Denver Former Political Prisoner Panel 9/24/15

From Unicorn Riot:

On September 24, 2015, the Anarchist Black Cross along with other political prisoner support groups from across North America held an annual panel discussion called “Resisting Repression from the Inside Out: Former Prisoners Speak.”

https://livestream.com/accounts/12767816/events/4156501/videos/100187998/player?width=640&height=360&autoPlay=false&mute=false

Held at the Tivoli Student Union in Denver, the panel featured former U.S. political prisoners. The talks focused on clarifying what a multi-generational struggle for liberation looks like, the evolution of resistance to state repression, and the personal horror of living inside of the prison industrial complex.

Jihad Abdulmumit shares a scenario on self-determination & self-defense.

“[Getting letters in prison] is what kept me human.” Panel of former prisoners speaks out in #Denver https://t.co/rptcLW6klU Live now!

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) September 25, 2015

The freedom fighting former political prisoners who spoke on the panel are (taken from Denver ABC):

Lynne Stewart photo by Rochelle B.

Lynne Stewart:
Lynne Stewart, a radical human rights attorney who has devoted her life to the oppressed – a constant advocate for the countless many deprived in the United States of their freedom and their rights. Lynne was falsely accused of helping terrorists in an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent, curtail vigorous defense lawyers, and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism, seek to help Arabs and Muslims being prosecuted for free speech and defend the rights of all oppressed people. She was arrested in April 2002 and arraigned before Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl, who also presided over her trial in 2004. She was convicted, and received a 28-month sentence in October 2006. However she was free on bail until 2009, when the government appealed the sentence. In late 2009 Lynne was re-sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Due to declining health from stage IV breast cancer, Lynne was freed from prison on December 31, 2013!

Mark Cook photo by Rochelle B.

Mark Cook:
In 1967, Cook became active in a growing leftist paramilitary underground in Seattle, which perpetrated a series of high profile bombings and robberies. In and out of prison, he was co-founder of the Black Panther Party chapter in the Walla Walla State Penitentiary and served as its Lieutenant of Information for many years. In 2000, he was released after serving 24 years in prison for his participation in a bank robbery and jail break associated with the George Jackson Brigade in Seattle. The GJB was a leftist urban guerrilla group in the Pacific Northwest that carried out bombings, bank robberies and other actions to overthrow the U.S. government.

Jihad Abdulmumit photo by Rochelle B.

Jihad Abdulmumit:
Jihad is a community activist, motivational speaker, author and playwright. As a youth he became intensely involved in the Black Liberation Movement and Vietnam War protests. He joined the Black Panther Party at sixteen and eventually went underground in the ranks of the Black Liberation Army. In the mid-seventies prior to his incarceration, Jihad was also the Coordinator of the Rochester Federation of Youth in Rochester, New York – a youth organization that sponsored community economic development projects and weekly political education and black history classes, and worked with juvenile delinquents and high school drop outs. Jihad was a domestic political prisoner and prisoner of war and served 23 years of his life in prison for his involvement in the Black Liberation Movement.

Kazi Toure photo by Rochelle B.

Kazi Toure:
As a member of the United Freedom Front (UFF), Kazi was imprisoned for his role in 20 bombings combating Apartheid in South Africa and United States Imperialism in Central America. The UFF has been called “undoubtedly the most successful of the leftist [guerrilla groups] of the 1970s and ’80s” and struck powerful blows to South African Airways, Mobil, IBM, Union Carbide, & various courthouses and US Military targets. Toure was convicted on federal charges of possession of firearms, and Seditious Conspiracy—conspiring to overthrow, put down, destroy by force and violence the US government. He is one of few, if any, New Afrikans to be charged of this act.

Eric McDavid photo by Rochelle B.

Eric McDavid:
Eric McDavid is a green anarchist who was entrapped by an FBI informant and charged with a single count of conspiracy to use fire or explosives to damage corporate and government property. After serving nearly 10 years in prison his judgment and sentencing were vacated when it became known that the FBI had failed to disclose potentially
exculpatory evidence to the defense. Eric pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that carried a 5 year maximum sentence. He was released almost immediately. McDavid is a victim of a long history and concerted effort by federal and state entities in the United States to target anarchists and other radicals.

Jerry Koch photo by Rochelle B.

Jerry Koch:
Gerald “Jerry” Koch, a New York City anarchist and legal activist, was first subpoenaed in 2009, and again in 2013, to a federal grand jury investigating the same event. Jerry refused to testify both times and was found in contempt of court on May 21, 2013. He was imprisoned for eight months at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, and released on January 28, 2014, after his lawyers filed a “Grumbles motion” arguing that the sentence had become punitive and should be ended. The grand jury is a secretive tool of repression that aims to intimidate and punish those who refuse to collaborate with the State. Grand juries have been part of a new, escalating wave of repression against anarchists nationwide.

Resisting Repression from the Inside Out: Former Prisoners Speak

Join ABC and political prisoner support chapters across the continent in our annual panel discussion featuring former U.S. political prisoners:

Lynne Stewart
Mark Cook
Jihad Abdulmumit
Kazi Toure
Eric McDavid
Jerry Koch

Thursday Sep 24th 7-9pm
Tivoli Turnhalle in the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus 900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204

Spanning generations of political struggle for liberation in the U.S., we are proud to help host this panel that will prove to be informative, inspirational and will help us build a stronger movement of support around resistance to repression by the State.

Donations are encouraged, and will go towards the 5th Annual North American Anarchist Black Cross Conference.

