In Contempt #29: Pushing Back Against Repression in Atlanta; Upcoming June 11th Events

photo: @deannalorena

In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Political Prisoner News

Hey, folks! On July 11th from 1 to 3 PM, we will be doing a prisoner solidarity workshop and letter writing to support incarcerated anarchist prisoners and forest defenders.

Come learn about the struggles anarchist prisoners face, and write letters to forest defenders! pic.twitter.com/KzfATZL3cc

— Space City Anarchist Organization (@SpaceCityAO) June 2, 2023

The June 11 day of solidarity with anarchist prisoners is coming up. (In passing, the June 11th statement mentions, “Josh Williams, given the longest sentence of anyone arrested at Ferguson protests”, which is somewhat misleading, as Roy Brown, Jacob Montgomery and Dakota Moss have all been given longer sentences for actions that were at least in part connected to the Ferguson uprising.) Eric King has released his June 11 statement, reflecting on his experiences in the supermax, and Xinachtli has written another. Crimethinc’s history of June 11 and Marius Mason’s statement for the day have both been turned into printable zines. Coffee With Comrades and The Final Straw Radio have now both released episodes focusing on the day, which was also covered on It Could Happen Here. Check out a list of June 11th events here on IGD.

You can donate to Eric King’s release funds here, and Rattling the Cages, a collection of oral histories from political prisoners co-edited by Eric, is due to be released later this year. Eric’s support crew are also asking people to get him books from his wishlist, and are also asking for people to send t-shirts in preparation for his release. Recent essays on the Support Eric King site include his thoughts on the 30th anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising, two essays on the communication restrictions he’s been hit with, and an update as he prepares for release while still fighting serious and worrying medical neglect.

Eric wanted to communicate with folks what it feels like to be at the adx and watch his fitst out date pass. He will be out by feb. If he is allowed to transfer districts he could be in a halfway house by summer… But nothing is guaranteed right now. https://t.co/LiYJLYhYr0

— Support_Eric_King (@SupportEricKing) May 29, 2023

Mongoose Distro recently published new writings by Ferguson prisoner Josh Williams and anarchist/antifascist prisoner Dan Baker. Dan Baker’s release date has now been moved forward as a result of a successful call-in campaign, and so there’s now an active fundraiser for his post-release needs.

Mike Africa Jr, a child of two of the MOVE 9, is raising funds to buy back the MOVE house, which was turned into a Philadelphia police substation after the cops firebombed it.

An international day of action was organized for Mexican political prisoner Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel Muñoz, who had a court hearing on May 19th. A recent episode of the It’s Going Down podcast covered the cases of other Mexican political prisoners such as Yaqui political prisoner Fidencio Aldama and politically persecuted Mazatec anarchist Miguel Peralta

Uprising Defendants and Ongoing Cases

Okay I want everyone to read this transcript of a radio conversation between Atlanta police officers regarding the arrests of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund Activists. https://t.co/y9kJxPu9XF pic.twitter.com/imP9xAlAP8

— #StopCopCity (@micahinATL) June 2, 2023

The Stop Cop City movement to defend the Atlanta forest continues to be the focus of fierce ongoing repression. In recent preliminary hearings, two judges upheld the domestic terrorism charges being used against Stop Cop City activists, and three people have been arrested and now face serious charges for spreading flyers with the name of a police officer linked to the murder of Tortuguita. For a general overview of recent developments, see this article from Candice Bernd in Truthout.

As of this writing, there are three people connected to the movement still being held in jail and requesting public support. Three members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund were also arrested in a raid on June 1st as this column was going to print over ridiculous charges of “money laundering” and “charity fraud.” On June 2nd, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund wrote on social media:

The three Solidarity Fund organizers arrested Weds. had their first appearance in court today, and were each granted a bond set at $15,000. Reading the warrants, the Judge remarked: “I don’t find it really impressive — there’s not a lot of meat on these bones.”

According to a report from Natasha Lennard in the Intercept wrote:

In a joint operation with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, or GBI, Atlanta cops charged Marlon Scott Kautz, Adele Maclean, and Savannah Patterson — all board members of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund — with “money laundering” and “charity fraud.”

The arrests are an unprecedented attack on bail funds and legal support organizations, a long-standing facet of social justice movements, according to Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

“This is the first bail fund to be attacked in this way,” Regan, whose organization has worked to ensure legal support for people resisting Cop City, told me. “And there is absolutely not a scintilla of fact or evidence that anything illegal has ever transpired with regard to Atlanta fundraising for bail support.”

Time Magazine has written about the use of domestic terror charges against the movement, and you can find more coverage from Scalawag magazine, which has published personal testimony from a jailed defendant, along with other articles on how the Black radical tradition relates to the movement, how Cop City is linked to Atlanta’s criminalization of homelessness, and general perspectives on abolitionism and carcerality in Atlanta. Media collective Unicorn Riot has also reported on the horrific conditions inside the DeKalb County jail, where many of the Cop City arrestees have been imprisoned.

