The US state’s recent attacks on anarchists and anti-authoritarians, framing the militant forefront of mass resistance to fascism as “terrorism” is nothing new––it is the foundational repressive arm of US state capitalist terror that seeks to maintain its imperial and national domination at all costs. From Haymarket to the Anarchist Exclusion Act, from the Sedition Act to Sacco and Vanzetti, from Red Scares to COINTELPRO, from the MOVE bombing to Wounded Knee, from the Green Scare to J20, and now from Prairieland to Minneapolis, any threat to the state in the vast social war of the exploited against their exploiters will encounter repression.
Repression is inevitable in any struggle for liberation. Repression––whether the forceful imposition of prison or death or our own fears that keep us from acting––is but one obstacle on the path to freedom. Understanding––and confronting––repression in this way will not demobilize us, scare us, or terrorize us. Resistance is never impossible, and despite the severe constraints of state terror we will understand, too, that the best way to fight repression is to fight.
Let us carry on the fight that led the Prairieland defendants to stand up to the barbed-wire walls of concentration camps. Let us carry on the fight that led the Minneapolis 15 to stand up to fascist terror in the streets. Let us carry on the fight that led the Michigan 8 to struggle against the complicit institutions of genocide for Palestinian liberation. Let us also remember that prisoners come home and that life after state terror is possible.
Until All Are Free.
In this climate of escalating repression and social war, we return with another round-up of updates and calls to action about political prisoners, 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.
Tarek Bazrouk was released from FCI Danbury after over 413 days of incarceration. A statement from his support committee of reflective celebration:
It is with joy and gratitude that we announce: Tarek Bazrouk is free.
Tarek Bazrouk, a 21-year-old Palestinian student from New York City, was released this morning from federal prison, reunited with his family after 413 days of incarceration-413 days of isolation from his loved ones, inhumane conditions, and institutional violence; 413 days of resistance, trust in Allah SWT, and a spirit that refuses to be broken.
Tarek was taken away from his family by the federal government at 20 years old, weeks before his college graduation. The FBI raided his family’s home for 8 hours before arresting Tarek on highly exaggerated and brazenly deceitful federal charges stemming from altercations with zionist agitators at protests against the genocide in Gaza. Despite his lack of criminal record, Tarek was denied bail and held at MDC Brooklyn for nearly 6 months. Initially facing up to 30 years, Tarek was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison, with an additional sentence of 3 years of supervised release.
A beloved brother, friend, and comrade who for years struggled against the occupation of his homeland by constantly educating and organizing his community, Tarek’s political persecution follows a pattern of rapidly intensifying repression against the global movement for the liberation of Palestine.
On the day of Tarek’s liberation, we reflect upon the lessons we have learned over the past 413 days.
The Free Tarek Bazrouk Committee was created in response to a concerning silence and lack of action surrounding Tarek’s case from the movement for the liberation of Palestine in the United States, and from our own community in New York City. This silence was deafening as Tarek stood in federal court, weighed down by chains, listening to the judge deny him bail and order him to be held at MDC Brooklyn, a facility notorious for chronic violence and abysmal living conditions. For the first several months after Tarek’s arrest, our community seemingly accepted as truth the propaganda and lies broadcasted by the government and media about Tarek.
The incessant manipulation of the truth, including the demonization and dehumanization of Palestinian and Muslim men, is among the primary tools utilized by the governments and media of the West and by the zionist entity in order to justify its crimes against the Palestinian people. Thus it came as no surprise when these tactics were immediately weaponized against Tarek, to isolate him from his community by instilling fear of publicly advocating for him or expressing opposition to his political persecution.
Just as we must refuse to normalize the zionist entity itself, we must also refuse to normalize political persecution of those who struggle against it.
Furthermore, it is crucial that we refuse to normalize our own fear; fear of struggling against zionism, and fear of publicly supporting those who struggle against it. It is this fear and subsequent silence and inaction wherein the zionist entity finds its power; it is sacrifice, bravery, and unity which weakens and cripples it.
As Tarek’s case progressed, and as we demanded that our community recognize the injustice Tarek faced, the movement began to unify in support of Tarek – not only through statements, but through action.
Our community distributed flyers asking for signatures on his lawyer’s mitigation letter to the judge; organized letter-writing workshops and fundraising initiatives for his commissary; and hosted political education events linking Tarek’s cause to other prisoners of the movement such as the Holy Land 5, Mohamad Hamad, Jakhi McCray, Leqaa Kordia, Malik Muhammad, Casey Goonan, and the tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including prisoners from Lebanon and Syria, facing severe torture and martyrdom in zionist prisons.
Over the past year, we witnessed the silence surrounding Tarek’s political persecution transform into international solidarity, with his name spoken around the world. Tarek received over 12,000 signatures on his mitigation letter to the judge; flyers for Tarek were translated into multiple languages and posted in cities in Asia and in Europe; and hundreds of letters of love, support, and solidarity were sent to him by his community and by strangers who refused to remain blind to the truth that Tarek represents.
Tarek has taught us all that struggle, sacrifice, solidarity, and unity is our collective duty.
He taught us that we have a responsibility to all Palestinian prisoners, and to all prisoners struggling against imperialist aggression around the world, to center them in our cause, integrate their resistance into the broader struggle, and never abandon them. He taught us to reject fear, cynicism, and silence, and instead remain steadfast in the truth. He showed us why freedom for the prisoners must be a constant effort, because it is not until they are all liberated, that we will all be free.
Today, Tarek was freed from prison. However, our support for Tarek does not end with his release from a prison cell.
As Tarek steps outside the gates, he begins a 3 year federal sentence of supervised release. Under supervised release, Tarek is still under intense repression, including restrictions on his movement, periodic visits from the US Probation Office, and continuous surveillance from the federal government. The political repression Tarek faces can inhibit employment and housing opportunities, making it difficult to re-establish stability and normalcy as he transitions back into a society that is conditioned to ostracize formerly incarcerated people. We ask that the community continues to support Tarek throughout his supervised release sentence by sharing and donating to his post-release fundraiser:
Post-release funds will be put towards mitigating legal fees related to supervised release, immediate needs such as therapy and other medical costs, and basic necessities.
While Tarek was liberated today, we must recommit our support for him and all political prisoners. We urge the community to support and amplify political prisoner Mohamad Hamad.
Mohamad is a 24-year-old Lebanese-American activist and former Penn State student, who has spent the last year in federal prison awaiting trial for deceitful charges of “property damage” and “conspiracy against the United States.” Mohamad is facing severe political persecution that, similarly to Tarek’s case, is being met with silence and inaction from his community. You can support Mohamad by signing and sharing the petition to his judge, donating and sharing his legal fundraiser, and writing him a letter:
The NYPD shot and tased Derell multiple times over alleged fare evasion on a crowded subway platform — injuring two bystanders and leaving one permanently brain dead. He has been held at Rikers Island for two years without trial. He is now home!
DERELL MICKLES IS HOME
Yesterday, Wednesday June 3rd, Derell Mickles was able to walk out of the courtroom doors and finally breathe fresh air. He took a plea deal that involved pleading to two misdemeanors and no felonies, with time served.
1 year for $2.90 and 1 year for carrying a pocket knife.
But it is a win that Derell is being released from the Rikers death camp and after almost two years is able to reconnect with his family and community. It is a win that he will have no felony charges on his record. It is a win that he can now access proper medical care.
Derell’s steadfast resistance and refusal to concede to insurmountable state pressure, mobilization of mass support for Derell, and the consistent pressure against the judge, NYPD, DA, DOC and every state actor, are what helped secure Derell’s release and clear Derell of the five felony charges levied against him.
All plea deals are coercive, and this was no exception. Derell had to make a verbal statement in the plea called an allocution, where he had to verbalize “what he did and why”, swear his statement is voluntary, and waive his right to a trial, witnesses, and “the presumption of innocence”. DEFENDANTS DO NOT WANT TO BE SAYING WHAT THEY’RE SAYING IN THESE ALLOCUTIONS.
We know a guilty plea does NOT mean Derell is guilty.
Derell is home but the fight for freedom still continues. Derell nor the African community never received justice for ongoing mass incarceration of African people for fair evasion and the ongoing exploitation of our communities via the MTA and various other agencies.
Derell Mickles is determined to keep fighting. We must organize to overturn all of the colonial conditions imposed on the African community within U.S. borders; the same conditions of oppression and exploitation that created the circumstances which led to the police mass shooting. This time with Derell fighting alongside us on the outside.
PUT THE STATE ON TRIAL! REPARATIONS NOW!
Donate to support Derell’s re-entry: Venmo @freetheland with a 🫂 emoji
Rebellions
North Carolina
80+ prisoners detained pre-trial in Bertie-Martin Regional Jail in eastern NC rebelled around 5 am, June 28, taking three guards hostage and seizing control of the jail. The day-long standoff was ended and all the prisoners were transferred to other jails.
Venezuela
Prison guards opened fire on Venezuelan prisoners protesting against torture.
Prisoners at Venezuela’s western Barinas prison staged a protest on its roof on Sunday, piling flaming mattresses and calling for the removal of the facility’s director, whom they accused of overseeing guards as they shot unarmed prisoners. “We want justice. They are shooting us, the guards and the wardens,” a prisoner in Barinas prison said in a video shared by the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, a local NGO, on X, in which a man is seen with a bullet wound in his chest.
Panama City
Prisoners rebelled and staged a massive collective escape in La Joyita prison; around 200 escaped, destroying much of the prison including the Police Intelligence Directorate in the process. Over 100 have since been recaptured, and at least 3 prisoners were killed. The rebellion occured amidst overcrowding and the retaliatory transfer of high profile prisoners. President Mulino says Panama will aggressively bolster their prison system with the construction of three new prisons, adopting “hardline” models similar to El Salvador president Nayib Bukele’s notoriously cruel maximum security CECOT.
State Terror: Repression Timeline
In the context of escalating state repression, we’re sharing this poster to print and share widely, rounding up some of the cases to follow.
Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada sentenced to 30 years in prison
Benjamin “Champagne” Song sentenced to 100 years in prison
Elizabeth Soto sentenced to 50 years in prison
Ines Soto sentenced to 50 years in prison
Rebecca Morgan sentenced to 15 years in prison
Joy “Rowan” Gibson sentenced to 15 years in prison
The Prairieland defendants convicted of terrorism charges in a sham trial aimed to cement the state’s broader crackdown on any, especially anarchist, resistance to fascism, ICE, and concentration camps were sentenced on Tuesday, June 23, to a cumulative 450 years in prison. Meagan Morris, who collaborated with the state against her co-defendants, was also sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Such a brutal and horrifying sentence is intended, as one of the sentencing judges said from the bench, “to send a message to anyone who shares similar ideologies,” that is, to those who fight for freedom.
Our loved ones did nothing wrong, and they are being thrown away for the rest of their lives. Not only does the evidence prove their innocence, but the actions of ICE and the federal government over the past year have proven the righteousness of their actions…
We will continue to fight to bring our loved ones home.
–– DFW Support Committee
Just as in other cases relating to the government’s NSPM-7 repression of anarchist, anti-authoritarian, and anti-fascist comrades, what is being criminalized is everyday practices involved in wider struggles for liberation––wearing all black, printing zines, using Signal, and so on––in an attempt to single out militancy as a terrorist conspiracy.
This repression––which is not new but is the latest culmination of a centuries long attack on freedom fighters nationally and internationally––will only work if the wider struggle abandons its political prisoners, what they fought for, and the courage with which they fought. Anyone who fights for a better world can find themselves in the state’s grip, accused of being part of a terrorist conspiracy. We fight repression by fighting. Free them all!
Eight Prairieland defendants were sentenced in federal court today, three months after their convictions on a variety of federal charges, including riot, material support for terrorists, attempted murder, possession and conspiracy to use explosives, and conspiracy to conceal documents. Family members and supporters, who sat stunned as US District Judges Mark Pittman and Reed O’Connor delivered sentences ranging from 30-100 years in prison, called the punishment cruel, callous and starkly disproportionate to the defendants’ actions. In a rally and press conference held after the sentencing, supporters expressed defiance and vowed to continue fighting for the Prairieland defendants’ freedom.
The eight Prairieland defendants sentenced today are Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, Benjamin Hanil Song, and Elizabeth Soto. All defendants, with the exception of Sanchez Estrada were convicted of rioting, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to use an explosive, and use of an explosive device, which referred to the consumer grade fireworks used on July 4. Sanchez Estrada was convicted of concealing a document—political literature—and, along with Rueda, conspiracy to conceal documents. Song was additionally convicted of attempted murder of an officer and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime. […]
“This case has relied on lies and misinformation from the start,” said Amber Lowrey, the sister of Savanna Batten, who was sentenced today to 50 years in prison. “While these absurd sentences are no surprise based on the bias of the court, it is heartbreaking nonetheless. But we will keep fighting to overturn these unjust convictions and to free Savanna and all the Prairieland defendants. We will not rest until they are free!”
“As a congregation, we decided that this case was a fundamental test of our right to dissent against authoritarian regimes,” said Ana Marie Thorne, Chair of the Social Justice Committee at All People’s Church Unitarian Universalist in Fort Worth. “These defendants are not militant monsters out to kill,” continued Thorne. “They are everyday people who saw our country literally interning people in concentration camps and decided to show up at Prairieland Detention Center to let those incarcerated there know that they mattered. We leave here today knowing that the outcome of this trial is not the end. It is the beginning.”
Before the sentencing, Judge Pittman dismissed numerous motions to overturn the convictions without providing written rulings and with little-to-no explanation. All nine trial defendants filed motions for a new trial, detailing how the government failed to provide the necessary evidence for a conviction and instead put on a trial that was “saturated with evidence designed to evoke fear, political bias, and guilt by association,” according to one of the motions. Another motion details potential juror misconduct. Prairieland defendants have vowed to fight their convictions and will be filing appeals in the following weeks.
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 became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after arrival. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterwards, but authorities have never provided hospital records to justify these claims. Alvarado police arrested ten people that night, and a dozen more were arrested over the following several months.
Free Champagne! Free Them All!
Champagne, the most harshly sentenced defendant, published a statement in response to their sentence, explaining the justification for their actions and encouraging us to struggle:
I don’t Hate. I don’t Hate anyone. I don’t Hate cops. I don’t Hate Trump. I don’t Hate nazis. My beliefs are composed thus:
First, that we should help each other.
Second, that we should protect one another.
What we all saw happen to Renee Good and Alex Pretti is my worst nightmare. I never want to see anyone get hurt. I never want to see good people, standing for what they believe in, gunned down in the street.
What happened on July 4th, 2025 was that exact same nightmare – when I saw Lt. Thomas Gross point his gun at the back of a running, unarmed protestor, and assuming an aggressive firing position, leaning forward hard into the recoil of his gun. As a firearms instructor and a United States Marine Corps Veteran, I knew exactly what was about to happen. I knew another protestor was about to be murdered right in front of me.
I used, No. I was forced to use, by my duty to Life, the minimum defensive force possible. To prevent what happened to Alex Pretti. To prevent what happened to Renee Good. To prevent another Botham Jean. To prevent another Manuel T. Teran. To prevent another Atatiana Jefferson. To prevent another Philando Castile. The last thing I wanted to do is hurt anyone. And I am so, so happy that No One had their life stolen from them that day. By anyone.
Now, 21 people have been arrested, have been persecuted, have been punished. For knowing me or being my friend? This is wrong. This is mass punishment. Collective punishment. This is guilt by association. This is injustice.
So, should I have done nothing? Should I have looked the other way? Should I have just allowed yet another innocent person to be slaughtered.
Heaven forbid. Every life is worth as much as every other. Whatever is stolen from you is stolen from me.
Back in 1895, the white supremacist and U.S. Senator, Pitchfork Ben Tillman, gave a speech to the new Constitutional Convention of South Carolina on how to use injustice to steal power. He said, “How did we recover our liberty? By fraud and violence. We tried to overcome the 30,000 majority by honest methods, which was a mathematical impossibility. After we had borne these indignities for eight years, life became worthless.” So goes the story of how men steal power over others. By injustice, by fraud and violence.
First, They removed every Black juror, so no one would question the police.
Second, They told me I cannot protect myself, I cannot protect others, They told me I wasn’t even allowed to say it: Self Defense.