If you can’t make it and would like to help cover travel costs for the panel, please donate here!
https://www.youcaring.com/north-american-political-prisoners-366217

We’ll see you there!  

https://www.facebook.com/events/1469467923382453/

 

—————————————————————————————————————–

Bios
Lynne Stewart:
Lynne Stewart, a radical human rights attorney who has devoted her life to the oppressed – a constant advocate for the countless many deprived in the United States of their freedom and their rights. Lynne was falsely accused of helping terrorists in an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent, curtail vigorous defense lawyers, and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism, seek to help Arabs and Muslims being prosecuted for free speech and defend the rights of all oppressed people. She was arrested in April 2002 and arraigned before Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl, who also presided over her trial in 2004. She was convicted, and received a 28- month sentence in October 2006. However she was free on bail until 2009, when the government appealed the sentence. In late 2009 Lynne was re-sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Due to declining health from stage IV breast cancer, Lynne was freed from prison on December 31, 2013!

Mark Cook:
In 1967, Cook became active in a growing leftist paramilitary underground in Seattle, which perpetrated a series of high profile bombings and robberies. In and out of prison, he was co-founder of the Black Panther Party chapter in the Walla Walla State Penitentiary and served as its Lieutenant of Information for many years. In 2000, he was released after serving 24 years in prison for his
participation in a bank robbery and jail break associated with the George Jackson Brigade in Seattle. The GJB was a leftist urban guerrilla group in the Pacific Northwest that carried out bombings, bank robberies and other actions to overthrow the U.S. government.

Jihad Abdulmumit:
Jihad is a community activist, motivational speaker, author and playwright. As a youth he became intensely involved in the Black Liberation Movement and Vietnam War protests. He joined the Black Panther Party at sixteen and eventually went underground in the ranks of the Black Liberation Army. In the mid-seventies prior to his incarceration, Jihad was also the Coordinator of the Rochester Federation of Youth in Rochester, New York – a youth organization that sponsored community economic
development projects and weekly political education and black history classes, and worked with juvenile delinquents and high school drop outs. Jihad was a domestic political prisoner and prisoner of war and served 23 years of his life in prison for his involvement in the Black Liberation Movement.

Kazi Toure:
As a member of the United Freedom Front (UFF), Kazi was imprisoned for his role in 20 bombings combating Apartheid in South Africa and United States Imperialism in Central America. The UFF has been called “undoubtedly the most successful of the leftist [guerrilla groups] of the 1970s and ’80s” and struck powerful blows to South African Airways, Mobil, IBM, Union Carbide, & various courthouses and US Military targets. Toure was convicted on federal charges of possession of firearms,
and Seditious Conspiracy—conspiring to overthrow, put down, destroy by force and violence the US government. He is one of few, if any, New Afrikans to be charged of this act.

Eric McDavid:
Eric McDavid is a green anarchist who was entrapped by an FBI informant and charged with a single count of conspiracy to use fire or explosives to damage corporate and government property. After serving nearly 10 years in prison his judgment and sentencing were vacated when it became known that the FBI had failed to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense. Eric pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that carried a 5 year maximum sentence. He was released almost immediately. McDavid is a victim of a long history and concerted effort by federal and state entities in the United States to target anarchists and other radicals.

Jerry Koch:
Gerald “Jerry” Koch, a New York City anarchist and legal activist, was first subpoenaed in 2009, and again in 2013, to a federal grand jury investigating the same event. Jerry refused to testify both times and was found in contempt of court on May 21, 2013. He was imprisoned for eight months at Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, and released on January 28, 2014, after his lawyers filed a “Grumbles motion” arguing that the sentence had become punitive and should be ended. The grand jury is a secretive tool of repression that aims to intimidate and punish those who refuse to collaborate with the State. Grand juries have been part of a new, escalating wave of repression against anarchists nationwide.

June 11th is here!

June11.org

AnarchistNews

As of today, we know of events and demos planned in 35 cities for this year’s day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners. Please continue to contribute more events, and send in report-backs from events and actions after the day. Visit http://june11.org/#events for details on most of the below.

Athens, Greece
Atlanta, GA
Asheville, NC
Bristol, UK
Chapel Hill, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Durham, NC
Greensboro Bend, VT
Haifa, Israel
Hamilton, ON
Helsinki, Finland
Houston, TX
Kalamazoo, MI
Lake Worth, FL
Madrid, Spain
Melbourne, Australia
Milwaukee, WI
Montreal, QC
Norfolk, VA
New York City, NY
Oakland, CA
Olympia, WA
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Plainfield, VT
Sacramento, CA
Tallahassee, FL
Tel Aviv, Israel
Thessaloniki, Greece
Turin, Italy
Tucson, AZ

Banners were hung in advance in Athens:
http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/06/08/athens-for-the-diffusion-of-ac…

Let us know if you hear of other build-up actions.
See http://june11.org/#resources for newly released posters, materials, and translations of the 2015 call (English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Greek)

***********************************

Below are statements from Eric McDavid, Marius Mason, Krow, and Sean Swain – each is an autonomous and welcome contribution.

