your thoughts in the comments section.