Introduction
Black August approaches, the living memory of an ongoing, unfinished struggle waged by Black revolutionaries inside, against, and beyond prisons and the world they exist to uphold. The horizon of liberation that all prisons exist to obscure and bury alive will always remain accessible to our dreams and desires—will always remain there to vividly revive—so long as we advance the fight and why we fight against everything that keeps us locked away from a life worth living. The brutal eruption of intensifying state repression cannot capture this desire for freedom. Certainly its raw force can isolate, exclude, capture, crush, but so, too, does everything else in the massive open-air prison we call this world. And yet, despite everything, there’s still a crack in the barbed-wire-covered walls around the future… There’s still the possibility, at any moment, to struggle…
We are well aware that fighting against repression is dangerous, but it’s no more and no less dangerous than everything else the world has in store for us. After all, we weren’t the ones who decided how this world would look. It’s up to us to decide, just like in any struggle, what we want to do with it… Why would we refuse to face repression head on? As long as we consider repression in the wider context of the social war we’re engaged in, it shouldn’t be too difficult or contrived to respond to the blows of repression by connecting them to other forms of oppression and, above all, to other ongoing revolts. Solidarity isn’t based on repression as such but on what we recognize in ourselves that might drive individuals, actions, and struggles forward… Solidarity is much more than providing material support for people facing repression. It’s above all about advancing the fight and why we fight.
— Repression & Its World: Reflections on How to Avoid Isolating Repression from the Struggle
With the still-living light of Black August in our minds, we return with another round-up of updates and calls to action about political prisoners, state repression of revolutionaries, and rebellions behind bars.
As always, we welcome submissions and international contributions––hit up in_contempt @ autistici . org.A zine and a pamphlet of this column will be available in the coming days to print and share with friends, comrades, and loved ones behind bars.
Table of Contents
Until All Are Free
T. Is Free! Free Them All!
After more than seven months in pretrial detention, T. has finally been released from Haren prison. Accused of attempting to set police cars on fire in front of the Ixelles police station in November 2025, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison, with the remaining months suspended for the first year, and a €1,600 fine.
This amounts to one year of actual imprisonment and 28 months suspended. Having already served more than a third of his sentence, he is free without any restrictions. Both the prosecutor and the defense have one month to appeal.
Down with justice, the cops and the prisons,
Freedom for all !
Rebellions
Black Hawk County Jail, Iowa
Six people have been charged after a cellblock takeover where people refused orders to return to their cells, covered cameras, damaged sprinklers and flooded the units. No information from the rebels themselves is currently public; six people still at the jail have been charged with rioting, second-degree criminal mischief and interference with official acts.
International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners
A call for a week of solidarity August 23-30 has been shared:
We call you for actions during Week of Solidarity With Anarchist Prisoners!
Solidarity is key to be able to fight this repressive system!Marius Mason, an environmental and animal rights activist, anarchist, writer, artist and trans advocate, was serving the longest sentence to date for acts of environmental sabotage. After 17 years of incarceration, we celebrate his release as he was moved to a half way house on May 14 this year.
Inside prison, he never gave up, but stood up for himself and others, advocated for trans prisoners and strongly resisted the prison system. All the years before for International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners and Trans Prisoner Day of Action, we called to write to him. Now, we are excited to remove him from our letter writing list and instead join forces again on the outside.
Still, there are many remaining in prison and on our letter writing list, and ever new ones are being added. Solidarity is key to be able to fight this repressive system. Solidarity can carry us through the darkest times – a postcard or a letter, a ralley in front of the prison, a visit means the world and gives energy. A story of a comrade in prison shared on an event multiplies with those present. It is our responsibility to let their ideas and with them the persons themselves travel beyond the prison walls. By not forgetting those in prison, solidarity can grow.
That’s why we call every year for the International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners.
Times are getting harder, fascism is rising,and states, fascists and conservatives make us again the targets of their opposition – as progressive forces, Queers, Antifas, and Anarchists. They try to crush us such as in the recent convictions at the Prairieland case where people are facing up to 100 years in prison. Or the attempt to suppress the anarchist movement in Indonesia, where again after the May Day clashes ten anarchist are imprisoned and face serious charges.
In the face of that adversity, we need to stick together and act in solidarity. To strengthen our communities and support the most vulnerable. Let’s not forget the prisoners and instead fight side by side. People are not just prisoners, they are our comrades. Marius showed a great example of how we can reach out to each other to fight a shared struggle.
Join the International Week of Solidarity for Anarchist Prisoners!
Organize a letter writing, solidarity event, film screening, direct action, rally, or whatever comes to your mind and send us pictures and a small report!
Black August
Black August originated in the California penal system in the 1970s. Many significant events in the New African Nation’s struggle for justice and liberation have occurred in August. The commemoration of Black August particularly hails the advances and sacrifices of Black Freedom Fighters. Following are several pages of authentic information on Black August provided by Doc Holiday, an original comrade of George Jackson and a longtime figure in the Black Liberation and prison struggle.
The month of August gained special significance and importance in the Black Liberation Movement beginning with a courageous attempt by Jonathan Jackson to demand the freedom of political prisoners/prisoners of war, of which the Soledad Brothers’ case brought to the center of attention.
On August 7, 1970 Jonathan Jackson, William Christmas, James McClain, and Ruchell Magee were gunned down at the Marin County Courthouse in that attempt for freedom. Ruchell Cinque Magee remains the sole survivor of that bid for liberation. He also remains a POW at Folsom prison, doing life. Though this rebellion was put down by gory pigs and their agents, it was internalized within the hearts and minds of the people on the outside in the larger prison as well as those in the concentration camps (prison), internalized in the same fashion as we honor other heroic African Freedom Fighters, who sacrificed their lives for the people and the liberation.
On August 21, 1971, almost exactly a year following the slave rebellion at Marin County Courthouse, George L. Jackson (older brother of Jonathan Jackson as well as one of the Soledad Brothers) whose freedom was the primary demand of the Marin rebellion, was assassinated at San Quentin prison in an alleged escape put forth by prison administration and the state to cover its conspiracy. Comrade George Jackson was a highly respected and purposely influential leader in the Revolutionary Prison Movement. Jackson was also very popular beyond prison, not only because he was a Soledad Brother, but also because of the book he authored appropriately entitled Soledad Brother. This book not only revealed to the public the inhumane and degrading conditions in prison, he more importantly, correctly pointed to the real cause of those effects in prison as well as in society: a decadent Capitalist system that breeds off of racism and oppression.
On August 1, 1978 brother Jeffery “Khatari” Gualden, a Black Freedom Fighter and Prisoner of War, captured within the walls of San Quentin was a victim of a blatant assassination by capitalist-corporate medical politics. Khatari was another popular and influential leader in the Revolutionary Prison Movement.
An important note must be added here and that is, the Black August Concept and Movement that it is a part of and helping to build is not limited to our sisters and brothers that are currently captured in the various prison Kamps throughout California. Yet without a doubt it is inclusive of these sisters and brothers and moving toward a better understanding of the nature and relationship of prison to oppressed and colonized people.
So it should be clearly understood that Black August is a reflection and commemoration of history of those heroic partisans and leaders that realistically made it possible for us to survive and advance to our present level of liberation struggle, such as Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Gabriel Prosser, Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Rosa Parks, M.L. King, Malcolm X, and numerous others in our more contemporary period. It must be further clarified that when we speak of “Culture Development,” we are not advocating Cultural Nationalism and/or merely talking about adopting African names, jewellery, dashikis, etc. Our primary interest lies not only in where we came from, but the nature of “WHY” we were forcefully brought here, understanding the character of “CONTINUOUS” struggle with the recognition that it is a protracted struggle and developing the necessary lifestyles to guarantee its success.
August 20, 1619: First born Afrikan captives were brought to England’s North Amerikan colony of Jamestown, Virginia.
August 16, 1768: Charlestown, South Carolina. Rebellious Afrikan slaves (known as maroons) engaged British military forces in bloody battle defending their camp which was a haven for fugitive slaves.
August 30, 1800: Day set for launching Gabriel Prosser’s revolt. On this day over 1000 armed slaves gathered to endeavor to secure their liberty, however bad weather forced them to postpone the revolt and betrayal ultimately led to the crushing of their physical force.
August 21, 1831: Slave revolt launched under the leadership of Nat Turner which lasted four days and resulted in fifty-one slaveholders and their loved ones being subjected to revolutionary people’s justice.
August 29, 1841: Street skirmish took place in Cincinnati between Afrikan and Euro-Amerikan, wherein for five days Afrikans waged valiant struggle in defense of their women, children and property against brutal racist terror campaigns.
August 1854: Delegates from eleven states met in Cleveland at the National Emigration Convention of the Colored People, to advance the position that an independent land base (nation) be set up for the absorption of captive Afrikans in Babylon who wanted to return to Afrika.
August 1, 1856: North Carolina. Fierce battle erupted between fugitive slaves and slaveholders who sought their capture and re-enslavement. The only recorded casualties were among slaveholders.
August 1860: Freedom (slave) conspiracy uncovered with the discovery of an organized camp of Afrikans and Euro-Amerikan co-conspirators in Talladega County, Alabama.
August 2, 1865: Virginia. A statewide conference of fifty Afrikan delegates met to demand that Afrikans in Virginia be granted legal title to land occupied during the Civil War. Numerous off-pitch battles ensued during this same month as terrorist mobs moved to evict Afrikans from the land and were met with resistance.
August 17, 1887: Honorable Marcus Garvey, father of contemporary Afrikan Nationalism, was born.
August 1906: Afrikan soldiers (in service of Babylon) enraged behind racial slurs and discrimination struck out and wrecked the town of Brownville, Texas.
August 1906: Niagara Movement met at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia and issued W.E.B. DuBois’ historic manifesto against racist discrimination in Babylon against Afrikans.
August 1, 1914: Garvey founds Universal Negro Improvement Association, advancing the call for Land, Freedom, and Independence for Afrikan people.
August 23, 1917: Afrikan soldiers in Huston engaged in street skirmishes that left more than seventeen Euro-American racists dead.
August 1920: Over two thousand delegates representing Afrikans from the four corners of the earth gathered in New York for the International Convention of the Negro People of the World, sponsored by UNIA. The convention issued a bill of rights for Afrikans.
August 1943: Slave revolt took place in Harlem as result of a K-9 shooting a brother defending the honour of Afrikan womanhood. More than 16,000 military and police personnel were required to quell the rebellion.
August 1963: 190,000 Afrikans (250,000 people in total) took part in the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King to petition for the extension of the rights and privileges due to them mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
August 1964: Afrikans launched comparatively large-scale urban slave revolts in the following cities: Jersey City NY, Paterson NJ, Keansburg NJ, Chicago IL, and Philadelphia PA. These slave revolts were for the most part sparked by either police brutality or disrespect shown toward Afrikan womanhood.
August 16, 1965: Urban revolts took place in Northern Philadelphia.
August 7-8, 1966: A large-scale urban revolt was launched in Lansing, Michigan.
August 28, 1966: Waukegan, Illinois. Urban slave revolt launched in response to police brutality.
July 30-August 2, 1967: Urban slave revolt launched in Milwaukee.
August 19-24, 1967: A comparatively large-scale urban slave revolt was launched in New Haven, Connecticut.
August 7, 1970: Jonathan Jackson killed in firefight while leading the Marin County Courthouse raid.
August 21, 1971: George Jackson shot and killed in San Quentin by tower guards.
Most standard history books tend to either play down or ignore New African resistance as a factor in the destruction in the slave economy. On the other hand, when one understands that New Africans are still an oppressed nation, the reason for such deception becomes clear. Black August contends that not only was such resistance a factor in the destruction of the slave economy, but New African resistance to slavery continues to inspire New African resistance to national oppression. Herbert Aptheker (the author of “American Negro Slave Revolts”) recounts the personal remark of one New African involved in the civil rights struggle:
“From personal experience I can testify that American Negro Slave Revolts made a tremendous impact on those of us in the civil rights and Black Liberation movement. It was the single most effective antidote to the poisonous ideals that blacks had not a history of struggle or that such struggle took the form of non-violent protest. Understanding people like Denmark Vessey, Nat Turner, William Lloyd Garrison etc. provided us with that link to our past that few ever thought existed.”
Black August contends that from the very inception of slavery, New Africans huddled illegally to commemorate and draw strength from New African slaves who met their death resisting. Black August asserts that it is only natural for each generation of New Africans faced with the task to liberate the nation, to draw strength and encouragement from each generation of New African warriors that preceded them. It is from such a rich heritage of resistance that Black August developed, committed to continuing the legacy of resistance, vowing to respond to the call for the destruction of colonial oppression with our George Jacksons, Malcolm Xs and Fred Hamptons etc.
New African resistance moved decisively into the 1920s and 1930s. Evidence of this was movements like The African Blood Brothers, The Share Croppers, The Black Bolsheviks, etc. Unduly there is an incorrect tendency to confine the discussion of African Nationalism to the well-known Garvey Movement as the sole manifestation of national consciousness. The Garvey Movement was the point of the emerging politics of New African resistance.
In labor, national consciousness, (i.e. literature, jazz, art, etc.) in the struggle for the land, in all areas of politics, like a great explosion of previously pent-up National Consciousness took place among New Africans. The sixties were a further example of New African resistance to national oppression. It should be emphasized here that that struggle of non-violence was at that time a strategy of illegality, of danger, of arousing New Africans to direct confrontation with the colonial oppressor. Whether it was a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter or bus station, the movement deliberately broke the colonial law.
Inevitably the anti-colonial struggle moved to a higher level, growing beyond the initial stage of non-violent civil rights protest. The non-violent civil rights strategy was tried and discarded by New Africans, who found that it was a failure, incapable of forcing an entrenched settler’s colonial regime to change.
Black August purports that it is important to briefly mention such events to counter the colonial propaganda that the riots of the 1960s was due to anger brought on by overcrowding and summer heat. Black August asserts that in order for New Africans to arise to the historical task of defending the Nation, it is imperative that New Africans have a historical perspective of themselves resisting colonial oppression.
Black August avers that at a time when the Black Nation is experiencing the destruction of its community through planned gentrification, at a time when the quality of New African life is being blunted through unemployment, prison, drugs, high infant mortality and poverty, the call of New African organization should be one of resistance.
Black August is the antithesis to “celebration” and empty “homage.” Black August attempts to place struggle and sacrifice on center stage. In this respect, Black August summons all progressive people who identify with the legacy of resistance to colonial oppression to actively participate in Black August. Thus during the entire month of August in commemoration of those Africans who have made the supreme sacrifice for the cause of African Liberation and reflect upon the significance of those contributions as well as to draw closer to the continuing necessity for resistance, we embrace the following as tenets to be practiced during Black August.
Tenets of the Black August Program:
— A fast which historically has been used as an expression of personal commitment and resistance. Hence, from sunrise until evening meal we will abstain from eating. We abstain from consuming any type of intoxicants for the entire month of August. The necessity for this should be self-evident for all serious participants of Black August (BA).
— We limit our selection of television and radio to educational programs, i.e. news, documentaries and cultural programs, etc.
— During BA we emphasize political and cultural studies for individuals involved in BA. Participants in BA should pair off with someone else you know to study and share knowledge of African affairs.
— As an outward expression of BA we wear a black arm band on the left arm or wrist as a tribute to those Africans who have died as a result of their sacrifice for African Liberation. The arm band can be worn either on the inside or outside of your clothing.
— Black August is a revolutionary concept. Therefore, all revolutionaries, nationalists and others who are committed to ending oppression should actively participate in Black August. Such participation not only begins to build the bridges of international solidarity, but it is through such solidarity that we strengthen ourselves to struggle for victory.
Doc Holiday’s reflections are in zine form to print & share.
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak calls for people to build community and solidarity with people inside this Black August — with a special emphasis on political prisoners. JLS Housing and Resource Center is organizing a virtual letter-writing event for Sundiata Jawanza on August 19th and have also posted this call for people to host independent letter writing events to support imprisoned individuals:
Black August Solidarity — Three Ways to Plug In with JLS this BA
Solidarity! As Black August approaches, Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS) has put out several open calls for organizers, organizations, and individuals to build solidarity with imprisoned people and political prisoners. Here are 3 ways you & your people can plug in:
1. Host a Local Black August Letter Writing Event: JLS is calling on organizers everywhere to host independent, local letter writing events to build solidarity with imprisoned people, with a special emphasis on political prisoners. This can be done as a study session followed by a writing space, either in person or virtual. JLS recommends reading the Soledad Brothers during Black August as part of your study, then creating a dedicated space for folks to write letters of solidarity, share information, and mobilize for collective action.
2. Support the Au Writing Event for Sundiata Jawanza: JLS Housing and Resource Center is hosting an invite only virtual letter writing event on August 19th for political prisoner Sundiata Jawanza, who has been imprisoned since 1995 (31 years). The event will include updates on his case, writing prompts, and information on upcoming JLS direct action calls. To request the Zoom link and password, email Outthemud.jls@gmail.com. Please help promote this within your trusted circles and encourage people to email for the link.
3. Coordinate Directly with JLS: JLS asks organizers to send any questions about this event through the JLS Housing and Resource Center. Contact Outthemud.jls@gmail.com.
For general JLS outreach and to connect with the broader campaign contact jailhouselawyersspeak@protonmail.com
JAILHOUSE LAWYERS SPEAK
PO BOX 673
MERCER, PA 16137If you’re open to it, consider hosting a local letter writing night and pushing the August 19th virtual event to your networks. If you want to coordinate or need support planning something, feel free to reach out.
SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE! In struggle,
Black August Virtual Conference
In honor of the 47th year commemoration of Black August, the FTP Movement and Black Power Media are proud to partner with organizations around the world to broadcast, honor, and elevate Black August Resistance.
The Spark
Dare To Struggle released first issue of its new national prison newsletter “The Spark” with a Black August edition leading up to actions on August 21st, George Jackson day.
The Spark is a national issue of Cracks at Hotel California, a newsletter primarily distributed inside Cook County Jail (CCJ) in Chicago, IL. Since 2024, Cracks has been used as an organizing tool for prisoners and their families to come together to collectively struggle against conditions and mistreatment at CCJ, highlighting news reported from the inside (often disregarded by the local media), report on new developments regarding state laws and the jail’s policies, and work through the obstacles and contradictions in the fight against the mass incarceration machine. From these efforts to write and distribute Cracks, there have been multiple organizing efforts initiated from the jail, with prisoners coming together to write collective analysis of conditions and life inside, study groups reading Cracks and radical materials together, and protests both inside and outside condemning the brutal life at CCJ, where 6,000 people are subjected to “hell on Earth” and can be held for years awaiting trial.
The Spark is an effort to broaden our approach, to connect with prisoners around the country, and spread the struggle against mass incarceration. Chinese Communist and revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong, once invoked an old Chinese phrase in his writing to inspire party cadre: “A single spark can start a prairie fire.” When masses of people struggle against their oppressors, they can inspire more people to fight, and the fight against the system grows, until the oppressor is overthrown and the masses have the opportunity to take power and build a society free from exploitation and oppression. In the US, prisoners and a prison movement can be that spark.
Join us this summer in taking out The Spark and help reignite the prison movement! To the neighborhoods under the gun of police brutality to behind the walls of the jails and prisons, take out The Spark and go to the masses. Help support and build a defiant prison movement by getting as many newsletters into jails and prisons leading up to August 21st, George Jackson Day, where we are calling on everyone (both inside and outside the jails and prisons) to rise up against the mass incarceration machine. Get your crew, make a plan, send The Spark into your local jails or prisons, and join the rebel prisoners in protest on August 21st to demand an end to the mass incarceration machine. We are asking all people of conscious who want to see an end to this oppressive system to take up the call and distribute The Spark!
If you’re a prisoner and would like to receive a copy of The Spark, write to:
Dare To Struggle
PO Box #25087
Chicago IL 60625.
Agosto Negro / Black August: Call for a month of action & propaganda with comrades Lupi, Tortuga, & Belén.
“There is no fight without blood, without prison, without clandestinity, without dead… you always have to have this clarity. (…) Talking about death and not cornering in the grief, talking about the lives of those who left, knowing that they know their blood, we have been watering the path of the struggle and continuing it is the best tribute to all those who are no longer there… the rest are just excuses.”
— Marcelo Villarroel, anti-authoritarian prisoner.
(Interview published as part of the call for a Black August 2025).«In most of the days of violence (…) brochures or canvases related to anarchist causes have been exhibited. In yesterday’s demonstration, hooded people held a banners with the legend ‘Black August’ and the name of 3 people linked to violent criminal acts, and even to the placement of explosive devices.»
— The bastard J. Bellolio.
(Referring to incendiary action from the Lastarria high school on 08/13/2025).In August 2024, three anarchist comrades died in different circumstances suddenly and accidentally, after the events, we set ourselves the challenge of multiplying their ideas, their combat stories, those genuine contributions that in life they assumed with commitment, solidarity, seriousness and will.
In this way, we again extend a call for a Black August. We want Luciano Balboa «Lupi», Luciano Pitronello «Tortuga» and Belén Navarrete to continue to be present in the action and propaganda, as were the responses made last year by anonymous and related in different territories.
This call arises in turn with the intention of (re)vitalising anarchist campaigns, in times of fierce and devastating advances of capital, harsher condemnations against our comrades who have been imprisoned, others in search and capture and power trying to swallow our lives in different ways day by day. Not giving up, not stopping, continuing against all odds are and will always be the worthy options to take.
From different corners, places and prisons, comrades show us that it is always possible and that with what they have at hand, they seek the destruction of this world as we know it, along with its rotten values and relationships of domination.
With the self-care and the necessary temper, alone and/or with your like-minded and accomplices. Do not stay out of this call! This can be a good time for anarchic work! Every day can be.
May the death of our comrades be one more impulse in our lives, in our own decisions and will in conflict against this rotten world.
FOR A BLACK AUGUST!
LUPI, TURTLE AND BETHLEBEL PRESENT IN CHAOS AND ANARCHY!
NOTHING IS OVER, EVERYTHING GOES ON!
Free the Prairieland Prisoners! Free Them All!
The non-cooperating Prairieland defendants sentenced collectively to over 500 years in federal prison for a noise demonstration in solidarity with immigrants held in a concentration camp have begun to release post-sentencing statements, reflections of grief, love, rage, and a desire for all of us––whichever side of the prison walls we may find ourselves––to continue the fight for freedom. Our fight is theirs. They will come home.
Post-Sentencing Statements
Champagne Song, the most severely sentenced defendant, released a statement we published in full in last month’s column, asking us:
What will you do? In this time of great failures and great injustices, what will you do? How will you help each other? How will you help yourselves?