Eric McDavid’s statement on June 11, 2015

This J11 is a first for me, as it will be an experience beyond the gates of prison… Being on supervised release i’m still, for all extents and purposes, only out in the physical sense – in every other aspect my ass is still within those walls of concrete, steel, & razor wire… while i was held within the confines of county jail for 28 months, 3 & 1/2 years at medium II fci victorville, & 3 plus years at the low security fci terminal island in Long Beach, the aid and nourishment i received from communities around the world on J11 was paramount to my survival… receiving books, funds for visitors, & the letters that maintained those crucial connections which i needed the most – J11 provided in abundance without fail… i can not express with adequate depth what it meant for me to receive even the shortest note of support & solidarity from someone on the outside – some of which have become friendships i cherish to this day… my thanks will never be enough for the nourishment of my foundation over the last 9 years, and for your continued solidarity & aid to those held from family, loved ones, & their community…
in solidarity
w/muchlove
d
find your
joy

Marius Mason’s Statement for June 11th

Solidarity and greetings to you all! Thank you for coming together to celebrate our respected comrade’s regained freedom, as well as the many transitions that have taken place this past year. First and foremost, I’d like to wish both Eric and Jenny every possible happiness, and to express how grateful I am to their dedicated and capable legal team. This kind of victory should be savored and taken to heart as a lesson in solidarity and perseverance. While it’s a travesty that Eric lost 9 ½ years of his life unjustly, still, despite a social climate of hysteria and hype over domestic terrorism, our movement was able to come together to support Eric and to keep fighting until he was returned to his family and loved ones. We have to be in this struggle for the long haul, but this important win proves that we can make change when we remain committed.
But our solidarity work cannot end here, as reentry is a difficult process for any prisoner returning to the free world. We should make every effort to support Eric’s transition back into society, to help him get the education and training he needs to live a decent life (as he so well deserves). He has earned our help, support and gratitude with his life’s work and his integrity. I know that I am grateful for his work defending this Earth and for promoting compassion through veganism.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank everyone who has written a card or a letter, sent a song, a photo, or an article to me this year. It’s a constant regret of mine that it’s not possible to write back to everyone (though I do try to add folks to the contact list whenever I can). But I want to step up my efforts at staying in contact, as well as to thank folks for the many books I receive. Look for a new post once a month on the support website that will focus on book reviews, current events and poetry and paintings.
I’m happy to announce that with the cooperation of The Base and other community bookstores, and my dear friend Letha, the books that have been sent here (and have been shared around) will we sent on to a new round of sharing in the free world. I’m really, really glad to have this opportunity to spread this wealth around. The library at the prison here would no longer accept donations, so this was an excellent way to save these great books from the dumpster.
This year has been my hardest yet in prison. As the years go on, it gets harder to maintain important friendships, to keep up with the changes in my (now grown) children’s’ lives. I’m far from home, and visits are hard to set up and expensive. Incarceration unweaves the fabric of all families, and mine is no exception. My mother, Karin Mason, passed from cancer in December 2014. Her illness was sudden and intense. While I will always be grateful that my sister could care for her at home for hospice, it was really painful to be separated and barely able to be in contact during her weeks in hospice. My grief at her loss incapacitated me for quite a while. Many, many thanks to those who sent their sympathy and comfort during this time. Your kindness meant a great deal to me.
This has also been a challenging year because of my decision to transition, publicly, as male-identified. I can out to family first in the spring of last year. I feel incredibly fortunate that my family has maintained their loving connection with me. This is a gift of love and I know it. Coming out to friends over the next few months was awkward at times – laughter being a pretty common response – but went well, all in all. Coming out on the Unit was harder, as there was some social fall-out, and there still is some. In August, 2014, I finally spoke to the Warden to request medical help with transitioning. Warden Upton’s response was, and has consistently been, to be humane and to be in positive compliance with the BOP’s new policy. This is also very fortunate, and from reading in Prison Legal News, kind of unusual as a response.
So far, I have gone through the psychological interviewing process to get an official diagnosis of gender dysphoria and to have begun the medical screening process for future access to hormone therapy. I am requesting compete SRS, but right now it is unclear as to what medical procedures are permitted under the new policy. I’m trying to stay persistent and positive. Though I cannot at this point legally change my name in Texas (which is awkward) still the BOP has allowed mail addressed in my chosen name to be delivered to me (as long as it has my register number and last name). I have been issued boxers now, as part of my transition process – which feels like a small victory, a tangible sign of things changing.
I want to acknowledge all of the work, struggle, and sacrifice that other transfolk have made before me. I can’t tell you how sad I was that Leslie Feinberg passed. We lost them too soon. I know that whatever human rights I now enjoy were dearly bought, and I am grateful. I’d like to specifically thank the folks at Black and Pink for their publication. Several folks here get it, and it has made talking about my situation much, much easier.
I also want to thank all of the wonderful folks who wrote to pass on their wishes of support for my transition process. Though things have changed a lot since the mid90s when I had first wanted to come out, still social concepts always move at a glacial pace, and for much of society; gender, orientation, and race remain contested terrain. We still have a lot of work to do, but it can be done.
In conclusion, I have to end with a special shout out to my very own hero this year. What my advocate and friend, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, has done for me is nothing short of saving my life. Thank you, Moira, for believing in me, for getting me through the worst moments, and for patiently showing me the real power of solidarity. There are no works adequate to express my admiration, gratitude, and respect. Thank you all for being there for me – trust and believe that I’m in here for you. Love and solidarity, Forever.
Marius

Krow, arrested during an anti-mining action on June 11, 2013 and now serving a nine-month sentence, released a statement here: https://penokeedefenders.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/from-the-cages-stateme…

Sean Swain’s statement for the June 11th Day of Solidarity with Long Term Anarchist & Eco Prisoners, 2015 can be found at https://archive.org/details/j11seanswain

“My name is Sean Swain and I’m speaking to you from a payphone at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville Ohio, the site of the longest prisoner uprising in US history*. I currently reside in the block where that uprising began, L5 and my cell still has the scorch marks on the walls from more than twenty years ago. I think the authorities leave the burn marks to remind all of us prisoners that they won.

But, when I see those burn marks on their walls, I only think of possibilities. I have to warn you before we go any further that I am a “unique security threat”. It was a federal court who recently gave me that designation: “unique security threat” using those exact words.

I’m not just your run-of-the-mill maximum security prisoner, I’m a special category of prisoner who may be subjected to a regimen of restrictions without so much as being accused of violating prison rules. I’m such a unique threat that my communications can be subject to a lifetime ban in anticipation of what I might say about the state terrorists who hold me hostage and occasionally torture me.