As you heard in the trial: They tortured their own witnesses. American citizens, tortured and terrorized and medically neglected. A 24-year-old had a heart attack. A 58-year-old said she would die. Mothers, Fathers, Teachers, Students, Package Workers, Programmers, Engineers persecuted and tortured in this case.
It may be my friends today, but it will be your friends tomorrow.
Whatever is taken from me is taken from you.
On June 9th of this year, the President of the Southern Poverty Law Center testified that “Hate has migrated into the government.” Into the government. The Hate is Right Here. The government, in their secret motion to give me a life sentence, calls me “The Embodiment of Antifa.” Because what they really want to Bury is an Idea. What They Hate is the very Idea of Being Against Racism. The Hate is Right Here.
That Hate is taking power over me. That Hate is taking power over you.
I do not fear for myself. I fear for you. 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?
The statement is available as twozines to print and share:
Today, our beloved friend Des got the “lightest” of the sentences slapped on 8 Prairieland defendants: 30 long fucking years –– for zines. His wife, Maricela, got 70 years. Other Prairieland defendants got sentences of 50 years, and Benjamin “Champagne” Song got 100 years –– for solidarity with those facing the wrath and violence of ICE.
450 years in total –– for the “terror” of being against fascism. For the “crime” of being decent human beings who care deeply about others and striving toward a far, far better world.
When we heard Des’s sentence, we felt disbelief at first, similar to the disbelief that we initially experienced when we heard he’d received a guilty verdict –– for zines. Then we felt so much more, not least the heartbreak of how this must feel for Des and the other Prairieland defendants sentenced today.
Then we received some handwritten notes, freshly taken in the courtroom, and read some of what Des said just prior to his sentencing: “I worked really hard every day in this country, and I believe in human rights and helping others in need … I am a father, I am a husband, I am a teacher, a poet –– I am many things, your honor, but I’m not a terrorist.”
For those who know and love Des, he is so, so much more –– a lover of humans and nonhumans, nature and the sacred, laughing and listening, cooking and eating (vegan food!), art making and tattooing, poetry and play. He’s one of the most solid, caring, giving people we know.
We are saddened and shocked.
We are devastated and enraged.
We are filled with so, so many painful emotions –– and know that we need time to process the enormity and horror of today’s sentences for the defendants and their loved ones, including us, and the ramifications of the Prairieland case for resistance in general.
Yet we remain steadfastly by Des’s side. We’ve been there from the beginning, and we’re not going anywhere, until he and the other Prairieland defendants go free.
This is a travesty.
Zines are not a crime. Solidarity is not a crime. Free Des Revol. Free them all.
–– Free Des Support Committee
Free the Sotos! Free the Emma Goldman Book Club! Free Them All!
Besides Des, whose “crime” was moving a box of anarchist zines, Elizabeth and Ines Soto’s “crime” stems from the “printing press” the FBI found during a raid on their house, an office printer they used to print zines for the Emma Goldman Book Club, a zine distro and book group in the DFW area. During the trial, federal prosecutors argued that possessing these zines and other anarchist stickers and flags were evidence for their membership in an “antifa” terrorist cell. Prosecutors brought several of these zines to the trial.
These are the zines used to convict the Prairieland defendants. These are the zines the government doesn’t want you to read.
Anarchist bookstores and presses like Firestorm and Detritus are selling these zines in packets to continue to raise money for our prisoners. Read them, print them, share them:
8 of the federal defendants who were sentenced to outrageously long terms are also part of a larger group of defendants fighting state terrorism charges. In total 21 people are still fighting various state charges. 6 defendants have potential trials in the next 3 to 6 months. While appealing their unjust federal verdicts and sentences, 8 defendants will also have to fight their state cases in Johnson County.
One of the state defendants, Janette Goering, who was finally granted bond and recently released, wrote a statement about the sentencing of the federal defendants. Here is her statement:
As I stared at the numbers that came in from federal sentencing, I can only say I’m heartbroken and distressed. Maximum years per charge assigned, to be served consecutively, to ensure the greatest amount of suffering is inflicted. And for what, besides to “send a message”?
What justice, this?
And to know this isn’t the end of the state’s case is all the more anxiety inducing. State level charges are waiting to be or have been filed, and trials are inbound for those convicted so far, and for several others, including myself. We face a sentencing range of 15 to 99 years in state prison per charge if convicted.
I have no doubt we’ll all be looking at the upper end of that range.
A wide reaching dragnet has been cast, hoping to pull as many people in as possible to “set an example” for anyone who even dares to believe in a better world for all of us. Families shattered and lives ruined, all to set a cruel precedent and design a playbook to handle those who follow after.
To what end? It will never be enough for them.
Personally, I’m terrified. It’s hard not to be. But, that doesn’t mean I am going to give up. And neither will my codefendants, nor countless others in this struggle.
Every day is another chance to fight against these injustices. Things may seem bleak now, but we all must continue on.
Everybody comes home.
We will prevail.
We cannot dare to think otherwise.
Trial Transcript
Ken Klippenstein provided a copy of the transcript of the trial during which fascist, zionist, “counter-terrorist” “expert witness,” Kyle Shideler is dispatched by the state to convince the jury that the Prairieland defendants were a “antifa” “terrorist” “cell.” Also of note is testimony from one of the snitch defendants, Nathan Baumann.
Without fanfare and unbeknownst to the DFW Support Committee, Melanie Estes, Steven Reyna, and Andrew Smith were indicted months ago on March 25 and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and hindering the prosecution of terrorism.
These newly discovered indictments bring the total number of Prairieland defendants to 22. According to defense lawyers, Estes, Reyna, and Smith do not intend to cooperate with the prosecution against their co-defendants.
What’s Next?
Even after the heart-breakingly severe sentencing of our comrades, the fight for their freedom will continue inside and outside the legal realm, with state trials impending for the federal defendants and many others with loose connections to them and a long federal appeals process in the future with which the DFW Support Committee will certainly need a lot of support. From the Support Committee:
Regardless of what this might mean for the outcome of sentencing or the pending post-conviction motions for acquittals and a new trial, supporters plan to stand defiantly as federal sentences are delivered. Families and loved ones of the defendants remain committed to working to bring the defendants home. “No matter what happens, I am not giving up,” said Diana Rueda, the sister of Prairieland defendant Maricela Rueda. “Mari and everyone else should be here with us. The state has no right to steal their freedom. None of us are going to stop until this injustice is corrected, and the corruption that took place here is exposed.”
After the federal sentencing, Prairieland defendants will still face State charges in Johnson County, where sitting Sheriff Adam King is set to face his own trial starting June 22 for witness tampering, perjury, and other crimes. The Johnson County District Attorney has aggressively pursued Prairieland cases, including against defendants with little connection to the July 4 noise demonstration, around which the case is centered. These defendants include Janette Goering and Lucy Fowlkes. Goering was released on a $275,000 bond last week after the Texas Court of Appeals ruled her original $5 million bond was unreasonable. Despite the Court of Appeals ruling from earlier this month, numerous Prairieland defendants remain incarcerated on multi-million dollar bonds.
Court Support
Ines Soto will be sentenced on July 1, along with Joy “Rowan” Gibson and Rebecca Morgan, who took non-cooperating plea deals, as well as five defendants who took cooperating plea deals and collaborated with the state against their co-defendants.
The Support Committee is asking for those who are able to show solidarity!
What Really Happened At Prairieland?
The DFW Support Committee has broken down what really happened at Prairieland in a video series, exposing the state’s complete fabrication of the events.
Last year on the 4th of July, a group of people went the the Prairieland Detention center in Alvarado Texas for what everyone who attended agreed was a typical noise demonstration to show solidarity with the people held there. Like millions of people across America that night, they shot off fireworks; they did it for the detainees, who perhaps felt hopeless in their situation, so that they would know they were not forgotten. Those outside yelled words of support to those on the inside: “Esperanza”!” “Hope!”. After being asked to leave by the Prairieland staff, most of the demonstrators left – but a female staff member called the police, lying, that someone was trying to break into the facility. Then, Alvarado police officer Thomas Gross pulled up, saw someone leaving the facility, and within seconds, pulled out his gun and aimed to shoot the unarmed individual in the back. In a split second reaction, another attendee used a defensive technique: suppressive shots into the ground to stop the cop from killing the unarmed person. In this still frame of the CCTV video, we can see Lt Gross has already drew his gun, squatted in a shooting stance, and aimed to shoot an unarmed person in the back. It was only then, in reaction, that another attendee, Benjamin Song, releases defensive suppressive shot directly aimed at the ground, close to himself, quite a distance from Gross. In fact, you can see from the CCTV footage, we can easily estimate that the shots hit the ground 3 times closer to Song than to Gross. Many believe that this quick thinking and reaction prevented Lt. Gross from murdering an unarmed individual that night. As you can see, Song was wearing a glowing fluorescent neck gator and standing in plain sight next to a wagon also clearly glowing with reflective tape, in order to be seen. This undeniable truth is the opposite of the false police characterization that he was hiding in the treeline, and that all demonstrators were wearing all black outfits, making them indistinguishable from each other. Here it is in slow motion: Lt Gross is at the top left, in front of the headlights of the truck pulling in. He chases the unarmed person, stops, squats into firing position while aiming to shoot the person in the back as the person was going away from him. It was only then that the defensive suppressive shots are fired into the ground. Now lets look at Lt Gross body cam footage, where you can see Gross give chase, stop, and we can see his arm raising to aim the gun before the defensive suppressive fire begins. So now you know what really happened on July 4th 2025 at the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas.
In this episode we debunk more government lies in the Prairieland case, with recently unsealed evidence and a simple look at Google Earth. The federal government lied that an assailant was hiding in the woods and Benjamin song was seen outside the woods, and near the woods; the implication being that Song was concealed and waiting in ambush. Now to the facts: here’s the satellite view of the Prairieland Detention Center and the surrounding area. You can see the neighborhood to the southwest and the closest house to the facility where the pivotal incident occurred. Do they have trees in their yard? Yes, but is this what you would call the woods? Let’s go ahead and go to street view. And here’s the truth, folks: Song was standing here, with a bright reflective neck gator, next to a wagon with bright glowing reflective tape, to make sure he was visible to everyone standing in the middle of the road, as shown in this still image from Alvarado Policemen Thomas Gross’ body cam. Nothing conceal-y or ambush-y about it. And here is the still of Gross’s vehicle camera and same exact view in daylight, proving that Song was literally standing in the middle of the road. So what do you think – is this guys yard the woods, as the feds called it? Was Song hiding concealing himself waiting in ambush while wearing fluorescing apparel and standing in the middle of the road? Or just attending a noise demo, and lawfully exercising this 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, under the Constitution, in solidarity with those being held at Prairieland on the 4th of July, a supposed day to celebrate freedom.
Let’s meet Nathan Baumann. Why, hello, Nathan! None of the other individuals who went to Prairieland for the July 4th 2025 noise demo even knew this guy. He was a complete stranger, with questionable views and actions regarding immigrants and ICE as noted in this obscure Facebook post. Anyway, he later told law enforcement that he drove to Dallas from College Station for the No Kings protest that day, heard about the Prairieland demo there from a cute girl, and decided to show up to Prairieland in hopes of seeing said cute girl again. Now the federal government’s false narrative blames a totally imaginary “Antifa Cell” for vandalizing, but all the evidence and even his own testimony at trial show that Nathan Baumann is responsible for the property damage at Prairieland that night. Baumann testified that he brought spray paint, which was his own idea, because he said at No Kings people were using it to make posters. But once he got to Prairieland and no one was painting posters, he decided all on his own to graffiti the tiny unoccupied guard shack and cars in the parking lot. He kicked car lights, damaged a van in the car port, and he is the only one captured in video from the camera that was removed, and the only one shown on that camera in the car port, right by the van that sustained damage. At trial, the government presented hours of video evidence from 6 different CCTV cameras that record 24/7/365 – and Nathan Baumann is the only person who is shown over and over again doing the vandalism. So now you know it was just one person, Nathan Baumann, who damaged property at Prairieland – not a whole Trump administration FBI fever dream of an Antifa Cell. Note: Baumann turned government cooperator after the feds convinced him he was a terrorist because he “damaged property” and it was “retaliation”. Spread the word folks; the truth will triumph!
The real of source of violence is the police, the state. The official narrative is a lie. Almost all the attendees at the Prairieland 4th of July noise demo had already left. The remaining few were leaving or just standing there when the fine professionals of the Alvarado Police Department rolled up and began “policing”. (Cut to clip of police cam footage; police are heard saying) “He’s running! Get on the ground!” ”Do not move, you will be shot”, “Take off the goddamn backpack”, “ If you move, you will be shot, do you understand me?”, “I will pop your ass today, do not fucking play with me, you understand me?” “You ain’t gotta consent to a goddamn thing”.
The feds made a huge todo in their indictments and at the sham trial, about Benjamin Song (allegedly) yelling “get to the rifles!” as evidence of their imaginary “Antifa” attack. But in this video, you hear the person saying, “he has a rifle”. That’s not the same thing – and who is even yelling? It’s unclear whose words these words, and no evidence was presented at trial or elsewhere, to prove who the speaker is. So what is going on? Why did the government make up all these lies in support of a narrative that is also 100% a lie to prosecute and punish innocent people?
I can’t believe we have to break this down in a video, but here we are, and the emperors has no clothes. You know what’s not black bloc? Blue jeans and exposed skin. Know what’s also not black bloc? Grey pants and naked midriff shoulders back and arms. Know whats’ super not black block? A giant reflective white Everlasting logo and jeans. Know what is super duper not black block? Hot Pink. Know what is super duper ultra not black block? Freaking fluorescent neon green, people. The government can’t get the definition of black bloc right. They disingenuously defined it in official filings as wearing “dark clothes” when common sense and a simple search show inarguably that black block means ALL BLACK CLOTHES, which makes the individuals indistinguishable from one another. So no one can tell this guy from this gal from this guy and this guy to these gals, I mean, I can- Oh! Indistinguishable to law enforcement. Lets try again everyone, put on your magical fed goggles, and try again. Are they identical now?
The reason why this issue is so important is because the 9 Prairieland defendants who went to trial in March of this year and were wrongfully convicted of, amongst other things material support for terrorism, based in part on wearing “all black” – are facing sentences from decades to life in prison. It’s ludicrous and laughable, except for the fact that these corrupt feds who spout these obvious lies have the power to steal the freedom of innocent people for decades.
So now you know what really happened at the Prairieland 4th of July noise demo in Alvarado Texas. Check back for more episodes as we continue our evidentiary exposé in the Prairieland case, using the government’s own recently unsealed exhibits.
After Alvarado cop Thomas Gross aims to shoot an unarmed protester in the back, we can clearly count the 8 initial defensive suppressive shots that Benjamin Song put down about 60 feet away from Gross, and Gross’s first shot which he has yet to admit he even took, and then Gross’s “Ahhhh.” Here’s Gross’s shot and him getting hit again. Here’s why I believe he shot himself. If you watched our previous exposés, you know that Song was standing to Gross’s right and the suppressive fire was shot into the ground even farther to Gross’s right and about 60 feet away from Gross. Yet, Gross was injured through the back of his left shoulder and back, which makes zero sense if Song was supposed to be the culprit. But look at this. We can see from Gross’s own body cam video that all of Song’s 8 initial suppressive shots are accounted for coming up from the ground and going off to the right. On the other hand, we can see the projectile trail of the first shot that Gross took, the one which he has never admitted even taking either in his official statement or in his trial testimony, which we can clearly see from the Prairieland CCTV video. The projectile trail leaves his gun and comes right back at him.
What caused this ricochet? Well, here’s Song’s weapon with what the goverment likes to call a defect on the side. Did you catch that? Song’s weapon was turned sideways to Gross during the less than one second in which the initial suppressive shots were fired and Gross’s shot as well. Anyways, this defect was apparently caused by something so powerful that it also creased the tough steel here, here, and here. The defect is approximately 7.5 millimeters wide and looks suspiciously exactly like a straight-on bullet strike, which is consistent in appearance, shape, and size with a 9 millimeter bullet, which is what Gross allegedly shot that night. Here’s the CCTV footage of Gross taking the shot he pretends he never took and––holy fireball––is that really just a 9 millimeter Glock pistol? Why is the muzzle flash like three feet long? The internet says a 3 foot long muzzle flash is typically produced by a large caliber handgun or short barreled rifle firing Magnum class or high-pressure ammunition. I guess Gross was loaded up with high-pressure ammo that night.