We share the moving words of other defendants below.
Savanna Batten:
This conviction is the continuation of a campaign of terror and violence that has been allowed to imprison people speaking out against the immigration policies of this administration.
Experts warn that my conviction will have a “chilling effect” on previously constitutionally protected activities; this was made clear as the intent when Judge O’Connor said he wanted to make an example of us, with clear disregard for the facts of the case.
This is a government telling its citizens that to raise a voice of dissent carries a life sentence, maybe even death.
To my friends, to Renée Good, to Alex Pretti, and to the people being held in detention centers across the country, I have the very same urgent message that compelled me to Prairieland that night with a heavy heart: ‘We see you. We love you. You are not forgotten.’
Liz Soto:
The government is using zines and a printing press to sentence me to 50 years, a life sentence in prison. My crimes have been made clear by the prosecution, they don’t want people like me to have access to these constitutionally protected and invaluable resources. This is an attempt at silencing decent, at creating fear amongst its citizens to insure no one speaks against this current administration.
The fictitious narrative presented by the government doesn’t exist in reality. It is their design created to criminalize people for protesting, for not conforming.
We are living through a moment in time that will affect everyone in the future. If this conviction is allowed to stand, it will affect countless others.
The precedent has been set, we are the examples created to silence those who speak out.
It is up to all of us to push back.
Remember that this happened.
Remember how it happened.
Know it doesn’t end here.
Now it can happen to anyone.
To the world,
We cannot let this stand.
For the people who come after us, we must never give up.
We will go home.
Ines Soto:
I want to begin by extending my love and appreciation to all those who have supported me, my codefendants, and loved ones through out this situation. The strength this support has given me is beyond what I can describe.
The weight of the sentences that have been handed down is crushing but we should not be surprised. The government has shown it is willing to separate loved ones across borders, cage people in squalid detention centers, bring violence into loving neighborhoods, and gun people down in the streets. Their attempts to bury people in their prisons falls right in line with these horrible acts. Migrants, immigrants, and those acting in solidarity with them must be honest about the reality we face. It is only through our collective efforts that we will get through this. I trust that everyone will find ways to contribute to and expand these efforts how they can.
I humbly ask for people’s continued support in our struggle for freedom.
Your friend,
Ines
Des Revol:
All honor and glory to Creator for another day of life, the lessons and blessing I’ve been given.
With the loudest of meows from a sad, fluffy kitty!! With a broken heart mended together with a sewing needle made from a battery and a string pulled from the elastic waistband from a jumper, reinforced with blank mail labels and a rubber band. With my head up high, teary eyes, and this broken heart full of love. I want to thank everyone for all of their support, love, and prayers as my family and I survive through this horrible injustice.
Today, July 6, marks a year since I was unjustly abducted and wrongfully imprisoned. I sit in a concrete cell with a heavy steel door as an innocent person for a crime I did not commit.
The reality is that I was arrested for being married to my wife, Mari, who has been unjustly convicted to 70 years for attending a public noise demonstration to support immigrants at the Prairieland detention center.
Despite proving that I did not have any knowledge, nor was I present, nor involved in any way in the event, I was demonized, convicted, and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for reading and possessing my books, zines, love letters, poetry, cute keepsakes, sketchbooks, and art. These items that I owned are several years old, they’re completely legal, and have nothing to do with the events that transpired at the detention center. These books and zines range in topics, like history, social movements, political philosophy, sexual trauma, antiracism, consent, overcoming addiction, ecology, and even children’s literature. I’ve also been demonized for owning and creating art in the form of stickers, drawings, paintings, posters, clothing, and even custom tattoo designs—all images that can be considered cute, raw, critical, beautiful, empowering, satirical, and sometimes plain silly.
Even though these items were not evidence, nor relevant, nor used against anyone else, other than to sensationalize their existence to scare, influence, and persuade a jury for a verdict that benefited the prosecution, the prosecution openly lied and used misinformation to scare the jury. Nonetheless, it seems like we’re entering a time when books and art are being considered a crime and a threat to democracy—enough of a threat to give an innocent person who did not commit any crime a 30-year sentence in federal prison.
There have been many examples in history when people in power unleashed vicious campaigns using lies, deception, hate, and fearmongering. Creating scapegoats who are blamed for society’s ills, and labeling them criminals, traitors, degenerates, and terrorists. And enacting laws that allow them to criminalize, persecute, and brutalize entire communities based on their race, nationality, gender, status, disability, ideology, and religion. Any art or books that questioned or did not conform to their narrative were considered abhorrent, abominable, and dangerous. Therefore censored, hidden, burned, or destroyed, and its authors and creators were punished, imprisoned, or executed. In order to silence any dissenting opinions that threatened their narrative, power, and goals. This is why the right to free speech is not only important but fundamental and pivotal for any free society and democracy to exist and thrive.
As I watch the news, I notice a rampant amount of injustices and atrocities happening in this moment. War, displacement, blatant corruption, hate campaigns, persecution, deportations, fear, uncertainty, brutality, and a general disregard for people’s rights and ultimately their lives. Nevertheless, despite all of that, I’ve witnessed a display of beautiful acts of love, courage, kindness, solidarity, and resilience. Many people coming together to take care of each other, to work and build together. Acts of love that are admirable, inspiring, and necessary to overcome the tough challenges that we all currently face.
As a hardworking immigrant who came to this country at the age of 14, a lover of history, and not ignoring the fact that I’m currently incarcerated in what is an obvious injustice, I want to say that I’m grateful to this country and land for the opportunities and experiences it’s granted me. With all of its historical failures and achievements, with all of its flaws and virtues, with all of its dreams and limitations, with all of its promises and possibilities. I’m grateful for the experience of being exposed to an array of different cultures, different ideas, and a diverse population, simultaneously trying to figure out how to overcome conflict and division and live together. All dreaming of prosperity, equality, liberty, and the right to the pursuit of happiness. Although an oversimplification, at the end of the day we all just want to be free and happy and live in peace with those we love.
I want to give thanks to my amazing family and friends who continue to support, uplift, and hold me with so much love and tenderness. Who have given me advice, a gentle slap on the back of the head, a hug, and a shoulder to cry on. Who continue to inspire me and show me how to be a better person. To all those who have taken the time and consideration to reach out and share stories, poetry, doodles, vegan recipes, interesting facts, and kind uplifting words: Thank you for all the love! I can truly feel it even behind these walls. I can feel the energy, effort, and prayers. Thank you so much for supporting us all!! And I hope we can all meet someday and share space together.
Despite the circumstances, I’m grateful for existence, and thankful for all the experiences and people that I’ve met.
Though a bit cheesy, I want to share this with you. When I close my eyes, I try to focus on this:
I’m grateful for all of my loved ones. I’m grateful for black coffee, paper, pencil and a device to listen to the radio. I’m grateful for the green mountains, red sunsets, and smell after the rain. I’m grateful for soft snow, lake swimming, and shade under a tree. I’m grateful for hugs, tiny kisses, and cuddles. I’m grateful for a dark sense of humor, witty jokes, and tummy pain from laughter. I’m grateful for hiking trails, camping, and motorcycle rides. I’m grateful for kitties, tlacuaches, and raccoons. I’m grateful for my clients, and trusting me in the sacred process of tattooing you. I’m grateful for fundraisers and donations. I’m grateful for prisoners’ support writing night. I’m grateful for those who rescue food and cook meals to share with others. I’m grateful for mutual aid and relief work during emergencies. I’m grateful for groups that offer support and services to immigrants and refugees in the inner city and out in the desert. I’m grateful for people who take care of animals, and help them when they’re being harmed, injured, or in need of a home. I’m grateful for farmers, garden fairies, and tree huggers. I’m grateful for herbalists, their remedies, and the sacred relationships to plants. I’m grateful for our animal and plant friends, and their lessons if we just stop, look, and listen. I’m grateful for the children with their honesty, curiosity, and imagination who remind us of the importance of play. I’m grateful for the students’ energy, passion, and zeal, and their vision for a better world. I’m grateful for the teachers who go above and beyond for their students. I’m grateful for the educators who took me under their wing and mentored me. I’m grateful for the nurses, street medics, public defenders, movement lawyers, and legal support teams. I’m grateful and want to give thanks to the women/queer homies who do all the heavy lifting at home and in our communities. I’m grateful for our parents, elders, and mentors who care about us, and continue to give us guidance and inspiration. I’m grateful for the abolitionists, academic professors, and honest journalists. I’m grateful for the vegan potlucks and all the deli vegan nomz. I’m grateful for the nerds, cosplayers, and dweebs. I’m grateful for shoulder rubs and hand massages. I’m grateful for the temazcal, el copal, and drum. I’m grateful for the genuine smile from a stranger. I’m grateful for the megaphone, powerful chants, and street cheerleading. I’m grateful for big butts and thicc thighs haha. I’m grateful for glitter, rainbows, and bubbles. I’m grateful for large banners, light brigades, and puppets. I’m grateful for authors and poets who fill our hearts and minds with stories, knowledge, and nurturing words. I’m grateful for the artists, emcees, graff writers, b-boys, zinesters, and DIY screen printers. I’m grateful for the muddy greens climbing trees, brave train hoppers, and crusty punks who are some of my fav people. I’m grateful for the organizers, volunteers, and supporters. I’m grateful for all the homies who pick up, clean, and wash dishes after any gathering. I’m grateful for all the bookfairs, gatherings, bookstores, publishers, distros, printshops, and community spaces and community projects. I’m grateful for the sunflowers, who teach us to grow despite the adversity, stand upright, be strong, be bright, be vibrant, be beautiful, and be resilient.
I’m grateful for all my relations.
I’m grateful for you!
Support the defendants!!
Don’t forget to love your neighbors, the animals and plant friends, the land, air, and water. And don’t forget to love yourself!
May Creator bless you and yours!!
Autumn Hill
“I guess everybody’s a domestic terrorist now.”
I can’t say how many times I’ve heard these words in the last few months. After the murder Alex Pretti, top officials were quick to defend the ICE officers who extra-judicially executed him by labeling him a domestic terrorist. They said the same about Renee Good. Over the last year, I have been forced to keep my silence as the government spun a conspiracy theory labeling my friends and I as domestic terrorists, as members of a shadowy terrorist conspiracy that does not exist. I have watched them lie about the compassion, loving kindness, and mercy of the dearest hearts I know, and call them murderous, riotous, violent. I have kept my silence. Now I will break it to speak the truth.
A wise woman I love called the tactics of this administration “state terror.” It was terror when Lt. Gross aimed his handgun at the back of a fleeing protestor before he ever saw a gun. It was terror when a SWAT Team traumatized my wife and found family with a no knock raid, and pointed roughly a dozen guns at a newborn infant and her nursing mother. It was terror when Johnson County Jail tortured my friend Lynette Sharp, who I love, targeting an older woman for her perceived weakness, so she would cooperate to save her life. It was terror when Shawn Smith brought an indictment threatening us with decades of prison, and terror when he attempted to use that to coerce us to sign plea deals admitting to material support for terrorism and to cosign government-authored lies about the existence of an anarchist or autonomous Marxist terror plot, which the government’s cooperating witnesses undermined in their testimony during trial at the risk of perjury, lies which may cost our codefendants 15 years of their lives, those who plead guilty. It was terror when Judge Mark Pittman threatened our lawyers with contempt jail time for representing us for seeking our best interests, terror when he browbeat the jury panel during selection, and terror when he paraded us in front of Lynette in a demonstration of his power to abjectify us in public to facilitate identification. The whole process of our prosecution and trial was one long gauntlet of terror after terror, designed to bully us into false confessions, and to drive the jury to abandon reason and condemn nine innocents.
It is said and corroborated that the sounds of violent argument and a bloodcurdling scream of terror were heard from the jury room during deliberations. Ultimately, our unprecedented sentences are government by terror. If you are an activist, says Judge Reed O’Connor, and you even THINK standing up for the incarcerated, or standing up to police is acceptable, be terrified. This is what we the government will do to you too. Terror has always been the tactic of fascists and white supremacists, of the haters in the streets, from the lynchings and coups of southern whites at the end of Reconstruction and through Jim Crow, down to the mass shootings, far right rallies in blue cities, and other acts of stochastic terror through the modern day. When Mr. Fair of the SPLC testified before congress about the upcoming court case about their work, he described hate as having moved into the government. It is this administration which stands for hate, and this government which uses the tactics of terror. “Do not dare stand up to us,” they say with their actions. “This will happen to you.”
I do not believe in harbouring hate or terrorizing anyone. I believe in Love. Do not fear, Love, and trust in the Love of your fellow creatures. Fear Not is the encouragement of the angels. Be Strong and Courageous is the instruction of the Most High in scripture. Where there is Love, there is no Fear. Take care of each other. Shelter and feed each other, the widow, the orphan, the alien in the land. Prison is the great terror which has been wielded to silence us, but I have never feared power more than I love truth, and it is love that can overcome the regime of mass incarceration, and truth that will set America free. Arise, Love! Arise, Truth! Abolition Now!
The statements above, as well as others from family members and supporters, are included in a letter writing zine available to print and share. Other writings from the defendants are available to read on the DFW Support Committee’s website.
Free Des!
This past spring, while behind the bars of a federal prison and awaiting his sentencing hearing for the mere possession of zines, Des wrote his own zine: “Remedio, Vol. 1.” He also illustrated a wraparound cover for it, filled with all sorts of little details, most especially an array of birds, bees, butterflies, plants and animals. Then he put all the pieces into an envelope and snail-mailed it to us.
Des’s many pages of poems and B+W art are now stitched together into a print-ready PDF. The zine retains Des’s handwriting, making it feel all that much more personal, although as you’ll see when you print and read it, the poetry and illustrations bring Des’s personality into sharp relief. “Remedio” also makes it that much more tragic that Des is imprisoned, away from the kind of landscapes he portrays on the zine’s cover, which per Des’s big heart, offers care towards other (human and nonhuman) alongside with thanks towards those who are supporting him and his fellow Prairieland defendants.
This zine is a gift, from Des to his wife, Mari, incarcerated as a Prarieland defendant too; to his family and friends; to you and your communities; to all those who are being dispossessed, detained, and deported, because as he penned in tiny letters on the cover, “No one is illegal.” And all should be free.
You can freely download, print, read, and distro the zine PDF. Also check out the Free Des support website, instagram and Fundrazr.
Des also wrote an intro to the zine:
“Remedy” is a weird duality project, both positive and negative, to help me process the experience of being incarcerated, being limited, world sick, missing my loved ones, and frustrated at the inability of changing the tragic situation and circumstances that I’m living in. “Remedy” is an attempt to sustain a form of connection and relationship to a world of which I’m being deprived.
For me, the word “remedy” came from the Spanish expression “un santo remedio,” which translated to “a holy remedy,” which is used to express people doing something to resolve or aid in a problem or discomfort that they’re experiencing in the form of a drink, recipe, or taking action. It might not be the solution, but it sure helps, although sometimes it might make your tummy hurt as well—so there!
For me, this manifested in a “sana sana colita de rana” on a boo-boo, your mom putting VapoRub on your chest when you’re sick. Lavender and chamomile tea when you can’t sleap. Hot chai, ginger, and echinacea tea for when I have a cold or I’m congested. It was a motorcycle ride when I was sad. Intense Muy Thai training to fight off depression and anxiety. It was spoken word when I didn’t feel heard. Cuddles to feel loved. Hiking when I needed solitude and to recharge. Painting to process all feelings and transforming them into something else. Cooking to show love and appreciation. Or getting a tattoo to be vulnerable, feel tough, and be present.
Today, when I think of the word “remedy,” it manifests in several ways. It’s a spot of paint that’s been chipped off from a window that lets you look at the trees outside. A makeshift pillow. It’s dreaming and reminiscing. It’s getting letters from really sweet people. It’s messages on Corrlinks. It’s an hour outside in the tiny rec yard. It’s feeding peanuts to an adorable squirrel. It’s a 15-minute phone call a day. It’s hearing from all of my loved ones, all of them!!! It’s an in-person visit. It’s hearing funny stories from others. It’s laughing at our misery and situation. It’s roasting and getting roasted with love. It’s getting really cool books. It’s doodling thumbnails—cute, dusty, grimy, unfinished doodles. It’s black coffee in the morning. It’s a bottom bunk and an extra sheet. It’s downloading a new song. It’s an offering and a prayer. It’s poetry!
Hope that ya’ll enjoy these writings and art, and they can be somewhat relatable.
With love and rage!
Des
FMC Fort Worth
July 15, 2026
Lucy Out on Bond!
Lucy Fowlkes, the last of the Prairieland defendants without federal charges awaiting state trial to be held in detention, is finally out on bond, after more than seven months in jail. Janette Goering, another defendant with only state charges, released on bond in June.
The fight is far from over as both along with several of the other Prairieland defendants face state charges at an upcoming trial in Johnson County.
Phone Zap! Gen Pop for Mari and Rowan Now!
Many of the Prairieland Defendants, sentenced to 50 to 100 years, are currently being held in solitary confinement and segregation in Johnson County Jail. They are being strip-searched and shackled each time they leave their cell. They cannot access the same programming as those in general population. They were in solitary confinement for over 3 months before being moved to federal custody in the fall and it heavily impacted their physical and mental well being. We will not allow this to continue. We are asking our supporters to call Johnson County and ask them to move the defendants into general population.
Like her co-defendants Zachary Evetts and Champagne Song, Maricela Rueda is also being held in segregation [as of date]. She has faced extensive violating strip searches, extensive surveillance during meetings with lawyers, and was forced to breathe in pepper spray chemicals 5 times across the past month due to consistent, violent spraying of a cognitavely disabled woman who is bravely refusing to be strip searched. On June 23, she was threatened by Licensed Clinical Social Worker Joy White after asserting her right to counsel. This is unacceptable, and has lead Mari suffering repeated strip searches, leg and hand shackles when leaving her cell, limited phone and tablet access, and the violent and alienating isolation of segregation.
Also, Rowan Gibson, after returning from sentencing on July 1, was moved to an infirmary cell and forced to share it with cooperating witness Lynette Sharp. Days later, cooperating witness Susan Kent was also moved in with them. These people have ongoing agreements with the state and an incentive to put Rowan at further risk. This has caused deep mental anguish for them, a grief they can only express in vague terms on the phone. Being housed with state agents creates a dangerous situation that makes Rowan’s state case even more vulnerable. This situation seems manufactured to torture Rowan and place them under constant threat.
Here is the phone number for Johnson County Jail, the contacts, and a script.
Call Jail Admin and ask to leave a message for Captain Gordy and Email Johnson County Judge Christopher Boedeker: 817-556-6024 judgeboedeker@johnsoncountytx.org
Call Script for Rowan Gibson:
Hello, I would like to leave a message for Captain Gordy. I am calling out of concern for people incarcerated at this facility. I’m specifically calling for Joy Gibson, birthdate 10/22/1995, SO 202502016. Joy needs to be moved to general population immediately without delay to resolve active violations of Texas Administrative Code Section 271.1, Criminal Procedure Article 2.18, and her 14th Amendment rights.
Currently, Joy is being housed in an infirmary cell with cooperating defendants. Housing defendants with those who cooperated against them violates the right to a fair trial by placing a vulnerable person without a lawyer present alone with individuals who have agreements from the state to inform on them. All interactions could be used against them at trial. It is highly unethical of Johnson County to isolate Joy with people who pose a legal risk to her. This area of the jail also has environmental allergens, such as pesticides, and Joy is being denied access to her inhaler, which could cause longterm health issues, another reason she should be moved to general population, away from these threats to her body. Denying this asthmatic her daily inhaler near active pesticides violates Administrative Codes 273.2 and 275.1, constituting Deliberate Indifference.
Joy has had no disciplinaries related to issues in general population and has been housed in general population at both Wichita County Jail and Johnson County Jail. There is no reason why Joy cannot be moved back to general population, except for the reason of torture, which Johnson County has been found guilty of in the past. Johnson County is signifying a failure to protect Joy Gibson.
Joy needs to be immediately moved to general population. Thank you for your help. I will keep calling until she has been moved to general population.
Call Script for Maricela Rueda
Hello, my name is [NAME]. I am calling to demand that Maricela Rueda be released from administrative segregation and be returned to general population immediately. This facility has a duty to reduce suffering and encourage individuals to thrive. Maricela is being constantly strip searched to the point where she is afraid to bathe or go outside. She is transported across the facility in heavy shackles to visit her lawyer in a room full of cameras and guards where she can’t even take notes due to the handcuffs. Due to being in segregation, she is forced to be observed twice a week by the person, LCSW White, who threatened her with a suicide watch cell for invoking her right to have counsel present. Maricela is fighting for her life in court and has plans for the future. She must be moved from these conditions that are conducive to depression. Keeping her in segregation represents clear violations of her legal rights, and of her right to safety and due process. I am demanding that Maricela Rueda be released into general population immediately.
Mari recently recorded a poem with Prison Radio about Johnson County:
My name is Maricela Rueda folks call me Mari, and I’m a Prairieland defendant being held in Johnson County Jail in segregated housing. I’m going to do a poem that is most often performed as a song, but it’s about Adam King being arrested and charged in his own county. It’s called “Rot Starts at the Top”:
Rot starts at the top
Something stinks
Smells like fish coming from Johnson County
Must be the prison guard walking
Something reeks like flesh rotting
All these bad attitudes
Ugly looks like “what the hell is wrong with you?”
Rot starts at the top
King’s crown falling; don’t mean shit
Take a look around these sundown towns
Money for uniforms while education gets kicked
Money for corruption while healthcare is stripped
Money for their world that is so so sick
Putrid, smells like fish
Rotten bad apples top of all of it
We don’t need no sheriff
Take back that salary
We need food and housing
Something stinks in these damn Texas counties.
Free Champagne!
Champagne posted several audio recordings with Prison Radio including their sentencing statement and several poems including “Never Forget”, “Solitary Cell”, “My Cat Since I’ve Been Gone”, “Renée Nicole Macklin Good”, and “Sentence Me to 100 Years”.
Champagne also shared new poetry, essays, and a short story that are available to read, print, and share via .