Also, you should know that the Fascist Bozos of Ineptitude (FBI) generated 1,297 pages of investigative files on me during the course of my imprisonment. I’m one of my favorite topics, and I write about myself quite frequently, but I can’t think of 1,297 pages to write about me.

So that means the FBI knows more about me that I do. My file is available from the FBI as a three-disk set that costs $40. That’s roughly the same as the Sex Pistol’s box set. If ever you have a choice between the two, I would suggest you can’t go wrong with the Sex Pistols.

But, I digress. My point of course is that I’m a unique security threat, and I’m a unique security threat not for what I do with my fists and my feet, because the fascist police state has easy methods for containing those. I’m a unique security threat for what I do with my head. My thoughts, my ideas, the things I articulate, those are the things that make me a unique security threat, because the fascist police have found thoughts and ideas harder to contain than fists a feet.

Also it’s important to point out, I think, that the fascist police state isn’t concerned so much with my communication of ideas to fellow prisoners. I don’t use these monitored communications systems to communicate to prisoners. I use them to communicate with you.

So, look, here’s my agenda. I have to find a way to stop being a unique security threat in order to lesson my odds of getting tortured again. I have to stop being a unique security threat in order to get home to hug my elderly parents. Being a unique security threat makes me vulnerable to repression by state terrorists. My uniqueness makes me a singular target. They can focus the full force of their terror operation on me.

My fear and dread of facing potential torture in the future compels me to find some way to stop being unique in the present. If only I can find a way to inspire and persuade others, like you perhaps to become security threats, either equal to the threat I pose, or superior to the threat I pose, I would stop being a unique security threat. I would just be one of hundreds or one of thousands, or even one of tens of thousands of ubiquitous security threats.

So that’s my agenda. To create ubiquitous security threats. Thousands with thoughts and ideas just as dangerous as my own. That’s what I have to do to avoid getting tortured again.

That’s quite a daunting mission isn’t it? I hope I’m up to it.

If I succeed, at the very least, state terrorists will have their hands so full dealing with all of you security threats that they’ll forget about me and leave me alone. Best case scenario: their entire power structure will collapse, the nightmare will end and we can all go back to living in ways that make sense, absent the oppressor.

So, if the state terror asshole with the headphones monitoring this communication is distracted by his donuts and coffee and doesn’t hit the kill switch, I’m going to share some ideas and thoughts to hopefully create ubiquitous security threats out of you. I hope you’re down with that.

I think the process of creating ubiquitous security threats should begin with an observation. Information is power. Kind of a no brainier, as far as observations go, huh?

Yeah, information is power. That’s why they’ve got security cameras everywhere. That’s why they click through all of your emails. That’s why a dozen government agencies have a digital recording of your call before you ever even hear it. Information is power and your enemy, my enemy, our enemy is constantly collecting information.

So, what do we know about them?

Information is power. Now, I’m going to be talking about the prison industrial complex specifically, and the state terrorists who run it, but what I’m saying really applies universally to all the institutions of the fascist police state. And really, to the corporate profiteers who pull the strings. So really, what I’m proposing has a vast array of broad applications.

But, back to our question: what do we know about them? If you’re a prison abolitionist, or if you’re a prisoner rights advocate, wherever you’re from, do you know where the prisons are physically located? That’s pretty easy to find out. It’s public information. Now, those prisons have parking lots. Those parking lots contain the vehicles of prison workers, guards, staff, administrators. Often the Warden’s spot is marked with a sign that says “Warden”.

All of those cars are located in a public parking lot. Whoever you are, you can drive right in. At shift change, for instance you’d witness two shifts of prison workers coming and going. Do you have a cell phone camera? Almost everyone these days has a cell phone camera. Faces. License plates. With a plate number and a friend at the Bureau of Motor vehicles you can obtain home addresses and all kinds of information.

If you don’t have a friend at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles you can wait in a lot down the street, pull into traffic and follow people home.

Information is power.

The same goes for administrators in the Central Office of any state prisons system. Their parking lots are not located in some alternate universe. These people who employ torture are parked right there. They drive home to spouses and kids and family dogs. They work for a terrorist state that collects information on you. What are you doing to collect information on them?

I can tell you right now for an absolute fact that what I’m proposing to you is the state terrorists’ worst nightmare. They torture their captives. They tortured me, knowing they would never be held accountable by their fascist supervisors or their oversight committees or by media investigations, or federal courts. All the institutions of the fascist police state are accomplices in their crimes against humanity. In fact the instance of torture and continuation of state terror occur in the confidence that no one will do anything about it. Their arrogance so far is well founded.

I recall during the year of prolonged torture at Mansfield Correctional the day that my cell mate Black Jack stood up and passed out. He hit the floor. We had suffered starvation rations for months, had each lost roughly 30% of our body weight, and Black Jack passed out due to malnutrition. That was the day I became convinced that we might actually die. Our captors might actually kill us.

I had a website of updates. I had written letters to the legislative oversight committees. I had a lawyer protesting my treatment. I had hundreds writing letters and making calls and I was convinced that none of that would change conditions. That Black Jack and I might die despite ALL of that. Now, to contrast, just as a matter of practicality, I urge you to imagine what would have happened to our conditions, if instead of letters and calls to lawyers and online updates if one, just one of the state terrorists involved in the terror program would have gotten up for work one morning and stepped out of his or her tasteful suburban home to find his or her car ablaze with SeanSwain.org spray painted across the cracked windshield.

I’m not sure, but I bet just that single event would have gotten Black Jack and me an extra scoop of potatoes at lunch. If not, there are always other nights and other cars.