Well, back to Gross shooting himself. We saw that the return trajectory was in line with the outgoing trajectory of Gross’s bullet, and as you can see here, at this point he’s turned nearly sideways with his left shoulder presenting forward, his head bent over between his shoulders, and the return path of his projectile would hit slightly to the left of center at shoulder level and go sideways through him. Jiminy Cricket, that squares perfectly with the photos the government presented as evidence of Gross’s injury. So, can a person shoot themselves with their own bullet ricocheting off metal? Yes, a person can. Most commonly, the bullet shatters on impact and the resulting sharp fragments fly back and cause resulting lacerations.
However, in some cases involving low velocity rounds, the entire bullet can bounce back and cause severe penetrative trauma. Edward agress and says, yes indeed, I know several cops who have been shot on the range when a ricochet happened, usually by small calibers like 9 mil. Eric’s friend had his own bullet ricochet back and hit him in the eye. He lost the eye but was lucky not to lose his life. Bart’s bullet ricocheted back and hit him in the side of the skull. He says a couple of millimeters to the right and he’d probably look like a pirate now. “Arrgh.” This happened to Stephen, too. The bullet missed him by inches. He also knows a detective who shot at a tire during training. The 38 special hit the steel wheel instead and ricocheted back, lodging in his leg. This guy says he felt the impact of his ricocheted bullet hit his hip virtually the same instant he squeezed the trigger. That’s pretty crazy.
Let’s do some quick math. Gross was standing about “here.” Song over “here.” Suppressive fire went in the ground about “here.” Yes, that looks about right. So, 9 millimeter rounds travel around 900 to 1,300 hundred feet per second. Gross’s shot traveled about 82 feet toward Song, ricocheted off the side of his weapon, traveled 82 feet back. That’s 164 feet. Divide that into 1,100 which is the halfway point between 900 and 1,300. That gives us 15 hundredths of a second. Instantaneously, pretty much. Which is exactly what we hear “here.” And here are a few other examples of cops’ and others’ bullets ricocheting and hitting other people and themselves. Etowah cop hits deputy with ricocheted bullet. Ventura police injures two by ricochet. This off duty cop shoots his gun in an elevator, shot ricochets off the metal door, hits him in the stomach. And this one’s a classic, guy takes a long distance, 1000+ yard shot, which hits the metal target, ricochets off the ground, and hits him thankfully only in his ear protection. So, what do you think?
Do you agree with me that Alvarado police officer shot himself with a ricochet bullet off Song’s weapon? Why else would he hide that he shot a split second before he was hit and that a ricochet at that height and trajectory would cause the exact injury that he got? It’s getting real here, guys. They can’t hide this evidence from us anymore. In my opinion, lies and corruption are even worse than we could ever have imagined.
A bright light strobes across the west facing windows of the Prairieland detention center to catch the attention of detainees. This west wall’s windows are where smiling, waving, cheering detainees gathered to watch the fireworks. The strobe effect light show not only caught the detainees’ attention but also enhanced the fireworks show. One of the government cooperating defendants who testified at trial said that the demonstrators could see the detainees crowded around to watch, see their happy faces pressed up to the windows, see them responding to the fireworks, and it made them feel really good. Did you know that the government refused to allow detainee witnesses to this 4th of July fireworks demo to be interviewed, deposed, or testify at trial? Is it a thorough investigation if investigators don’t even interview and document what a whole large group of eye witnesses saw, heard, and experience?
Yet, shockingly, this is what happened. The government refused to even provide the identities of these many witnesses. Why? Why silence and hide at least dozens, and perhaps hundreds of witnesses, to their so-called “antifa” attack? Wouldn’t all those first-hand accounts bolster the government’s story? Maybe because there was no attack, there was no ambush, but there was a joyful firework show put on just for the detainees, showing that they were cared for and they were not forgotten. At this point, officers Cindy Harp and Dekeithan Reedy go outside and tell demonstrators they are on private property and they need to leave. Demonstrators ask if they can clean up the trash from the fireworks. They clean up and leave. Officers Harp and Reedy head on to the parking lot. No one attacks them. No one ambushes them. No one verbally or physically threatens them in any way.
Since the government says a North Texas “antifa” cell attacked the Prairieland facility with explosives, let’s sell all the pictures of the damage. [Nothing]. Wait, what? Yup, as Texas Ranger Billy James Hill Jr. testified on Day 6 of the Prairieland trial, there were no photos of the explosives damage. He admitted it was because there was no damage. Not one broken window. Not a mark on a wall. No damage to any of the buildings. No damage to the fence. Not even a single singe mark in the grass. Well, that’s odd if the building was under attack with explosives for 30 minutes, isn’t it? And here’s 100% of the physical evidence that this heinous criminal attack occurred: this cooler containing some consumer fireworks purchased at a regular roadside stand and a large pink plastic bottle of children’s bubbles. The government’s sham trial secured wrongful convictions and defendants were sentenced to 20 years for fireworks that caused no damage and 30-100 years on all the false charges.
The authorities claim this banana-fied bullet came from Benjamin Song’s weapon, went straight through a few inches of soft tissue, then somehow landed gently cradled like a baby in Gross’s soft body armor insert without breaking even one fiber of its fabric covering on the way in. This tall tale is quite a stretch.
Problem #1: This body armor does not stop rifle rounds. This Point Blank level IIIA soft body armor, like any level IIIA soft body armor, does not stop rifle rounds. It’s label even specifically states: WARNING. This garment is rated only for the ballistic threat level stated on this label. It is not intended to protect against rifle fire or sharp edged or pointed instruments. Here’s a chart of what rounds this type of armor will and will not stop, and the type of ammo used in Song’s weapon––5.56––would blast right through.
Problem #2: There is no evidence this bullet was found lodged in the vest. No photo evidence was produced showing the bullet in the ballistic insert, no video evidence was produced showing the bullet in the ballistic insert, just separate photos of the bullet by itself and the insert and carrier vest by themselves.
Problem #3: The shape and size of the indentation does not match the bullet. This soft body armor insert appears to be an older model with specs unavailable online. So we’ll use the standard 10 to 12 inches across center chest for our analysis. At 10 inches across this is the length of the bullet. It’s 18 millimeters or 0.7 inches by the scale in the government’s exhibit. Let’s place the bullet in the indentation. Well it doesn’t seem to fit at all, does it? Neither the size nor the shape nor the characteristics match. This bullet is extremely curved, but the indentation seems to have squared-off sizes. Even if it’s turned 90 degrees or point to the left, point in, backside down, it still does not match. Now the same analysis for 12 inches across center chest, a standard size large or extra large. Well that’s even less of a match, as the bullet is tiny now in comparison to this indentation.
Problem #4: The extreme deformation and damage level of this bullet does not match the government’s story. The government story is that Song attempted to murder the cop. In order to get to guilty, there must be intent. But all the evidence shows that Song intended to save a life. And he did, by shooting into the ground with defensive suppressive fire about 60 feet away from Gross and to the side to shop Gross from shooting an unarmed protester in the back who’s running away from him. Now, using our common sense and knowledge of physics, is it likely this bullet traveled straight from an AR rifle, racing through the air at supersonic 2,700 to 3,250 feet per second, three times than the speed of sound, through a few inches of soft tissues, then was stopped cold by soft body armor without even breaking one thread of the fabric on the way in? Or was it more likely it was shot into hard pavement, causing severe deformation and damage?
People Do Come Home: An Event for the Prairieland Defendants and All Political Prisoners
One day our comrades will come home. Leonard Peltier came home last year; Marius Mason came home this year. Many of our Green Scare, Animal Rights, Anarchist, Black and Puerto Rican Liberation, Indigenous and Anti-Imperialist Warriors, and Conscientious Objectors have come home. And one day the Prairieland and other anti-fascist prisoners will return to our communities, too.
Join the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Support Committee and friends for an online webinar, Sunday, July 26, at 2pm ET, as we celebrate Marius Mason’s return home and let those inside know we are here for them. MC’d by Matt Meyer with Ashanti Alston, Diana Block, Josh Harper, Ray Luc Levasseur, and Julie Herrada (Marius Mason Support Committee).
People Do Come Home: An Event for the Prairieland Defendants and All Political Prisoners brings together an intergenerational group of former political prisoners and support committee members who will share their experiences of coming home and building prisoner support movements as we seek solace in a time of fascism.
“For, if they take you in the morning,” James Baldwin wrote to Angela Davis, “they will be coming for us that night.” Our movement must respond as “they” may come for “us”: repress us, arrest us, imprison us. But we will fight back and be here for each other when we come home!
While this is a free event, we humbly ask that you donate to the Marius Mason Support Fund. To support the DFW Support Committee or individual defendants, please visit their fundraising page.
The full event will be transcribed and shared with political prisoners and made available to support committees.
The current locations of the Prairieland 7 are sure to change in the coming days and weeks, so be aware when writing letters. We will provide updated letter writing addresses and zines once the information becomes available! But be sure to check in with the Support Committee’s website: https://prairielanddefendants.com/write-to-the-defendants/
Solidarity!
Banner drops were seen in various cities after the sentencing:
Minneapolis 15
As part of a broader crackdown on any kind of militant, anti-authoritarian, and anarchist resistance to fascism and against the mass, popular uprisings against ICE in Minneapolis during so-called “Operation Metro Surge,” the federal government has waged its latest attack: 15 anti-ICE organizers, anarchists, labor organizers, and militants in struggle were indicted on federal conspiracy charges on June 16, 12 of whom were arrested in raids carried out across the Twin Cities and later released with no-contact orders.
Using mainly Signal chat messages and social media postings centered around the large protests that “shut down operations at the Federal Whipple Building” on Jan. 23 and March 1, the government alleges that the 15 “members and associates” of Direct Action Minnesota (DAMN) [formerly Twin Cities Direct Action (TCDA)] conspired to impede federal officials from their immigration enforcement duties, violating Title 18 U.S. Code § 372.
Seeking to further criminalize legal observing and protesting, the indictment features 269 overt acts related to the alleged conspiracy, which include posting opinions to Facebook, being present at protests, attending meetings where direct actions were spoken upon, and wearing certain clothes.
Listed as the alleged purposes of the conspiracy are:
Opposing the authority of the United States government; Preventing the enforcement of federal immigration law by force, intimidation, and threats; Preventing, hindering, or delaying by force the execution of the laws governing the identification, detention, and removal of non-citizens, to include the Immigration and Nationality Act; Preventing, impeding, and interfering federal law enforcement from discharging their duties, including enforcement of federal immigration law by force, intimidation, and threats.
The indictment calls many of the defendants “anarchists” and “antifascists,” both descriptors newly named as “terror groups” in the latest White House counterterrorism strategy..
Among the overt acts listed in the indictment are at least 9 meetings which are suspected to have been infiltrated by either confidential informants or federal agents. Starting with an ’emergency resistance to ICE meeting’ on Jan. 11 and ending with a DAMN meeting on May 26, the list of meetings and locations noted in the indictment are as follows:
Jan. 11 – “Emergency Meeting on Resistance to ICE Operation” discussing Jan. 23 direct action Jan. 27 – After-action meeting at the Democratic Socialists of America office Feb. 1 – TCDA meeting (unclear if this was in-person or virtual because no location was given) Feb. 12 – TCDA virtual meeting Feb. 13 – TCDA “vetted” members only meeting (unclear of the location, but details suggest it was in-person) Feb. 15 – Workers Assembly at United Labor Center (attended by hundreds of people) Feb. 17 – TCDA meeting on Pleasant Ave. in St. Paul May 12 – DAMN meeting in St. Paul May 26 – DAMN meeting in St. Paul
Within the indictment, there are 53 instances where “unindicted coconspirators” are mentioned, mostly from Signal chat group messages. It’s unclear if these “unindicted” mentions are of people who they didn’t have enough information or evidence to indict, or if the non-indicted are working with the government, or for some other reason.
There is also an indication from the indictment of the listed overt acts numbered 68, 92, and 158 that at least one person was under video surveillance of some sort.
On top of the conspiracy, two of the 15 were additionally charged with interstate stalking for following feds from Whipple to Wisconsin. Two others were additionally charged with assault on federal officers and another was charged with destruction of government property.
The defendant already in federal custody is Kyle Wagner, who was previously charged with cyberstalking and threatening agents and arrested in early February. He was given additional charges of solicitation to commit a crime of violence and interstate threats.
At least 11 videos posted by Wagner to his Instagram account were listed in the indictment as overt acts to the conspiracy. One of Wagner’s videos, where he called for protesters to practice their Second Amendment rights, was featured during the DOJ presser.
Slipped into the overt acts section is the clothing Wagner was wearing when he was arrested in February. Wagner “wore a sweatshirt that had ‘I’m Antifa!’ on the front,” said the indictment, and that he “possessed multiple Antifa patches at his residence.” The indictment also took space to note that Wagner allegedly said in a message that he felt his purpose was to “give [the feds] a face to hate so they aren’t focused on the real movement behind the scenes. I’m a spectacle — a punch able face and loud mouth — everything they hate…”
The State Attacks
At the arraignment for the Minneapolis 15 during which a judge ordered the defendants released on conditions, the state physically attacked supporters gathered outside the courthouse:
They’re afraid. Not for their lives, but for their legitimacy. It’s hanging on by a thread.
I don’t think they’re going to successfully pick anyone off anymore. Not this time. Whether the charges stick or not, we can stand behind these defendants. The Twin Cities were the bulwark against ICE, and now these defendants are the bulwark against repression. So we’ll stand behind them.
¡A las barricadas!
Union carpenter and folksinger Emmett Doyle, one of the Minneapolis 15, shared a beautiful expression of international solidarity shared in Labor Notes of their experience in custody:
When I got to my cell after they took me, I did not know who else was targeted in the sweep. I saw one person I knew, and then was put into a cell alone.
I was halfway through “The Town I Loved So Well,” about to choke up thinking about Metro Surge and “with their tanks and their guns, oh my God what have they done, to the town I loved so well,” when I heard a shout down the hallway:
A chorus of laughter followed, and voices of friends and loved ones. Suddenly, I wasn’t alone anymore.
After a short time, they processed me and put me in a cell with some dearly beloved friends of mine. One of them, an older friend whose wisdom has always been a source of strength in trying times, turned to me and asked if I could help him remember all the verses to “Solidarity Forever.” Within minutes, all the cells up and down the hall were singing the full, original IWW version, with increasing gusto.
Not wanting to stop the fun, I led an English-language rendition of “Bella Ciao.” As we got done with it, I heard a voice from the direction of the cell I had been held in alone, earlier. It was a gruff, loud and enthusiastic singing voice I had heard at many late nights at the Circle of Song, singing “Bella Ciao” back at us in Italian. Then, hearing our feeble attempts to remember the Spanish words to “A Las Barricadas,” he sang it in Spanish.
These indictments and raids are part of the state’s same framework of repression and counter-insurgency that has designated anarchists and anti-fascists as “domestic terrorists,” intending to demobilize mass resistance by attacking its most militant expressions. They must be understood, therefore, in the same context of state repression against Palestine solidarity (Casey Goonan, the Michigan 8, etc.) and anarchist action against ICE and concentration camps (the Prairieland 7, the Spokane 3, etc.).
As part of the “evidence” for the “conspiracy” included an article one of the defendants wrote for Crimethinc, giving a direct account of mass resistance to ICE in the streets of Minneapolis after the state murder of Renee Good, “Minneapolis Responds to ICE Committing Murder: An Account from the Streets.”
In my opinion, we will have to fight on two levels to defeat the ICE invasion. We have to become more agile and more courageous at stopping abductions promptly and forcefully, and we also have to defeat them on a political level by popularizing the idea that ICE represents an attack on society as a whole. The conditions for another uprising like 2020 are bubbling just below the surface. It is a subterranean fire and the feds cannot put it out.
We owe it to our fallen sister Renee Good to push on these tensions until we break through to the other side.
Other “evidence” includes participation in the Breaking the ICE: Lessons from the Resistance in Minnesota countrywide speaking tour, during which anarchists from the Twin Cities shared their experience in the mass uprisings against the federal occupation of Minneapolis by ICE and argued that militant action must overcome the limits of passive pacifism to directly confront fascists in the streets.