The newest contribution is a short story entitled, “The Runners”:
This bright and dusty city is divided by walls and chain link fences. Down below me, a small protest march approaches. They are walking up thru a series of narrow chain link covered paths, barely wide enough for 3 or 4 people to pass, connecting wider chain liked plazas that maybe a few hundred people could fit into. I am standing in the corridor between the 2nd and 3rd plaza wearing a backpack. I can see and hear the march of a hundred or two hundred approaching, chanting. I can feel the eyes of many guards watching. There are some guards standing near me in the corridor wearing their bluish-grey coveralls and black boots. The energy petters out at the 2nd plaza with that sad sound. The chants growing quieter and voices dying off. I see thru the fences the colors and shapes of the crowd ambling off in different directions. A short brown woman wearing a blue traffic vest and holding a megaphone bravely trudges on chanting. Pulling about 7 marchers in tow. A trickle of 1s and 2s and 3s follow more slowly behind quietly. Suddenly, the air is filled with commotion and yelling. A tall, skinny, pale, feminine looking person wearing short runners shorts and bright tank top with a numbered placard runs along the exterior of the fence. A squad of guards chase after shouting. Three guards run up to the inside of the fence. At equal spacing they start slamming heavy white sandbags tied off on one end into the fence.
The fence bulges out at the runner as she flies past. Then the guards are chasing her on the inside and the outside. Before I know what is happening they are gone. As if one queue, a herd of 20-30 runners wearing the same runners clothing stampede along the fence. Their bodies and faces are a Monet of blurred colors, shapes, and sizes. Big smiles bounce above the dusty haze they are kicking up. As they pass by, they throw fliers and pamphlets and stickers and newspapers thru the fence. At first, in 1s and 2s and 3s and then someone turns over a shallow black milkcrate and a flurry of stacked papers come cascading out in waterfalls. A whirlwind of colored paper flies thru the corridor. I recognize a few of the runners faces as they run by. It is so glorious! I whoop and holler and shout although my throat is hoarse and dry. The tall runner from before appears from behind to run a triumphant lap. She rejoins the herd and then they are gone. Flyers and pamphlets and stickers and newspapers cover the ground. In reds and yellows and greens and smiling faces and titles and flowery bubbly fonts, they are layered so deep that you can’t see the dust on the ground. I stare down grinning and take them in. Then I rush forward hungrily and stuff my backpack full.
Author’s Note: This is a dream I had. I wanted to fully capture the moment. I am lucky to have, in some sense, lived and experienced this joy. It was so glorious…
I think this dream captures the creativity, community, bravery, talent, commitment, joy, adaptability, improvisation, whimsicality, resilience, and solidarity that I have witnessed as a part of many protest movements.
The city could be anywhere. It could be Texas or the Middle East. It could be a city after years of climate change. It could be 50 years ago. It could be that denaturalized and disenfranchised, immigrants, and the children of immigrants live on one side of the fence. With a native and foreign zone. The real natives, of course, would be in the foreign zone. It could be that the protagonist is a child or an adult. It could be that they knew the runners were coming or just happened to be around. It could be that the faces they recognize are famous, or from another protest, or that they grew up together, before the walls. It could be that ‘the runners’ are always runners, known by that name. It could be that becoming ‘the runners’ is a creative one off idea. They could have broken off from an official race, or made their own.
DFW Support Committee: Recently Unsealed Trial Evidence Contradicts Government’s Account of Events During Fourth of July Prairieland Noise Protest
Following up on the “What Really Happened At Prairieland” series of exposes, a new statement from the DFW Support Committee on recently unsealed evidence further exposing the government’s lies:
Four months after the federal Prairieland verdicts, and a year after the Fourth of July noise demonstration held in solidarity with ICE Detention Center detainees, around which the Prairieland case revolves, the DFW Support Committee was able to piece together trial evidence to debunk government claims and refute rampant mischaracterizations in the media of that night’s events.
The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which recently sentenced nine federal trial defendants to consecutive terms of 30-100 years in prison, kept key evidence sealed for weeks after the March trial had concluded. Until now, this evidence has not been widely viewed by the public. The DFW Support Committee has highlighted certain video evidence that shows the July 4 demonstration was not an ambush or an attack—the dominant narrative coming from the government and uncritically repeated by mainstream media. CCTV footage depicts a largely uneventful gathering aside from a few protesters shooting fireworks into the air and minor vandalism. The evidence also shows a police officer arriving on the scene, quickly drawing his firearm, aiming it at departing protesters, and firing, despite the clear absence of any threat.
The government’s charges of using and carrying explosives, as well as conspiracy to do so, stem from the use of consumer grade fireworks. Two different CCTV cameras (GX13 and GX14) recorded footage of fireworks being shot into the air, not at the detention facility, as some news media claim. The same footage shows protesters leaving when asked to do so by detention center staff. Additional CCTV footage (GX11) shows minor vandalism, including spray painting a police vehicle, carried out by a single individual. Instead of charging that person with vandalism, the government dubbed the protest a riot and charged eight defendants with rioting and material support for terrorism for the same minor vandalism carried out by a single person.
After the noise, fireworks, and minor vandalism took place the night of July 4, 2025, the scene at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center—a razor wire, fully-fenced fortress—was relatively calm. It was only after Alvarado Police Department Lt. Thomas Gross arrived on the scene that things escalated.
Bodycam footage from Lt. Gross (GX3) shows him exiting his vehicle and immediately pointing his gun at the back of a protester, before taking a shooting stance and firing. Additional CCTV footage from the detention facility (GX10 at 1:2:26) shows a protester running away, Lt. Gross aiming at them, and Prairieland defendant Benjamin “Champagne” Song firing suppressive shots at the ground to avert the murder of the fleeing protester. Rather than attempting to murder Lt. Gross, as the government claims, it appears clear that Song was trying to save a life. The events that this evidence depicts have been corroborated by Song in a post-sentencing statement. But when Song’s lawyers attempted to argue “defense of another” at trial, the government filed an emergency motion to block the argument. In a ruling that contradicted his own timeliness rules for motions and arguably outside of his authority, US District Court Judge Mark Pittman granted the government’s motion.
Moreover, bodycam footage from Lt. Gross (GX3 at 2:23) reveals that the projectile trails emerging from Song’s direction are angled away from the officer in an entirely different direction, making it implausible that a bullet from Song’s gun was what injured Lt. Gross. The same bodycam footage also shows that the projectile trail from Lt. Gross leaves his gun and returns virtually along the same path, indicating that his bullet may have ricocheted, which is not uncommon. Damage to Song’s rifle, which seems to indicate that a bullet hit it, supports a scenario in which Lt. Gross’s bullet ricocheted off of Song’s rifle to graze Lt. Gross on its return. In addition, the photographic evidence of his impact wound (GX4, page 4) does not fit the profile of a direct hit from the kind of semi-automatic rifle used by Song, but does fit the kind of injury sustained from a ricocheted bullet.
One of the most common government narratives supporting its claims of an “ambush,” and repeated by media, is that Song was hiding in or near the woods. But this narrative is also contradicted by the evidence. In recently released footage from the trial (GX3 at 2:21), Song is shown in the middle of the street, in plain view, and wearing a neon green neck gaiter. It is highly unlikely that Song was not visible to Lt. Gross even in the dark.
Notably, the only defendant who admitted to vandalism the night of the July 4, 2025 noise demonstration, Nathan Baumann, received a sentence nearly thirty times shorter than most trial defendants. The minor vandalism weakly underpins the government’s allegations of terrorism and the after-the-fact designation of the demonstration as a riot. Moreover, Baumann was unknown to any of the other defendants prior to the demonstration and he had the least political affiliations cited in trial testimony, bolstering many supporters’ claims that the sentences are meant to punish defendants for their political ideas rather than their actions.
Another argument the government used at trial to bolster its accusations of material support for terrorism is the claim that all of the protesters were wearing black, so-called “tactical” clothing, body armor, and masks in an effort to conceal their identities. While dressing in black does not constitute criminal behavior, let alone material support for terrorism, the government failed to even prove those claims. The protesters seen in police bodycam footage (GX16 at 1:30 and GX18) are wearing a variety of outfits and colors, including short-sleeve t-shirts, tank tops, and blue work pants, thereby undermining the government’s material support argument. The government never charged anyone with terrorism nor had to prove that terrorism took place that night.
Yet another unfounded government claim used at trial was the alleged conspiracy between Prairieland defendants Maricela Rueda and her husband, Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada. The government claimed that Rueda asked her husband in so-called “coded language”—during a phone call from jail before Sanchez Estrada was arrested—to move a box of political zines. This fabricated story is quickly debunked by reviewing the audio file of the call between Rueda and Sanchez Estrada (GX76) offered as trial evidence by the prosecution. During the call, Rueda is heard clearly asking her husband, without code and with earnest, to take care of her animals (rabbits, cats, and a dog), her daughter, her house, and her car.
The government also used the same call to imply that Rueda instructed her husband to move a box of political literature, but Rueda gave no such instructions. Trial evidence instead showed Sanchez Estrada retrieving from his parent’s house a box of his own belongings—unrelated to the July 4 protest and containing First Amendment-protected material—and transporting the box to a friend who collects historic zines and art (GX186). The government at no time provided evidence that the box was being concealed or hidden in order to protect anyone or avert arrest and prosecution.
All nine federal Prairieland trial defendants have filed notices of appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to fight their convictions and extreme sentences.
The Prairieland cases, involving 22 people charged with both state and federal charges, stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. After the protest, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department arrived on the scene, quickly drawing his gun and pointing it at departing protesters. Shots were fired and the officer allegedly sustained minor injuries (GX2), but authorities have never provided hospital records to justify these claims. Alvarado police arrested ten people in the area, and a dozen more were arrested over the following several months.
Every Letter A Little Jailbreak
Write to the non-cooperating Prairieland defendants:
Autumn Hill
Johnson County Jail, TX
Cameron Arnold, 202502023
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Champagne Song
Johnson County Jail, TX
Benjamin Hanil Song, 202502108
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Des Revol
Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada
#95099-511
FCI Victorville Medium II
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 3850
Adelanto, CA 92301
Liz Soto
Johnson County Jail, TX
Elizabeth Soto, 202502014
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Ines Soto
Johnson County Jail, TX
Ines Soto, 202502008
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Rowan Gibson
Johnson County Detention Center, TX
Joy Gibson, 202502016
PO Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Mari Rueda
Johnson County Jail, TX
Maricela Rueda, 202502018
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Rebecca Morgan
Johnson County Jail, TX
Rebecca Morgan, 202502109
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Savanna Batten
Johnson County Jail, TX
Savanna Batten, 202502020
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Zachary Evetts
Johnson County Jail, TX
Zachary Evetts, 202502013
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
The DFW Support Committee has more information on their website to ensure letters get through. Additionally, many of those held at Johnson County have tablet access and can be reached through gettingout.com.
As always, regularly updated zines are available to print and share with letter writing information:
No Collaboration: Responses to Fire Ant Movement Defense
The anti-repression group Fire Ant Movement Defense recently published a statement, “Manufactured Betrayal“, on solidarity and betrayal in the Prairieland trials. Analyzing the severe intensification of state repression that has resulted in the harsh sentences of our comrades in Texas, Fire Ant’s statement is part of a broader reflection on our collective failures as a movement to support those caught up in the state’s repressive dragnet after the July 4, 2025 noise demo outside of the Prairieland detention center, a collective failure that we all must reckon with in the wake of the serious, life-altering betrayals of those who snitched, collaborated, and cooperated, giving an inch and taking decades away from our comrades.
Unfortunately, Fire Ant has seriously and dangerously erred in their reflections on this collaboration, implicitly and explicitly justifying snitching for the sake of a pragmatic relation to mass support against repression. They write that snitches can be welcomed back into communities of struggle and that a “dogmatic” approach to snitches will be alienating to many who might make mistakes under duress. This is deeply wrong. The principle of non-collaboration is at the beating heart of our struggle and compromising this means compromising the raw core of solidarity that unites us all as fighters for a future worth living. In this regard, we would like to share excerpts from some of the many critical responses that have emerged, including those from former political prisoners whose lives and the lives of their loved ones were impacted by similar kinds of betrayals.
Though we have limited space, we urge readers to continue to hone, sharpen, reflect on, and spread a combative anti-repression that does not bow to the state but reckons with the complexity of a wrong world and fights for a living one. All of the statements below are also collected in a zine available to print and share:
Eric King, “No Way Home: An Anarchist Ex-Prisoner’s Response to Fire Ant Movement Defense”
As Fire Ant said, many new radicals will join the struggle after the horrendous state repression they are witnessing. And the conversations we are having now are ones that need to be had––but AHEAD of time. What risks are you willing to take? What are the worst possible consequences, even if you think you’re safe and no matter how legal those risks are at the time? What will you do if you get caught up? Who are the most vulnerable? Who are the most ready? These are conversations that should be had. But never should we plan to allow snitches back into the community, never should there be a path of understanding, never should there be the justification that they paid their price and their remorse is enough. Honestly, fuck that. As an abolitionist, I do not want snitches or anyone else to be in prison. I do not want them to be hurt or harassed, attacked online, none of that shit. I do not have time for it. But I also will never comprehend the idea that they should be allowed back into radical communities. Why on earth would we risk the safety of ANYONE, just to appease someone else’s betrayal and guilt? What is the point of that? That is the line I hold. If my best friend became friends with a snitch because the snitch apologized, I would never talk to that friend again.
Making space for their re-entry means spitting in the face of every single captive and all of their families as well. It means looking at people who dedicated their ENTIRE LIVES to the movement and saying, “I know that someone selfishly destroyed your life and betrayed everything they said they stood for, but they feel bad.” Ask yourself, would Kuwasi Balagoon be OK with that mindset? Would Emma Goldman or anyone else? We are living at a moment in time where people who are established and in good graces with the movement are making space for betrayers. Those who snitch are cops. They are prison guards. They are judges and prosecutors. They took the lives of others in their hands and tore them to shreds. There is no space in any organization or movement I love for people who would do that. It is unfathomable. Would Fire Ant Movement Defense be able to look my family in the face and tell them that the person who assisted in getting me tortured, sexually assaulted, and hospitalized had actually suffered enough? That it wasn’t fair to have them removed for the safety of others? That their feelings were more important than the brutality they would allow to happen to all of us?
Peppy & Krystal, “In Defense of Dignity”
This piece is being written because a new wager and political understanding is being developed that threatens the movement by and large. There are those within the orbit of liberation that are actively causing harm through their word and deed. Whose actions and that of their supporters are producing daily new consequences that deviate from long-held traditions and codes of non-cooperation. This threat seeks access to our resources of time, money, and attention. When someone abandons and sacrifices their comrades by offering information to the state, the movement has an obligation to no longer stand in solidarity with that person.
While any one of us may be captured, subject to the great strife of the gavel or noose – to abandon dignity is not just an act of suicide, it drags others down with you. Such consequences demand our attention.
When we think about the political maturation necessary to stay principled under the pressure of federal repression, we think about the hard won wisdom of all the freedom fighters who paved the way throughout history. The people who left lessons and legacies for us to learn from and lean on. Knowing who has traveled this terrain and what they have sacrificed, undoubtedly provides a lifeline when a raid, arrest, and conviction turn your world upside down.
For guidance, we can turn to the wisdom of movement elders and ancestors like Sekou Odinga, Kuwasi Balagoon, Judy Clarke, David Gilbert, and Silvia Baraldini who issued a statement in 1982 called Destroy All Traitors.
“To minimize the development of traitors we must build movements based on clear principles, deep politicization, a strong commitment to oppressed and exploited peoples… We must teach that the state is our implacable enemy and fight for total noncollaboration as a basic principle.”
The codes revolutionaries live by exist to keep a movement alive long enough to find possibilities of emancipatory horizons. Thus, it is necessary at minimum, to hold the line of non-cooperation of any kind, and at best, raise the bar for what collective protection and defense can look like.
“Nothing for Snitches: For a Revolutionary Anti-Repression
On July 7, 2026, Fire Ant published an essay called “Manufactured Betrayal” in CrimethInc. which serves as a justification for their practice. The piece proposes the possibility of an “off-ramp” for snitches, focusing in particular on Meagan Morris as an example of someone who “restore[d] their commitment to struggle” after informing on their comrades. By publishing this snitch apologia…CrimethInc. has presented the question of if snitches should be welcomed back into the movement as if it is a debate with two sides—it is not.
By taking this position, these formations are setting the precedent that people can cooperate with the state and continue to receive the support of collective movement resources. We can only assume that welcoming snitches back into the fold is a position that DFW, Fire Ant, and CrimethInc. will continue putting into practice.
Meanwhile, those of us serious about building a revolutionary movement must unite around a collective commitment to the principle of non-cooperation. As a political, strategic, and ethical practice that prioritizes the collective movement over the individual, it is our only hope of withstanding escalating repression. Compromising on this principle destroys our basic capacity for self-defense. There can be no revolution without solidarity, and solidarity has no meaning without a commitment to non-cooperation.
“Learning From the Lines Drawn in the Sand: A Response to Fire Ant Movement Defense”
Manufactured Betrayal, in the piece’s efforts to downplay the actions of Morris, compares her voluntary testimony to the non cooperating plea deals taken by Rowan Gibson and Rebecca Morgan, arguing that taking a non cooperating plea deal is similar to voluntarily disclosing information about others to law enforcement. They do not argue that these non cooperating plea deals were damaging at trial. However, Morris’s statements to law enforcement in the first days of the investigation were read in court by the investigating officer, and directly contributed to the investigations and indictments against Benjamin Champagne Song, Rowan Gibson, and Morris’s ex partner Autumn Hill. It is dishonest at worst and naive at best to compare the actions of Gibson and Morgan to the actions of Morris. The implication is that anyone who might condemn Morris’s actions must also condemn Morgan and Gibson. They state that “some in the movement” have characterized Morgan and Gibson’s plea deals as potentially damaging, while presenting an argument in favor of forgiving Morris that “some in the movement” would likely wholeheartedly reject as well. While Fire Ant concedes that Morgan and Gibson’s plea deals were not used against the other defendants at trial, the idea that they might be is hung out in comparison to Meagan’s testimony, which absolutely was used in trial and in the preceding investigations and indictments. A hypothetical is being used as a comparison to the actual evidence presented at court.
The statement says that “Many people will demand that she (Morris) pay for her choice”, and argues that she is already paying for it with her 50 years sentence. There is no disagreement here that she is paying for it. What does Fire Ant mean when they hypothesize that people will demand she pay? What have we, ‘the movement’, done to her? What capacity do we even have to punish her? The movement has raised over $200,000 toward the collective defense of all the Prairieland Defendants. Since there is no public accounting of how that money was used in the defense (we are not arguing that there should be such an accounting, we think discretion is important), it is completely worth assuming that we ‘the movement’ have already significantly materially supported Morris through contributing to the shared defense fund, through printing and sharing support materials that bear her name as well, for holding letter writings across the country (and across borders), and for raising as much awareness as we can for the entire case and all of the defendants supported by the DFW Support Committee. We have not punished her. The state has. It certainly seems implied that the ask is that support for Meagan continue now that the sentencing is over, and now that it is abundantly clear that her decision to eventually stop collaborating did not lessen the harm to anyone. This is different from asking that she not be punished. It is asking that she be rewarded.
It is worth examining the difference between accepting Morris as a supported defendant when she initially chose to stop cooperating and reject a plea, and arguing now that she receive support as a prisoner. It made some sense at the time that one less cooperating witness at trial could be helpful (from a perspective strictly of legal strategy). We are unaware of a similar circumstance where a collaborator turned their coat twice in a case against anti-fascists. As a legal strategy, it had some merit to accept her back hoping that her not taking the stand could help the remaining defendants. We now know that it did not. Everyone who went to trial got the maximum sentence. Arguing for her continued support as a prisoner despite her collaboration can only logically serve to retroactively justify the decision to support her as a defendant, but laundering this tactical gamble causes us to lose a collective learning opportunity. The lesson here is what Eric King, Brian and Krystal DiPippa, and Richard Hunsinger have already said, there is never a justification for speaking to law enforcement. Meagan Morris has proved through her actions and her trial that there is no going back and undoing the damage of willing collaboration. She tried to undo it and she could not.
Manufactured Betrayal includes this paragraph “But at this moment, thousands of inexperienced new participants are flooding into the fight for liberation. We probably won’t be able to educate all of them before they find themselves in confrontations with the state. Some of them will experience intense repression designed to scare them into cooperating before they fully understand the political implications, the options available to them, or their basic rights. When they find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun, some may well say something they shouldn’t. If we immediately make permanent enemies of everyone who do so, this may further endanger others.” This is a case for tolerance and forgiveness of people who betray others, whether out of fear or ignorance. Why not instead shout the lessons we have learned from these cases as loud as we can to reach as many as we can? Every new comrade must be taught there is no going back from snitching. That is why it is unforgiveable. The existing incentive structure to discourage snitching to save one’s own skin is called solidarity. Just because a defendant later chose not to benefit from the harm she caused her comrades does not mean she is deserving of the same solidarity offered to those she harmed and those who stayed true.
Minnesota 15
In the wake of the federal raids and federal conspiracy indictments against 15 anarchists, labor organizers, and local Twin Cities community members at the forefront of the mass resistance to ICE during the so-called “Operation Metro Surge,” an anti-repression committee has mobilized to support the Minnesota 15:
We Defend the Minnesota 15 Defendants
On Tuesday, June 16, the federal government arrested fifteen of the tens of thousands of people who took a stand against ICE terror in Minnesota.
We all stand with the Minnesota 15.
Charged with “conspiracy to impede federal officers,” Minnesotans know the actions described in the indictment better as protecting our neighbors.
The people of Minnesota, of the United States of America, and the world support the “Minnesota 15”.
“This is a naked attempt to silence our voices, to squash dissent and to have a chilling effect on organizing here in the Twin Cities. And I’m here to tell you, it’s not going to work. People in the community here are smart. They’re resilient. They have an indomitable will. And I have every faith that they’re going to keep fighting.”
— Isaac Sant, Minnesota 15 defendant
We demand:
ICE Out of Our Communities!
Return the Abducted & Deported – Reunite the Families!
Drop the Charges Against All Anti-ICE Protesters!
Justice for Renee, Victor, Alex, Keith, Lorenzo, Joan, and All Victims of ICE Violence.
A resolution of the labor movement in support of the Minnesota 15 is also available for union locals to sign
Unicorn Riot also published an article on the July 1 arraignment of the Minneapolis 15, with discovery from the prosecutors involving nearly 16 terabytes of data seized from Signal messages.
The Minnesota 15 Speak Out!
A few of the Minnesota 15 have bravely come forward, sharing their reflections on the state’s attack. In conversations with Unicorn Riot, Ike Sant and Cal Robinet spoke on the escalation of federal repression with NSPM-7, mass resistance, and ways forward for the struggle.
Ike:
My name’s Isaac. I’m a 36 year old healthcare worker and an activist living here in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I was one of 15 people indicted on conspiracy charges for activity related to protesting ICE. They broke down this door. They broke into our garage. They, they dragged Cal out of bed in their underwear, and they took three cell phones and a computer out of my room. And then an hour later, they came and got me at my girlfriend’s house in Minneapolis. And when I was over there, I knew they were coming before they were there, not only because they had already taken my roommates, but because I heard the sound of whistles and her neighbors were outside already following them.