Now, sure there’s a degree of risk for those involved and that risk varies according to the planning and execution. Also keep in mind we’re not talking about a risk taken to rectify one instance of mistreatment. We’re talking about an action that would alter the operation of the terror complex completely.

Now, if something like that had happened in response to Black Jack’s and my torture—it didn’t, so this is just a theoretical pondering—but if something like that had happened, the state could only put squad cars at the residences of state terrorists for a short time. In Ohio, for example, there are something like 30 prisons. That equals 30 wardens, 30 majors, 90 deputy wardens, hundreds of captains and lieutenants and captains and sergeants and guards, too many to dedicate squad cars for protection of their homes night after night indefinitely. They couldn’t possibly be protected from a ubiquitous security threat, so chances are they would have changed their low-down ways. State terrorists would realize there would be direct and serious consequences for torturing their captives, as their should be. It really boils down to a kind of operant conditioning. If you torture us, we’ll light your cars and houses on fire. If you stop, we’ll stop. It’s a consequence of the operant conditioning. You get the behavior you’re looking for, whether it’s an end to torture, or an end to the prison complex entirely.

It would be preferable of course if you could simply ask rationally, perhaps through a grievance process or correspondence to a legislative committee, or through civil litigation in federal court, but non violent appeals to reason and fairness are a completely foreign language to hierarchs. You may as well be speaking Portuguese. So to change anything you have to let cans of gasoline be your verbs and let matches be your nouns. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true. Soon there’ll be a website online that posts profiles of state terrorists along with message boards where visitors to the site can leave anonymous comments, including perhaps information about each of the profiled state terrorists. Information is power. I think I’ll stop there. When this monitored call is over I’ll go back to my cell with the scorch marks covering the walls and I’ll think of the possibilities. This is anarchist prisoner Sean Swain from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. If you’re listening, you are the resistance.

The Lucasville Uprising in 1993 was not the longest prison uprising in US, history, it was the longest in which people died.”

*********************************

We’d like to close by calling attention to the days of solidarity later this month with long-term anarchist prisoner Marco Camenisch:

http://actforfree.nostate.net/?p=20043 and in German, http://rotehilfech.noblogs.org/

Our love and solidarity go to Tamara Sol, imprisoned by the Chilean state and recently transferred to a high-security “Centre for Feminine Orientation,” a prison comparable to the one in which Marius is trapped. https://wccctoronto.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/tamara-sol-public-communiqu…

For another June 11 – and year – dedicated to solidarity and the ongoing struggle against domination and ecological destruction,

the June 11th coordinating assembly

June 11, 2015 : TRANSITION : The struggle’s not over…

From June11.org

The last year has been full of changes and transitions for our imprisoned comrades and for those of us engaged in struggle on the other side of the walls. Now, solidly in the throes of spring, we feel compelled to celebrate these transitions and victories as new life and energy burst forth all around us. It is not often that we get a chance to truly mix celebration and struggle – but now is one of those times! On January 8th of this year the Eastern District Court of California ordered Eric McDavid released from prison. Our comrade Marius came out publicly as a man and began seeking resources for his physical transition. We believe these are both transitions worthy of celebration and reason for continued struggle. It is in this spirit that we bring you our thoughts about J11 2015.

First, a bit of housekeeping: We have a new email address: june11th at riseup dot net! If you sent something to the old address, it is likely we did not receive it. We would love it if there were many translations of this callout and other support materials (many thanks to ContraInfo and others for supporting translation over the years)! Please send information about the June 11th events you are planning this year, posters, zines, and any report backs to june11th at riseup dot net. We are looking forward to hearing from you and will post events as we receive them at June11.org Every year events happen in new cities, and we hope you’ll encourage your friends and comrades far and wide to join us this year.

This day is an annual day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners, including Marius Mason and Eric McDavid. In calling for the day, we aim to deepen ongoing support for comrades facing long sentences. They, in particular, risk being forgotten within a prisoner support model based on reacting to spikes in state repression and other emergencies. We are committed to building a model of solidarity that is both long-term and capable of flexibly responding to new developments. It is also vital to constantly build new links of solidarity between prisoners and between struggles, rather than fall back on static networks of personal links and contacts.

Originating as a day of solidarity for eco-prisoners, J11 remains anchored in a project of ecological defense and struggle against a society based on exploitation and confinement. As the focus shifted to solidarity with Marius and Eric, two eco-anarchist prisoners serving roughly 20-year sentences, people have expressed their solidarity through letter-writing nights, fundraisers, educational events, demonstrations and attacks. Any real effort to aid prisoners cannot be based simply on passive support, but must also include a commitment to build on their struggles before and after their imprisonment. More explanation about the context for and strategy of June 11th can be found here: http://june11.org/about/

Last year, while organizing J11 events, we addressed challenging questions about the relationship between ecologically oriented struggles and anarchist anti-prison struggles. It is clear to us that the world which requires prisons also requires the destruction of the environment; as anarchists, we despise both. We are heartened by the growing movements against the tar sands, LNG pipelines, fracking and the myriad other ecologically destructive projects. The escalation of eco-struggles across the globe is both necessary and exciting. Both Marius and Eric remain committed to these struggles, as we remain committed to them, all eco-prisoners, and the struggles that they all – we all – are engaged in. But this year we have been given cause for celebration – and we would like to emphasize that as we move forward.