The courage of the speakers to unabashedly share their experiences in anarchist forms of organizing, spreading militant tactics, and decentralized models of resistance in the Rapid Response Networks that successfully challenged ICE raids in Minnesota was not only inspiring then, as they sought to share the lessons they learned and encouraged others to take them up elsewhere, but is also inspiring now, even as their words are printed in a federal indictment. The trial of the Minneapolis 15 is a much-wider trial, because it will prove if thousands and thousands of others in the struggle against ICE will take up these lessons in practice. We fight repression by fighting.
If you think they’re going to only fuck with the anarchists, then you’ve never read a history book. The people of Minneapolis know that. That’s part of why they’ve been out in the streets in such great number. People know that fascism doesn’t only come for the most vulnerable, it comes for us all. If the state successfully picks off the “bad protestors,” they will expand that category. (They’ve already had to expand it pretty broadly if it’s including the “aggressive use of shields.”)
This fundraiser is organized by the friends and family of the defendants, all funds raised will go directly to support the defendants through their trial.
In his press conference, Trump’s US District Attorney Daniel Rosen tried to smear these fifteen defendants by alleging that they are the ones who are really putting the community in danger and not ICE. These 15 defendants are members of our community — they are workers, union members, tradespeople and educators, musicians and artists; they are people who know their neighbors and who care about them, who stood up with the rest of us to oppose the federal invasion of our cities.
These are not just arrests; this is an attack on our neighbors, coworkers, family and friends, and an attack on anyone who stands in solidarity with them. This is an attempt to intimidate us. We have to show the federal government that we stand with the defendants, and with each other. The 15 defendants are facing serious charges and have a long legal battle ahead of them.
Michigan 8
The latest wave of federal repression is also targeting the Palestinian liberation movement: the Michigan 8.
On June 10th, federal officers in riot gear did a coordinated raid of the homes of 8 Palestinian liberation activists across Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The Michigan 8 are accused of property destruction related to encampments and protests at University of Michigan in the summer of 2024. They are alleged to have vandalized facilities of Rolls-Royce (which makes parts for Israeli army tanks) and Maersk (which ships military equipment to Israel), as well as building of the Jewish Federation of Detroit (a major pro-Israel organization), as well as the offices and homes of UM officials.
The charges are “conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce,”, one defendant faces an additional charge of “destruction of property to prevent seizure,” for alleging attempting to clear data on a cell phone and laptop during the raid. Two defendants are also charged with “witness tampering,” which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. 6 of the 8 have been released on bond with harsh conditions, including some with home confinement, curfews, travel limitations, and GPS monitoring. One person charged remains unarrested, as they are currently out of the country. Solidarity protests have taken place outside the courtroom during bond hearings, as well as in the streets of Chicago.
The national SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) and many other university chapters, as well as the Palestinian Solidarity Working Group, are all calling for the charges to be dropped and have shared solidarity statements:
National SJP stands with SJP chapters across the US and Canada in solidarity with the eight UMich activists indicted last Wednesday. The state has chosen a path of continued repression against Palestine activism. We refuse to allow this path to chill the student support for Palestine. Instead we stand in solidarity with those indicted, and understand this tactic for what it is: an admission from the state of the ability for students to expose and oppose the imperialism and zionism central to the university. We will continue to fight these complicit institutions and for the freedom of our comrades.
As noted in our original fundraiser, urgently needed funds will be used for legal costs, defense campaign costs, mutual aid for activists facing charges (replacements for stolen devices, fixing the police’s vandalism of their homes, emergency relief, food, necessities, etc.), and filling the jailed defendant’s commissary for calls. Thank you for your continued support.
Stop Cop City
As part of the wave of federal repression this month using the government’s NSPM initiative designating anarchist, anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian, and anti-imperialist resistance as “domestic terrorism,” two of the Cobb County 3 defendants, Tyler Norman and Katie Kloth, were indicted on arson charges in the Northern District of Georgia on June 9, more than 4 years after the alleged actions occurred and just shy of one week before Norman and Hannah Kass’s pre-trial motion hearing for their state trial in Cobb County. Hannah, Katie, and Tyler were indicted on April 24 on state charges stemming from the same alleged actions in May 2022.
The Stop Cop City movement, embracing a wide-range of militant tactics to shut down the Atlanta police project and defend the Weelaunee forest, saw the targeting of many different layers of businesses involved in funding and building Cop City, including Brasfield & Gorrie, the headquarters of which were targeted in an action at the source of this indictment. Yet, despite the additional federal indictments, the Cobb County 3 saw their state charges dismissed
Today’s dismissal comes a week after the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia filed a federal indictment against Kloth and Norman. Federal charges of arson and intimidation were levied by the US Attorney’s Office last Tuesday, related to the same May 2022 demonstration at the headquarters of Brasfield and Gorrie, general contractor for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, widely known as “Cop City.” The Department of Justice has tied the federal indictment to the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, a controversial law enforcement directive introduced by the Trump Administration that has been described by critics as a “declaration of war on anybody who does not support the Trump Administration or its agenda.”
“The state admitted on the court record that the delay in our case was strategic and intentional,” said Dr. Hannah Kass after her case was dismissed. “Now we have the precedent and the court record to help free any of the other RICO 61 they try to target with this strategy. I have had prison time hanging over my head for four years and struggled to secure stable employment after earning my PhD due to Attorney General Chris Carr’s continuous weaponization of political prosecutions against me and my comrades.”
On May 12, 2022, scores of people were protesting at the headquarters of Brasfield and Gorrie. Five people were arrested that day, two of whom saw their charges withdrawn by the Cobb County District Attorney in April 2025. Even though the State cases against Kass, Kloth, and Norman have the same set of facts as their two co-defendants whose charges were withdrawn last year, Attorney General Carr—and notably not the Cobb County District Attorney—indicted the three for felony property damage and arson of lands.
The Cobb County 3 are part of a group of 61 Stop Cop City activists charged under the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in August 2023. The sweeping RICO charges were dismissed in December 2025, and that decision was appealed by Attorney General Carr in January. Supporters and the 61 RICO defendants, who were arrested on different dates from 2020 to 2023 at various locations across Georgia, are calling the RICO charges, the pending appeal, and these latest indictments, all politically motivated. The defendants have had their lives upended as a result of the charges. Many defendants have experienced job losses, housing insecurity, career disruptions, and travel restrictions, in addition to the stress and anxiety that comes from the threat of years in prison hanging over their heads.
Today’s decision marks the second time a judge has dismissed cases orginating from the Stop Cop City movement on due process violations. Fifteen other cases from Dekalb County are currently being considered for dismissal based on the same due process arguments.
Free Jacob Hoopes!
Jacob Hoopes is the second person to be face federal prison from fierce demonstrations outside of the ICE federal building in Portland, sentenced to 30 months on June 11. Check in with PDX Anti-Repression Committee for ways to support Jacob in the coming weeks.
From their reflection on Trenten Barker’s sentence, the first to face prison time from resistance to ICE in Portland:
This sentence is utterly barbaric, and it comes in the midst of increased aggression against anti-fascists all across the amerikan settler colony who have risen up to fight back against ICE.
All across amerika, the empire’s federal agents continue to violently enforce this settler colony’s fascist agenda. Masked police kill people in the streets. The amerikan government disappears our neighbors into concentration camps. And they do this with no end in sight. With impunity.
People who express dissent and stand up to fight back for their neighbors are targeted, brutalized, and imprisoned. Trenten is no different. And it is on us to now take care of him in his time of need.
Free the Spokane 3!
After a week long jury trial at the end of May, the “Spokane 3” were convicted of various trumped-up federal charges stemming from an anti-ICE protest last year. The three have since filed Rule 29 motions hoping the judge will dismiss the charges; if not, they face up to six years in prison at an upcoming sentencing hearing.
Delaney Hall: ¡No Desistan!
Strikers Face Retaliation
Hunger and labor strikes continue amidst retaliations as outside supporters battle with state and federal riot police. Fierce inside-outside resistance brought national attention to the everyday inhumane conditions and forced labor happening in jails and prisons, but the strikers want more than improved conditions – they demand for immediate freedom and an end to the deportation machine.
In mid-June the women inside Delaney Hall joined the strike, posting a video demanding their freedom and detailing some of the injustices of immigration court:
Cosecha posted new letters from strike participants inside Delaney Hall sending strengths to the protesters outside: “We appreciate the support of everyone who is protesting outside the facility. We want you to know that you give us the strength and determination to keep going. Please, DON’T GIVE UP!”
A fourth letter details the retaliations they endured since the strikes began:
Through this letter, we will provide an account of the events that have taken place since the 22nd of May, 2026, when the hunger strike began at the “Delaney Hall” facility, where people detained have all voluntarily stopped working and assisting with facility operations. Since the strike began, we have been subjected to reprisals, discrimination, mockery, mistreatment, and threats, mainly from “GEO” staff. Here are some names we were able to identify: Lieutenant L■■■■, Supervisor M■■■■■■■■, F■■■■■ M■■■■■■■ (Case Manager), M■■■■■■ (administrator), the facility director and shift officers, J■■■■■ (in charge of the kitchen).
They constantly threaten to deport us, transfer us to punishment units, and move us from one detention center to another; they take photos of us in the dormitories without our consent and tell us that we have no rights here.
Through these threats, they are trying to force us to work in all areas of the facility (cleaning, kitchen, maintenance, laundry, floor polishing) and are trying to force us to go down for meals by making us sign a list so they can track who goes down and who doesn’t, in order to punish those who aren’t eating.
On May 25, we were gathered in the common room; the facility’s director, F■■■■■ M■■■■■■■, and the administrator, M■■■■■■, wanted to speak with the leaders of the hunger strike to identify them.
They were upset when we told them there was no leader and that the strike was a collective effort. That’s why they took retaliatory action against the young man named “■■■■■■,” the person who helped with translation.
That’s why the “GEO” staff tried to take him away in handcuffs, which all of us, seeing the injustice, wanted to prevent by peacefully blocking their path with our hands raised so that they wouldn’t take him away, in return we received from them: beatings, pepper spray, and from “ICE,” a riot squad came up spraying pepper spray throughout the facility, causing many people to be rushed to the hospital – one due to the beatings and others affected by the gas. To this day, we haven’t heard anything about those people. They’ve restricted our access to tablets, visits, and the common room. They only open it on a limited basis as a form of punishment.
As a result of all this, we feel psychologically impacted and are plagued by the fear that they might carry out their threats for no reason at all.
Judges, without checking the cases, order expulsion in two or three hearings, either to the country of origin or to a third country, also 95% of bond hearings are denied claiming that we are at flight risk, even though they don’t have actual arguments. Through these rulings there are people who are here from 3 months to a year and a half. We ask for the bonds to be revised since we are fathers and mothers with no criminal record and we have contributed to this beautiful country.
We deserve to be free and to complete the process at home with our families, given the excessive amount of time we have spent in this prison.
We could be released, even if it means being under supervision, required to report regularly, or wearing an ankle monitor. The conditions in this prison are not fit for human beings over such a long period of time: medical neglect, water unfit for consumption, food that is past its expiration date and in poor condition, bathrooms that are unusable, and ventilation systems that have never been maintained and because of this, we are constantly sick.
We demand freedom, a fair trial, and for our rights to be respected.
After weeks of enduring torturous pressures of retaliations and transfers of participants, it appears that as of the end of June the strike has subsided for now.
Fierce resistance from both inside and outside the walls of Delaney Hall: as word of the strike spread, hundreds showed up in solidarity and endured daily skirmishes with militarized federal agents, state police and private prison guards. Unafraid to show solidarity with those fighting inside, protesters regularly attempted to block law enforcement coming and going from the facility by linked arms, shield walls and makeshift barricades as the prison attempted to transfer inside participants to other locations to break up the strike.
At first it was only federal agents who unleashed pepperspray, tear gas and beatings on the protesters as New Jersey democratic politicians issued symbolic condemnations of the conditions at Delaney Hall: however, just like in other scenes such as Broadview Illinois, when the the feds appeared to start losing control, the state authorities stepped in to help the feds normalize the security outside the detention center, sending in state troopers, the Newark police and armored horses to brutalize protesters and unleash chemical weaponry of their own. Throughout the month, over a hundred people were arrested on various charges.
The FBI attempted to interview some of the people arrested at Delaney Hall to recruit informants and intimidate people; the Newark PD also sent undercover detectives to infiltrate and make arrests at the protests.
Adelanto Strikers Targeted
Prison administrators also cracked down on people locked up at Adelanto ICE Processing Center after a hunger strike kicked off at the end of May. After three strike participants met with two congresspeople to deliver a petition signed by 150 people detained at the facility, the next day militarized riot guards ran up in several cell blocks to intimidate the strikers and placed suspected organizers into solitary confinement.
Kyron Shakeel Swaso spoke to LA TACO about being quickly deported to Belize after being identified as one of the strike organizers:
Swaso, who spoke with L.A. TACO via FaceTime, states that he used his live library login as a notepad to communicate with other detainees and, after organizing and finalizing a hunger strike plan with two inmates, spread the word around the West Wing of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
Swaso explains that the strike started with 20 people, quickly grew to at least 100 in both the West and East Wings of the processing center, and soon spread into the Desert Annex. The hunger strike was organized after allegations of spoiled food, mistreatment by staff, and poor living conditions.
Swaso says that after any detainees complained, they would “become a target.” The strike expanded beyond meals, and detainees stopped buying from the facility’s commissary. During the strike, Swaso and other detainees would save fruit and vegetables for detainees who wanted to strike but were ill or elderly.
Recently, L.A. TACO reported on the alleged retaliation against hunger strikers, including GEO staff trying to tempt the strikers by leaving burritos on their beds, pressing charges against Swaso, and reporting on a night when there was an alleged riot that strikers say was initiated by staff who entered their dorms in fatigues. The following night, Swaso was transferred to ERO Camp East Montana in Texas after refusing to sign for deportation, then to Louisiana, before being deported to Belize.
Other Detention Center Updates
DHS plans on largely scrapping the warehouse detention center boondoggle, seeking to offload buildings purchased earlier this year in Romulus, Michigan; Social Circle, Georgia; Flowery Branch, Georgia; Hamburg, Pennsylvania; Tremont, Pennsylvania; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Roxbury, New Jersey. Over $700 million was spent on these 7 warehouses, but faced opposition in the streets and town halls meetings from neighbors who do not want concentration camps in their area. Check for updates on detention center and warehouse purchases at Project Saltbox’s tracker: https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/b0228ccb-6fcf-4ab6-9d9b-41dd53292ec6/page/p_uy4yssvm0d.
Victoria Law reports on forced labor at immigrant detention centers and gives updates on five ongoing lawsuits. This month ICE quietly updated their detention center standards to limit legal oversight as well as reduce the rights of the incarcerated – in particular removing any language that guarantees that incarcerated workers would receive even $1 a day.
“ICE never really left”:Unraveled Press gives updates on the shifting strategies in Chicago, as ICE continues immigration arrests and deportations. Stealthy street arrests escalate across the New York / New Jersey as well as the Los Angeles area. The US Supreme Court clears path for Trump administration to end temporary protections for Haitians and Syrians.
Dare To Struggle organized a June 27th day of action outside ICE detention centers including Torrance County Detention Facility and the Broadview ICE Processing Center.
Letter Writing Nights, Graffiti Murals, and Freedom Trees
Events and actions were carried out across the world for June 11th this year. To break the isolation of imprisoned anarchists, letter-writing nights were held in Eugene, Long Beach, Los Angelos, Boulder, Phoenix, Cleveland, Toulouse, and the UK, among others. As messages of solidarity, graffiti went up in places like Sydney, Stockholm Toulouse, and Bloomington.
Many responded to Marius’s call for Freedom Trees, as he made his own outside of the halfway house in Detroit where he is currently confined, including supporters of the Prairieland Defendents who decorated theirs in Dallas-Fort Worth.