And I just want to say, that’s exactly what these charges are about. It’s not about conspiracy to impede. It’s not about interstate stalking. It’s not about any of that. It’s about quelling dissent in Minneapolis. And it’s about coming after the movement that rose up against ICE during Metro Surge in December and January. If the things that I’m accused of doing are part of a criminal conspiracy, then 350,000 people who participated in the resistance here would also have to be part of that conspiracy. This is a naked attempt to silence our voices, to squash dissent and to have a chilling effect on organizing here in the Twin Cities. And I’m here to tell you, it’s not going to work. People in the community here are smart. They’re resilient. They have an indomitable will. And I have every faith that they’re going to keep fighting. This is an attempt by the government to drive a wedge in between good protesters and bad protesters, and try to shave off the radical flank of the movement and paint us like we’re different from everybody else. But we’re not. There’s nothing that we’re accused of doing that hundreds of thousands of people here in Twin Cities didn’t do when these jack booted thugs were kicking in our doors and kidnapping our immigrant neighbors, they took one of my coworkers from the gas station while she was pumping gas, a grandmother of three. And she’s still in detention in El Paso, Texas right now.
So my arraignment is going to be July 1st. I understand I’m going to go in there. I’m going to plead not guilty as a condition of my release. The judge put a no contact order on us, so I’m not allowed to talk to any of my co-defendants with the exception of Cal, because we’re housemates. So obviously I can’t be as involved as I would like in, in coordinating my own defense, as we’re only allowed to talk through our lawyers. Right now, we have a strong support committee. We have, you know, hundreds of people behind us who are supporting us and are doing work behind the scenes. My role right now is just to to keep my head up, to stay in solidarity with my co-defendants. I plan to refuse any plea deals that aren’t offered to everybody. This is not a normal criminal trial. This is a political case. This is political repression against organizers. And this is a case that’s going to be won in the political realm.
So the context for what’s happening to us here is that it’s happening at the same time as a, a national wave of political repression. All of these NSPM-7, and so-called Antifa cases, are a naked attempt to silence dissent and attack the regime’s political opponents. The FBI has been visiting people who are at Delaney Hall. We’ve got the Spokane Three case. Charges were recently dropped against the Broadview Six, but the ruling in the first NSPM-7 case, the Prairieland case in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Judge Pittman there, I understand said out loud, ‘I am I’m giving all of you the the longest possible sentence to send a message to anyone else who might share your political beliefs,’ so they’re not even trying to dress it up as anything else. This is like naked, blatant political repression. We are living in an authoritarian country now.
Look, if you want to support us, the best thing you can do for me and my co-defendants, more so than protesting for us, moreso than donating money to our fundraiser, moreso than any of that, is just to keep doing what you’re doing. Stay out there, keep doing all the legal observing against ICE that is lawful and is effective and is the reason they’re cracking down on us in the first place. It’s to stop you from doing that. So I want you to get out there, keep doing what you’re doing. If we allow these charges to have their intended chilling effect, then ICE and Homeland Security will have won. And we can’t allow that to happen. We need our supporters to stay out there and stay active and keep documenting what these fascist psychopaths are doing in our streets.
I just want to say we’ve been really humbled and honored by the outpouring of support from the community. Our our fridge is, like, chock full right now because our neighbors keep keep delivering groceries here. There are people here fixing our door right now. But all of it has just been a reminder that that the the spirit animating the Twin Cities resistance has never been about radicalism. It’s always been about simple, everyday neighborliness. That’s why people resisted back during Metro Surge. And that’s why they’ve got our backs now. So to all of them, thank you.
Cal:
Hi, I’m Cal. I’m 37. I’m a union low voltage electrician. I’m one of the organizers that was caught up in this unjust roundup of 15 people who are doing their best to protect their communities from the federal occupation and Operation Metro Surge. It’s no secret that a lot of the people that were targeted are union organizers who are being charged for some of their alleged actions on the day of no work, no school, no shopping. I think it’s really important to point out that the retaliation that we’re seeing from the federal government isn’t just related to our speech, it’s related to the power that we have together.
It’s one of those things that it’s so inspiring to see, and it’s something that we’re continuing to see with people supporting us after the horrific raid. So, I was asleep at six in the morning. I heard a crash, and then I heard some yelling. I thought it was just a cat that had knocked over a glass or something and someone yelled, but the yelling kept happening. So I walk out to my front door where it comes from, and then I hear, this is the raid get on the floor. And I see several people with assault rifles, suppressors, helmets, body armor, full military gear, all pointing guns at my head. So I get on the ground, they cuff me and they tell me to walk over to them across the broken glass. I told them I can’t walk across that broken glass, so they throw me a pair of slippers that aren’t mine.
And at that moment, I see the Homeland Security media crew. So they had a media crew there filming me half naked, trying to make their little anti-antifa video. One disgusting little creep just zooming in on me, zooming in on the violence. They opened up every container in my house, threw some stuff on the floor. They messed with my partner’s lingerie. You all know this is a house of trans refuge. And they targeted this house specifically because transgender people are a designated enemy of the state right now. And the way that they mess with my partner’s lingerie was disgusting. The way that they held my young roommates at gunpoint is disgusting. The way that they dragged me out in the rain in my underwear was disgusting. They sent helicopters after me. I had only heard one, but I heard one of the agents say that there were two.
Eventually they threw me some clothes and told me that I was being charged with federal conspiracy to impede. They brought me to jail and again, film crew perp walking me the whole time. I noticed a bunch of other people in jail that I’m familiar with. And not going to lie. Spending some time in a cell with your good friends could be a worse day. You know, there was singing, there was jokes, there was laughing. Keeping your spirits up is really important in a time like this, you know, not just for the defendants, but for everyone around you. These charges are a joke. There’s nothing that we’ve done that you know, thousands upon thousands of people haven’t done as well. These are all lawfully protected activities. And the reason that they’re throwing the book at us is because this is a political case to them. that we are enemies of state for our political beliefs, for activities as union organizers and for existing as queer people in this world.
So those of you may not be familiar. Prosecutor attempted to hold us in jail until the trial and the entire courtroom laughed at her, and she got extremely tilted. And the judge got very angry. But it just kind of goes to show you the level of absurdity of the charges that we’re facing. And the biggest thing that I think people need to keep in mind right now is that the reason they’re doing this is that they want you to be scared. Our tactics are working. They know it, and they’re on their back foot and they’re trying to make a big show of this. It’s the same reason they took all that footage of me, right? They’re trying to get me looking scared. And I’m not scared. I’m not scared of these charges. I’m not scared of these monsters. We can beat them. That’s why they’re acting this way. Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.
I think that more than anything, I want people right now to double down on their efforts. Double down on your mutual aid. Double down on your ICE watching. Double down on commuting. Double down on standing up for your neighbors. Keep those whistles on you. Keep calling people. Keep building friends. You know, the people that have been the most effective during this occupation are the people that have the most networks that they can tap into together.
You know, one of the most inspiring stories that I remember hearing is when ICE was trying to infiltrate the school pickup network so they could abduct children that are walking out of school. Is that the parents and teachers and the teachers union worked together to build the safety system for it, and some of the parents didn’t like the high vis vests. And so a knitting club got together to knit hats for all the all the Safe Watchers. And then a hacker club got together to tell all of these teachers what it looks like when somebody is trying to infiltrate your group, how to spot something like that. So all of these groups and networks coming together to make one big picture is what makes us the most safe. And that’s what I want to keep seeing from people. Always remember, you know, our revenge will be the laughter of our children. That means our immigrant children. That means our trans children. That means our refugee children. You know, those that don’t recognize that children belong to all of this are the worst monsters in this world. I think that the Prairieland sentence is something that the regime was able to push through in a favorable court, in a horrible situation that they’re going to try to use to intimidate. But Minnesota is not Prairieland. These bastards kicked a hornet’s nest, and they have no idea the lion that they’ve awakened.
With regards to NSPM-7, just know that these cases are going to continue. And while we may be anarchists, please don’t think that it’s going to stop there. You know that this is just a scapegoat to try and chip off one edge of the movement, much like that Niemöller poem. You know, first they came for X and then we came for Y. Know that that’s going on today, that when they say we’re coming for anti-fascists, what they’re calling Antifa is a boogeyman that doesn’t exist. What they’re doing is they’re going after anybody who says no to them. And you should not be surprised when that starts applying to you. It’s interesting to me that they put opposition to the U.S. government in part of the conspiracy, because to them, I could see why that would be a major crime. Because they want obedience at all costs. They love it. They just love that shit. But we’re free people. We’re free people, and we do as we please. And we love as we please, and we live as we please. You know, to live and love we must fight. And that’s the situation that we’re put in now. We’re standing up for any immigrant, any person of color or anyone who stands in their way, that’s who they’re coming after. And that’s who we need to be protecting right now.
Erik Davis and Natasha Rakotz gave an interview with The Guardian.
Support the Minnesota 15
There is a primary fundraiser to provide legal support for the Minnesota 15.
Kyle Wagner is the only one of the 15 to remain in captivity as he also faces separate charges in Michigan. A separate GoFundMe has been set up for Kyle and has been posting updates about his situation. Kyle can be written to at the Sherburne County Jail:
Kyle Wagner, Resident
Sherburne County Jail
13880 Business Center Drive
Elk River, MN 55330
PM Press is also hosting a sale of “Become Ungovernable” T-shirts to raise funds for the MN15.
When it comes to authoritarians and fascists of all stripes We Are The Ungovernable. We stand together as a united front in opposition to their state-sponsored terror campaigns.
State Terror: Escalation of Federal Repression
The Trump Administration escalates its McCarthyite, Red & Black Scare NSPM-7 terror campaign targeting a wide range of leftists, anarchists, and antifascists as terrorists. In a hate-filled conspiratorial rant, Marco Rubio and Steven Miller speak to an international gathering for their “Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism” in an attempts to “build a global coalition against far-left terror”. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also spoke at the conference accusing Summud Flotilla movement as a terrorist organization.
A new 100-page State Department report “Cuba: the Capital of 21st Century Communism” names dozens of international solidarity groups, leftist orgs, liberal influencers, Democratic politicians, communists, and anti-fascists, vilifying a century-long history of militant international solidarity, while setting the stage for increased political persecutions and a pretext for a potential coup.
The National Lawyers Guild, accused at length in the State Dept report, reaffirmed their solidarity with Cuba:
As an organization that has stood in solidarity with the Cuban revolution from the outset and one that has been long targeted by the state for its principled positions, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is proud to be named and written about extensively in this report. We wear this political targeting like a badge of honor, a sign that our work opposing US military and economic domination of other sovereign states has been effective.
Palestine Action
Free Fergie!
Fergie Chambers, a US philanthropist known for his aid to Palestinians in Gaza enduring the zionist genocide, among other activities like the brief emergence of Palestine Action US, faces extradition from Spain as the US state continues to criminalize any perceived threat to its domination, including mutual aid and solidarity.
Regardless of anarchists’ and other anti-authoritarians’ mistrust of Fergie’s actions in the past, this international attack on Palestine solidarity cannot go unanswered. Reminiscent of US attack on the Holy Land 5, five Palestinian men who ran the largest Islamic charity in the U.S and were imprisoned and deemed to be “terrorists,” we know that solidarity with Palestine is not only right but is also our duty.
From Free Fergie Chambers:
On July 10, six Spanish police cars surrounded Chambers and his partner near his home in Ibiza before detaining him. The arrest marks a major escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to silence and dismantle the Palestinian solidarity movement in the US. On the same day Chambers was transferred to Centro Penitenciario Madrid VI (Aranjuez Prison) in Madrid, the Spanish government participated in US Secretary of State Marcio Rubio’s inaugural conference on so-called “far-left terrorism.” Spain’s participation in the conference and its choice to relocate Chambers to Madrid has raised his family’s concern that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — otherwise known for standing up to President Donald Trump and voicing his solidarity with Palestinians — may comply with the United State’s politically motivated attack against a significant humanitarian donor. Over the years, Chambers has donated millions of dollars to humanitarian organizations providing medical and psychiatric care, water desalination plants, bakeries, and other life-saving resources to Palestinians in Gaza. Notably, the extradition treaty between the United States and Spain excludes “political offenses.” Spanish law requires the courts to refuse extradition if the underlying charge is intended to mask political persecution. In a joint letter to Spain’s interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and minister for the presidency, Félix Bolaños García, 24 Spanish MP’s aid, “Solidarity with Palestine does not constitute any offence.
Filton 25!
Trial 2 of the Filton 25 case started on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Old Bailey. Comprehensive reporting on the trial is available to read at Declassified UK.
From Free The Filton 25:
The state are treating this trial not 8 ordinary people facing ordinary charges, but as an opportunity to put Palestine Action on trial (again) – pinning them as the masterminds of the action. They have all spent up to 18 months in prison on remand.
Meet the defendants of Trial 2 …
Madeleine Norman
Maddy (they/them) is an artist and activist from Manchester. They are vegan and love animals, especially their two rescue sphynx cats called Nina and Sylvie. Prior to their arrest and imprisonment as part of the Filton 25, they were studying art in Edinburgh. They are interested in and organise for Palestinian liberation, prison, border and police abolition, and animal liberation. They have taken direct action against Israel’s Elbit Systems a number of times over the last few years. In 2022 they ‘locked on’ in front of the gates of Elbit’s drone engine factory in Shenstone, shutting down the Israeli weapons maker, whilst displaying a banner which read “Free Ahmed Manasra“, a recently liberated Palestinian prisoner who had been kidnapped at the age of 13. In January 2023, Maddy scaled the roof of Leonardo’s Edinburgh factory, causing extensive damage to the producers of laser targeting systems for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets.
During their evidence on the stand this week, they said about the Filton action:
Dismantling Elbit’s weaponry involves picking up a sledge hammer and smashing up a drone. You can’t petition sign your way out of a genocide.”
Giving evidence in the Trial 2 defence, Maddy said:
In 20 minutes 6 activists had broken into Elbit’s most secure facility and dismantled 40 drones, battle simulators and more. I was obviously incredibly proud. My contribution was the entry routes that you saw in the document. I was and am incredibly supportive of the fact that weapons were damaged.
Hannah Davidson
Hannah lives in Scotland, and prior to her imprisonment she campaigned tirelessly for the liberation of Palestine. Hannah has spent much of her life working with horses, and feels a deep connection to the natural world around her. A talented artist, Hannah passed her time in prison by creating beautiful, surreal and sometimes satirical artworks.
She was remanded, after being detained without charge, on allegations of being connected to the Filton action, which saw over £1million in damage caused to Elbit’s research centre for Israeli weapons.
Hannah decided to join Palestine Action after seeing the endless atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza:
I would see mothers scrape up tiny pieces of their children. I saw a stray dog with a toddler’s arm.
Watching a live streamed genocide meant that Hannah didn’t feel life could continue on as if nothing was happening. Hannah handed in her notice at her job and struggled to sell her art while in tears for hours and hours each day. Hannah said in court:
It felt very disingenuous to be advertising my art on Instagram and have 10 percent off my art and then the next thing you scroll to is bits of children.
When describing about the need to take action, she said:
I felt desperate, sad, angry, I felt everything. Like a small person in a big world and all the powerful people had turned their backs. I wanted to help.
Teuta Hoxha
T, a graduate of English Literature from King’s College, London. She was arrested in the raids against Palestine activists on 19th November 2024, and held on remand for 15 months.
T previously blockaded the entrance of Elbit’s Bristol HQ, forcing the Israeli weapons maker to close, and soon after, she also disrupted Elbit-investor BNY Mellon’s office in Manchester. She went on two hunger strikes in prison lasting a combined total of 3 months. This ended in victory for the hunger strikers.
“I’m proud to be part of a movement who love the Palestinian people, and support their right to resist with such sincerity that risks are happily taken.”
Describing why she felt she had to take action, T said she watched a video of a Palestinian father carrying two bags:
He was wailing. It was the type of wail that comes from the soul. What he was saying was, ‘I have my son in these plastic bags’, and that devastated me.
T spoke to the court about the importance of direct action in this context, as someone who had taken direct action herself.
Given the escalation of the genocide, direct action was a way for the general public to impose an arms embargo.
Ian Saunders
Ian is a computer buff, builds his own and fixes others. He’s a Buddhist who likes being in nature, walking and helping his mum on her allotment. Loves reading and was in 2 book clubs in prison. Very interested in politics, world news and human rights. Makes a really good pasta dish!
Ian was arrested on the August 2024, in the second wave of Filton arrests, and remanded in custody.
Sean Middlebrough
Sean, from Liverpool, was arrested on the 19th November 2024, in the third wave of Filton arrests, and remanded in custody. A seasoned activist, he took action, in January 2022, to occupy the roof, and dismantle the drone factory at Shenstone, and was wrongly arrested in relation to an action in Newcastle, and an alleged conspiracy to shut down the London Stock Exchange. In the second case, charges were dropped, but only after Sean had already spent time locked-up on remand.
You can hear many of his thoughts, perspectives and interests through listening to either of his podcasts. Revolutionary Lumpen Radio, started over 6 years ago, offers a range of political discussions, whilst Diary of Political Prisoner was created from within Sean’s prison cell to share the absurdity of prison life with you.
Yulia Brigidirova
Yulia, from Manchester, was arrested on the 19th November 2024, in the third wave of Filton arrests, and remanded in custody.
For everything that Yulia cares about, she gives her all. When she is home, she is regularly raising money for Trans Mutual Aid Manchester by making bracelets, and proactively supporting fellow renters and workers in our precarious world. She loves her closest ones fiercely and will go to any length to protect them.
She cares about all animals, and would never kill a spider. She likes to read, from Terry Pratchett to Shon Faye. She gets a glint in her eyes when, in her trademark furry hat, she wanders through the snow that she grew up with. In the spring she takes joy in the blossom trees and the daffodils.
Aleksandra (Ola) Herbich
Aleks is a musician and community organiser from London with Polish roots. Known as a relentless ball of energy, positivity and enthusiasm who inspires everyone she meets, Aleks has been active in DIY hardcore punk music networks for twenty years, where she has been dedicated to building community, creating opportunities for young bands worldwide through
her one-woman record label, organising festivals and touring internationally as a guitarist and singer in her own projects. She is deeply committed to justice and equity, principles which she has continued to practice to this day.Aleks was arrested on the 19th November 2024, in the third wave of Filton arrests, and remanded in custody.
William Plastow
Will is a British scriptwriter and editor, educated at the University of Cambridge. He enjoys reading, poetry and writing. He is the grandson of anti-colonial activist, political theorist and the first Prime Minister of Independent Tanzania, Julius Nyerere.
During the ongoing Gaza Genocide, William drove a car into the bollards in front of Elbit’s Leicester weapons factory, and locked his neck to the steering wheel to prevent the Israeli drone maker from opening.
Several months later, he was unjustly detained, without charge, for a week, and repeatedly interrogated about alleged involvement in an action against Elbit’s new research and development hub in Filton, Bristol – before being remanded into prison making him one of the #Filton25.
The genocide in Gaza became a focus for Will because of:
seeing those images everyday of those kids blown to pieces…buildings knocked down with whole families inside them…How’s anyone supposed to feel about seeing dismembered children and then being told nothing should be done about it?
Will found out about Elbit’s presence near Manchester, where he lived. In court last week, Will said “I found it very shocking. Elbit supplied 85% of…” before he was cut off from speaking any more of that sentence. Elbit supply 80% of the weapons and equipment for Israel’s land forces and 85% of the combat drones used by the airforce.
Will described realising how local Elbit was to him:
It felt like finding out this was the Holocaust and the zyklon gas being used in Auschwitz was being made ten minutes up the road.
Will tried to further explain his motivation for getting involved with the Palestinian cause, saying “This was the height of things [in Gaza] and the International Court of Justice had just found…” but was interrupted by the judge.
Barclays 5
From the Barclays 5 campaign:
Five protestors face being sentenced as terrorists after they were convicted of criminal damage for direct action against Barclays, despite the jury and the defendants being unaware of the potential terrorist sentencing during trial.
After the trial had concluded, Judge Philip Parry of Preston Crown Court notified the defendants legal team of his intention to consider a “terrorist connection”. When doing so, he circulated Justice Johnson’s decision to sentence four Palestine Action protestors as terrorists for damaging Israeli quadcopter drones, which set a dangerous precedent. Following Judge Parry’s email, the CPS submitted that they now believe that the five should be sentenced as terrorists, despite this never being raised as a possibility before or during trial.
Brendon O’Hagan (28 yrs), Amanda Kelly (31 yrs), Hmeera Atiqnisar (31 yrs), Mohammed Malik (28 yrs), and Alma Yaniv (70 yrs) were arrested for taking direct action on 5th August 2024, against a Barclays branch in Burnley, Lancashire, over the bank’s investments in Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems. All five defendants were convicted of criminal damage in June 2026 following a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court, which found them guilty of damage to the value of £212,000 to Barclays Bank. During jury deliberations, two jurors asked the Judge whether it was possible to acquit according to their conscience. The judge told them that they could not and then the jury returned guilty verdicts. The jury were never told that the defendants could be sentenced as terrorists.
Support the Ulm5!
Crow, Daniel, Leandra, Vi, and Zo have been held in pre-trial detention since taking action against Elbit Systems Deutschland in September 2025. The Ulm5 have been facing human rights violations in prison and in the currently unfolding trial. Who are the Ulm5? Five young people – students, artists, activists – from Ireland, the UK, Spain, and Germany who have spent years advocating for Palestinian rights through legal means. Their action on 8th September 2025, was an expression of deep moral conviction – civil disobedience directed exclusively against property in order to save human lives. At their most recent trial date, court attendees rose and sang a song for the liberation of Palestine.
July 22nd, 2026, was the 11th court date of the trial of the Ulm5. The defence submitted a motion calling for the CEO of Elbit Systems Germany to be questioned as a witness. The defence believes that, when on the stand, Mr. Marion Rachow would confirm Elbit Systems Germany’s involvement in war crimes in Gaza.
Elbit Systems Deutschland GmbH und Co. KG is, the defence is certain, an integral part of the war effort in Gaza. It is integrated through a division of labour across the wider Elbit Systems Group, supporting the Israeli army’s warfare in Gaza, in particular through technology transfer, the delivery of military equipment, and components to Israel as well as financial ties. The court has yet to rule on the motion to admit this evidence…
Furthermore, in a massive violation of parliamentary rights, contempt for the legislative branch by a judge, and, completely groundlessly, Presiding Judge Kathrin Lauchstädt prohibited parliamentary observers – from the Irish Parliament and the European Parliament – from taking notes on proceedings in the public gallery. The judge considers it dangerous for Members of Parliament from an EU Member State to observe a trial with pen and paper – this is a scandal and cannot be justified.
