PROTESTS INTERRUPT RENO SAFETY SPEECH

Attorney General Janet Reno urged Oakland business leaders yesterday to
work with police and educators to help reduce violence in a speech that was
interrupted by a boisterous protest on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was
convicted of murdering a police officer.

Reno told 500 people at a luncheon meeting of the Oakland Metropolitan
Chamber of Commerce that they should use their business acumen to help
ensure that recent drops in crime continue. Reno cited youth programs like
the Oakland Athletics' restoration of inner-city baseball fields as
examples businesses can use to help develop safer communities.

``We should harness the power, ingenuity and the resources to further our
advantage in the fight against crime and end the culture of violence in our
society,'' Reno said.

``We cannot become complacent,'' she said, noting that the ``unprecedented
economic prosperity'' should provide the impetus for businesses to take
action.

Reno, the nation's top law-enforcement officer, said Oakland can become
stronger if the elements of business, education and policing work together,
themes that were echoed yesterday in remarks by Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown
and City Manager Robert Bobb.

``Business is the glue that makes it happen,'' said Reno, who drew a
standing ovation.

At the start of her speech, about 50 people protesting on behalf of
Abu-Jamal began yelling outside the doors of the luncheon at the Oakland
Marriott. They waved signs and chanted, ``Janet Reno, give it up, turn it
loose and cut the noose'' and ``Free Mumia.''

Protesters said they wanted Reno to open a Department of Justice
investigation into alleged corruption by the Philadelphia Police Department
that they claim prevented Abu-Jamal from getting a fair trial.

Abu-Jamal, 45, was convicted of murdering a Philadelphia police officer in
1981 and was sentenced to death. In October, a federal judge stayed his
execution, which had been set for Thursday , as the former journalist began
another round of appeals.

Oakland police shepherded the demonstrators outside, where they began
pounding on the doors. But as the protest ended, another began inside as
four Oakland women who had bought tickets to the event stood up and
interrupted Reno as she began speaking.

Taking off their jackets to reveal white shirts reading, ``New Trial for
Mumia,'' Maria Cordero, 23, and Edget Betru, 25, told Reno that she should
look into Philadelphia police practices if she truly cared about community
safety.

Police, including Oakland Police Chief Richard Word and Union City officers
who were giving a presentation, surrounded the women and prepared to escort
them out, but Reno said, ``Let me hear them. It's very important that we
hear young people.''

The attorney general then told the women that she would meet with them
afterward. She spent a few minutes with them at the end of the event and
said she would look into whether a probe was needed.

Reno was not as cordial to Jeff Jones, executive director of the shuttered
Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, a group that has been battling the
federal government over its zero-tolerance stance on medical marijuana.
Jones said Reno refused to talk to him because of pending litigation
involving the Oakland club.

Jones said Reno's appearance in Oakland was hypocritical given the federal
government's stance and the fact that Oakland city officials have openly
supported medical marijuana.

The Oakland club was among a number of groups that had a banner prominently
displayed at the luncheon. San Francisco District Attorney Terence
Hallinan, a vocal medical-marijuana advocate, was among those seated at the
marijuana club's table.

``We wanted to show her that we're not going away,'' Jones said.