This year Marius Mason publicly shared his new name and use of male pronouns that better reflect his masculine gender identity. To quote his lawyer, Moira Meltzer-Cohen who is assisting with the legal aspects of his transition, Marius is someone “whose courage and integrity are made even more salient by the fact that his own liberation and autonomy have long been severely circumscribed.” In the face of a world that systematically subjects trans people to violence, isolation and abuse, we hope that everyone shows their support of trans liberation by supporting Marius and the many imprisoned trans folks. This struggle should extend beyond mere fundraising. Trans prisoners are struggling not only for the material necessities of existence, but are also struggling against systems of domination which will stop at nothing to prevent them from simply being who they are. Our solidarity needs to be as creative and varied as the state’s tactics are cruel and oppressive.

On January 8th of this year, Eric McDavid was released from prison after nine years of incarceration. Eric returned home to his friends and family after a federal court granted his habeus corpus petition, stating that the FBI withheld evidence during the trial phase of his case. Because of this, Eric was able to plead guilty to a lesser charge which carried a five year maximum sentence – four years less than the time he had already served in federal prison. Eric’s incredible determination and the awe-inspiring support from his family, friends and comrades have not only contributed to his emotional and physical well-being while behind bars but also to his eventual release. His release from prison after 9 years is a monumental change. Eric is now faced with building a new life after almost a decade of incarceration. This is a new phase of struggle for him, and we are committed to continuing our solidarity with him post-release.

We face new questions about how to help Eric during this transition from a heavily controlled prison environment to a life in the open prison (the conditions that overlap between Eric’s parole and the society of control in which we all live). Although he is no longer living his life in a cage of concrete and razor wire, Eric still constantly faces the repressive apparatus of the state. His movements are restricted, his communications monitored, and his time is spent in ways that aren’t always of his choosing. All of this limits his interactions with the communities he has been away from for so long, the communities he wishes to engage with and be a part of. We must figure out how to lessen the impacts of these kinds of restrictions and how to enable as smooth a transition and homecoming as possible. We are thrilled to be facing these questions nine years earlier than we’d expected.

The focus of June 11th events this year will continue to include Eric by aiding him materially and emotionally during this transition and maintaining channels for political engagement concerning Eric’s entrapment. Eric’s case remains one of the most obvious examples of the state targeting and entrapping anarchists in this country. But we must always remember that his case is in no way exceptional. Muslim communities have borne the brunt of these kinds of attacks from the FBI. We should always be finding ways to work in solidarity. Post release support is a vital component to our struggle, and we’re obviously thrilled beyond words that Eric can walk and talk among friends and Earth according to his own desires again, and with every step we affirm that we want the destruction of all prisons.

The practices of ongoing solidarity should not solely serve as a soothing cultural custom: our actions carry potential for real material consequences — both positive and negative — for our imprisoned comrades. As we practice solidarity with imprisoned comrades and loved ones, our goal goes beyond simply supporting them; we aim to build social momentum against an entire system of domination and ecological destruction. These linkages add significance to all our gestures of solidarity, rendering them more potent tools on behalf of those inside, but also increasing the risks should these gestures be miscalculated or imprecise: as always, exercise care and sharp analysis when laying plans.

This reflection applies to the entire range of support projects, including fundraising. We hope though, that fundraisers also create spaces for discussion and struggle. A common anxiety among comrades facing long sentences is whether there will still be subversive projects and conversations underway when they get out. It’s up to all of us to make sure that there are, and that these projects and conversations are stronger, richer, and more vital. And it’s everyone’s letters to prisoners that ensure their ongoing connection to this process.

A specific element of this process is building our capacity for ongoing prisoner support. There have been both victories and setbacks over the past year as anarchist and other rebellious prisoners have waged struggles against their conditions, including both hunger and work strikes. Nikos Romanos’ hunger strike and the accompanying revolutionary solidarity reminded us of the subversive possibility of struggles coordinated across prison walls. But as anarchist prisoners, like Sean Swain in Ohio or Michael Kimble in Alabama, increasingly conduct similar fights in North America, the movement has frequently lacked the connections or strength required to offer meaningful solidarity. This is not a criticism of the dedicated support crews working with these rebel prisoners, but is directed to the rest of us, indicating the importance of generalizing active forms of solidarity with prisoners.

An important aspect of the long-term project of prisoner solidarity is maintaining old connections while building new connections with other prisoners in struggle. Recently released comrades Amelie and Fallon encompassed this idea well in their February open letter http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/02/17/mexican-prisons-open-letter-of… <http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/02/17/mexican-prisons-open-letter-of-amelie-pelletier-and-fallon-poisson-february-14-2015/> Generalizing solidarity means escaping the space of the small “activist scene” to allow surprising new relationships to form. Part of our proposal this year is to build stronger relations of solidarity with trans prisoners in struggle, both to offer immediate personal and political support, and to prepare to offer more meaningful aid in future struggles for safety, hormones/other medical resources, and dignity. http://supportmariusmason.org/2014/07/07/free-marius-jacob-mason/ We were inspired by Chelsea Manning, who won access to hormones despite very adverse conditions, dramatically indicating the possibility of future victories for other trans prisoners.

We will continue to adapt to a changing landscape produced both by the victories won by our imprisoned comrades — including Eric’s release, Marius’ coming out, Nikos Romanos’ seizure of “room to breathe,” and just in the past few days, the amazing homecoming of Amelie, Carlos, and Fallon, — and by ongoing transformations of the repressive machinery. These transitions mark the expansion of the project and not any sort of stopping point.

“The struggle is not over … it assumes new forms. For no matter what the face, no matter what the name, it’s still war.”

Post-Release Fund for Eric McDavid!

youcaring.com/EricMcDavid

Eric McDavid is an anarchist and environmental activist who was entrapped
by an FBI informant and charged with a single count of “conspiracy to use
fire or explosives to damage corporate and government property”. In May of
2008 Eric was sentenced to an outrageous 19 years and 7 months in prison.