Political Prisoners / POW’s
Jacob Hoopes
Jacob Hoopes, the second demonstrator sentenced to federal prison from the struggles against ICE in Portland, Oregon, turned himself in to FCI Sheridan beginning a 30 month sentence for throwing a rock at ICE after they teargassed crowds during protests last year.
Jacob now has a support website: https://www.900daysoflight.com/
A friend of Jacob’s shared emotional reflections as well as a longer interview on Portland local radio station KBOO
This is a sad week for many of us here in Portland, Oregon. On July 23rd, Jacob Hoopes, a 25-year-old activist, was driven by his parents to a federal facility to begin a 30-month prison sentence. He pled guilty to aggravated assault on an ICE officer during a pitched confrontation between the agents and protestors on June 14th 2025. Local news captured the ghastly scene that night of over a hundred people choking through clouds of flash grenades and tear gas, many pushing back against the force of ICE agents. The confrontation, declared a riot by police, followed a citywide “No Kings” protest that drew thousands earlier in the day.
Jacob was part of the protests documented by the Oregonian, the major local paper. In the photo above, Jacob is seen providing first aid to an injured protestor (an image not included in the prosecution’s case). He was then identified by the DHS officer whom he hit. This image was then plugged into facial recognition software. The FBI used this surveillance technology to identify Jacob as a recent Reed College student. Within weeks, the FBI received the personal information they needed from the safety officer at the school to arrest Jacob–an action in violation of college policy and for which he was later fired.
Jacob had thrown a rock inside the ICE building that resulted in a gash above the agent’s eye—an injury requiring medical treatment but resulting in no lasting damage. He pled guilty to aggravated assault on a federal officer—a charge that carries a maximum statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison. The charge is elevated from simple assault if the crime involves a deadly or dangerous weapon or results in bodily injury. The deadly weapon in this case was a rock, and the bodily injury was a gash above the eye. Federal agents have special protections as victims that elevate the sentencing level if the assailant is believed to have known that the victim was a federal officer.
I have known Jacob for over a year, mainly through our work together as grievance officers in a local organization. He has the temperament as well as the principles that make him well suited for the adjudication of grievances. It requires a capacity to listen to emotionally distressed people who hold opposing perspectives on events and to see both sides of a conflict.
In making his plea before the court and before his Quaker conscience, Jacob brought this same capacity to hold conflicting positions in mind. In the courtroom where prosecution and defense made their final arguments before the judge, the prosecutor zoomed in on video of Jacob throwing a rock as well as him joining others in thrusting a stop sign into a gate. The prosecutor painted a picture of a person acting with violent intent, omitting from her prosecutorial picture the larger scene of what ICE agents were doing, omitting as well assaults on protestors that night.
Jacob recognized the skewed and narrow story presented by the prosecutor. At the same time, he felt that he had violated his own conscience. In entering a guilty plea, he took personal responsibility for his action on the night of June 14th and admitted that throwing rocks at ICE agents was morally wrong.
While genuinely felt, Jacob’s statement of personal responsibility was part of legal rituals around plea bargaining. From the civil rights era through other movements using tactics of civil disobedience, activists often take a guilty plea to pay a fine, accept requirements for probation and to find a way hopefully to get back on the streets. Plea bargaining, however, is a notoriously corrupt and unjust part of the carceral system. Legal counsel includes assessing the risks of going to trial versus pleading guilty to reduced charges. In negotiating a plea in a racist and class-based system of criminal justice, people sometimes plead guilty to crimes they did not commit.
In issuing her sentence, Judge Adrienne Nelson acknowledged that those few minutes on a tense evening of June 14th had changed his life forever. He would spend a significant part of his young adulthood in prison and carry the consequences of being marked as a felon. In Oregon, voting rights are restored automatically on release from prison. This is not the case in many other states.
The judge offered that version of compassion so often issued by those in positions of power. She spoke of Jacob’s many strengths, how he seemed to genuinely care about social justice, and how he had complied with every requirement of the court. And she spoke to his many strengths and his notable “resilience.” “You will be okay,” she consoled.
She was right, I thought. He is resilient and he will be okay. Yet this faux-parental pat on the back, disgusted me.
In this federal courtroom, facing a packed room of supporters and the defendant, the judge rationalized her very harsh sentence with trite uplifting words. In sharing her further thoughts, she added the empirically false but politically potent rationale of “deterrence.” There were expectations from the public, she claimed, that activists who crossed the line from peaceful protest to violence would face serious consequences in federal court.
Before he left to begin his prison term, I interviewed Jacob for the Old Mole Variety Hour on KBOO Community Radio—an interview that followed a series of off record conversations. In the interview, we talk about what happened during that night of anti-ICE protests, the SWAT team that arrived at his house to violently arrest him, and the criminal investigation that followed. And he reflects on his difficult path from protestor to prisoner. One area of personal struggle centers on reconciling his philosophy as a Quaker, deeply rooted in the Friends’ tradition of non-violence and pacifism, with his violent action on the night that he joined the ICE protests.
Write to Jacob:
Robert Jacob Hoopes 98782-511
FCI Sheridan
P.O. Box 5000
Sheridan, OR 97378
Malik Muhammad
The Triangle ABC [North Carolina] is hosting a fundraiser for anarchist George Floyd Uprising prisoner Malik Muhammad, a solidarity quilt!
Calling for blocks for a prison solidarity quilt! Quilt squares can be in any medium, just as long as they are abolition-themed, 12.5″ x12.5″, colorfast, and able to be ironed. Once we collect 25 squares, they will be pieced, quilted, and raffled off. All $ collected will go to Triangle ABC’s local war chest, to be distributed between incarcerated comrades Michael Kimble, Malik Muhammed, and Monsour Owolabi.
Write to Malik:
Malik Muhammad #400523
Marion 183
Broad River Correctional Institute
4460 Broad River Road
Columbia SC 29210
Oso Blanco
Oso Blanco released a statement on July 4, “Independence—But for Who”:
Good evening, beautiful people. This is Oso Blanco. Please let me tell you why I DESPISE the 4th of July. This is NO “Happy Birthday for America.” For us, this 4th of July madness is the American celebration of their 1776 celebration ON OUR LAND for the American’s freedom from the British Empire. Independence Day” for who, I ask? Not for Native people. This 4th of Juy marks the next 250 years of massive waves of genocide, land theft, extinction of may tribes, environmental destruction of the Earth—rivers, lakes, all waters air and soil. The 4th marks unrestrained colonialism, and the oppression of Native spiritual lifeways, healing practices, and Native peoples’ freedom. So, in short, the 4th is the end of Native Nations’ freedom and safety from attack and destruction of our cultures and customs. There is NO WAY I can “celebrate” that stupid EVIL day in ’76. The positives do not outweigh the negatives. The negatives far. FAR outweigh the positives starting with the 4th of July 1776. I love you, people. PLEASE STOP these RIDICULOUS holidays and what they really, REALLY represent. I love you.
Write to Oso Blanco:
Byron Chubbuck #07909-051
USP Atwater
P.O. Box 019001
Atwater, CA 95301.
Michael Kimble
Michael Kimble released several new articles including “Prisoners Are Workers too!“ published in the Mobile Bay Labor Journal:
Incarcerated workers in the Alabama Prison Industrial Slave Complex (PISC) have for years went on strike in protest to the deplorable, unsanitary, and unsafe working conditions and for wages. The organization Inmates For Action (IFA) actually staged a strike in 1971 in protest of the conditions and absence of wages. The PISC from its inception was/is the continuation of the chattel slavery-convict leasing era, enabled by the 13th amendment of the u.s. constitution prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude “except as punishment for a crime”. More people in prison means more forced labor means more profits, which is what it is all about. In Alabama, most prisoners do not have jobs. But entire prisons are operated by prisoners, so as to avoid having to pay outside salaries and hire outside staff.
Prisoners do the cooking, cleaning, plumbing, electrical, etc. Those who are paid are paid pennies because they don’t have to pay us minimum wages or abide by health and safety standards. Pay ranges from $8-$80 a month. At the prison I’m at now, prisoners are paid $2.00 a day and haven’t been paid in the last three months.
On the outside, one supposedly has the right to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. Inside the PISC we have none of these rights at all. This shows the true nature of the PISC. In 1883, approximately ten percent of Alabama’s revenue came from convict leasing, and state-run mines exceeded $3 million. This practice continues today with what’s called carceral imperialism, where private business has found new markets for everything from candy, tennis shoes, toilet paper to even food within the prisons. They have extended their bloody and greedy tentacles into the prison economy. We must remember what W.E.B. Du Bois said: “slavery was ended by a general strike when Black workers walked off the plantations.”
Organized labor has historically neglected incarcerated workers. but in recent years the organized labor movement has played a major role in prisoner resistance here in the south. During the 2015-2016 work strikes here in Alabama, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) became involved in solidarity actions in support of striking prisoners in Alabama. From this, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee was born.
The slaves of yesterday had the abolitionist movement to help them do battle.The slaves of today (incarcerated workers) and organized labor can bring this greedy beast to the ground with a general strike today. Workers of the world must unite. One weapon all workers have in common, whether they be incarcerated or not, against this beast is the withholding of our labor power and bring a halt to the exploitation going on in the name of society. Incarcerated workers and the organized labor movement needs to build a united front. No longer can organized labor continue to be silent in the face exploitation of of the incarcerated workers. Abolition Now!
Another article Michael Kimble had posted for July 4th, “Lest We Forget”:
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Amerikan Empire we must not forget that this is the anniversary of conquest, slaughter and murder of the Native people of this land, this is the anniversary of the enslaving of Afrikan people, the beginning of mass incarceration and carceral imperialism. This is the anniversary of Amerika’s practice of using Black bodies without recompense.
Recently we put out the call for people to demand that incarcerated workers at the Fountain Annex in Atmore, Alabama be paid their salaries which they haven’t received since March 2026. These workers only make $2 a day and they use this to pay for hygeine products, water and to stay in communication with family and friends. It’s shameful on the part of the ADOC, but this is the practice that this 250 year anniversary celebrates.
An update on last month’s phone zap at Fountain CF over worker backpay:
After weeks of phone zapping, we are happy to announce that the incarcerated workers at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama have received their backpay from the past 3 months and are currently being paid. While this is an important material win, we will not truly be happy until abolition and collective liberation are achieved!
Shaka Shakur
Revolutionary African Perspectives posts an interview with Shaka Shakur and Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign volunteer Derek Ford.
Shaka posted several new recordings including “America Likes to Say They Don’t Have Political Prisoners But We Know Different” recognizing the Prairieland case in this era of rising repression under Trump:
Over here in Victoria Virginia, I was asked to do a piece in support of this event, and in solidarity with political prisoners. The title of this piece is “America Likes to Say They Don’t Have Political Prisoners but We Know Different”.
Just ask the recently convicted and railroaded Prairieland 9 out of Texas. This hyper-security environment and in this era of Trumpism where the slightest criticism someone can become a political prisoner overnight, as fascism rears it’s ugly head with all of it’s far-reaching tentacles. This is an indication of the future, of things to come. And we know the ranks of political prisoners in the U.S. are likely to swell.
When political prisoners rise to the occasion, they attempt to build networks and defense committees with outside comrades and supporters. We organize on the inside and turn the prison cell into another site of the struggle, raising the consciousness of our peers and fellow prisoners.
As we cultivate and develop revolutionary cadre, while simultaneously moving to transform the colonial criminal mentality into a revolutionary mentality, create more soldiers and leaders to join the struggle on the outside – that very transformation that represents the curve in which we speak to today, whether you call it the learning curve or something else, is it bending the wrong, or rounding of the corner, never looking back, because as the quote goes “once you become cadre, there’s no such thing as uncadre, thereafter the only thing left is betrayal”.
With that I’m going to say Free The Land, All Power To The People, Peace!
Another recording “When Wifi is in the Hands of the Corrupt it Becomes Weaponized” about the tablet system:
Prison repression in the age of technology allows the state to engage in official misconduct, indulge in human rights abuses, and engage in targeted repression while simultaneously pretending to have clean hands. It’s almost the equivalent of carrying out a drone strike from a continent away while utilizing satellite imaging and other technologies to coordinate it.
Many of today’s Department of Corrections are implementing the tablet system facilitating both communications and programs while utilizing private companies such as GTL/Viapath, Securus, Advanced Technologies Group LLC, etc., who has a certain blood-sucking parasitic relationship and monopoly with most Department of Corrections and who also rake in millions of dollars from a parasitic and opportunistic relationship.
On the surface and to the average layperson or citizen, the tablet program appears to be a win-all for the prisoner when in fact it is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways as far as a positive and a negative. Some of the positives are that it becomes easier and more convenient to communicate with your family. You can sit in your cell room or whatever and make calls or some instances have a virtual FaceTime video visit. You can have access to the law library, some approved electronic books, e-books, etc., file your questions to various departments or sometimes place your canteen commissary orders all while on your tablet. It all depends on what apps have been placed on the tablet and what apps have been approved. On the flip side, it is being used as not only a tool of control but also a tool of surveillance. It is also a tool of super exploitation.
In the case of the Virginia Department of Corrections, we are required to pay $0.20 per text message to be sent out, to look at our photos in a photo gallery app, to play music, to watch music videos, play games. If you approve podcasts, etc., we are being required to pay $0.04 a minute. In fact, some of the same apps that are free to you on your phone or device, we are being charged for, often without the Department of Corrections even having approval from these companies to be charging for the use of their free app. But you say, and you call us a criminal.
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal has filed a petition with the United Nations working group on Arbitrary Detention. In an interview with The Guardian, Mumia talks about the appeal: “Presenting my claims to the UN will be one of the first times that judges will be hearing them without a vested interest” … “Hope is an element of struggle, is it not? As we used to say in the old days, ‘A luta continua’.”
Khalfani Khaldun
Khalfani Khaldun has been transferred out of Indiana DOC Westville Control Unit to the GEO Group-run Newcastle Correctional Facility. An update from Khalfani:
From the Desk of Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun 2026 “Message to the Masses”
Here in Indiana, the New Castle Correctional Facility originally transferred me to Westville Control Unit after I was found guilty of over 13 conduct reports filed against me by the internal affairs dept June 2025. I was to serve 1 complete year in solitary isolation. That sanctioned ended on June 3, 2026.
During my year there in WCU D pod section. They had me housed in a very unpositive environment where I was forced to bite my bottom lip and push forward and endure so much unprofessionalism and blatant disrespect. Which came from some people whose actions proven that they cannot fear the wrath of God. They have shown me that they exhibit criminal behaviors when they have the support to cover up bad behavior. They have no moral values or integrity.
Since I was made a victim in a transport van, that resulted in my being hospitalized. Resulting in kidney failure, and distended and exploded bladder, and a damaged prostate. Simply because I wanted to urinate during a 3 to A 4 hour drive to a medical trip. I experienced a series of deplorable prescribed diet trays. A lot of it was cooked too long they burned it up. It was always cold, and not edible. These actions from Aramark staff there at Westville showed me a total disregard for my health and the medical diet as a whole. The renal diet is suppose to be a low sodium diet so that I am not damaging my kidneys.
I was late to submit my request to participate in my holy religious fast Ramadan due to being in and out of the hospital urinating blood. So when Ramadan began and I wasn’t on the list, I immediately notified staff at Westville and several days into the fast, I was added to the list. About seven days into my fast, I was removed from the Ramadan list. I was advised that I was removed off the list per the Director of Religious services. Mr. David Lieble. That if I wasn’t on the list, they didn’t have to add me to it. Blatantly violating my 1st amendment rights to practicing my religious and my rights to engage in a mandatory fast prescribed for all Muslims. In my 39 years of imprisonment this has never happened to a man of my background. I took my Shahada in 1994. This one act changed and challenged the course of my life in prison and in general.
With the help of friends and a group called FAIR, we will be working to share this episode with the federal courts. I cannot let this one get swept under the rug. They robbed me of my Ramadan fast for 27 days. They had inmates reporting information about me. These men were trying to trap me inside that WCU unit. But, I held on to my mission to make it out of that place with my mind unbroken. It did have an adverse affect on me. Those men I trusted were trying to create a negative narrative of me to justify the agent behaviors they received favors for.
Prior to my transfer three weeks ago, I had a urine test conducted. In that urine sample, it was discovered to have feces in the urine. The moment I looked up the word faecal and it showed from the tablet’s dictionary that feces came back connected to this word. I was upset so I sent a email out to my family about it.The next day they transferred me out of Westville. Someone had been spraying my diet trays with feces.Targeting me because in the DPod unit would be getting a renal tray.They was trying to kill me with feces in my food. It never smelled like it. They may have been cooking my food with feces in it’s person such as that should never be hired to serve anyone’s food.
I need you all to stand in solidarity with me, and support me in exposing the stuff that happened to my life at Westville. All power to the people.
Uhuru, SaSa.
Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun 874304 #
Indiana’s voice of the voiceless!
Peace and blessings!
Khalfani can be reached via gettingout.com or the mail scanning address below:
Leonard McQuay #874304
Newcastle CF
PO Box 460
Phoenix, MD 21131
Books and zines can be sent directly to the prison:
Leonard McQuay #874304
Newcastle CF
PO BOX A
Newcastle, IN 47362
Kevin “Rashid” Johnson
Rashid, recently transferred back to Virginia DOC, has published several new poems including “We Think We Free?” and “Kiilu Nyasha”.
George Floyd Uprising Prisoners
As far as we are aware, these are the current addresses of the George Floyd Uprising prisoners:
Christopher Tindal #04392-509
USP Canaan
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 300
Waymart, PA 18472
David Elmakayes #77782-066
USP Lee
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 305
Jonesville, VA 24263
Smart Communications/PADOC
Khalif Miller #QQ9287
SCI Forest
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Matthew Rupert #55013-424
USP Big Sandy
US Penitentiary
P.O. Box 2068
Inez, KY 41224
Montez Lee #22429-041
FCI Petersburg Medium
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. BOX 1000
Petersburg, VA 23804
As always, a monthly-updated letter-writing zine is available to print and share for the 2020 prisoners:
Repression in the So-Called US
The Trump Administration escalates its McCarthyistic campaign targeting a wide range of leftists anarchists and antifascists as terrorists. In a hate-filled conspiratorial rant, Marco Rubio and Steven Miller speak to an international gathering for their “Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism” in an attempt to “build a global coalition against far-left terror”. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also spoke at the conference accusing Summud Flotilla movement as a terrorist organization.
A new 100-page State Department report “Cuba: the Capital of 21st Century Communism” names and vilifies dozens of international solidarity groups, leftist orgs, liberal influencers, Democratic politicians, communists groups, and antifa, setting the stage for increased political persecutions and a pretext for a potential coup.
The National Lawyers Guiild, accused at length in the State Dept report, reaffirmed their solidarity with Cuba: “As an organization that has stood in solidarity with the Cuban revolution from the outset and one that has been long targeted by the state for its principled positions, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is proud to be named and written about extensively in this report. We wear this political targeting like a badge of honor, a sign that our work opposing US military and economic domination of other sovereign states has been effective.”
Prism reports on a newly acquired FBI document dated January 2026 on “Anarchist Violent Extremists”, counter-terrorism document for investigating anarchist movement, mentioning the recent Prairieland and Turtle Island Liberation Front cases, and including “anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-government, or anti-law enforcement graffiti” as an indicator for violence and reporting to the FBI. Ken Klippenstein released a new FEMA bulletin provides grant funding directing local authorities to prioritize investigations into “domestic terrorists” under NSPM-7 targeting anarchists and anti-fascists. Reason releases FBI procurement documents soliciting contractors to integrate predictive AI to help the Threat Screening Center identify potential “terrorists”.
Roundup
Federal prosecutors in Chicago announce “Operation New Dawn” multi-agency raids arresting hundreds for unconnected “violent crimes” most which would otherwise be state-level charges were it not for multi-agency tough-on-crime publicity stunt fulfilling Trump’s longstanding passion to “send in the feds”. US Attorney Andrew Boutros rambled for hours at a press conference refusing to answer questions about the calls for his resignation following the Broadview 6 grand jury scandal that has already resulted in several cases being dropped and forcing a review of over 100 cases dating back to 2007.
Black Lion Party for International Solidarity chairman Paul Birdsong was arrested on gun charges after Philadelphia’s revoked of Paul and other member’s firearm permits following police harassment of the group’s community self defense patrols. A Gofundme for legal support was set up; Paul has since released on bond.
Following a right-wing hit piece published as an op-ed the Dallas Express, a well-known activist associated with the Community Liberation Brigade was visited, threatened, and eventually raided after refusing an offer of up to $200k to become an informant for the FBI. The search warrant and line of questioning was related to the Prairieland case and the alleged plot against Trump’s UFC White House birthday event.
Andrew Arrabaca was arrested after starting a large fire in front of the federal building downtown New York. A judge ordered him held pending further proceedings as prosecutors described him as an “anti-American, anti-government extremist” who allegedly had an anti-ICE manifesto and an “ICE Off Our Streets” sign on his cart.
Robert Dillon is suing the Pinellas County Sheriffs and Jacksonville Beach Police Department for wrongful arrest after having been misidentified by AI facial recognition surveillance software.
The US House Ways and Means Committee issued subpoenas to BreakThrough News, Tricontinental, and The People’s Forum demanding financial records and communications as part of supposed investigations into Neville Roy Singham and the Chinese Communist Party.
Dozens gathered outside the federal building in Santa Ana in solidarity with Chicana immigrant rights activist Nadia Topete who appeared and refused to answer questions at a grand jury subpoena. “We applaud the tremendous strength of my sister Nadia Topete and will be ready to fight back for her if she is summoned once again,” said Verita Topete, a member of Centro CSO and chair of the CSO immigration committee. “DOJ: Hands off Nadia!” and “What do we want? Hands off Nadia! When do we want it? Now!”
The Bureau of Prisons announced it is closing six federal prisons: FCI Beaumont Low (TX), FCI Big Spring Low (TX), FCI La Tuna Low and Camp (TX), FCI Lexington Camp (KY), FCI Petersburg Low (VI), and FCI Taft (CA). The BOP signed a contract with prison communications giant Securus to roll out tablets to all federal prisoners. Prison Policy Initiative posted analysis of federal confinement trends under the second Trump administration.