An Update On Repression and Resistance in Greece for June 11th: International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners
For June 11th, Crimethinc interviewed members of the Solidarity Assembly for Imprisoned Fugitives and Persecuted Fighters/Combatants in Greece. “While there is so much to focus on, and so much to explain, we feel many who read this will be able to relate to the heinous normalization processes by those who want the worst for the world being done here via relentless judicial repression, which seems to be the case nearly everywhere. Despite that, for the sake of integrity, it’s critical that we constantly engage in solidarity to learn from each other’s struggles and preserve our revolutionary communities and bonds. These are victories in and of themselves we can tangibly grasp onto, even if they don’t always leave us smiling.
There is a number of cases affecting many comrades, from defending squats, to solidarity actions with imprisoned comrades, and clashes with the police either in demonstrations or in Exarchia. We select, almost arbitrarily, a few that have or might have a very serious impact to the implicated comrades.
The most recent big case was the eight arrests that happened on the 11th of May (2026), with our comrades being accused for various robberies. The case is still open, so the accusations (and maybe even the incriminated people) are not finalized. Six of the eight comrades are in pre-trial detention in various prisons in Greece, while two were let go under restrictive provisions.
There is also the case of the comrades Yannis Karatsolis and Sofoklis Toutziarakis, where the state accused them for forming a criminal organization with five other people in order to perform various robberies. Even though the criminal organization did not stand in court, with the other people getting acquitted, Y.K. and S.T. got the extreme sentences of 21 and 23 years respectively. The aim is now to pressure the second degree court, that will take place in October, to reduce these vindictive sentences.
Finally, we have the arrests from the first big demonstration after the mass murder of immigrants by the state, when the Hellenic coast guard sank a boat with more that 500 immigrants close to the town of Pylos. The court was set to take place in May, but got postponed for the spring of 2027.
The first commemoration of June 11th was in solidarity with Jeff “Free” Luers who was given an outrageous 22 year prison sentence for an arson of environmentally destructive infrastructure. Upon his release, it transitioned to solidarity with Eric McDavid and Marius Mason. More on the history of J11 here: https://june11.noblogs.org/history/. Jeff released a statement on the occasion of Marius’s release.
In 2011, after my release from prison, I helped transition June 11 to predominately support for Eric McDavid and Marius Mason (who we welcome home with arms wide open). Yet, it is a special kind of curse to pass the baton of prison solidarity– but if other liberation activists are caught by the state and imprisoned, I wish every one of our prisoners receive the support I did. I pray that whoever is next is strong and courageous because our journey is arduous and full of peril, but we come home. We come home! And as long as you are not a snitch, you are welcomed by the movement with love and support.
On this June 11 International Day of Solidarity with Earth Liberation Prisoners and Anarchist Prisoners we welcome home Marius Mason. And reflect on the lessons learned over all the years.
It takes one person to commit an action, it takes a small group of people to support that person, it takes a community to stand up for that person, and a movement to inspire a world to fight back. The moral of the story is that no matter how painful the journey, under the right circumstances one person can change the world.
Statement from Ryan Roberts
As the years have gone by and with each day spent behind bars, I have come to realise that no matter what happens, as you strive through your sentence there will always be someone in solidarity with you.
I have been so blessed with the emails and letters that have been passed through me over the years. I have never been touched by so much strength and solidarity in the face of the brutal police tactics in 2021. There were many that stuck together that night fighting and defending the rights we stand for which lead us to do time. But no matter how much time we faced away we still got love through the post. The connection and strength shown that day keep our communities united and strong against oppression. It was an act of everyday resistance. This 11th of June and every day stand in solidarity with anarchist prisoners. Keep writing, keep showing up! Sending all my love to the ones that stand with us until we are freed!
Ryan
J11 Zine
The statements above (and more from Marius) are collected in a zine that’s available to print and share:
As the conclusion of the first trial for the Ampelokipi case, the anarchist comrades Marianna Manoura and Dimitra Zarafeta were convicted of terrorist organisation within the framework of the 187a; specific manufacture of an explosive device; specific possession of explosives and weapons for supply to an organisation; possession and manufacture of explosives in large quantities; explosion with possible intent to damage. Their final sentences are 19 years for Marianna Manoura and 8 years for Dimitra Zarafeta. This is Marianna’s sentencing statement:
At this point I must make my final statement. As for the decision and my own sentence, I cannot say that I was surprised. After 15 years in the anarchist movement, vindictiveness and severity have come to be expected in the face of fighters, both male and female, who either choose revolutionary armed non-violence or actively stand alongside them, assisting and helping them.
The fact that the trials took place with such high density on a daily basis and in exhausting schedules, could not even provide the necessary conditions and the necessary time for a substantive examination of the testimonies of the witnesses, the statements of the accused and the final speeches of the lawyers. I honestly wonder how it is possible for a system to allow, and even offer the possibility of making decisions that decide on the lives of dozens of people – in our case, the 5 of us – within 2 hours, from 9:00 to 11:00. This system is protected by the judicial mechanism and this is the way that it accepts to operate. This system uses, and in this way reveals, the expendability of our lives. All that remains is to decide between the depreciation of our lives by the judicial mechanism that condensed the decision-making process into two hours, and the possibility of a pre-determined process. I do not know which is worse. I will say the second, because the first involves an even tiny attempt to rationalise the indictment, and to recognize the unceasing work of the defence lawyers. However, I am very much afraid that the second is probably true, and this because the turn that the said proceedings would take was evident from the beginning.
From the visible signs: The questions that were asked of the witnesses, the adoption of the term IED (improvised explosive device) without having yet taken a position on it and while the expert opinion is clear, from the questions to the accused that were asked only to weld the indictment, to the proposal of the prosecutor who not only distorted the facts, but also had the self-confidence to unofficially assign a managerial role to a person who had no knowledge or involvement with what happened on 31/10, Dimitra Zarafeta. The burden of my erroneous judgment and decision to implicate her in all of this without her knowledge, is something that I bear exclusively.
But there are also the invisible things: The presence of the anti-terrorism branch throughout the trial, the insistence on conducting the case in a specific court despite the objections of both our lawyers and the lawyers of the next cases in the series, the bringing of witnesses and supporters, and the installation of railings for the last and legally crucial week of the trial, all suggest that the end of this process was already written. By you? By the anti-terrorism department? I don’t know and it doesn’t matter much.
Without any evidence and without any testimony, the prosecution of 187A was maintained. While there was no, not just proof, but also no indication of the existence of an organisation, this charge was attributed to us. Without any logic and without any testimony, the immoral potential deceit was also maintained. While there was no logical justification, this charge was ultimately attributed to me. And not only did your high command attribute these, it added article 15 again and rejected the confluences. I was attributed supply 3 times and processing 3 times. That is, I supplied myself once, I supplied myself again and then I supplied myself again. I processed the materials once, I processed them again and then I processed them again.
And since the evidential process has not been achieved, there are again two possibilities. First, that you do not like us personally, that you are bothered by our character and ethos or simply our faces. And second and more likely, that you have implemented a political order. An order that wants to send clear messages: Exhaustive penalties to those who attempt to challenge the state monopoly on violence, exhaustive penalties to those who assist in such, exhaustive penalties to those who do not choose it but do not distance themselves from it, exhaustive penalties to those who do not choose it but do not condemn it. By sending messages of exemplary behaviour, the state through the judicial mechanism seeks prevention, intimidation and suppression. And all this in a climate of zero accountability, in a climate of omnipotence.
I have mentioned at length the relationship between law and ruling classes, law and violence, law and power. Today it becomes clear once again that the judiciary, through this decision, is fulfilling the role of guardian of the regime perfectly. And the struggle against this regime has a greater criminal value than the drug trade, embezzlement, and human trafficking. The process of criminalizing violence “wherever it comes from” is the one-sided side of the reality of ruling relations, it is the one-dimensional reading of history, and simply the reproduction of the ruling narrative.
The argument of bourgeois democracy, where everything is laid out on the table and everything is under discussion, was also heard a lot. It is not like the barbaric regime of a dictatorship, the barbaric regime of Iran or Cuba. A condition that does not justify so-called “armed propaganda”, since dialogue is possible. Since everyone participates in public affairs through elections, what is the reason for so much tension? I will not refer to the percentage that now participates in elections, where 1 in 2 goes to vote, nor to the fact that this right is given every 4 years. I will speak a little more generally about bourgeois democracy, which is anything but a model of equality and equity. In the period of the domination of capital, democracy is not a form of organisation that opposes capital as such. It is a mechanism used by the capitalist class to achieve its domination over society. What does the democratic state do? It represents the illusion of human control over society, but in reality it is a means of compromise and contradiction. Thus, the class-divided society ends up being dominated by the bourgeoisie, after its victory through violence and terror, through democracy and parliamentarism. A form of organisation that ensures the duration of domination, which obviously cannot be maintained in the long term through terror but only through compromise and consensus.
Its theory proclaimed: The individual is sovereign. But practice proved: Capital is sovereign. But bourgeois democracy preached freedom, justice, equality and peace, and for these purposes it also concentrated the state monopoly of violence in its hands. What has been the experience of the overwhelming social majority during these centuries? Which of the above were realized? But what do we live in today? What are the rulers defending? What did this court ultimately defend by “advertising” even if it was gasping for breath? The perpetuation of the system of exploitation and oppression.
My comrade Kyriakos Xymitiris also decided to fight against this condition. He adopted the tool of armed propaganda, wanting to reveal, to bring to the surface the true face of bourgeois democracy and neoliberalism. To oppose the mechanisms that produce the violence of bourgeois interests, and the structures that serve the production and reproduction of the regime of impoverishment. He decided to promote the cause of social revolution through armed action. He chose the very rupture and denial in the here and now, setting a definitive, dividing line between bourgeois and proletarian ethics. He wanted to set the example of selflessness, contribution and social solidarity. And even if his heart stopped on 31/10, his revolutionary vision continues to live. The revolutionary process that began will be continued by other hands, by new comrades who will in turn understand their role in history.
My choice of this contribution is a small part of these processes. A small piece in the great puzzle of social conflict. A small gesture that gave me the honour of standing by my comrade until the end. I regret nothing. The price, as I said, I have paid and it is not measured in years of prison. Besides, for an anarchist, like the trial, prison is another field of struggle.
In conclusion, I would like to show the importance of both the witnesses and the continuous and dynamic presence of the solidarity world. An attitude of responsibility and deep solidarity, a personal but above all political attitude. Because the presence of this world is not based exclusively on sympathy and personal relationships. The presence of this world gives a powerful message. The perception that the anarchist struggle is inextricably linked to revolutionary, armed anti-violence. The presence of the world symbolises the legitimisation of this means, and above all the convergence towards its goal: The overthrowal of the state and capital. Anarchy, as the sharpest and most radical political tendency, does not distinguish between peaceful and non-peaceful means, does not fall into the trap of separation and legality – but shows in the most emphatic way that resistance and solidarity, repression and imprisonment are collective affairs. A position that the individualism and selfishness of the system are reducing to a species on the verge of extinction. However, the attitude and presence of so many people has demonstrated in practice the implementation of the projects of the world we propose, a world of equality, freedom and solidarity.
But I would like to thank four specific people individually. Very different but also very similar. First, Kyriakos’ parents, Anna and Thodoris, who were not only here daily, faced with the accusation against their son, but who did me the honour of testifying as defence witnesses, standing unyieldingly by their son’s side even in a hostile environment. Above all, I would like to thank them for their support and for accompanying me throughout this time. (Motion from Marianna. Applause from the audience and slogans “MARIANNA STRONG UNTIL FREEDOM”) While they could have turned their backs on me, been indifferent and even blamed me, they opened their arms wide and accepted me into their family. Reducing the unbearable burden of my own survival every day with every visit, every phone call, and every conversation we have.
The third person is Dimitra Zarafeta. Not because she literally treated me in the first 6 months when my condition was critical. Not because she, despite her own difficulties, essentially took charge of my recovery in a condition where I couldn’t even take a bath. Not because she stood by me in the loss of the person closest to me in the most dignified way. Not because she shared with me the most unbearable moments in the most selfless way. Not because she didn’t shift responsibilities on to me, she didn’t distance herself either in prison or in court. But because she didn’t distance herself from Kyriakos. From his history and his revolutionary memory. Because she came here and stood unwaveringly by his side, and even if the price is heavy, she didn’t change her stance. She didn’t back down. Knowing the vindictiveness of repressive judicial mechanisms, and the possible consequences that her attitude might have, something that was verified first by the prosecutor’s proposal and secondly by the court’s decision, she did not hesitate but defended her comrade to the end. In turn, demonstrating not only the true and substantial friendly relationship she has with Kyriakos, but first and foremost their deep comradeship. A relationship that will always accompany her.
Finally, I would like to thank Kyriakos Xymitiris for the 6 most beautiful and true years of my life. Because with him I understood the value of self-criticism and empathy. The importance of respect and comradeship. Because he trusted me personally and politically. From the most innocent childhood secret, to his most serious decision. Because he supported me in the most difficult moments, and assured me the space to feel, without hesitations and second thoughts. Because together we dreamed with our eyes wide open of a better world. Because together we believed with all our hearts in a better world. Because together we fought with all our strength for a better world. And if a part of me, the biggest one I would say, died next to him on 31/10, a part of him lives with me still today. He lives for the battles to come and the struggles we will fight. For the dreams we will continue to have and the plans we will continue to make. For the smallest moment until the longest hour. And I will always be by his side. Because on 10/31 I stayed behind to talk about you and the fight you gave, and for those you did not have time to give. On 10/31 I raised my fist and with my bloody mouth I swore to fight. On 10/31 I raised my fist and in the rubble of Arcadia Street I said: MAURICIO MORALES PRESENT, ALESSANDRO MERCOGLIANO PRESENT, SARA ARDIZZONE PRESENT, KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS PRESENT.
Applause from the audience and slogans for Kyriakos , KYRIAKOS XYMITIRIS ONE OF US, A COMRADE FOREVER ON THE STREETS OF FIRE
KYRIAKOS YOU LIVE FOREVER A FIGHTER
“You pathetic judges. Pathetic! The solidarity movement won’t forget you.”
STATE AND CAPITAL THE ONLY TERRORISTS
SOLIDARITY TO THE ARMED REBELS
“Bravo Marianna”
BE STRONG COMRADE UNTIL FREEDOM
“We are at war, you scum, and you will sit in your chair and not judge Netanyahu, you will judge fighters. That’s who you are.. All of you are a disgrace.”
Marianna’s sentencing statement is also available, together with Marianna and Dimitra’s statements made before the trial, as a zine to print and share, via with whatever weapons distro:
Two waves of raids, arrests, and detentions of anarchists in Italy have taken place, linked to infrastructure sabotage, all under the same international repressive framework of “terrorism.”
A New Repressive Operation Under Article 270Bis: the Bencivenga Occupation in Rome Has Been Evicted, and Arrests and Searches Have Taken Place in Several Cities
We make known:
Starting at around 5am on June 16, 2026, the Rome prosecutor’s office launched yet another repressive operation involving numerous anarchist comrades in various parts of the country. The alleged crime is conspiracy for terrorist purposes (Article 270 bis). The conspiracy is said to be related to sabotage carried out during the devastation of the Milan and Cortina areas, also known as the Winter Olympics.
As far as we know, five comrades are being held in prison and two have been put under house arrest with electronic bracelets. However, following the searches, two more comrades were arrested on charges of autoaddestramento [self-training] (Article 270 quinquies), although no precautionary measures had initially been foreseen for them. Following this operation, the occupied Bencivenga was evicted.
We are currently listing the addresses that are known of the comrades in prison.
Nico Aurigemma Arnau Vallet Casadevall Stefano Marri Regina Coeli Via della Lungara 29 00165, Rome
Pietro Rosetti, C.C. of Forlì via della Rocca 4 47121, Forlì
Francesco Benedetti C.C. Lorusso and Cotugno via Maria Adelaide Aglietta 35 10151, Turin
These addresses are provisional and may change in the coming days. One of the two comrades arrested following the search is reportedly still at the police station awaiting a fast-track trial. Updates will follow.
All our solidarity goes out to them. With rage and love, for anarchy.
In Times of War: About the Anti-Anarchist Raid of June 16th
Tuesday June 16th, in Rome and elsewhere, yet more raids struck the anarchist movement, with six arrest warrants for as many comrades various others under investigation, searches all over Italy and the eviction of the occupied space in Rome, Bencivenga.
As well as that, two comrades have been arrested with the new charge of “terrorismo della parola” [terrorism of the word] (270-quinquies) for possession of a number of pamphlets found during the raid.