Southerners on New Ground have published a guide to throwing house parties as a way to raise funds for Stop Cop City legal defense funds. Be sure to follow Defend the Atlanta Forest on social media and check out Stop Cop City Solidarity for more information on how to get involved in the movement.

The Justice Department’s attempted appeasement of Republican wishes is a fool’s game. Fascists won’t be sated, writes @natashalennard. https://t.co/pIbuuiPeGA

— The Intercept (@theintercept) May 22, 2023

Repression also continues against the reproductive rights movement, as a student activist in Florida faces expulsion from her PhD after being arrested and prosecuted on trumped-up charges of assaulting an officer, and the owner of Burning Books in Buffalo, New York has reported a visit from FBI agents investigating Jane’s Revenge actions. Natasha Lennard also has published a new article on the Intercept looking at the latest charges being used to attack reproductive rights activists in Florida.

A fundraiser has been set up for Da’jon Lengyel, a George Floyd Uprising defendant from Pittsburgh who’s been sentenced to 27 months in Federal prison, with the prospect of paying further restitution costs once released.

General Prison News

Texas anarchist prisoner Noah “Kado” Coffin was approved for parole in November 2022, but still has not yet been moved to a per-release program. You can find information on how to make calls and emails to help get him on his way to freedom here. Noah is a regular contributor to projects such as Mongoose Distro, who recently published his articles “A Prophet From Hell” and “No to Industrialization, Yes to Green Anarchy”.

Revolutionary prisoner Joseph “Shine White” Stewart has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, but still has not begun treatment, and is requesting phone calls and emails to help pressure the North Carolina prison system into treating him.

Below is the contact information for those who should be contacted:

NCDAC’s Deputy Secretary – Comprehensive Health Services
Gary Junker
919-838-4000
[email protected]

Chief Deputy Secretary – Rehabilitative and Correctional Services
Maggie Brewer
919-733-9313
[email protected]

Facility’s lead nurse
J Rowe
[email protected]

You can find a recent article by Shine White in support of the Prison Lives Matter movement here.

A hunger strike took place at the Santa Rita jail for around two weeks in late April and early May. Truthdig recently published a profile of imprisoned Texas writer and organizer Jason Renard Walker, and Mongoose Distro have published a new article from Mwalimu Shakur on the politics of prison.

Kite Line recently rebroadcast a discussion on the harmful consequences of popular prison reforms, and IDOC Watch have organized a phone zap in support of a prisoner being denied medical care, as well as publishing new writings from Khalfani Malik Khaldun and an anonymous incarcerated woman.

International

Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan died on hunger strike at the start of May. Khader Adnan had previously issued a statement of solidarity with the 2013 California system hunger strikers. The Israeli prison system has also transferred Walid Daqqah, a prisoner suffering from cancer, back to a prison clinic after he was allowed treatment at an outside hospital, and a new hunger strike is being organized to defend Daqqah along with Ahmad Sa’adat, a political leader being held in isolation.

Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar, two Chilean anarchists accused of a number of actions, have had their trial date moved back to July at the request of the defense, and you can read a recent Mapuche solidarity statement from anarchist and subversive Chilean prisoners including Francisco here. A date in mid-June has also been set to hear the appeal against Anna Beniamino and Alfredo Cospito’s sentences, with this appeal being the major victory to come out of Alfredo Cospito’s lengthy hunger strike. Greek anarchist prisoner Giannis Michailidis has also launched a hunger strike for his release.

Heavy repression continues in Russia, with recent updates from Autonomous Action including a fundraising campaign for a punk musician accused of justifying terrorism, two defendants being given 19 years for anti-war arson, a round-up of anti-war direct actions and prisoners, and a legal fundraiser for Boris Goncharenko, accused of burning down a military office in Krasnodar. Kirill Butylin, who carried out the first arson attack against a recruiting office in February 2022, has now been sentenced to 13 years. In more positive news, two antifascist defendants in Siberia have received probation.

“…the more time passes in exile, the less comrades we will have around, with almost no influx, since the diasporas are not so numerous and mostly consist of the same tired migrants…”

ANTI-REPRESSION WORK IN A GHOST LIKE MOVEMENT by @abcbelarus https://t.co/gYj5FAoZxa

— Organise Magazine (@OrganiseMag) May 11, 2023

ABC Belarus have published an important reflection on “anti-repression work in a ghost-like movement,” discussing the challenges of trying to sustain their network in exile.

In the UK, two people have just been imprisoned for taking direct action against a weapons factory, while another two have just been given prison sentences for the Bristol riot of March 2021. Danny and Foxy now have support pages on the Bristol ABC site, where they join the growing list of Kill the Bill prisoners. Kevan Thakrar has just been transferred to another prison, and is stuck without having access to his personal property as a result of the move.

The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund have released their latest annual report.

At the very end of May, Lina E and three other German antifascists were given sentences ranging from two years and five months to five years and three months for militant actions against neo-Nazis.