On January 8th, 2015, after serving 9 years in prison his judgment and
sentencing were vacated when it became known that the FBI had failed to
disclose potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense. Eric plead
guilty to a lesser charge that carried a 5 year maximum sentence and was
released almost immediately.

This incredible victory occurred because we all refused to give up the
struggle to set him free. Thank you to all of you who have supported Eric
during these last 9 years. Despite the heavy-handed repression of the
state, Eric refused to compromise his politics or his integrity, just as
all of us who supported him refused to abandon the struggle to see him
free. But the struggle is not over. Though Eric is no longer held in a
prison cell he is faced with the difficult task of rebuilding his life
after a lengthy period of incarceration. We are hoping to aid him by
raising money so that he can go to school, get a job and begin the process
of physical and emotional healing from his time in prison. Below is a list
of Eric’s estimated expenses for the next 6 months. Your donations are
critical to helping Eric get back on his feet. Thank you for your
continued solidarity with Eric in his struggle to survive and thrive in
the face of injustice.

Yoga Teacher training – $2100
An hour of therapy or groceries for one week – $75
Books for class for one semester at the college he is already enrolled in
– $100
Car insurance for a month – $40
Computer – $250
Cell phone bill for one month – $40

For more information on Eric McDavid and the case itself, go to:
supporteric.org

If you are a pen pal of Eric’s or would like to send him a note of
encouragement you can now reach him at the PO Box below.

To: Eric McDavid
c/o Sacramento Prisoner Support
PO Box 163126
Sacramento, CA 95816

Yours in Solidarity,
Sacramento Prisoner Support

“A Victory For One Is A Victory For All” – A Letter From Anarchist Prisoner, Eric King to Sacramento Prisoner Support and Eric McDavid

Sacramento Prisoner Support:

Sat Jan 9^th  ?

POW CAMP Leavenworth

Dear SPS,

What a feeling of victory and vindication that must be flowing through your ranks, as well as through all those who have offered prisoner support. The news of Eric’s release reached me Friday afternoon and it felt as if I myself had been set free. What a long, difficult road he has had to travel upon to finally reach freedom’s exit sign. As unjust as the sentencing was, is as sweet the release must feel! Just imagining the Joy his comrades, partner, family must all be feeling fills me with the same joy. A victory for one is a victory for all. Please send my kindest congratulatory message to Eric and everyone involved in his support team.

I have heard that his support team (many of you) has done well to make sure his rehabilitation into freedom will go as smoothly as possible. No one can undo the injustices suffered but many can make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible and I have a good feeling that the people around him will take full care of that. I am curious what, if any at this point, plans Eric has for the future? Work for prisoner support, continued environmental fight? I hope the suffering the state has put him through hasn’t diminished his belief in the causes he once (currently?) took solace in.

Most importantly though is the now, and the now is that our comrade is free, not just free but free substantially sooner than the state would have preferred. With the amount of comrades being released early, hopefully the tone will be set to prevent such vicious inhumane sentencing in any future cases. May this victory lead the way baring the torch of freedom, lighting the darkened path many of us still must thread. I am grateful that Eric had such brilliant support, that no one gave up hope. I am thankful that groups exist to be there for those of us who need it desperately. So congratulations to everyone involved, and to our beautiful cause as a whole. Please keep up the fight. Until All are Free.

In immense Joy & Solidarity,

E K

Eric King 27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, KS 66048

 

Exclusive: “Eco-Terrorist” Freed 10 Years Early After Feds Withhold Evidence on Informant’s Role

Former political prisoner Eric McDavid, his partner Jenny Esquivel from Sacramento Prisoner Support, and lawyer Ben Rosenfeld, on  Democracy Now!

An Update and a Note From recently released Political Prisoner, Eric McDavid!

From Sacramento Prisoner Support:

Dear friends and comrades!

We just wanted to send you a quick update from/about Eric. Below you will
find info about how to write Eric, how to donate to post-release funds,
and a note from Eric!

The outpouring of support we have received from all across the world has
been incredible. Thank you all so much. We are in tears several times a
day from reading your kind notes, emails and texts full of love and
solidarity.

So many of you have asked what you can do now to support Eric
post-release. Thank you for knowing and understanding the importance of
continued support!

If you would like to write Eric or send him care packages, you can send
them to:

Eric McDavid
c/o SPS
PO Box 163126
Sacramento, CA 95816

We are still accepting donations through the PayPal account on Eric’s
website. You can find a link at:
http://supporteric.org/howtohelp.htm#Fundraising

Thank you all for your continued love and solidarity!

Yours,
Sacramento Prisoner Support

And now…

i cannot begin this without an overflowingly gushing heartfelt thanks for
the amazing support, aid, and solidarity provided by so many people from
so many places – seeing me through these past 9 years to bring me home…
tears of release and joy will continue to wet my cheeks – i don’t wipe
them away… the folks at Sacramento Prisoner Support have never wavered
in going above and beyond while enduring all the pressures that come from
moving contrary to what the FBI had considered a closed case – i love you
all so dearly. to my habeas attorneys, mark and ben, your work on this
process certainly hasn’t changed my view of the legal system – but it has
proven to me that humyns can actually survive the bar with their strong
and beautiful hearts intact, still connected, and persevering as a guiding
force in their lives = ‘thank you’ will never be enough, i love you
both… surviving these last 9 years has brought me to a new
understanding of patience and how it can be passionate, thereby sustaining
the need for a longer view; one that will continue to help me as i move
into aiding those still held behind razor wire fences, concrete, and
steel… so many others have cases as ridiculous as my own – some much
worse, and have been in for decades; a number i met personally and others
i dream of meeting upon their release. thank you all so much for all of
your love and support as i begin to move into this next phase of my life.
i’ll be in touch again soon. for now i hope to focus on spending time
with my loved ones and reconnecting with the community that i love and
have missed for so long.

too much love.

find UR joy

d

Eric McDavid ordered release!