Killer Cops
Protests and vigils in Madison after Corey Ruiz was publicly tackled, tased and murdered by four police who have not yet been officially identified or charged but community have identified the shooter as Madison cop Kiel Baitinger-Peterson.
Alfonso Ivy and Tyrin Johnson were murdered by agents of Trump’s Memphis Safe Task Force this month, marking four killings since last May; so far none of the cops have been identified or charged.
Joseph Evans and Liletzy Valdez Carbahal, two guards at the Blount County Alabama jail, are free on $75k bond after being arrested for torturing and murdering an imprisoned man Arthur Morse by repeatedly “dry-stunning” him against his skin with a taser while he was experiencing diabetic ketoacidosis.
The Marshall Project investigates people starting fires to bring attention to the desperate situation at the Illinois DOC Joliet Treatment Center resulting in the tragic deaths of Jason Stephens and Latrell Edwards.
More than 60 people protested outside the Tarrant County Jail in Texas and during the commissioner court meeting demanding answers for the four deaths that occurred at the Tarrant County Jail in June. James Johnson, Carl McCray, Mack Greer, and Victor Runnels all died from medical emergencies. “Perhaps if we spent more money funds on health care, especially mental health care, and housing especially for the homeless, we wouldn’t need to spend so much on law enforcement and the resulting jail deaths,” a resident Linda Hanratty told commissioners during public comment.
ICE Watch
The Trump administration continues campaign of ethnic cleansing with mass arrests, deportations, and murder. Although Trump’s secret police have shifted away from visibly violent public confrontations preferring quicker quieter kidnappings and not staying in one place long enough to evade rapid responders, Tom Homan brags of “deportation-maxxing” with the highest rates of arrests and deportations to date. Increases in ICE activity have been seen at airport and courts with a new operation beginning this month in New York City.
ICE agents killed two more people this month during traffic stops: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston TX and Johan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. In each case, and like so many times before, the feds claimed they had “weaponized their vehicles” attempting to run over agents until video evidence emerged clearly showing otherwise; ICE’s supposed pause on traffic stops was overturned just days later on Trump’s orders. Although Guerrero’s murderer has not yet been identified, the ICE agent who killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo has been discovered to be David Brouillette (whose ex-wife recently exposed him as an abusive ‘killing monster’ who confessed attempting to persuade her to lie attesting to his character).
Additionally, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, a 28 year-old vacationing in St. Augustine FL with a tourist visa, was killed when ICE agents chased him into traffic. Brandon Booth, a private prison guard working for GEO group, was arrested after shooting a protester outside the Aurora ICE detention center.
The FBI is no longer investigating confrontations with ICE further limiting public scrutinity and accountability. ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility, a supposed internal watchdog, has opened over 100 cases attempting to question and intimidate people for social media posts criticizing the agency.
DHS plans on spending $1 billion to nearly triple it’s Integrated Surveillance Tower program utilizing AI-based radar, thermal, and optical systems along with drones, aerostats, ground sensors, and license plate readers to fight the US border
Immigration rights groups that provide legal representation to unaccompanied children are suing the Trump administration as their funding freeze and demands of handing over confidential information on child clients may force firms to close up shop or stop providing representation. It was revealed the Office of Refugee Resettlement under Trump has been tipping ICE off with more than 460,000 “leads” for unaccompanied children and their sponsors, setting them up for arrest and deportation.
The DOJ has for the first time attempted to deport someone through the “Alien Terrorist Removal Court”, a secretive court that has not been used once in it’s 30 year history.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a 30-month prison sentence for Hector Gomez who plead guilty to firearm charges after shooting a gun into the air near Border Patrol agents as they were conducting immigration raids throughout Little Village Chicago.
Fighting Detention Centers
“We don’t want to have another Portland … Use whatever force necessary to put those detainees in their cells”.
Powerful new videos from inside Adelanto ICE Processing Center inside 2020 show imprisoned strikers defiantly refusing to return to their cells as militarized GEO guards unleashed chemical weapons and physical violence. The videos were unsealed as part of ongoing lawsuits against the private prison amidst rampant abuse, medical neglect, forced labor and inhumane conditions which persist today as hundreds continue to organize hunger and labor strikes.
Another murder from medical neglect behind bars: Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva died while being transferred between detention centers just days after being arrested by ICE at his home. They denied his family’s requests to allow him to take his medication with him during his arrest, confirming via phone that the nurses would not give him the medication he needed. His sister speaks: “Jesus Manuel Arenas Silva was a loving son and brother, a caring and hard-working man who came to this country to seek better opportunities. His tragic death has left our family with an immense void and deep sorrow.” Another 29 year old man Prisciliano Trejo Ricano died at the Stewart Detention Center after just weeks in ICE custody, reporting that he was being denied medical treatment.
ICE issued solicitations seeking contractors for construction of 14 proposed solitary confinement units at locations including Guantanamo Bay, the Virgin Islands, El Centro CA, Port Isabel TX, Miami FL, Honolulu, Florence AZ, Batavia NY, Broadview IL, Oakdale LA, El Paso TX, Huntsville TX, and Aguadilla Puerto Rico. ICE is also seeking private contractors to cage 5500 people at four locations in Denver, Miami, Seattle, and near Philadelphia. Wired reports that new language in the contracts attempt to evade outside oversight, asserting that state and local laws “shall not apply” to the prisons.
DHS purchased the Otay Mesa and California City detention centers from private prison giant CoreCivic for about $1.5 billion.“It seems like a very clear attempt to evade oversight and accountability,” said Alexa Van Brunt, a civil rights attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center. “If they own the building, then there is a very good argument that a state law cannot trump federal ownership.”
An open letter was signed by 120 people detained at the CoreCivic-run Eloy ICE detention center detailing human rights abuses. A new ACLU / Human Rights Watch report on Camp Montana. Google Maps removes thousands of reviews of ICE detention centers.
An article about visiting with Martin Soto, currently in solitary at Elizabeth NJ ICE Detention Center after having been transfered and punished singled out for participating in the hunger strikes at Delaoney Hall. Family members circulate a petition to Free Martin Soto. Tempest and Salon publish interviews with solidarity activists who continue to gather outside Delaney Hall. A nurse who had been volunteering outside Delaney Hall filed a federal tort claim against ICE after being assaulted by agents during protests last May.
SouthEast Dignity Not Detention Coalition is organizing against the new privately-run ICE processing facility connected to Alexandria International Airport aiming to open in late August.
Flock & Tech Fascism
The newest Beautiful Idea podcast covers ongoing resistance to Flock and updates on two people sentenced in Michigan for destroying flock cameras:
The mass proliferation of Flock cameras and other means of state spying has slowly inaugurated an era characterized by the most dense concentration of surveillance experienced in human history. Over the past two decades the US has witnessed the development of an integrated public-private surveillance apparatus where the outputs of dozens of integrated private surveillance tools are allowed to be cross-referenced using AI facilitated analysis.
In this episode we speak with Joan and Jeff about the proliferation of Flock systems, their roll in a growing mass surveillance apparatus, some of the actions that are being taken to fight back, and how to support those that have fallen into the clutches of the state. We review the growth of the police in the US from their origins in slave patrols and private police agencies to today, where they are a force tens of thousands strong, with military capabilities, and their hands on a mass privatized surveillance apparatus. Finally we discuss the role direct action can play in public campaigns against Flock and other surveillance systems.
A fundraiser is active to support two comrades who were sentenced to months in jail for being accused of destroying multiple flock cameras. The fundraiser is going toward restitution, court fees, lawyer fees, commissary, postage and writing supplies, medical fees, phone time, etc., and a cushion for recovering from jail and solitary confinement when they are released.
To donate, venmo @deez_zines. If you donate $20+ and want a thank you gift, send proof of donation and an address to deez_zines@tutamail.com. Any amount helps. Thank you!
Resources:
https://haveibeenflocked.com/ – See if a license plate turned up in FOIA’d documents regarding flock
https://www.atlasofsurveillance.org/ – Reference of what surveillance technologies different police departments have
https://deflock.org/ – Community-sourced map of flock cameras, flock-avoiding navigation
https://colonelpanic.tech/ – OUI Spy device may help find flock cameras, a bit technical. (source code: https://github.com/colonelpanichacks/oui-spy)
https://www.notrace.how/ – Database of security resources, a threat library, and more! Visit on a public-access computer/using tails https://tails.net/
Birds of a Feather Destroy Flock Together – Zine on Flock cameras https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/direct-action/birds-feather-flock/
Three people were arrested in Lisle Illinois allegedly caught in the act of destroying and stealing five Flock cameras. The three were released pending trial for two felony charges destruction and theft of government property. In a legal defense Gofundme for the three, of of the defendants explains his opposition to ALPRs:
My name is Anthony Pareigis. I was recently accused of removing Flock cameras from DuPage County, Illinois. Part of the indictment dropped on Saturday, July 26th.
Flock cameras and all other ALPRs are an infringement on every single person’s right to privacy. Just on my way to work, a 10-mile commute, I’m photographed 57 times each way. That is surveillance without a warrant, mostly done by private companies whose employees have access to the databases. They have used these databases to spy on children’s gymnastics lessons (over 1,000 times at just one location), parks, stalk exes, and stalk people they just found attractive so they could proposition them.
I and many others would not tolerate a policeman on every corner photographing every single person or car that walks by. This is no different. We all have a right to be private citizens, free from warrantless, unlawful surveillance by both law enforcement and private companies.
So, its been a long few days for us. These do not just take pictures they record videos as well and not just the newer models. it’s not just flock cameras, though, axon, frost, Motorola all make alprs. The level of digital surveillance is unprecedented with flock. From their condor pan tilt zoom cameras, to the raven antenna aeries tracking your Bluetooth. Police Dragnets phone location warrants are illegal and unconstitutional because they wrap to many innocent people up into them. Flock cameras are no different from a police dragnet, which brings many of you into investigations you had nothing to do with. And with almost a 10% false report rate it’s only a matter of time until an innocent person gets hurt. Hell it’s already happened.
Also we are not heroes. Though we appreciate the sentiment. We are just some guys. We are probably the model citizens who’d be perfect for this fight. We’ve had our past indiscretion with the law. We are citizens that believe in privacy and the pursuit of happiness. For us privacy is a small part of that happiness. Its our right to pursuit it. That was our founding fathers promise to each one of us. They also promised us a fair trial, and to be judged by our peers. The most important promise they made to you dont need to be a hero to speak up, you can just be some guy. You have a voice it might not be the loudest, it might not travel the furthest but you have one. I would encourage you to use it. Maybe write some snail mail. I’m sure your local, state and federal politicians would appreciate their mailbox being packed with strong words. Show up to your townhall, take photos of your politician everywhere they go and be weird about it just like flock. Its apparently not stalking if your just taking 12-16 photos of you every time they walk by so why not? The country has a long history with direct action protests. Just know what you’re getting yourself into.
We will be generating petitions to remove alprs, ptz, and listening devices from our streets both online and in person. So keep an eye out for us. I promise we don’t bite. Petition here: https://www.change.org/stopalprsdupage
In another case in Monterey County California, Marcus Bee was arrested after being identified from surveillance footage that showed him pulling down at least three Flock cameras with his truck. Support his legal defense Gofundme.
Jeff Sovern set up a legal defense Gofundme having been arrested and accused of damaging dozens of ALPR cameras across the Suffolk VA area. Jeff is facing 13 counts of destruction of property, six counts of petit larceny and six counts of possession of burglary tools.
A rising national trend of cops caught abusing ALPR systems (usually to stalk women); the Institute of Justice has tracked 28 recent cases including several this past month in Georgia arrested on misdemeanors.
AnarchistFederation.net released a transparency statement about the FBI issuing subpoenas to Cloudflare and Google who handed over information and kept quiet about it until now; however, it’s believed the request pertains to an older and unused email as AF moved its emails to Proton and server infrastructure is unaffected.
A 19-year hacker Peter Stokes allegedly affiliated with “Scattered Spider” was arrested and extradited to the U.S. from Estonia. Peter was apparently exposed through Windows itself as the FBI subpoenaed Microsoft to acquire Telemetry logs that correlated his web activity with a unique GDID Global Device Identifier.
EFF reports that over 1000 agencies have obtained Part 91 waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration setting the stage for massive expansions of Drones as First Responders (DFR).
Efforts are underway to stop the Cook County Sheriffs proposal for a $1.1 million contract with Briefcam for experimental AI video surveillance monitoring system inside the jail.
Indiana DOC eliminates physical mail after transitioning to mail scanning service TextBehind.com. Letters must now be mailed to this Phoenix MD address while books/zines may continue to be mailed directly to the prison.
Incarcerated Individual’s Name, DOC#
Facility name
PO Box 460
Phoenix, MD 21131
Ongoing Cases
Mixed verdicts for the remaining seven of the Golden Gate 26 successfully beat back felony charges but were convicted of multiple misdemeanors including false imprisonment, obstruction of a thoroughfare, and unlawful assembly and facing sentencing set for August 21.
We celebrate the hung verdict on the felony conspiracy charge. Even with the full power of the state behind her, the D.A. could not secure a conviction. We unite in grief and rage at the guilty misdemeanor verdicts, especially of false imprisonment- a plainly ludicrous charge that we will keep fighting together.
The D.A.’s office tried to create a chilling effect and failed. This fight against the state brought together a community of people rooted in love and resilience who have cared for, loved, and shown up for each other day in and day out, for the last 2.5 years.
We know that the U.S. is deeply invested in Zionism to maintain military and economic dominance. People standing in solidarity with Palestine threatens that objective. The fight for liberation of Palestine continues and we are in solidarity with all attempts to end U.S. participation in the occupation. Thank you to all the people who supported the struggle.
Ismael Vega was sentenced to 37 months for participating in the uprising against ICE in Los Angeles last summer. Ismael plead guilty in April to “obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement during civil disorder” for allegedly throwing rocks and starting fires at police near the highway overpass. Ismael is currently held at MDC LA but will be likely transferred to federal prison.
Federal conspiracy charges against SEIU USWW President David Huerta stemming from protests against ICE in LA last summer are being dismissed through a diversion agreement if he complies with bond conditions until the end of August. Huerta commented on the win: “My actions, however infuriating to the federal agents, were protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution… For that, I was tackled, pepper-sprayed, and detained” … “Our motions exposed a case that never should have been brought because it violated my constitutional rights.”
First appearance for Sam Tunick facing a federal charge of “destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure”. Sam, originally stopped for questioning at the Atlanta airport having been flagged for terrorist investigations into Stop Cop City, allegedly using the “duress pin” feature of privacy-focused GrapheneOS which would have wiped the contents of the phone. He comments on the case with an interview at 404 Media: “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy, and the government hopes to set a precedent that no one has the right to privacy” …. “Many of us had a suspicion that this was kind of the resting ground for a new, more heavy-handed trend in policing in America. And that does seem to be in fact the case: that Atlanta was sort of the testing ground for a more authoritarian, heavy-handed approach to social movements,””.
The Uhuru 3 gave oral arguments in federal appeals court in Atlanta challenging their wrongful conspiracy conviction. Following the hearing, Omali Yeshitela the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition streamed a debrief giving commentary and next steps.
Jahki Isaiah (formerly Jahki McCray) state trial was postponed from July 27th to August 31st. Jahki is also still awaiting federal sentencing having plead guilty to arson charges for the same torching of NYPD cars action.
SF District Attorney moves forward with charges against 18 people attacked and arrested by police at the yearly Stud Alley unsanctioned Pride event in SoMa.
International Political Prisoners / POWs
Palestinian Prisoners
Free Ahmad Sa’adat!
Aged 73 and secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa’adat’s health is deteriorating in detention. Imprisoned in Ramon then in Megiddo, he is regularly kept in solitary confinement, deprived of family visits since October 2023 and subjected to transfers during which he was handcuffed, shackled and physically attacked according to testimonies reported by his supporters. His conditions of detention have deteriorated significantly: food shortages, insufficient access to water, unsuitable clothing and lack of appropriate medical monitoring have led to significant weight loss and a worsening of his health problems. His supporters denounce these measures and demand immediate access to appropriate care.
“Walid Daqqa is still here”
The wife of Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa, a revolutionary, activist, writer, and unwavering example of sumud, recently gave an interview with The Key to talk about carrying on her husband’s legacy, the prison movement, and the release of his first major posthumous work, “The Ticket Seller”.
A new Al Jazeera Fault Lines documentary “Into The Darkness” exposes rampant torture and abuses inside zionist prisons following the stories of Mohammad Ibrahim a Palestinian American imprisoned for 9 months after being arrested at 15.
Material Journal Interviews
The Marxist-Leninist-Maoist journal released their fourth issue with the topic of political prisoners, sharing interviews with Lebanese revolutionary and former political prisoner Georges Abdallah, Palestinian prisoner support organization Samidoun, political prisoner support group International Red Aid, and more.
You can read the interviews on their website or download the full issue as a PDF.
Also zine versions of some of the interviews are available to print and share:
The words of Georges Abdallah ring true with urgency:
Quite naturally, like any revolutionary prisoner, I am an abolitionist, which means that I consider prison in itself to be counterproductive for society. Whether it claims to be “progressive” or not, it is an institution that has been put to the test for over a century and has proven to be counterproductive. In other words, it does not produce solutions to “societal offenses.” Whether it is someone who assaulted their neighbor, someone who shoplifted from a store, etc.: locking them up does not reform them. Every time an individual goes to prison, they come out ready to commit new crimes. When it comes to political comrades, that is, men and women who are working to change society, they are supposed to have a position on this institution. Either they consider that this institution should be destroyed and abolished—and the bourgeois police and the courts as well—or they believe that it is legitimate and should continue to exist. This position will be articulated according to the organization, its program, and its class content. If it is a proletarian organization, which stands for personal fulfillment of human beings and the abolition of exploitation and alienation, then we believe that it cannot avoid being abolitionist.
It cannot accept that there are cops who harass the population. It cannot accept that prosecutors decide who lives and who dies among the masses. It has an answer to all these questions. In short, what is important for us today is that if I am an activist and I belong to an organization that fights against all forms of injustice, and that organization decides that I, who have just been imprisoned, should not spend 30 years in prison, but that in the end, well, I do spend more than 30 years there, the question arises: How can I behave? I behave as an imprisoned revolutionary who will try to participate in the life of his organization inside the prison because I am not completely separated from the organization. Experience shows that comrades who are prisoners and who do not have the support of their organization, who are not in some way or another included in the arena of militant struggles, will suffocate. In order for them to be part of the dynamic and process of actual struggles, their supporters on the outside must also be part of this dynamic. You cannot show solidarity with a prisoner if you do not support that prisoner’s struggle. If I am an activist fighting for the liberation of the proletariat, the people who show their solidarity with me are part of the struggle of the real proletariat, not some imaginary one.
In our society, there are men and women who protest and fight, who hold meetings and do all sorts of other things. The solidarity they show me is part of the dynamic of these men and women, which is not the same as if they came to show me love and a little comfort. Whenever there is an opportunity for me to intervene in the dynamic of the struggle, I must intervene. And my comrades must support this intervention. In other words, they must also belong to those who suffer from the actions of the bourgeoisie that put me in prison. Because this bourgeoisie jailed me specifically for my political activity. This political activity, in principle—if I belong to a proletarian organization—is an activity of proletarian struggle. Every time there is a demonstration, the prisoner must be present in it. Every time there is an occupation of a particular place, the prisoner’s supporters must be at the forefront. Ultimately, it is up to the entire organization to engage in this dynamic.
The imprisoned comrade participates both in the prisoners’ resistance and in the radicalization or non-radicalization of his organization. In this predicament, solidarity is part of the struggle—not separate from it. From this perspective, we can consider that the liberation of comrades is also part of a power struggle between the mass movement and the political establishment.
Chile
Statement by Mapuche Political Prisoners Convicted in CAM-Lautaro Case
PUBLIC COMMUNIQUE FROM THE MAPUCHE CAM POLITICAL PRISONERS – LAUTARO CASE
Kiñe: First of all, thank all the people who accompanied us in this oral trial process in which, finally, we were wrongly convicted. To the different Mapuche communities, families and homes, to our people, all our gratitude goes.
Epu: We understand this sentence as the result of political persecution against the autonomist Mapuche movement, specifically against the CAM, an organization of which weichafe are proud. We show how this process was carried out in a biased and racist manner, which did not have any evidence that linked us, as well as the use of secret witnesses who, in the end, did not even testify in court.
Kvla: That, the Winka court convicted us for the crimes of repeated arson, theft, simple kidnapping and in two particular cases for carrying ammunition. Reclassifying two crimes and acquitting them of the crimes of carrying prohibited weapons, carrying conventional weapons and unjustified shooting.
Meli: We understand that the court, given the poor investigation by the prosecution and the solid arguments of our defenses, decided to make an ACCOMMODATION that would allow political condemnation at any cost against us, without in any case having the minimum elements to do so.
Kechu: With our heads held high we declare that we will not accept this disastrous condemnation and that, if the Chilean State persists in criminalizing and persecuting the historic and dignified Mapuche struggle, wanting to condemn us for it, that it at least take charge of the Rule of Law that they so proclaim, that it obtain the evidence and condemn under its laws, not based on tricks, falsehoods, political pressures and the use of the bourgeois press subservient to business interests.
Likewise, we call on the judiciary to stop being the punitive arm of fascism and the ultra-right in Wallmapu.
Kayu: Because of all of the above, on the day of the sentencing, we will begin a mobilization to denounce this flawed judicial process of which they made us a part. In this instance we also want to support our peñi Daniel Canio, who after having served more than half of his sentence is still being denied his prison benefits.
Having faced this process as pu weichafe, today convicted, we consider it necessary to address the Mapuche movement and our people in general after almost 4 years in prison and declare that we are not defeated, much less ashamed or regretful of embracing such a dignified and just struggle as ours, quite the contrary, we continue to advance with the determination of never kneeling before our enemies.
Finally, we call to continue in the weichan, to remain in the territorial dispute against the forestry companies and big business, to continue resisting the structural and colonialist racism of the Chilean State, even more so today where fascism and the Zionist extreme right govern.
Out with the foresters and soldiers of the wallmapu!!
The Mapuche resistance is not terrorism!!
Peñi Kincha treka rupaymi tüfachi Mapu Mew,welu Tami pülli rumel mongeleay rangi weychan Mew
Luis Menares Chanilao
Jorgue Caniupil Coña
Pelantaro Llaitul Pezoa
Juan Carlos Mardones
PPM-CAM
[from Werken News /Resumen Latinoamericano, June 30, 2026, translation: Abolition Media]
Health Update on Juan Aliste Vega
An update on the deteriorating health crisis of Chilean anarchist prisoner Juan Aliste Vega:
It was around February of this year that our brother and comrade Juan Aliste Vega began to experience the first episodes of pain—mild at first—in his left hip. True to his character, he lived with this minor discomfort, but he never normalized it; he knew it was an abnormal pain.
