Witness against Chuck Turner turns on FBI

Ron Wilburn, the FBI’s “cooperating witness” in their case against Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and former Massachusetts state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, told the Boston Globe he was used and duped by the FBI—not to expose corruption in the Massachusetts political establishment, but to bring down two prominent progressive Black elected officials. No white officials have been charged in the case, which involves alleged corruption around liquor licensing.

In remarks from an interview published by the Globe on Feb. 20, Wilburn announced that he is no longer cooperating in the government’s case. He stated that the $1,000 he is alleged to have given Chuck Turner “could have been a gift or a campaign contribution. ... Chuck is a victim of circumstance.”

He cited the pressure of being known in the community as the FBI’s star witness in its attack on the two Black officials—pressure that is clearly a reflection of the political campaign and offensive by Turner and his supporters. Many assert that the case is a fraudulent attempt by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office to strip the African-American community of greater Roxbury of their right to the political representation and leadership of their own choosing, and further designed to undercut the most prominent defender of the community’s right to equal quality education, which is under attack by Boston’s mayor, political establishment and business community.

A rally in support of Turner will be held Feb. 24, on the day of his next court appearance. Supporters are urged to sign on to the campaign’s online petition at www.iacboston.org. The petition demands charges against Turner be dropped and that all politically and racially motivated prosecutions of progressive elected officials during the Bush administration be reversed and investigated.