Uprising Defendants

Everyone should support the defendants facing charges related to their alleged participation in the George Floyd uprising – this list of our imprisoned comrades needs to be getting shorter, not longer. See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. The status of pre-trial defendants changes frequently, but to the best of our knowledge they currently include:

Tyre Means 49981-086
USP Beaumont
PO BOX 26030
Beaumont, TX 77720

Kelly Jackson 50288-086
FCI Phoenix
Federal Correctional Institution
37910 N. 45th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85086

Margaret Channon 49955-086
FCI Aliceville
PO Box 4000
Aliceville, AL 35442

Malik Muhammad #23935744
Oregon State Penitentiary
2605 State Street
Salem, OR 97310

Jacob Michael Gaines #81973-065
FCI Sheridan
P.O. BOX 5000
Sheridan, OR 97378

Jacob asks that people include an email address associated with their corrlinks account so he can return an email instead of a letter.

Cyan Waters Bass #23905849
Oregon State Correctional Institution
3405 Deer Park Drive SE
Salem, Oregon 97310

Gavaughn Streeter-Hillerich #19203494
Oregon State Penitentiary
2605 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97310

Montez Lee 22429-041
FCI Ray Brook
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 900
Ray Brook, NY 12977

Matthew White #21434-041
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. BOX 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808

Matthew Rupert #55013-424
USP McCreary
P.O. Box 3000
Pine Knot, KY 42635

José Felan #54146-380
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 33
Terre Haute, IN  47808

Dylan Robinson 45802-013
USP Leavenworth
P.O. Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS  66048

David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701

Andrew Augustyniak-Duncan
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Andrew Duncan-Augustyniak / QN9211
SCI Rockview
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733

Nicholas Lucia 06868-509
FCI Petersburg Low
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 1000
Petersburg, VA 23804

Ellie Brett 14822509
FCI Petersburg Medium
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 1000
Petersburg, VA 23804

John Wade 14762509
FCI Beckley
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 350
General & Legal Mail
Beaver, WV 25813

Alvin Joseph 1002016959
Hays State Prison
PO Box 668
Trion, GA 30753

Richard Hunsinger 16066-509
FCI Forrest City Low
P.O. Box 9000
Forrest City, AR 72335

Shamar Betts 22080-043
FCI Hazelton Federal Correction Inst.
P.O. Box 5000
Bruceton Mills, WV 26525

Diego Vargas 55070-424
FCI Allenwood Medium
PO Box 2000
White Deer, PA 17887

Adam Walton 55322-424
FCI Allenwood Medium
PO Box 2000
White Deer, PA 17887

Olivia Marie Hull
Kent County Correctional Facility
703 Ball Avenue NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Howard Eugene Nall #586907
Newberry Correctional Facility
13747 E. County Road 428
Newberry, MI 49868

T’Andre Buchanan 67637-060
Milan FCI
PO Box 1000
Milan, MI 48160

Upcoming Birthdays

Sergey Romanov

Sergey Romanov is a Belarusian anarchist prisoner serving a 20-year sentence for several direct actions against state buildings.

Letters written in languages other than Russian or Belarusian may not reach prisoners in Belarus, but if you email your greetings to belarus_abc(AT)riseup.net, or enter them into this online form, they should be able to translate them and pass them on to Sergey for you. See here for more information.

Birthday: June 7th

Address:

(for letters in Russian or Belarusian only)

Romanov Sergey Aleksandrovich
IVS, ul. Sovetskaya 46, 231900, g. Volkovysk,
Grodnenskaya obl., Belarus

Jarreau Ayers

Vaughn Uprising prisoner, one of the only two prisoners from the Vaughn 17 to be convicted. As one write-up put it, “Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats, already incarcerated under the hopeless sentence of life without parole, took it upon themselves to admit to involvement to prevent the rest of their comrades being found unjustifiably guilty, which led to success – not guilty verdicts or their charges being dropped.” You can learn more about Jarreau in his own words here and here.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NS9994”.

Birthday: June 15

Address:

Smart Communications / PA DOC
Jarreau Ayers – NS9994
SCI Greene
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733

Jason Renard Walker

Texas prison writer and organizer associated with the 2016 prison strike, contributor to the Fire Inside zine, facing down heavy repression for his ongoing attempts to expose the brutality of the prison system. You can find his writings at his website, Jason’s Prison Journal, and his work has been collected as an ebook, Reports from Within the Belly of the Beast. To find out more about Jason, you can also listen to this interview he recently conducted with the Final Straw.

Birthday: June 17th

Address:

Note: Texas prisons have now banned all greeting cards and postcards. As Texas uses Jpay, you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then searching for his name with “State: Texas, Facility: Texas Department of Criminal Justice”. Or to send him a letter on standard white paper that complies with Texas restrictions, write to:

Jason Renard Walker
#1532092
Louis C. Powledge Unit
1400 FM 3452
Palestine, TX 75803