While the information leaked by the media is scarcer and more patchy than usual, it is quite clear that the investigations concern a number of acts of sabotage of railway lines, in particular that carried out on February 14th on the Rome-Florence line, against the Cortina war Olympics in 2026. If the media’s efforts of mystification and defamation against anarchists is certainly nothing new, we cannot avoid pondering for a moment on the level reached by the propaganda of the regime this time (in particular by the ineffable TG1[main TV news]), which is particularly grotesque: “they would meet in a farmhouse like the Mafia”, “they were planning the strategy of tension”, “they were intending to carry out violent actions”, “anarchist terrorism”… It is worth pointing out to these gentlemen that for anarchists the Mafia is as bad as Authority, and that the “strategy of tension” was carried out in this country by the State, it is not difficult to see that behind these filthy words there is a precise intention: that which led, in 2015, to transforming the National Antimafia Direction (DNA) into National Antimafia and Antiterrorism Direction (DNAA). With the result that the same absolute ‘monsterisation’ and relative treatment previously reserved for real or presumed mafiosi is now being applied to anarchists (and moreover has been inflicted on the revolutionary communists for decades).
With the aggravation, for revolutionaries, of not carrying out violence for reasons of profit or power, but as a kind of end in itself for the sheer joy of destruction or who knows what death wish. As if thousands of people had not opposed the winter Olympics for very clear reasons: the presence of the military (not in uniform for the occasion), of the Israeli team, the escort of the ICE gangs of murderers, the devastation of the Alpine environment in the name of the usual “grand event” – and as if these motivations had not been claimed, unequivocally, in the communique following the sabotage. As for the usual accusation of “terrorism”, we believe that Gaza has clarified this question sufficiently – and that there can be no more doubt about who spreads the terror.
In times of war, an old poet said, the first victim is truth.
While Alfredo Cospito remains in 41-bis like a kind of scapegoat for the “sins” of the whole anarchist movement, the State has reached the point of criminalising the very intention of doing something to stop him being tortured. While we are still recovering from the shock of the death of Sara and Sandro the State is trying to use this against us.
We don’t know if those arrested and under investigation carried out the actions they are accused of. We can only repeat what we have written many times in similar cases: if they are “innocent” they have all our solidarity, if they are “guilty” they have it even more.
Solidarity to Nico, Bibi, Micol, Arnau, Stefano, Giulia, Luna, Pietro, Tony, to all those under investigation and those raided. Alfredo out of 41-bis!
With Sara and Sandro in our hearts.
Anarchists of Trento and Rovereto
Phone Zaps
Adelanto
California IWOC organized a phone zap at the Adelanto ICE detention centers amidst the retaliations against the hunger strikers:
Please Call: Desert View and Adelanto GEO Group “facilities”: Adelento: (760) 561-6100 Desert View: (760) 246-1171
TIPS FOR IMPACT: Review our script in later slides. Be aware, this can be heavy. Set aside 10 mins or so. Be assertive, don’t defer them. You don’t need to answer their questions. We want to make them uncomfortable (not vice versa). It’s okay to get upset, but be responsible with your words. Repeat calls are good!
CALL THE FACILITY: USE THIS SCRIPT You will likely be speaking to guards, desk staff, or others with relatively little power in the “facility” (read: prison). They are still important. Without their oversight, the place couldn’t run. Keep them busy! Begin with introducing yourself as a concerned citizen with questions about the hunger strike. They will likely ask you questions about your identity. They will assume a position of authority with you to command you to answer. You do not have to answer. You may choose to give them your first name (real or not) only and the general area which you are from. Sharing more information is not recommended; and really sharing any information at all is not recommended. Feel free to ask their name!
You can start off with general questions that any concerned citizen might ask. The goal here is to lure them into a false sense of security with your opening line of questions. These questions might look like: “What are the current conditions of the hunger strike?”, “What is currently being done to end the hunger strike?”
Their response will likely be to deny the hunger strike is happening, or perhaps claim it is over, or some other lie. Feel free to shame them for this shameful response. We need to bring back shame!
You will want to be firm that your questions be answered truthfully. If they refuse to answer your questions, ask why they cannot answer. Ask them to specify. If they keep on lying (likely) feel free to go off on them in a way that is proportionate to their culpability and does not involve threats. Our aim is to disrupt their cruel operations as much as possible, but one way to do this is to try to get the people that we speak to to take responsibility for the hunger strike and the conditions that led to it.
Tap the glass, so to speak, to “see if anyone is still in there,” on an emotional and ethical level. If they say the conditions are just fine, ask how they’d feel about their family members being put in these conditions. See what they say. You can ask them their opinions on why they think the detainees needed to strike. Ask if they believe they are lacking in resources. What resources do they lack? How do they think this contributed to the hunger strike? If they get ridiculous with you, get ridiculous with them. Use some sarcasm, if that’s your thing.
If they openly incline toward violence against the captives, humanize them. Do not let them continue to speak in such a manner without fear of legal and/or social repercussions.
Remember the conditions that led to the hunger strike. Ask what is being done to rectify each of those conditions. Do not ask them generally, but one at a time:
• What progress is being made to bring clean water to the facility? • Has the facility been cleaned? • Is there adequate medical staff? Is there adequate medical equipment? Why aren’t the detainees being seen?
Fluvanna Correctional Center
The Incarcerated Womxn’s Clemency and Support Project is organizing a campaign against a the pattern of physical and sexual violence at Fluvanna women’s prison in Virginia. The IWCSP posted several testimonials of several women speaking out against their abuse at the hands of several guards at this prison. A letter campaign to the Governor’s office is underway as well as several individual petitions for clemency which you can find at the IWCSP’s instagram and linktree: https://linktr.ee/IWCSP.
“I am so scared on this man, like when he works, I am so frightened because of you know I am already traumatized by being a rape victim and being in domestic violence relationships and you know what he did to me was wrong.”
Those are the words from domestic violence and sexual assault survivor Cletorious Rose who describes in this recording an incident where she was physically assaulted by Officer Taqwa. Cletorious and other women at the Fluvanna Correctional for Women (FCCW) located in Virginia have begun to courageously speak out about the increase in physical and sexual violence that many women at the prison have been subjected to at the prison for several years unbeknownst to the public.
The experiences that these incarcerated women share reveals a harrowing continuum where the walls of a prison cell often fail to provide safety and instead functions as a concentrated site of both interpersonal and system harm. All too often, physical and sexual violence within carceral facilities like FCCW and FCI Dublin in California — the so-called “rape club”– mirrors the broader mechanisms of state violence.
These recordings are shared to educate and to inspire action. So we are calling on you to do the following:
Call FCCW Warden, Eva Moore, at 434-984-3700 and demand that she fire Officer Taqwa due to his misogynistic violence against Cletorious Rose on April 10, 2026.
Email the FCCW PREA Compliance Manager, Madison Pearce, and demand a full investigation into the incident on April 10, 2026 at FCCW in which Officer Tawqa assaulted Cletorious Rose.
Call the Director of the VDOC, Joseph Walters, at 804-674-3000 (ask that the call be transferred to his office) and demand the termination of Warden Eva Moore due to the high numbers of incidents of physical and sexual violence at the prison.
Email the Governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, at abigail.spanberger@governor.virginia.gov, and demand that she close down FCCW due to the high incidents of physical and sexual violence against the women there.
Email Template to Shut + Down Fluvanna: We are asking people to email the governor to shut down Fluvanna due to inhumane conditions. Send emails to abigail.spanberger@governor.virginia.gov
Dear Governor Spanberger,
I am writing to demand the immediate closure of Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW) due to a systemic, ongoing crisis of physical and sexual violence, severe staff misconduct, and hazardous living conditions.
There is a documented history of pervasive abuse at Fluvanna. Incarcerated women are routinely subjected to aggressive harassment, sexual assault, racism, and targeting by Correctional Officers. These actions constitute a flagrant violation of human rights and dignity.
Furthermore, the facility currently has no air conditioning. Forcing individuals to live in uncooled housing units as temperatures rise is a severe safety hazard and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Many incarcerated people have also reported the lack of basic medical attention and care.
The high volume of violent incidents and the dangerous environmental conditions demonstrate that FCCW cannot ensure the basic safety and wellbeing of the individuals in its custody. I urge you to take decisive action to shut down this facility and protect the women held there.
Fountain Correctional Facility
Queens Jail Support is organizing a phone zap at Alabama DOC’s Fountain CF after incarcerated workers are not being paid wages in suspicious and exploitative convict leasing schemes.
EMERGENCY PHONE ZAP: Incarcerated Workers at Fountain Facility in Atmore, Alabama have not been paid their $2 per day slavery in 3 month
BACKGROUND: Fountain Annex holds about 200 prisoners within the larger Fountain Correctional Facility and is classified as “low custody”. This annex “allows” prisoners to work jobs outside the prison in the so-called free world and are paid an exploitatively low $2 per day. There have been reports from the inside that for the last three months. prisoners have not been paid, despite continuing to work. Most of these prisoners receive no funds from home or the outside and use their meager salaries to purchase hygiene products, water, and food to supplement the prison’s starvation diet.
DEMANDS: Although the long-term demands are to shut down Fountain Correctional Facility and the total abolition of prisons in this settler colony, there are two short-term demands: 1. Prisoners receive their wages immediately, including back pay, and gurantee all future payments be made on time 2. An investigation by a legal organization independent of ALDOC to look into the work practices at Fountain Annex on suspicions of engaging in convict leasing
WHO TO CONTACT: Fountain CF Main Line (251)-368-8122 Ask for Warden Kenneth Peters Commissioner Greg Lovelace (334)-353-3883 Governor Kay Ivey (334)-242-7100
No need to put personal information if you don’t feel comfortable. We recommend using an alias for “Name”, a non-personal number for phone number (such as the Fountain correctional main line), and a made-up email
As of now, none of the incarcerated workers wish to be mentioned in the forms. Put n/a for “Inmate’s Name” and AIS Number
Choose “Inmate Treatment” for “Type of Complaint”
Copy/paste the script in “Comments” section and we feel free to customize!
SCRIPT: “Hello, can I speak with [Insert Name]? I am calling as a concerned community member. I heard that incarcerated workers at Fountain Correctional Facility’s so-called “honor camp” annex have not been paid their wages for three months. Paying prisoners $2 a day is already inhumane, cruel, and exploitative, and somehow that isn’t even being compensated. I stand with the workers and demand that you immediately pay incarcerated workers immediately, including back pay, and guarantee all future payments be made on time.
There are also concerns that some prisoners and work squads are being used to work at private businesses and homes without being paid, which is considered convict leasing and was banned by the Alabama legislature in 1924. We also demand that there be a investigation done by a legal organization independent of ALDOC into the work practices at Fountain Annex on suspicions of engaging in convict leasing.
Huron Valley CF
Anger and frustration mount at Huron Valley CF as three women died from medical neglect in the past month. A protest was held on June 10 and June 16 outside Huron Valley CF demanding that Gov. Whitmer and Director Washington close the prison. Supporters are urged to call and let them know we are watching: “We will not be silent. Voice your concern. Demand accountability. Demand humane treatment.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer – Constituent Services – 517-335-7858 Heidi Washington, MDOC Director – 517-335-1426 Jeremy Howard, Warden – Women’s Huron Valley Prison – 734-572-9900
Within less than a month 3 women facing critical health problems have died under MDOC’s watch. Ashley Hoath, 36, passed after being rushed to a hospital in Ann Arbor on June 6*. Keira Howard, 28, and Rebecca Fackler, 57, passed within days of each other due to medical neglect according to their families attorneys. This all comes just months after another inmate, Jennifer Wallace, died to sepsis from an infected tooth.
Had the state of Michigan acted decisively after the hearing in February and provided adequate medical care, these women would still be alive today.
“We think that the autopsy is going to show that this was absolutely preventable with the right medical care” Tim Holland, Khaira Howard’s attorney, said. “I find this position that they’re taking that ‘it’s all good’ to be absolutely laughable.”
In the face of these tragic, preventable, deaths State Corrections Director Heidi Washington wants to claim that reports of toxic mold are “simply false” and that prisoners aren’t denied medical care.
Private healthcare companies, which the state contracts to provide medical services at MDOC facilities, seek to increase their profits by delaying or denying care, providing substandard services, and outright neglecting patients. The current contract holder Vital Core Health Strategies is embattled in civil litigation across nine other states for medical malpractice.
We can see the inhumane suffering and unnecessary death these corporations cause, and the Michigan government allows, by putting profit over human life and dignity.
A total of 33 state lawmakers from both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as US Rep Rashida Tlaib have submitted a letter calling for Heidi Washington’s resignation.
It was because of working class people, inside and outside of Women’s Huron Valley, fighting against these inhumane conditions that these politicians decided to act and it will be because of working class people that we will make sure no other women face a death sentence here.
We join the families of Khaira Howard, Rebecca Fackler, Ashley Hoath, and Jennifer Wallace in demanding the removal of Heidi Washington, the complete shutdown of Women’s Huron “Death” Valley, and the release of inmates facing critical medical conditions like Krystal Clark.
Solidarity across prison walls during this heatwave!
Please call MDOC, your nearest prison, and/or your local jail and demand the following:
Sample script: “Hello, i’m a concerned resident of __ county. What are you doing for people locked up during this dangerous heat wave? [wait for response] Are you arranging access to additional water, fans, and ice? Heat waves are deadly for the elderly, people taking psychotropic or hypertension meds, people with asthma, and disabled people. I demand that you take immediate action to protect the people in your custody until the heat advisory is lifted, including by releasing elderly, ill, and disabled people to their families if you can’t keep them safe. Anything less is cruel and unusual punishment.”
MDOC’s director Geidi Washington: 517-241-7238 facility numbers: https://www.Michigan.gov/corrections/prisons
Shaka Shakur
Shaka Shakur is asking supporters to call the Lunenberg Correctional Center after administrators officials restrict communication access in retaliation for previous phone zaps:
Again our Comrade and Brother Shaka Shakur is experiencing retaliation. This time it is restriction on the phone, messaging services and all access to items and platforms needed.
This restriction is the result of a phone zaps on his behalf. He asks that you continue to contact the facility and make mention of their new retaliation tactics.
Number to call: 1.434.696.2045, option 0 and ask for the warden or option 7 for the complaint line.
MONDAY-FRIDAY 8am EST to 5pm.
Political Prisoners / POWs
NYC ABC Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War
The New York City Anarchist Black Cross’s latest edition of the Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War is available to read and download!
Malik has been transferred to Broad River Correctional (BRCI) – a maximum security facility in Columbia, South Carolina.
After so much uncertainty and no answers from Oregon DOC, we have learned that Malik has ended up at an institution nearby the Kirkland transfer facility.
This type of interstate transfer is rare and has been used as retaliation against political prisoners working to organize with fellow prisoners and challenge the awful conditions across the US prison system. See recent reporting for how this process has been weaponized.
We are so relieved to know that Malik is alive and their whereabouts are known (even though ODOC has intentionally moved them away from their friends, lawyer, and loved ones).
But as Malik seeks to stabilize and rebuild after their possessions were taken, we are asking folks for support. Please consider contributing to their commissary and living expenses: https://chuffed.org/project/185716-support-malik-muhammad
All funds will go directly to Malik and will be strictly accounted for; we deeply appreciate your support and solidarity as Maliks transitions to this next chapter.
Love, rage, and solidarity. Always
A long-form article was also recently published in The Intercept, “They Were Serving the Longest Federal Sentence of Any 2020 BLM Protester, Then They Vanished in Prison,” detailing Malik’s repressive interstate transfer and the punitive measures of the Oregon DOC.
Malik Muhammed #400523 Marion 183 Broad River Correctional Institution 4460 Broad River Road Columbia, SC 29210
Kevin Rashid Johnson
Following a successful campaign to return Kevin Rashid Johnson from Interstate Compact Agreement placement in South Carolina, Rashid was transferred back to Virginia and is now at the Keen Mountain Correctional Center. UPROAR is organizing a phone zap demanding the return of all his property, legal materials and access to tablet communications: bit.ly/free-rashid-june-2026
This is a major victory. Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, shared, and kept pressure on officials while Rashid was being held in South Carolina under retaliatory and isolating conditions. People power helped get him out of South Carolina exile.