As time passed and the pain intensified, the unusual situation transformed into a worrisome one, so naturally, he sought medical attention at the La Gonzalina prison hospital in Rancagua. Without much success in this initial visit, he was given and prescribed medications such as paracetamol and tramadol. Juan was not satisfied; the pain persisted, the root cause remained unclear, and his daily life was significantly disrupted because the pain naturally led to serious mobility issues. We witnessed his concern and persistence during this period. Juan has never been a complainer, and his unfortunately long time in prison has given him a deep understanding of his body, crucial for remaining resilient in a hostile and uncaring environment.
The day came when Juan could no longer move and had to be rushed to the prison hospital. After a series of negligent acts, X-rays, and unhelpful doctors, he was sent back to his cellblock with painkillers and IV fluids. Something was wrong; we all knew it. A second emergency trip to the hospital that same afternoon was necessary, and a new X-ray analysis revealed possible septic osteoarthritis in his hip. Due to the urgency of his condition, he was transferred to the Rancagua Hospital, where he received strong antibiotics. That same night, he returned to his cellblock.
From that moment on, Juan could only move with crutches. His daily life was severely disrupted. The antibiotics only solved part of the problem; the pain persisted, something was still there. Despite how adverse the situation became in his daily life, we were fortunate enough to be able to support him and thus try to lessen, even if only a little, the burden on his shoulders. These were, and are, the kinds of care and concern we believe should always be shared among comrades, beyond any code of conduct imposed by the prison environment. Revolutionary affection must always prevail over individualistic apathy.
The culmination of this critical situation, which initially led to his hospitalization in the unit, was due to a pain that was more intense than “normal” and once again left him unable to move. Only then did the hospital administration decide to admit him for further evaluation.
We haven’t seen him since that day.
Despite the pain and the complexity of his situation, our comrade has always remained strong and determined to face everything that has been thrown at him. This attitude has always characterized him, ever since, as a teenager, he decided to confront the dictatorship as part of the Lautaro Youth Movement and later, as an independent subversive, relentlessly fighting predatory capitalism and those who uphold it. He has also demonstrated this strength during the nearly 30 years he has spent in prison for two different reasons and in different contexts. During these years, he has not hesitated to participate in various anti-prison movements, mobilizations, and strikes, writing solidarity texts, advocating for the freedom of another comrade, contributing to the groups fighting in the streets, fighting for the dignity of those who visit us, and battling in every corner of this space of confrontation, making it a symbol of the anti-prison struggle.
For more than two months, Juan has been hospitalized at the Penitentiary Hospital of the former Santiago Penitentiary, where he has access to better care, palliative treatments, and, above all, greater closeness and contact with fellow inmates and family.
His condition is extremely serious: multiple diagnoses have revealed a cancerous tumor in his left hip with metastases in various parts of his body.
Aware of the severity of his condition, Juan, as expected, is determined to fight. His messages are of resistance and strength, of struggle and dignity. And we hope that the outpouring of solidarity on the streets will reflect this same sentiment. Because it is essential to connect the world from the outside and from prison. Because it is necessary to live up to Juan Aliste’s legacy and act accordingly.
Francisco Solar Domínguez
Joaquín García ChancksLa Gonzalina Prison – Rancagua – July 2026
Greece
Update on the Imprisonment of Dimitris Chatzivasileiadis
Excerpt from the statement of Dimitris Chatzivasileiadis at the event of the newspaper Apatris on 25/6/2026 at the Evangelismos Squat:
[Source: Athens Indymedia Translation: Abolition Media]
Indonesia
Update on anarchist prisoners Mpe, Dilan & Pablo – May Day 2026
Update: On Thursday, July 23, 2026, comrades from the Mayday 2026 Bandung anarchist prisoner cluster, namely Mpe, Dilan and Pablo, will begin their first trial at the Bandung District Court.
The detained anarchists were arrested in the days after the 1st May demonstration in Bandung. They are accused of riot, malicious destruction of public facilities, after a clash happened on May 1, 2026, at Jalan Cikapayang (Cikapayang Pasupati Intersection), Bandung City, during which the police were attacked.
The serious charges pertain to offenses causing fires or explosions endangering public safety, committing collective violence against persons or property in public, and criminal conspiracy. Plus, the comrades are accused of preparing and using molotovs. Mpe is accused of being the “leader”, which as an anarchist, is absurd. The arrested comrades were beaten and abused by cops over a three week period during their interrogations where a responsible lawyer was not present. Intense psychological pressure and physical violence was used against the detainees to try to make them give false statements.
A total of thirteen (13) individuals were arrested and detained during the investigation into the riot.
• Three (3) of them were juveniles and were subsequently released under mandatory reporting obligations.
• The remaining ten (10) detainees are:
1. Ripan Ripandi
2. Muhamad Rafly
3. Ismail
4. Dani Maulana
5. Rangga
6. Cikal
7. Haikal
8. Fadel
9. Fadil
10. Hadi Isan
Free the prisoners – Topple the state!
[Source: Dark Nights ]
PDF: Detention figures report from Palang Hitam / ABC on the repression in Indonesia
This document details the amount of cases currently being handled by Palang Hitam. If we had more funds at our access we would be able to provide more support for the other cases we continue to be made aware of. Please contact palanghitam (no scums) riseup (acab) net if you can help us help the comrades in prison. It is needed to supply the prisoners with funds for their costs, for their families, those who need it, and for those who need lawyers as the police appointed lawyers work with the cops and prosecutors to screw the defendants. When we are able to employ the professional lawyers, the torture and abuse is able to be stopped. This is important as many of the defendants are being hurt and threatened until they give false testimony. In one case in Surabaya, one young man died from his injuries due to torture. The Densus88 anti-terrorist unit are mapping the anarchist movement and its internal relationships using threats and torture. The unit are using widespread data surveillance and spyware software, which they send to blogs and social media accounts to infiltrate the phones and devices of the comrades. We recommend the use of computer and phone security, realizing its limits. Indonesian officials are reported to have attended the summit convened by the American administration against the “far-left terrorism” and we remind all those on the streets and those in cyberspace to remain aware to the strong possibility of further repression. When revolutions go half way, we dig our own graves.
Palang Hitam International
Chaos in the Archipelago of Fire: A Compilation of Texts from the 2025 Insurrection in Indonesia & Subsequent Repression
A new, two-part zine is available to print and share, collecting texts from the Indonesia Anarchist Black Cross about the 2025 insurrection in Indonesia, reports from anarchist prisoners, and letter-writing addresses for English-speaking prisoners:
Ireland
A statement from Anti Imperialist Action on the continued imprisonment of Irish Republican Niall Sheerin longer than his sentence:
Anti Imperialist Action Ireland fully supports the campaign by the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association to Free Niall Sheerin.
Niall Sheerin is a Derry Republican currently being held hostage by British Imperialism in Maghaberry Prison.
Having been sentenced in a British Court in Occupied Ireland to seven Years imprisonment for his part in the struggle for National Liberation, Niall Sheerin has now served his sentence but the British Occupation is refusing to release him as her remains an unrepentant Irish Republican.
British Imperialism is using draconian legislation called the ‘multi agency review arrangements’ better known as MARA to intern Niall Sheerin.
Under this British legislation occupation can keep a prisoner interned after they have served their sentence, if MARA deem the Prisoner is still a threat to the British Occupation.
This means Niall Sheerin has a being interned without any release date, having served the sentence handed down in the occupation court.
This is a gross abuse of Human Rights ands the Free Niall Sheerin Campaign should be supported by all Republicans, Anti Imperialists, socialists and progressives.
Niall Sheerin is not a criminal. He is an Irish Republican who has a legitimate right to pursue the National Liberation and sovereignty of our country and our people. He should be back with his family, friends and community, where he belongs.
In the coming weeks and months AIA will be stepping up our support for Niall Sheerin and all Republican POWs as we continue to build and develop the campaign for National Liberation across Ireland.
Free Niall Sheerin now- Smash MARA!
Saor Éire Anois- An Phoblacht Abú
Italy
Revolutionary anarchist Alfredo Cospito remains under 41-bis prison regime, defense appeal rejected.
On July 1st, 2026, the outcome of the June 12th hearing has been announced. The Supervisory Court of Rome rejected the appeal filed by Alfredo’s lawyer against the Ministry of Justice’s decision to renew 41-bis prison regime towards him for another two years. Updates will follow as soon as the documentation is available.
Get Alfredo out of 41-bis.
Get the revolutionary prisoners out of 41-bis.
To continue writing to the comrade:
Alfredo Cospito
C. C. “G. Bacchiddu”
strada provinciale 56 n. 4
Località Bancali
07100 Sassari (SS)
[Italia – Italy]
[Source: Act For Freedom Now!]
Mexico
Solidarity Statement from Chiapas Demanding the Immediate Release and Safe Return of Our Compañero Jesús Plácido Galindo, Member Of the Indigenous And Popular Council Of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (Cipog-Ez)
To the Indigenous and Popular Council of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ)
To the Sixth Civil Observation Mission
To the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)
To the National Indigenous Congress – Indigenous Governing Council (CNI-CIG)
To the peoples, organizations, collectives, and individuals who struggle for life and autonomy.
From this territory we raise our collective voice to denounce the arrest and disappearance of compañero Jesús Plácido Galindo, spokesperson for the Indigenous and Popular Council of Guerrero – Emiliano Zapata (CIPOG-EZ) and member of the Coordination and Follow-Up Commission of the National Indigenous Congress.
We know this is not an isolated event, but part of the war that the bad governments and organized crime, acting in complicity and impunity, wage against the peoples who defend the land, the territory, and life. This alliance between them grows more evident by the day, and it is playing out across the entire territory known as Mexico. The systematic violence endured by the communities of the Montaña Baja region of Guerrero is part of this necropolitics carried out from above against those of us who live below: the killings, the disappearances, the forced displacement, and the criminalization of those who struggle are all expressions of a politics of terror carried out by this system of death, which seeks to destroy the peoples’ processes of autonomous organization.
The arrest of compa Jesús Plácido, which took place on July 17, 2026 in an operation involving military forces and security agencies, is deeply troubling. His whereabouts and the reasons for his arrest remain unknown at this time, and we hold the federal and state governments responsible for any harm to his physical and psychological integrity.
From Chiapas we know well the cost of defending life. Our peoples too have faced forced displacement, militarization, the presence of armed groups, persecution, and the criminalization of those who organize resistance. For this reason, the struggle of CIPOG-EZ is also our struggle.
We demand:
The immediate return and freedom of compañero Jesús Plácido Galindo.
That the authorities immediately report on his whereabouts and fully guarantee his integrity.
An end to the persecution and criminalization of CIPOG-EZ and the organized communities of the Montaña Baja region of Guerrero.
Real guarantees for the life, safety, and autonomy of the peoples that make up the National Indigenous Congress.
We call on organizations, collectives, communities, support networks, signatories of the Declaration for Life, adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, and all people of dignity to speak out and mobilize until our compañero is presented alive and set free.
Solidarity among peoples is our strength. Facing fear, organization. Facing war, community. Facing disappearance and violence, we will keep defending life.
Immediate presentation and freedom for Jesús Plácido Galindo!
Stop the war against the people!
Morocco
Concern About the State of Health of Sahrawi Prisoner Naâma Asfari on Hunger Strike
The Sahrawi political prisoner Naâma Asfari, detained in Kenitra prison in Morocco, continues an indefinite hunger strike started on June 8, 2026 to denounce his conditions of detention and demand the application of an opinion from the United Nations Working Group on arbitrary detention concerning prisoners from the Gdeim Izik group. His state of health is causing concern due to significant weight loss, despite his determination to continue his movement.
Member of the group of Gdeim Izik prisoners, sentenced to a heavy sentence after a trial contested by several international organizations, Naâma Asfari also requests his transfer to El Aaiún prison in order to be closer to his family. Calls have been made to the Moroccan authorities to respond to his demands and respect their commitments in terms of human rights, while UN bodies have already denounced allegations of torture and the use of confessions obtained under duress in this case.
[Source: Secours Rouge Translation: Abolition Media]
Tunisia
Prisoner Ghassan Boughdiri Begins Hunger Strike After 120 Days of Detention
Tunisian activist Ghassan Boughdiri announced the start of an indefinite hunger strike after more than four months of detention. He has been detained for 120 days without having been interviewed by the investigating judge and denounces unfounded accusations.
In a letter made public, he asserts that “Palestine rewrote its law at the cost of blood and fire” and that resistance in Gaza helped create “a global revolutionary climate for the spread of freedom.” He claims his right to be heard and to be able to defend himself against the accusations made against him.
Source: Secours Rouge Translation: Translation
Turkey
Death of Revolutionary Prisoner Gürkan Türkoğlu
On Sunday, July 5, the Popular Front of Turkey announced the death of Gürkan Türkoğlu, a revolutionary activist sentenced to life imprisonment. Incarcerated in a so-called “well” prison, he had begun a 267-day hunger strike to protest his prison conditions and obtain a transfer to a less restrictive prison. His request was granted, but his health deteriorated significantly after a medical procedure, leading to his death in a hospital in Antalya. Following the announcement of his death, numerous tributes were broadcast in Turkey and across Europe.
Source: Secours Rouge Translation: Abolition Media
Iran
The Guardian reports that 1500 death row prisoners in Ghezel Hesar prison began a collective hunger strike after six prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement pending execution.
International Repression
Zündlumpen case
A Heavenly Blow for the General-SA: Court Dates Announced for the Zündlumpen Case in November/December. (Munich, Germany)
The state of affairs in the Munich Zündlumpen case over the last four years is reminiscent of one of M. C. Escher’s stairs to nowhere. Without a doubt the judiciary has been going round in circles this past year.
But finally the repression theater around Zündlumpen is expected to premiere in November or December of this year. Barely one and a half years after Eva Firoozis preliminary typescript of her play, “Whoever reads this is an idiot,” was presented to us. With judge Himmelstoß and his judicial association playing the role of protagonist on stage.
The very same actors who previously corrected most of Firoozis manuscript with a red marker, disqualified entire files from the case and even changed the genre; who put their investigation on hold in order to refer Eva Firoozi to the theater ministry, have now been tasked by the upper echelons of the theaters management to perform the piece anyway.
So far it is unclear what effect the corrections made by Himmelstoß & Co. will have on the plot of the theater piece. Which is why we will save our comments on the matter for a future date and for now refer you to previous texts. However, what is clear is that Eva Firoozi copied and plagiarized from numerous other sources. The young debut-general-director is trying to make the original sources disappear; she had them withdrawn and would like the files to be destroyed to hide the evidence of her plagiarism. Which reminds one of the phenomenon in legal libraries where entire pages are torn out of idiotic legal tomes just to undermine the competition.
Meanwhile there have been rumors among various critics that Eva Firoozi is using AI to draft her works. Rumors based on the fact that multiple theater pieces, ranging from the Kasperltheater [puppets] genre to sitcom style Kammerspielen [state funded theater in Munich] have been announced within a short span of time, all supposedly penned by the young debutant. This seems to have had an effect on the quality of the works. The well-known theater critic Martin Bernd Stein, who has gone missing recently, wrote a scathing one word review of the upcoming premiere of the piece “Kasperl and Seppl vs. Petrosilius Wackermann and Oberwachtmeister Dimpflmeier:” calling it “atrocious.” But some die-hard fans of the general director won’t let themselves be scared away and are planning an excursion to the theater court in Altötting (meeting point 18.06.2026, 9am Altötting train station). More information can be found here.
Tickets for the show, “Whoever reads this is an idiot,” in November and December will go on sale in the fall. It is unclear whether or not it will be free entrance. It has however been confirmed that an abridged version of another one of Eva Firoozis works, “Who let the dogs out” will be performed as well. Judge Himmelstoß reacted saying: “For god’s sake, please no more acts! Frau Firoozi, you aren’t Wagner.”
We are excited and will report back when tickets go on sale.
We have heard that updates about the Zündlumpen case have become more and more cryptic and unintelligible. To this we can only say: we don’t understand it ourselves. That’s modern repression art for you.
Here again a list of previous updates about repression in Munich and Eva Firoozis repression theater:
• Who let the dogs out… update on repression against anarchists in Munich
• Cops and robbers? A history of investigative techniques 2025
• Criminal or association? Charges dropped against one of the three accused in the Munich “Zündlumpen” case
• Here is the translation of N and M’s letter published after their release
Available in well stocked anarchist distros:
• Hetzlumpen. Zeitschrift in Solidarität mit den von Repression, Knast und Zensur betroffenen Anarchist:innen und ihren Projekten und Kämpfen in München
• About Munich 2019-2025: Petrol, Printer Ink, and ParanormalActivity
[Source: Act For Freedom Now!]
Ireland
Two Irish Republicans were arrested after an “extremely sophisticated bomb” allegedly was allegedly intercepted through intelligence investigations into dissident republicans. From Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland:
Anti Imperialist Action Ireland extends our revolutionary solidarity to the two Republicans who have been arrested and brought before the Free State Courts for alleged possession of explosives.
We also extend our solidarity to their family, friends and comrades at this time.
This case has laid bare the inequality within the 26-county legal system. While one Republican was able to afford legal representation and was granted bail, the other could not afford representation and, due to the ongoing legal aid strike, was left without a solicitor, denied bail and is now subjected to internment by remand.
We condemn the free state special branch for interference in the granting of bail to one of these Republicans, claiming they are investigating the surety. As a result, this evening both Republicans find themselves as prisoners of war, interned by remand in Portlaoise and the Dochas centre, respectively.
We further condemn the corporate media for the sensationalist reporting on this case, the repeating of obvious lies and for their eagerness to be willing participants in the attempted free state criminalisation of two Irish Republicans.
It is not a crime to be an Irish Republican. It is not a crime to oppose the ongoing illegal occupation and partition of our country.
AIA will continue to stand in solidarity with all Republican POWs and we hope both of these Republicans find themselves released on bail in the near future and and back with their friends, families and communities, where they belong.
Greece
Hands Off Our Comrades: Support for Legal Expenses of Persecuted and Incarcerated Comrades for the Marfin Case
Sixteen years later, the greek state is once again bringing the Marfin bank case to the forefront of media and repressive attention. The ‘New Democracy’ party (the ruling party) is attempting once again to criminalise the massive and highly confrontational protest that took place at 5 May of 2010 against the austerity measures designed to shift the burden of the economic crisis to the oppressed. During this protest three workers who despite the general strike where forced to be at their workplace lost their lives. The trial has already concluded, resulting in the conviction of the bank’s CEO, the head of security and the branch manager. Yet, despite this there have been repeated attempts to frame comrades dragging them through sham trials where the state’s lies have been totally dismantled.
Sixteen years later, the government and its media is attempting to shift the pre-election agenda once again to the convenient target- the anarchist movement. Specifically, our comrades whose homes were raided, two of whom have been incarcerated and another one is waiting for extradition from the UK to appear before the interrogator . The ‘evidence’ presented in the media so far is reaching new levels of absurdity. From anonymous phone calls to which we have – unfortunately – become accustomed, we moved on to anonymous emails. AI software was deployed 16 years later to match photographs from… holidays showing similar clothing.
Sixteen years later, the issues at stake remain the same. In the face of the state’s policies of death, which have made daily life unbearable; the execution of a neurodivergent man because he ran to escape a roadblock; the murder of workers across the country, the deadliest pushback causing more than 650 murders in Pylos, the state murder of 57 people in Tempi, the cooperation with the murderous israeli state in the genocide of the palestinian people and the military operations that are drowning populations in blood across the globe, the only answer is struggle, perseverance, confrontation by any means necessary.
To cover the heavy legal expenses of the ongoing jury process and in order to defeat the state fabrication against our comrades we are calling for international support.
As we stood by our comrades during all these years in demonstrations, squats and struggles we will stand by them in their struggle for freedom.
always in war with the state and its machinations
FREEDOM TO THE INCARCERATED COMRADES
SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE PERSECUTED IN THE MARFIN CASE
[Source: and Translation: Abolition Media]
Italy
Solidarity with the 9 Anarchists Persecuted in Italy in the Latest Operation
Solidarity with the 9 anarchists persecuted in Italy for allegedly sabotaging a high-speed train line during the last winter Olympics and forming an organization with the goal to subvert the state. From Berlin in solidarity, we send you strength and love!
As a small gesture to inform people the night after we heard about the raids and your arrests and the eviction, and to get out of our heads and start to express our sadness and rage we hung a banner in the streets of Berlin.
You will be carried in our everyday lives until we walk together again
Our thoughts are also with those displaced but not disheartened by the opportunist eviction of bencivenga
Sara and Sandro in our Hearts
[Source: Kontrapolis Translation: Act For Freedom Now!]
Seven Anarchist Political Prisoners Released From Italian Crackdown
Seven people arrested on June 16 in a crackdown targeting anarchist groups have been released by a judge. They were being prosecuted under Article 270 bis of the Italian Penal Code, which concerns subversive association with terrorist aims. The judge ruled that this offense had not been established. Two other people arrested during the operation remain in separate cases, facing charges of “speech terrorism” after leaflets were seized during searches.[Source: Secours Rouge / Translation: Abolition Media]
Phone Zaps
No New Prisons IL organized a zap at Logan Illinois after particularly brutal “Orange Crush” squads raid housing units:
🚨 People imprisoned at Logan have been subjected to brutal shakedowns and violations over the past 72 hours! “Orange Crush”- a notoriously violent state tactical team- was unleashed by IDOC, wreaking havoc and terrorizing people held there.
How can IDOC claim it is going to create a “trauma-informed” prison of “Rehabilitation and Restoration Inside Safe Environments” while continuously subjecting the people currently in their so-called care to trauma-inducing abuse? Join the campaign and fight with and for our incarcerated siblings, and to demand investment in *real* safety and security for the people of Illinois! https://bit.ly/nnpinterestform
WHAT WE KNOW
Logan was put on full lockdown after a dental tool supposedly went missing. There are cameras in the dentist area, which should have made clear if it had been taken by an incarcerated person- it was most likely misplaced by staff. People were abruptly forced out of bed early in the morning over the last several days. They were not allowed to use the bathroom, brush their teeth, or properly clothe themselves before being pulled from their cells.
“Orange Crush”- a state tactical team whose violence has been thoroughly documented in multiple lawsuits- was sent in and tore apart people’s cells. Belongings were broken, mixed up with others’, thrown away, and stolen.