Dear friends and comrades,

It is with bursting hearts that we write to tell you some amazing news.
Today, January 8, Eric was ordered released from prison. It has been
almost 9 years exactly since he was arrested in Auburn, CA, on January 13,
2006.

Eric’s release came about because of the habeas petition that he and his
legal team filed in May 2012. Because the government withheld important
documents from the defense at trial, Eric’s original judgment and
sentencing were vacated and he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that
carried a five year maximum sentence. This means Eric has already spent
four years longer in prison than could have been required under the
statute for the charge he pleaded guilty to. He received credit for time
served and was ordered released.

Eric’s projected release date – until today – was February of 2023.

We are beyond thrilled that Eric will soon be back home with us, where he
belongs. But nothing can change the fact that Eric and his loved ones
have had 9 years stolen from them by the state. At times, this fight
seemed almost impossible. Eric endured hunger strikes, solitary, the
separation of hundreds of miles from everyone and everything he loved, and
the isolation and cold walls and wire of prison. These things were meant
to break him – but the state has utterly failed in this endeavor. Eric
remains steadfast and strong. Eric fought the charges against him 9 years
ago because he knew it was the right thing to do. He has maintained his
integrity all of these years by staying true to himself and to the things
he believes in. But he has not done this in a vacuum. Thank you to
everyone who has shown their love and support these last nine years. It
has made all the difference. To everyone who has ever written a letter,
sent drawings of dragons or pictures of fairies, or included pictures of
something as simple as a blade of grass… you have given Eric’s life
color, fire and connection these past 9 years. You have proven that our
solidarity is our strongest weapon.

We are anxious to celebrate! But we also must remember that Eric’s case
is just one among many – and it is by no means the most egregious. Since
9/11 the state has engaged in political prosecutions of hundreds of people
in this country – the majority of them from Muslim communities – for their
religious and political affiliations. And our comrades continue to be
targeted and arrested for daring to dream. We are overjoyed that Eric is
coming home. But we also know that we must never rest until all are free.

Eric will soon be released from Sacramento County jail in a matter of
hours, but his struggle is far from over. He received two years of
supervised release and will be under their watch during that time. Coming
out of prison is a complicated and difficult journey, but it is one that
we are excited and ready to begin.

Thanks again to all of you – and a big shout out to Eric’s lawyers – Mark
Vermeulen and Ben Rosenfeld – who have worked tirelessly and passionately
on his case for years, pro bono.

We will be in touch in the coming weeks. Until then – celebrate!
Struggle! And as Eric would say…Find UR Joy!

So much love to you all.

Until all are free!

SPS
sacprisonersupport.wordpress.com

Plea Agreement 1-8-15 (EMD)-1

McDavid_Release_Order

Joint Status Report 1-5-15 (EMD)

June 8th: Denver J11 Solidarity Event: scott crow on Infiltration, Repression, and Political Prisoners

Saturday June 8th
27 Social Centre
2727 W. 27th Ave Unit D
Denver, CO 80211

For the last several years, June 11 (june11.org) has been commemorated as an international day of solidarity with long term anarchist prisoners, and specifically Eric McDavid (http://supporteric.org/), and Marie Mason (http://supportmariemason.org/).

This year, in solidarity with June 11th events across the world, the Denver Anarchist Black Cross will be hosting an evening event with scott crow, a long term anarchist community organizer from Austin Texas. (More on Scott below).

Dinner will be provided, as well as various educational materials. We’re also going to be encouraging some participatory after events, so, if possible, come prepared for a late night!

PLEASE NOTE! WHILE THIS EVENT IS IN SOLIDARITY WITH JUNE 11TH EVENTS, IT IS TAKING PLACE ON SATURDAY JUNE 8TH!!!!

—
scott crow is a community organizer, writer, strategist and speaker who advocates the philosophy and practices of anarchism for social, environmental, and economic aims.

He is the only son of a working class mother who started his political journey in the anti-apartheid, political prisoner and animals rights movements during the Reagan years. In the late 80s he fronted two political electronic industrial bands and through the 90s ran a successful antique/art cooperative business.

For over two decades he has continued to use his experience and ideas in co-founding and co-organizing numerous radical grassroots projects in Texas, including Treasure City Thrift, Radical Encuentro Camp, UPROAR (United People Resisting Oppression and Racism), Dirty South Earth First! and the Common Ground Collective, the largest anarchist influenced organization in modern U.S. history to date.

In addition to grassroots organizing, he has worked for regional and national organizations, including Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Ruckus Society and A.C.O.R.N. With his partner, he produced the documentary film Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation. These political activities lead to him being labeled a “domestic terrorist”by the FBI beginning in the late 90’s with investigations that continued for almost a decade.

He has appeared in various media outlets including the New York Times, CNN, Democracy Now!, Texas Observer, Infoshop, Left Turn, Anarchist News, Z Magazine, Austin Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, Pacifica Radio and AlterNet as well as the documentaries Welcome To New Orleans, Better this World, and Informant. Public Radio’s This American Life called him “a living legend among anarchists” and the New York Times characterized him as “anarchist and veteran organizer… that comes across as more amiable than combative…”.

His writings have appeared in the anthology What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation ( 2006 South End Press), his book Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy and the Common Ground Collective (2011 Pm Press) as well as various radical print magazines and online sites over the last decade.

From his home in Austin scott recently worked at Ecology Action an anarchist worker-run recycling center cooperative, consults in building worker cooperatives, travels for speaking, and organizes projects. In his spare time, he and his partner bike around town, raise a barnyard of funny animals and dream of sustainable futures.