But the fight is not over.
Rashid is now at Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Virginia, and he urgently needs access to his legal property, personal property, and a tablet for communication.
He has multiple lawsuits against VADOC and SCDC with upcoming deadlines. Without his legal materials, he may miss court deadlines in active litigation. Without tablet access, he remains cut off from the people helping him litigate, publish, communicate, and survive.
This is not a routine property issue. This is an access-to-courts emergency.
Please take action today:
1. Call Keen Mountain Correctional Center Main number: (276) 498-7411 Ask for the property department, property officer, property room, or whoever handles inmate property and legal property.
You can also call Warden Jessica King’s office: (434) 602-3103
2. Call VADOC Central Administration Lucinda R. Childs-White, Deputy Director of Administration (804) 887-7881
Kevin Johnson #1007485 urgently needs access to his legal property, personal property, and tablet access at Keen Mountain. He has upcoming lawsuit deadlines, and without his legal materials he may miss court deadlines. Please release all of his legal property and personal property immediately, confirm that all transferred property from South Carolina has been received and inventoried, and provide tablet access so he can communicate and meet his legal deadlines.
We got Rashid back to Virginia. Now we need to make sure Virginia does not continue the retaliation by blocking his legal access.
Demand: release Kevin Johnson’s legal property, personal property, and tablet access now.
Write to Rashid:
Kevin Johnson #1007485 3402 Kennel Gap Road Oakwood, VA 24631
Xinachtli
A new message from Xinachtli with updates on his ongoing medical struggles and a recently filed lawsuit against prolonged solitary confinement placement and denial of adequate medical treatment:
THEY TRIED TO BURY US ALIVE, NOT KNOWING WE WERE SEEDS…. -ANAHUAC WARRIOR, MEXICO AZTLAN, 1519
FRATERNAL REVOLUTIONARY GREETINGS IN STRUGGLE, FROM WITHIN THE TOMBS AND STEEL CAGES OF THE NEOCOLONIAL MILITARY SUPERMAX CONTROL UNIT GULAG OF THE IMPERIALIST BEAST !!!
You have probably heard of the serious medical issues that afflicted me by the genocidal design of my captors stemming from 24 consecutive years in solitary confinement, malnutrition, constant harassment by the pigs, no recreation or exercise, social isolation, censorship of my revolutionary writings, and a pattern of systemic genocidal torture and brutal repression designed to break my will and my spirit of resistance. I had a stroke in November 2025, at the McConnell Unit in Beeville. Before then, I had been struggling to get medical attention for a series of maladies I had developed as my physical and mental health began deteriorating, namely, bladder infections, neuropathy, B 12 vitamin deficiency, among other disabilities, all ignored by the prison.
On these issues. I have been going back and forth to the main Galveston prison hospital, to the Carole Young Medical facility for surgery and a series of tests and so forth. I am now at the Estelle medical unit (E2) in Huntsville, Texas awaiting to, again, be transferred to Galveston for the testing ordered since December 2025, delayed time and again, under a policy that when the prison is on “routine lockdown” for cellblock searches for contraband, all prior medical appointments are cancelled. For example, I had a scheduled test in Galveston for May 12 but on May 11 the unit went on lockdown, and all doctor’s appointments are cancelled. The unit warden runs this plantation-like gulag like his own kingdom. For more updates on my situation, please visit Instagram.com/freexinachtlinow, or at wwwfreealvaro.net.
My Xinachtli Freedom Campaign (XFC) in Houston has done, and continues to do, an excellent job in reaching out to others, building membership, staying in touch, holding forums, workshops, producing outreach materials such as T-shirts, posters, publishing my revolutionary writings, essays, etcetera, and coalescing the liberation movement of colonized, oppressed communities of Black, Chicano, Indigenous First Nations and supporting each other. My XFC meets every two weeks, online to discuss themes on our agenda and to hold revolutionary co-education discussions on fortifying the campaign and creating a core of cadres who are being trained as community organizers, LINKING THE POLITICAL PRISONERS STRUGGLES/MOVEMENT, WITH COMMUNITY STRUGGLES AS ONE AND THE SAME. I always refer to THE JERICHO MOVEMENT and the ZAPATISTA EXPERIENCES on all matters of community organization, and autonomy, including GLOBALIZATION OF OUR REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION AND FREEDOM FROM NEOCOLONIALISM, IMPERIALISM AND FASCISM.
Just wanted to share these updates with all of the members of JERICHO, and to thank you for your continued support and solidarity. My current attorneys SANDRA C. FREEMAN, and DUSTIN MCDANIEL (former!y with the ABOLITIONIST LAW CENTER, Philly) have filed suit in federal court in Galveston on my behalf on the issues of denial of adequate medical care, prolonged solitary, which is moving forward. By the way, my XFC facilitators, an all-women team in Houston, will be at the IN THE SPIRIT OF MANDELA mobilization to be convened as THE PEOPLE’S SENATE in Atlanta, GA for JULY 4th counterdemo to expose the true nature of AmeriKKKa’s hypocrite celebrations of its 250 YEARS OF SLAVERY AND WAR CRIMES AGAINST BLACKS (FREDERICK DOUGLAS ,THE TRUE MEANING OF THE FOURTH OF JULY FOR BLACKS. ,1852) , RAZA MEXICANA/CHICANA, AND INDIGENOUS FIRST NATIONS.
Stay in close touch
!!! TIERRA Y LIBERTAD !! MUERTE AL IMPERIALISMO YANQI !!! U.S. IMPERIALISM, HANDS OFF CUBA !!!
REVOLUCIONARIAMENTE, XINACHTLI (meaning “germinating seed” in NAHUATL)
Write to Xinachtli:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice Alvaro Hernández #255735 Post Office Box 660400 Dallas, Texas 752660400
Keith LaMar
Keith Bomani Lamar posted an open letter to Ohio government officials asking to intervene with the guards at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) who have been harassing him by spraying toxic chemicals over his cell, belongings and food.
Keith LaMar is still scheduled to be executed by the state of Ohio on January 13, 2027 after having been wrongfully convicted in the aftermath of the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising.
A Letter to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Legislators from Keith LaMar – May 19, 2026
Dear Governor DeWine and Ohio Lawmakers:
My name is Keith LaMar and I’m a death row prisoner currently housed at the super-max facility in Youngstown, Ohio (OSP). I’m writing to alert you to the fact that I’m being harassed by way of poisoning by guards here on a routine basis. They spray toxic chemicals into my cell, in the vent, onto my food, and onto the slot and entryway of my cell door, causing me significant irritation and illness. And though I have repeatedly complained for the past two and a half years, nothing has been done to prevent this harm from reoccurring. I’ve written countless complaints, and they”ve all fallen on deaf ears, resulting in the increase of harassment perpetrated by guards.
Enclosed with this communication please find copies of complaints to provide you with some insight as to the nature of what I have been undergoing, which, quite frankly, amounts to torture (and this doesn’t even include the most recent ones!).
I’m writing to you and your office as a last ditch effort to have you intervene to stop this assault of my person. Prisoners are being killed here at OSP, either by drugs that are being smuggled in by guards, or via suicide as a result of non-stop harassment by guards. In my whole time of being housed here at OSP, which is going on 30 years now, this is by far the worst era of administrative oversight since its inception, and I say this without exaggeration.
I need someone to please intervene and stop the torture tactics that are being applied. The administration has turned a blind eye to my repeated complaints and have failed in their duty to respect my Constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment.
Sincerely,
Keith LaMar
Michael Kimble
Secours Rouge posted a new recording from Michael Kimble presented at an anti-repression drag show in Toulouse:
Revolutionary Salutations! My name is Michael Kimble and I’m a Black gay anarchist being held captive by the state of Alabama for the murder of a white racist homophobe. I was sentenced to a life sentence and have served 40 years today. I first became a Black revolutionary nationalist communist but made the transition to anarchist and have been on that path ever since. Anarchist is the only philosophy that pushes real true liberation of all life. I’ve done a ton of organizing around issues that affect prisoners such as horrible living conditions, horrible brutality, and re-entry. I’ve done a lot of stuff around history, teaching Black history, and political education classes, cultural education classes. The last few years I’ve been dealing with queer resistance and defense of queer prisoners. Thank you. Love and rage.
Monsour Owolabi is a New Afrikan political prisoner captured in Texas. He was born in Alief, a working-class neighborhood southwest of Houston, in 1991. His exposure to racism and systemic oppression became the catalyst for developing a radical political framework in his youth.
At the young age of 20, Monsour was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. His revolutionary spirit has empowered him and other inmates to defy the frequent abuses of prison guards. In retaliation, the prison system has subjected Monsour to more than 10 years in solitary confinement.
Monsour remains steadfast in his Muslim faith and is dedicated to advancing the revolutionary struggle from within the prison walls. He is a poet, writer, educator, mentor, leader, revolutionary, and beloved community member.
The Filton 4––Lottie, Fatema Zainab, Ellie and Sam, part of the Filton 25 accused of sabotaging Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit’s research and development hub in Filton, Bristol and convicted in an obviously manufactured re-trial––were sentenced as terrorists on June 12, as they continue to be used as political pawns in the British state’s war against Palestine Action.
The sentences for each of them are as follows:
Lottie: 6 years (4 years and 320 days custodial) Ellie: 6 years (4 years and 320 days custodial) Fatema Zainab: 5 years and 8 months (4 years and 200 days custodial) Sam: 8 years and 8 months
From Free the Filton 25:
We want to share a crucial detail in the abuse of process that led to the absurd sentences they received on Friday.
The Zionist government, their UK ambassador and the CEO of Elbit Systems pressured the British home office for years to do something about Israel’s Palestine Action problem.
Two months before the Filton 6 entered the factory, one very important meeting took place, which included British Counter Terrorism and the CPS. They discussed proscribing Palestine Action. However, for PA to be proscribed, they needed to prove the group was “concerned in terrorism”. They needed to secure some arrests under the Terrorism Act.
The senior investigating officer in this case was a member of the review group for proscription, wrote sections of the police submission for proscription, and voted for proscription. This officer was the one who determined that the terrorism act could be applied on arrest, and was responsible for all strategy and decision-making in the investigation.
We also know that the police investigators were working closely enough with Elbit Systems to store evidence for this case in Elbit’s safe. In an abuse of process hearing, Judge Johnson refused to order the CPS to disclose the full information requested of them for the abuse of process hearing. This information would likely have revealed key communications detailing collusion between all the aforementioned parties.
The entire Filton 25 case has been manufactured by the government.
The Home Office believed these arrests would intimidate us and scare people off using direct action tactics against Zionist weapons producers. But despite working so hard. They failed their assignment entirely.
We went from about 50 people outside Hammersmith Counter Terrorism units after their arrests, to thousands of us there at sentencing, and never once have the actions against Elbit Systems and their business network ended.
We turned what was designed to scare us into a movement, that gave us even more confidence in one another.
And even more confidence in direct action.
Their sentencing is not the end. It is only the beginning. The legal team will be taking this to appeal. We will share more on that soon.
Free the Filton 25. Long live Palestine. Shut Elbit Down.
“They Weren’t Allowed to Say Genocide”
Clare Hinchcliffe, the mother of jailed (and acquitted) activist Zoe Rogers, said outside Woolwich Crown Court on Friday that she believed her daughter and others involved in the Filton 4 case were being punished as part of a wider political crackdown on direct action against Israeli arms companies. “They weren’t allowed to say genocide, ethnic cleansing, the history of Palestine and Israel. They weren’t allowed to say what the weapons did.”
Every Letter a Little Jailbreak
Due to the terror connection ruling, in the Filton 4 will soon no longer be able to receive letters from the public. There are a number of ways to write to the Filton 4 (Fatema Zainab, Sam, Lottie and Ellie):
Grab a pen and paper to write or draw your message. Post it using the prison number and addresses provided on the following pages. Include one stamp on the front and one inside the envelope (if you want a response). Just google the prison to find the address.
Online, you can create an account with emailaprisoner.com using their prison address and number to send a message
Get the community together and organise a letter writing workshop!
PLEASE NOTE:
Unfortunately the guards get to decide whether the prisoners receive their letters or not. For the best chance to reach them avoid offensive language or anything incriminating. Since Palestine Action is now a proscribed group it is best to avoid mentioning. Please do not ask them anything regarding the case for legal reasons.
To help you get started here is some info on what they like to read about!
Fatema Zainab Rajwani
Write to Fatema Zainab about her interests:
Reading (and writing) poetry as well as reading history and social theory. Bollywood movies and songs, zines, BFI movies, Chappell Roan, Buffy, We Are Lady Parts, sweatshop boys, Kamila Shamsie books. Fatema Zainab loves meeting new people and hearing about yourselves. Name: Fatema Zainab Rajwan Prisoner number: A9201FD Prison: Bronzefield
Samuel Corner
Write to Sam about his interests:
Linguistics, music theory, history (he’s been particularly interested in the British empire and decolonial movements), paleontology fun facts, critical theory, stories about your pets, pictures of your pets, recipes from your family or culture that you’d recommend, you can even yap about any subject you’ve been particularly interested in. Sam does not want to be called a hero or to be idolised or put on a pedestal in any way. Name: Samuel Corner Prisoner number: A9197FD Prison: Belmarsh
Charlotte Head
Write to Lottie about her interests:
Lottie loves cycling, queer culture and poetry. Reading is life – Lottie can read a book a night! Tolkien, Niffenegger (no JK Rowling due to her views). She loves animals (especially cows) and being outdoors; Dr Who and Great British Bake Off. Name: Charlotte Head Prisoner number: A9213FD Prison: Bronzefield
Leona Kamio
Write to Ellie about her interests:
Pop music (listen to her song with CASISDEAD – pineapple juice). Herbalism that could be useful in prison, sexcapades and toilet humour, funny stories and situations people have got into, juicy gossip, facts about animals and plants, regenerative farming, pop culture, celeb gossip, witchy stuff, Japanese cartoons, Married at First Sight and First Dates. Name: Leona Kamio Prisoner number: A9246FD Prison: Bronzefield
As always, the only terrorist is the state.
Solidarity!
After their conviction, protestors briefly blocked the prison van transporting the Filton 4:
Legal Repression
Human rights lawyer / barrister Rajiv Menon KC is facing a renewed threat of contempt proceedings after Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson referred the matter to another senior judge for consideration. The move comes despite the Court of Appeal previously ruling that Johnson’s original attempt to refer Menon directly to the High Court was unlawful. The case stems from Menon’s closing speech on behalf of Palestine Action activist Charlotte Head during the first Filton 6 trial. Supporters insist that Menon carefully complied with the judge’s direction while carrying out his duty to provide a fearless defence for his client. The unprecedented pursuit of a leading defence barrister over the contents of a closing speech has sent shockwaves through the legal profession. Attempts to criminalize advocacy on behalf of a client threaten the independence of the Bar and risk deterring lawyers from robustly defending clients in political cases.
Free the Filton 25! Free Them All!
Trial 2 of the Filton25 started on Monday 15 June 2026, at the Old Bailey.
The Filton25 case has been an important test for British democracy, to see how far the government, lobby groups, CPS, and the judiciary will go; rolling out a novel use of terrorism legislation against protesters,in order to protect Israelimilitary business in Britain, over and above the civil liberties of its own citizens. Most specifically, to protect the business of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer.
The Filton25 were arrested by gangs of counter terrorism police, treated as terrorists in custody, spent up to 18 months in prison without trial, were not charged for terrorism, and were not convicted of terrorism. A mountain of political interference in the case was presented during Trial 1, only to be ignored. The judge has since been promoted.
In Trial 1 defendants were not allowed to tell a jury why they took action, who Elbit Systems are, and how their weapons are used to murder Palestinians and participate in genocide and war crimes. They were not allowed to say how their actions were motivated to save lives. The 4 defendants who have been found guilty for criminal damage (Lottie, Ellie, Sam and Fatema Zainab) were sentenced as terrorists by a judge who has manipulated the entire trial process in a stitch-up to appease the British-Zionist arms trade. They were sentenced on 12 June 2026 at Woolwich Crown Court. Trial 2
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.
The 8 on trial in trial 2:
Aleksandra (Ola) Herbich Madeline Norman Hannah Davidson Teuta Hoxha Sean Middlebrough Ian Saunders Yulia Brigidirova William Plastow
As Trial 2 of the Filton25 continues, it’s vital we show our support and solidarity outside the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court).