Some people have been left with no mattresses and are sleeping on a slab now. Staff are eating people’s food and leaving wrappers to make sure people know guards ate it. People imprisoned at Logan are using the term “mental abuse” to describe what is happening.
In addition to the escalated assaults of Orange Crush, there have also been “regular shakedowns” by the staff at Logan. People’s stuff is being confiscated and they aren’t being given contraband slips (a receipt that proves you had something taken) Staff is having people strip-searched, in the gym, in large groups, and people who are menstruating are not being given pads to replace the ones they had to take off. Folks have not been allowed to shower and the hot water has been shut off.
People at Logan stress these are not typical shakedowns or “normal prison stuff”- the way these shakedowns are being conducted is particularly abusive. People are being called “bitches” and “hos” and being thrown in segregation cells, in some cases just for laughing. They usually hit everyone and then are done- but these are dragging on and unfolding. They leave and then come back, which is putting everyone on edge. People inside are using words like “targeted harassment” “mental abuse” “triggering” and “re-traumatizing” to describe what is being done to them. Folks have attempted to call for mental health help and been told by staff, No.
WHAT YOU CAN DO, RIGHT NOW: Contact your legislators, tell them you are outraged, and demand that they take action to stop this ongoing abuse! find their info: https://bit.ly/findmystaterep
Contact the IDOC constituents office and demand that folks inside be given the chance to send their belongings home before it’s taken in the shakedowns!
217.558.2200 xt 67031 or select option 1 or 2
DOC. Constituent.Services@illinois.gov
THESE ARE DIRECT ASKS FROM FOLKS INSIDEWHAT YOU CAN DO NEXT: Tell your legislators that you don’t support Illinois spending over $1 Billion to build new prisons- the culture of cruelty and inhumanity are baked into their very existence and Illinoisans deserve investment in real safety and security for our communities! Contact Governor Pritzker, and demand he put a stop to this violence. Tell him to release all the people in Logan with active clemency petitions sitting on his desk!
217-782-6830 217-782-6831 312-814-2121 312-814-2122Join the No New Prisons campaign, to continue fighting with and for our incarcerated siblings, and stop IL from building any more cages! https://bit.ly/nnpinterestform
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organized a zap at Menard Illinois during a heat wave:
☎️⚡️This week is bringing another heat wave to the Midwest and Chicagoland area. Menard Correctional Center has done very little to mitigate dangerous temperatures, which are only rising today and throughout the week. Join us in calling the warden at Mendard to demand they open windows and provide mitigations to ensure that loved ones can survive this heatwave. The office only takes calls until 3 PM; please call in the morning and before then every day!
CALL: Menard: 618-826-5071 press 6, then 9
EMAIL: DOC Director email: latoya.hughes@illinois.gov
SCRIPT: “I am calling to demand that the warden address the extreme heat issues affecting incarcerated individuals. With very little circulation, the heat on the galleries is unbearable, especially for those with health conditions like asthma.
In Menard East House, the administration has not opened the windows in Galleries 1 and 3 despite repeated requests. Open the windows in East House Galleries 1 and 3, and do anything else you can to reduce the effects of the heat.”
Monsour Freedom Campaign organized a zap in response to Texas DCJ mailroom censorship of Mohammed Husayn Haykal’s “Life of Muhammad”: https://tinyurl.com/tdcj-complaint
We recently sent two copies of Mohammed Husayn Haykal’s Life of Muhammad to Monsour at his request so that he could participate in a study group with other Muslim inmates held in Texas Department of Justice (TDCJ’s) Ferguson Unit.
Monsour is an experienced educator and mentor to countless people behind and beyond the walls, and this study group was something his peers were counting on him to help lead precisely because of his demonstrated knowledge about Islam and many other topics.
When the two copies arrived at the unit yesterday, they were unexplainably seized and confiscated. Monsour was handed a slip indicating the books had been rejected by the prison due to being sent from an “unknown source.”
Yet this is clearly untrue, since the books were ordered new, in paperback form, directly from Amazon, which is an approved distributor as outlined clearly in TDCJ’s mailroom policies BP-03.91.
Because Monsour has a political framework for understanding the nature and purpose of prisons in modern Amerikkka, and a deep historical knowledge of the tactics they employ to fulfill this purpose, we are not at all surprised by this latest move on the part of TDCJ, which is objectively a violation of its own mailroom policies, not to mention a violation of Monsour and other inmates’ basic legal rights (not that we are naive about the non-existence of actual rights, or Amerika’s blatantly inconsistent application of its own laws generally).
However, he believes these types of moments present opportunities to politically educate the public as well as inmates about the nature and purpose of the Amerikan prison system generally, and an opportunity to invite more people to resist these daily injustices alongside him.
We are calling on everyone who can to click the link in bio, copy and paste the form templates, and take a minute to send letters and emails to the appropriate TDCJ offices to help Monsour overturn this decision so that he can continue doing what he does best: educating others.
Free Monsour! Free the Land! Free all New Afrikan captives! ⛓️💥⛓️💥⛓️💥
To-Do Items
- Write a formal complaint, handwritten or typed, addressed to: Director’s Review Committee / PO Box 99 / Huntsville, TX 77342 Use this template or adapt in your own words.
- Write a fornal complaint, handwritten or typed, addressed to: C.F. Hazelwood – Deputy Director of Religious Services / TDCJ – Chaplaincy and Volunteer Services Divison / PO Box 99 / Huntsville, TX 77342 Use this template or adapt in your own words.
- You can also call C.F. Hazelwood at 936-437-7049 or email hir at VolunteerServices@tdcj.texas.gov
Write to Monsour expressing your thoughts and solidarity on this matter at this address or by messaging him on Securus at TDCJ → Ferguson Unit.
Monsour Owolabi #01856112
PO Box 660400
Dallas TX 775226-0400
DSA Emerge organized a zap for Mumia Abu Jamal demanding medical treatment:
CALL TO ACTION🚨
Mumia Abu-Jamal is facing medical abuse at the hands of the Pennsylvania Deartment of Corrections, and needs our support!Call SCl Mananoy to demand medical treatment. Basic Script:
“Hello, my name is ____ and I’m calling to request that Mumia Abu-Jamal DIN # 8335 be seen and treated by specialists, who treat diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, immediately. He also needs to be examined for new glasses, a heart-healthy diet, filtered water and regular exercise, indoors and out.”• Superintendent’s Office Thomas Sokaloski) – (570) 773-2158
• PA DOC Secretary (Dr. Laurel Harry) – (7177) 728-4109 or (717) 728-2573
• PA DOC Secretary – ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.govShow up for him by:
💸 Becoming a Monthly Sustainer for his support committee
📝 Writing him a letter
☎️ Calling the prison to demand medical treatment
💌 Joining us at our upcoming letter writing event on July 25, where we will be writing to Mumia and the Prarieland defendants. (RSVP at 🔗 in bio)When we fight for our prisoners, we can free them all! ⛓️💥⛓️💥
Media
Autumn Hill, one of the Prairieland defendants recently sentenced to 50 years, was able to do a rare 35 minute video interview with Uncloseted Media:
“I absolutely consider myself a political prisoner. I think that it’s clear that I’ve been incarcerated for political reasons. I think that it’s clear that we were tried for political reasons, and the Judge who sentenced me, Reed O’Connor, who was a different man that the trial Judge Mark Pittman, also sentenced me for political reasons, that Mark Pittman and Reed O’Connor made it clear that this sentence sends a message to other people who share an ideology that justifies political violence.”
The “People Do Come Home” webinar discussed the complexities of prisoner solidarity in the age of Prairieland with an intergenerational panel featuring members from several support committees and former political prisoners Ashanti Alston, Josh Harper, Ray Luc Levasseur, and Julie Herrada.
A new episode of Jalil Muntaqim’s “We Are Our Own Liberators” podcast on the Anything Entertainment Network interviews former political prisoners Laura Whitehorn, David Gilbert, Ray Luc Levasseur, Bill Harris, and Russel Little
The Final Straw Podcast‘s new episode and accompanying zines covering the Prairieland Sentencing as well as Flock Surveillance Sabotage in the Great Lakes interviewing the support committee for the two people sentenced in Michigan. 
A new zine “Against the Cell: Illegalism after Prairieland: Against Legibility: How ‘Movements’ Become Evidence” explores how underground resistance can reconfigure to become more illegible and resilient to state repression.
Garrett Felber, editor of the recently published collected writings of Martin Sostre “I Cannot Submit to Injustices”, posted an article connecting lessons from Martin Sostre’s struggles to the Prairieland case and the current repressive moment
Events
Running Down The Walls
Anarchist Black Cross is organizing the annual Running Down The Walls 5K Marathon and ABCF Warchest fundraiser on September 19, 2026:
Since 1999, prisoners and supporters throughout North America have participated in the annual event known as Running Down the Walls (RDTW) often running or walking simultaneously in many cities and prisons at once. Many places will be hosting the annual RDTW on or around Sunday, September 19th, 2026 – stay tuned to our blog for more details from all of the locations participating this year!
This is a non-competitive 5K run/jog/walk/roll to raise awareness and funds for political prisoners. Over the years, we have raised thousands of dollars and lots of awareness around the struggle to free political prisoners.
An important component of Running Down the Walls is the solidarity runs that take place throughout numerous cities. Solidarity runs that are held in our communities are designed to illustrate, through several small collective actions, that we have not forgotten our comrades locked up behind prison walls. Runs that are held in prisons are designed to both politicize other prisoners and to illustrate that the acts of solidarity have been heard.
This annual event is also one of the primary fundraisers for the ABCF Warchest Program – a fund designed to assist political prisoners who normally receive little or no financial support with monthly checks. Other funds raised should be used to support local groups of your choosing, whether that is your own organization or another group you’d like to support. The choice is yours.
To highlight the importance of these events, we will provide you with two statements from our imprisoned comrades concerning RDTW.
“As we ran we were thinking and talking about all the runners in Los Angeles and how we’d love to be out there running with them. We also spoke about the other political prisoners who were running with us in at least some other prisons… Not only our pace and spirits soared, but the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature rose to the 60s. So we ran down the walls and ran up the sun and we were glad to be doing it.”
– Jaan Laaman“Regardless of how one identifies politically, support for Running Down the Walls can be an important statement of solidarity in an era that finds the movement for the most equitable social reality unduly fragmented. Such support is not only recognition of the trial and tribulations suffered by the diversity of PP/POWs imprisoned for their contributions to the struggle. It is also an affirmation that the many voices recognizing those contributions and seeking justice for the prisoners are at least fellow travelers who have much more in common than at odds and share the same side of the barricade.”
– Bill DunneWe must collectively raise our voices in support of those held behind the prison walls.
We must let them know that we are here for them until they are free.
We must Run Down the Walls!
National Prisoners’ Human Rights Strike
Jailhouse Lawyers Speak announced a National Prisoners’ Human Rights Strike from May 1st to June 19 in 2027 and is requesting help to distribute the call to networks inside to support the work strike and commissary boycott. The full call to action:
National Prisoners’ Human Rights Strike
“From May Day to Juneteenth: We Refuse to Slave”MAY 1 – JUNE 19, 2027
CONTACT: JLS Housing and Resource Center
MEDIA: jlshrcmedia #prisonstrikeWORK STRIKE, BOYCOTT COMMISSARY, WORK SLOWDOWNS
THE THREE CORE DEMANDS
While JLS maintains its full Ten National Demands (viewable at Jailhouselawyersspeak.com), this campaign focuses on three:
1. END LEGALIZED SLAVERY: Repeal the exception clause of the 13th Amendment.
2. RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS: Repeal exception clauses (including Section 2 of the 14th Amendment) that strip voting rights from confined citizens, pretrial detainees, and former felons.
3. FREE ALL THE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN U.S. PRISONS.CALL TO ACTION
Whether motivated by human rights, labor dignity, or the complete abolition of the carceral state, inside participants stand united in direct action. We call on all outside allies to support the resistance inside, regardless of ideological differences.JLS calls on outside supporters to:
– Push this statement inside by mailing it into prisons and sharing it on visitation floors, phone calls, and community networks;
– Center prisoner voices by publishing imprisoned people writings on prison labor, disenfranchisement, abolition and human rights;
– Pressure establishment politicians to address the Demands and repeal constitutional exception clauses;
– Inform JLS of any notices of participation from inside, ongoing strikes, or related retaliation during the strike timeframe;
– Volunteer legal expertise or join the Right 2 Vote Initiative by contacting Outthemud.jls@gmail.com.
– College students develop a JLS project at your schoolThe National Prisoners’ Human Rights Strike is more than a strike. It is a commitment to building lasting institutions, expanding legal knowledge, strengthening political education, and organizing inside and outside the walls until legalized slavery and the broader systems of exploitation are abolished.
TEACH THE LAW. LEARN THE LAW. ORGANIZE. WE REFUSE TO SLAVE.
#blackaugust #endlegalizedslavery #prisonstrike
This Month in History
On July 1, 2011, an indefinite hunger strike begins at Pelican Bay and other prisons throughout California.
On July 2, 1921, 13 anarchists, held for no plausible reason in the Taganka prison in Moscow by the Bolshevik regime, inaugurated a hunger strike to the death in order to campaign for the release of all political prisoners in Russia.
On July 5, during the 1934 West Coast longshoremen’s strike, San Francisco police fire at picketing workers on “Bloody Thursday,” leading to a general strike.
On July 7, 2017, the second of two days of rioting against the G20 Summit took place in Hamburg, Germany.
On July 8, 1972, Palestinian novelist and communist Ghassan Kanafani was killed along with his teenage niece in a bomb attack in Beirut by Israel.
On July 9, 1917, in New York City, anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, were sentenced to serve two years in prison, fines of $10,000 each, and subsequently deportation to Russia for violating conscription law during World War I.
On July 11, 1892, French anarchist Ravachol was guillotined at Montbrison for a series of attacks on right-wing judges.
On July 11, 1990, 500 Canadian police attack Mohwaks on the barricades of the Kanesatake occupation.
On July 13, 2019, Willem Van Spronsen was killed by police after an action against the Tacoma immigrant detention center.
On July 14, 1967, Black anarchist of Puerto Rican descent, Martin Sostre, was arrested at his Afro-Asian Bookstore in Buffalo, New York.
On July 15, 1969 Black Panthers Kathleen and Eldridge Cleaver arrived in Algiers at the invitation of the Algerian government. Eldridge was wanted in the US after jumping bail following a clash with police in Oakland in 1968.
On July 15, 2010, Marily Buck was paroled.
On July 16, 1947, Assata Shakur was born in Queens, New York City.
On July 19, 1936, in response to a right-wing coup by general Francisco Franco, workers across Spain took up arms and launched one of the most far-reaching social revolutions in history.
On July 20, 1979, Leonard Peltier escaped from Lompoc federal prison.
On July 20, 2001, Carlo Giuliani, a 23-year-old Italian history student and left-wing activist, was killed in Genoa by Italian paramilitary police during protests against the G8 summit.
On July 21, 1930 a 24-hour general strike took place in Montevideo, Uruguay, organised by workers protesting against the imprisonment of anarchists.
On July 22, 1932 Errico Malatesta, Italian anarchist ice cream seller, mechanic and member of the Naples section of the International Working Men’s Association, died after six years of fascist house arrest at the age of 78.
On July 23, 1967, one of the biggest rebellions in US history occurred in Detroit, following a police raid on a bar in a poor, majority Black area in the early hours of the morning.
On July 27, 1973, one of the most destructive prison rebellions in US history began at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary when prisoners rose up against overcrowding, mistreatment and endemic violence.
On July 30, 1971, 38 women members of the left-wing Tupamaros guerrilla group escaped from the Cabildo women’s prison in Uruguay using a tunnel which had been dug into the prison from the sewers.
On July 30, 2019, Tom Manning, an anti-imperialist revolutionary and political prisoner of the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Unit, United Freedom Front, and Ohio 7, died in prison.
On July 31, 1968 in Mexico students occupied many schools and universities, and called for a general strike. Violent battles erupted in Mexico City between students and riot police.
Birthdays
Each issue we post the upcoming birthdays of political prisoners, prisoners of war, prison rebels, and other comrades so that we can send messages of love and solidarity and show that they are not alone or forgotten on their special day.
This is not an exhaustive list; please let us know of any comrades inside that would like to share their birthday and mailing address. We double check current addresses each month, and try to keep this online calendar updated, but people are often transferred or released. Let us know if there are any changes that need to be made. You can email any birthday updates to in_contempt at autistici dot org.
Siarhei Zhyhalou
July 19
Siarhei Zhyhalou is a defendant in the “Black Nightingales” case. He’ll soon turn 21 — the third birthday he’ll spend behind bars.
The case first came to light through a propaganda film reporting the detention of seven teenagers accused of “cooperating with Ukrainian special services.” They were charged with “terrorism” and “treason against the state.”
According to the propagandists, they were preparing to blow up a police station or prosecutor’s office in Baranavichy.
Zhyhalou was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Siarhei’s father recorded a video appeal to the dictator, stating that the “investigators” on the case beat the detained anarchists and threatened them with weapons, demanding they incriminate themselves and their comrades.
Belarusian prisons will usually only accept letters in Belarusian or Russian, so if you don’t speak one of those languages your best bet is to email your message to belarus_abc at riseup.net or use this online form and they should be able to translate your greetings and pass them on
Zachary Evetts
Birthday: July 22
Zachary Evetts is one of the Prairieland defendants recently convicted and sentenced of trumped up charges stemming from a noise demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado Texas. After being sentenced to 50 years, Zachary also faces state charges and currently at the Johnson County Jail. You can send letters to this mail scanning service:
Zachary Evetts, 202502013
Johnson County Jail, TX
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
Dzmitry Dubovski
Birthday: July 29th
Dzmitry Dubovski is a Belarusian anarchist, sentenced to 18 years in prison after he was arrested late last year and charged with vandalizing government buildings. He previously spent 10 years on the run after being accused of some direct actions that took place in 2009-2010.
Belarusian prisons will usually only accept letters in Belarusian or Russian, so if you don’t speak one of those languages your best bet is to email your message to belarus_abc at riseup.net or use this online form and they should be able to translate your greetings and pass them on
Dubovski Dmitry Nikolaevich
ST № 4
ul. Krupskoy, 99A,
Mogilov, 212011
Bill Dunne
Birthday: August 3
Bill Dunne is an anarchist political prisoner who was sentenced to 90 years in 1979 for the attempted liberation of comrades from Seattle’s King County Jail in downtown Seattle, Washington. During the escape a shootout occurred and eventually Bill and two of his comrades were arrested.
In 1983 Bill tried to escape from USP Lewisburg and for that was sentenced to an additional 15 years, 7.5 years of imprisoned in the notorious control units at USP Marion. Bill had his first parole hearing in 2014, which was denied. The parole board‘s reasoning was due to the fact that Bill still maintains communication with anarchist groups and individuals. Not only has Bill been in solidarity with the anarchist movement and the individuals and groups that take part in it, but also Black liberation movements and indigenous resistance movements.
Through the years Bill has also taught GED classes at almost every prison at which he has found himself, helping many prisoners get their GED.
Bill Dunne #10916-086
FMC Butner Medium II
Post Office Box 1500
Butner, North Carolina 27509
Hanif Shabazz Bey
Birthday: August 16
Hanif Shabazz Bey is one of the “Virgin Island 3”, a group of activists who have been imprisoned for over 50 years accused of murdering eight people in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The murders took place during a turbulent period of rebellion during the 1970’s as, with much of the world, a movement to resist colonial rule began to grow in the U.S. occupied Virgin Islands. From 1971 to 1973, there was a small scale Mau Mau rebellion taking place on the islands. This activity was down-played by the media, for fear it would damage the tourist industry, which the island’s survival depends on
Hanif (Beaumont Gereau) was 22 at the time of this arrest. While at Golden Grove prison from 2009-2016, he was involved with the Awaken Mentoring Group that assisted troubled youth to help stop violence. He states, “with no animosity or bitterness, I just would like to be given the chance to give back something to society.” After a half of a century in prison, he has severe health issues including untreated Hepatitis C, commonly contracted in places like prisons, that he was diagnosed with in 2000. The FibroScan test to determine the extent of liver damage was ordered by a physician in 2017, but has yet to be done. Please help reunite Hanif with his family including 3 children and 8 grandchildren, as his wish is, “to give and share with [his grandchildren] things that I was unable to give their parents.”
Hanif can be written to at the mailing address below as well as through electronic messaging at gettingout.com.
Beaumont Gereau* #19-1952
Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility
19351 US Highway 49 North
Tutwiler, Mississippi 38963
*Address envelope with state name Beaumont Gereau, address card to Hanif (Shabazz Bey)
Christopher L Young
Birthday: August 17
Queer anarchist prisoner/jailhouse lawyer in Kentucky wishing to start an anarchist book club and get more involved in organizing.
Kentucky uses Securus, so you can send him a message by creating an account at securustech.online, clicking “emessaging – launch account,” then searching his name while selecting “State: Kentucky, Inmate ID: 136515.”
Mailing Address:
Christopher L Young #136515
Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex
200 Road to Justice
West Liberty, KY 41472
Mikalai Dziadok
Birthday: August 23
Anarchist and blogger Mikalai Dziadok was detained late in the evening of November 11, 2020. Dziadok was tortured for several hours and forced to give passwords to the encrypted equipment. Mikalai was accused of gross violation of public order, calls to the change of the regime via internet and possession of Molotov cocktails (he claims they were planted during the search). The prosecution believed that Dziadok repeatedly called for illegal actions on his Internet pages, including participation in protests and resistance to the cops. Dziadok was forced to go underground even before the protests started because of the threat of political persecution. In November of 2021, he was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment.
Belarusian prisons will usually only accept letters in Belarusian or Russian, so if you don’t speak one of those languages your best bet is to email your message to belarus_abc at riseup.net or use this online form and they should be able to translate your greetings and pass them on
Ronald Reed
Birthday: August 31st
Ron is a former 60s civil rights activist. In 1969, he was among the students at St. Paul Central High School who demanded Black history courses and organized actions against racist teachers. He was also instrumental in helping to integrate college campuses in Minnesota. During this period, he began to look toward revolutionary theory and engage in political street theater with other young Black revolutionaries in the city of St. Paul.
Ron went on to join the Black United Front. In 1970, he was convicted of shooting an off-duty police officer during a bank expropriation and served 13 years in prison. Twenty-five years later, he was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder after having a cold case of another police shooting pinned on him. He is serving a life sentence on this case.
Mail can be sent to this TextBehind mail scanning service:
Ronald Reed #219531
Minnesota Correctional Facility – Lino Lakes
Post Office Box 247
Phoenix, Maryland 21131