The state are treating this trial as not just eight 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. Read more about Trial 2 here.
Join us this Friday26 Junefrom 10am – 2pm at the Old Bailey. The address is: Central Criminal Court, London, EC4M 7EH. It will be a half day mobilisation because of the extreme heat. Bring water, suncream and snacks and take plenty of breaks!
There will be mobilisations every Friday while the trial continues, which is expected to be 6-8 weeks.
Support the fundraiser that provides financial support for the prisoners/defendants and their loved ones from as well as supporting the ongoing campaign for their freedom. Donate here: https://chuffed.org/project/filton24supportfund
Victory for the Moog 4
A jury refused to convict Palestine actionists over zionist arms factory raid.
A jury has refused to convict four pro-Palestine activists accused of criminal damage at a West Midlands arms factory said to produce military aircraft parts for Israel.
Iain Evans, 33, Hana-Yun Stevens, 24, Bea Sherman, 23, and Hisham Alkhamezi, 23, were charged with criminal damage after breaking into a Wolverhampton facility owned by US-based aerospace firm Moog in August last year.
After more than 17 hours of deliberation, the jury at Birmingham Crown Court was discharged after failing to reach a verdict.
During the trial, footage was shown of activists driving a Land Rover through the factory’s front gates before smashing solar panels and skylight windows on the roof, Declassified UK reported.
The four defendants admitted to breaking into the facility but argued that their actions were not unlawful since they were seeking to save lives by stopping the shipment of components for aircraft used in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Drop the Charges!
The High Court will decide on July 3 whether to put the Moog 4 on trial for a second time after the jury’s refusal to convict. Supporters have called for a mobilization:
Free the Ulm 5! Free Them All!
After over eight months in pre-trial detention, the Ulm 5 defendants in Germany’s controversial Palestine Action trial finally spoke out:
“Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Elbit Systems executives are the ones that should be sitting in court in glass cages – not us.”
The remark came from Leandra Rollo, one of the five defendants in the ongoing “Ulm 5” trial in Stuttgart-Stammheim. On the fifth day of proceedings in late May, the activists were given their first opportunity to explain in their own words why they had sabotaged the Ulm-based German subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. Their statements, ranging from roughly 15 to 45 minutes, were crafted as political manifestos.
Rollo described the action as an attempt to stop “the extermination of the Palestinian people.” Crow Tricks argued that “no [other] method that was in line with German law worked.” Zo Hailu posed a question to the court itself: “What will the judicial branch choose: complicity or ‘Never Again’?”
Taken together, the statements amounted to an indictment not only of Elbit Systems, but of Germany’s political and legal response to Israel’s destruction of Gaza. Daniel Tatlow-Devally (reading in German) struck a similar note. “Looking away while a genocide is taking place is reprehensible,” he said. “Providing the equipment to carry it out is even worse.”
Daniel Tatlow-Devally, Leandra Rollo, Crow Tricks, Zo Hailu and Vi Kovarbasic have now spent more than nine months in pre-trial detention. Family and friends describe the conditions as extreme: monitored visits, restricted access to books and communal activities; and up to 23 hours a day locked in cells with little or no exposure to daylight. “Everything about this case is political,” Mimi Tatlow-Golden, Daniel Tatlow-Devally’s mother, told me.
The five activists are accused of breaking into Elbit Systems Germany in September 2025 and using axes and pyrotechnics to damage technical equipment, furniture and windows, allegedly causing more than €1 million in losses. During the action, they spray-painted slogans such as “Baby Killers” on the walls and chanted “Free Palestine” and “Germany finances, Israel bombs.” Much of what they are accused of is publicly documented. The activists filmed themselves during the action and published the footage online. No one was injured.
On the third day of the trial, Düsberg delivered an eight-page opening statement exacting the scale of destruction in Gaza, the civilian death toll, and Germany’s role. It resembled a cutting political indictment. Düsberg argued that, by the time of the action against Elbit Systems Germany, demonstrations, petitions and public appeals had failed to halt Germany’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“The Stuttgart Public Prosecutor’s Office demands punishment—but for what exactly?” Düsberg asked in court. “For damaging an arms manufacturer. For destroying machines and facilities whose products serve only one purpose: to kill people.” He spoke of the “assembly-line extermination of entire families” in Gaza and described the enclave as the site of “one of the largest conventional bombing campaigns in history.” – “It is Germany’s genocide as well,” Düsberg said. Against that backdrop, the action against Elbit Systems Germany had been both justified and morally necessary.
Free the Czech Elbit 11! Free Them All!
Unicorn Riot published an extended report on the Czech Elbit 11, accused of participating in the “Earthquake Faction” arson at the LPP Holding drone facility linked to Elbit Systems, the weapons manufacturer complicit with the genocide in Palestine.
A warehouse facility owned by defense and military drone manufacturer LPP Holding was set on fire by the underground anti-Israel network called Earthquake Faction on March 20.
After the incident, which took place roughly 60 miles away from Czechia’s capital Prague, the group published an online communiqué stating, “For as long as the land continues to bleed under Israeli bombs in Occupied Palestine and across West Asia, ground must continue to shake under the feet of the sponsors of Occupation.”
The group claimed it had “struck the epicenter of the Israeli weapons industry in Europe,” and further alleged that the facility, which it described as an “’Elbit Systems Centre of Excellence’ built in collaboration with LPP,” was linked to the global operations of an Israeli defense manufacturer.
Authorities reported no injuries from the March fire, and investigations are ongoing. However, in the aftermath, Czech media and official responses intensified scrutiny of pro-Palestinian groups.
Initially, ten people were detained in connection with the Pardubice incident. During the writing of this piece, however, according to supporters, another individual was detained, one of the interviewees featured, bringing the “Czech Elbit 10” case to what supporters are now calling the “Czech Elbit 11.”
After the fire at Pardubice, authorities launched what activists describe as a “political witchhunt,” targeting pro-Palestinian activists and organizations across Czechia. In the weeks that followed, five individuals in Czechia, along with one from Slovakia, one from Bulgaria, and three from Poland, were reportedly detained in connection with suspected links to the fire, based on state allegations of involvement. Another individual, an Ukrainian refugee based in the Czech Republic, was also allegedly brought into detention.
International Political Prisoners
Argentina
Prisoners Declare a Hunger Strike in Support of Lonko Facundo Jones Huala
As a gesture of solidarity and firm support, the comrades of Lonko Francisco Facundo Jones Huala, housed in Pavilion 5 of Unit 6 in Rawson, have declared a hunger strike. They are protesting for the Lonko’s health, the unsanitary conditions of the infirmary where he has been hospitalized since yesterday, and the worsening prison conditions.
This means they are refusing the food provided by the Federal Penitentiary Service, in clear support of the Lonko (Mapuche leader) and as a protest demanding he receive immediate medical attention appropriate to his health condition, given the severity of his illness after more than 56 days of hunger strike and 6 days of dry fasting.
We denounce the fact that the Lonko, since being transferred yesterday in a state of decompensation to Santa Teresita Hospital, where he was given IV fluids and underwent tests, was returned that same afternoon and admitted to the prison’s infirmary. He was held incommunicado until this afternoon when he was discharged and taken back to his cellblock, only then able to contact his family. He has lost a significant amount of weight; after 56 days of hunger strike, he weighed 63 kilos yesterday, and a heart problem was detected as a result of the hunger strike, suggesting he may have suffered a heart attack.
The lives and well-being of many people deprived of their liberty matter. This extreme measure demonstrates the lack of political response to the demands made and the deteriorating health of Lonko Facundo Jones Huala.
We hold the prison and judicial authorities responsible for any irreversible consequences to the health and life of the Lonko and his comrades on hunger strike.
And although the risk is even greater, as a support network, we want to make this collective action visible in solidarity, mobilizing more people around the many injustices committed against the Lonko.
Mapuche Leader Facundo Jones Huala Transferred After Nearly 40 Days of Hunger Strike
Argentine federal authorities have ordered the transfer of Facundo Jones Huala, a Mapuche leader and prominent figure in the Mapuche Ancestral Resistance (RAM), to Esquel prison, where he will remain in pretrial detention as part of an investigation for aggravated illegal association. Imprisoned since June 2025, he had been on a hunger strike for nearly 40 days to demand a transfer to a facility closer to his territory and community. His health having deteriorated significantly, he was hospitalized in Rawson under police guard. The transfer to Esquel will take place as soon as doctors deem his health compatible with travel.
Belarus
Anarchist prisoners in Belarus continue to face pressure
At present, three anarchists are imprisoned at Penal Colony No. 20 in Mazyr: Igor Olinevich, Artem Solovey, and Nikita Dranets. All three were transferred to the colony after previous convictions: Igor after serving three years under a prison regime, and Artem and Nikita after receiving additional prison sentences under Article 411 of the Criminal Code. Pressure on all of the anarchists continues: Igor Olinevich, a defendant in the “Black Flag” case, is being held in a cell-type punishment unit. He is denied visits, phone calls, and parcels. He is also prohibited from receiving money transfers because he has been placed on the government’s “terrorists” list. Nikita Dranets, convicted in the “Organized crime group” Revolutionary Action case, was transferred to a colony in April. He is repeatedly placed in a punishment cell (SHIZO), where he has already spent more than 70 days. Artem Solovey, convicted in the “Pramen” case, is also periodically placed in a punishment cell (SHIZO).
As the months have passed I’ve become quieter and more withdrawn. I suppose those are normal effects after spending a fairly prolonged period in prison. I hadn’t written for a while because I hadn’t felt like it and because I felt I’d already said what I needed to politically. But I have never stopped receiving shows of support, solidarity actions and other gestures. That is why I write these words.
First of all: about three months ago I was moved out of my old unit, 3C; punished, and sent to what is considered one of the two punishment units in the prison: “Gallery 12”. A kind of underworld within the prison underworld, governed by the church, who pronounce the gendarme’s decisions as if they were one of them, under the cover of evangelical faith. A very crazy and violent place, more so than anyone would imagine. Fortunately, through previous connections you pick up over the months inside, I got through it without major incident, but under quite intense psychological pressure.
After a couple of weeks I was moved to Street 5, a ward that is generally decent, where you can get through day-to-day life with some calm, and where I was received by people from common criminality with whom I’ve formed good bonds, and where I found a few comrades from the struggle, which has been a mental and spiritual relief. I’ve been applying for a transfer to Colina 1 for several months to be with other long-standing comrades and to seek better chances of shortening my sentence, since it’s easier to apply for benefits and such from Colina 1. Last week I signed the confirmation of this transfer, so I’m awaiting the move, which is imminent.
These past months have been marked by an influx of convicted comrades arriving at this kidnapping centre known as the prison, specifically the comrades from the 6 July case and comrade Lucas Hernández, who has been subjected to an impressive amount of police bullying, obstructing any proper classification and leaving him in the other punishment section, “Heavenly Hell”, Street 4, arbitrarily and permanently, in evident revenge for the significance of his case. Lucas has kept their head high and resisted this stoically, without bending his combative spirit. I send him my respects and embraces, and call for active solidarity with his situation. With my transfer imminent, I also call for participation in fund‑raising initiatives, as all these transfers between units, losses of essential items, lawyer fees and parcels have been very costly and are being covered by my partner and my family. Therefore I call on all anti‑speciesists to show up and ease this situation.
Regarding my integrity, I can only say I remain vegan, I remain straight edge and I am more anarchic than ever, and under any pressure or circumstance I will remain so, because many years ago I signed in blood my commitment to this war against multiform domination. My eyes still light up when I see images of the arson I am accused of and for which I fully and proudly accept intent. I still sigh with joy when I see its echo in other territories and times. For that reason I send an incendiary greeting to the anti‑speciesist “anarchist flamethrowers” who torched the trucks of the Paris Terroir slaughterhouse in France.
Another affectionate show of support to the Animal Liberation Front in the United Kingdom, who freed a lamb that faced only torture and death. And to the members of the FAI/FRI, who set fire to the livestock company Rio Bueno S.A., disabling much of its facilities. To all of them: health and much freedom! Keep being shadows of chaos, always faceless and nameless to the bastard power. I end this message from Street 5 of the Former Penitentiary, awaiting a new start in my incarceration, but firmer and more determined than ever, now on course to serve four years of effective imprisonment. With a heart fuller than ever, eager soon to breathe the air of a mountain or bathe in the icy water of a river, keen to join the trenches that have formed in these years of struggle. Fire to existence.
Fire to all prisons and to all authority. Total liberation or barbarism. They would not coexist, so they will have to die.
Nico Ru. Anarcho‑nihilist prisoner, vegan, straight edge. Susaron case. Former Penitentiary. April 2026
Greece
Banners Dropped Against the Amydgaleza Immigrant Detention Prison and for the Abolition of All Prisons and Detention Centers / Statements from Immigrant Prisoners
The Assembly Against Detention Centers Calls for Demonstrations
The Amygdaleza migrant detention prison in Menidi is part of the parallel prison structure in Greece – detention centres which incarcerate people due to administrative (police) decisions for not having state-sanctioned documents. In Amygdaleza, around 900 men and 40 women from countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Albania and Georgia are subjected to the worst possible conditions, designed to exhaust and oppress. The overcrowded, unhygienic and rotting structures are not only physical and psychological punishment but intentional conditions designed to push people into self-deportation rather than suffer such torture.
In Amygdaleza people are isolated from the city and support networks, with limited possibilities to connect with the outside world and nothing to pass the time. Many people come to Amygdaleza straight from the borders – traumatised from shipwrecks and police violence – and enter the prison in a state of confusion, without clear information about why they are there, how long they will stay inside and without support to claim asylum. Others are taken from the streets of Athens, on public transport or while hanging out in public spaces; some have been working and living for years in Greece. In Amygdaleza they find themselves in limbo, and only those lucky enough to have existing support networks in the city can access lawyers and basic things like clothes, soap and SIM cards through visits from friends, who have to travel 1.5 hours by bus from Athens to reach them. Violent police repression, cops selling sedatives openly or covertly administering them through food, and solitary confinement are all common practices to subdue and control the prison population.
Detention centres are inherently exclusionary tools to enforce racist borders and are used by states across the world. The detention centre is a result of the process of criminalisation: the state creates the ‘crime’ of so-called irregular movement, i.e. movement without papers, and then imprisons those who assert their right to free mobility. Because movement in itself is human and non-aggressive, the state must create the figure of the threatening ‘other’ in order to the existence of the detention centre and the horrific, punitive conditions inside. This ‘other’ inside the detention centre is the young, single, racialised man (often Muslim) who represents a ‘threat’ to public security and the fiction of national ‘values’ or ‘culture’. The torturous conditions of detention centres in addition to deportations, pushbacks and fear on the streets is the only real violence and it comes from the state. The racist anti-migration narrative which has spread to the point of banal normalisation must be resisted because it underpins the justification of racist borders, and because it maintains the structural system of exploitation.
FOR A WORLD WITHOUT PAPERS WHERE EVERY CAGE HAS BURNED
Statement from an Immigrant Prisoner:
I came from the sea to the prison. I didn’t do anything. I’ve been locked up for 11 months. And if I go to Egypt, I’ll get arrested. I applied for asylum, it was rejected, I filed an appeal, and I still haven’t received a response. What’s the solution so I can get out of prison? And I don’t want to go back to Egypt because if I do, I’ll be arrested. I asked them for a free lawyer to represent me in the appeal, but they didn’t provide one. There’s a Lebanese citizen with me; his country is at war, and he’s imprisoned with me. If he goes back to his country—where there’s a war—it won’t work; he can’t go back to his country again. We’re dying here. We heard that your country is a land of freedom, so we risked our lives and money to get here, but all we found was subjugation and racism. We are human beings like you, we only need security. We left our countries and now we are being used to build yours.
I came to Amygdaleza in October last year. I spent 8 months there, then they moved me to camp Drama. Here the situation is worse. I had an operation on my leg. Nobody wants to help me. Even when I ask, they don’t allow me to see a doctor. My leg is swollen. I came directly from the sea and I haven’t seen the country yet. I want someone to stand with me and support me.
Being locked up is hard, and life is hard here, and there’s nothing available. And I don’t have anyone in Greece who could, for example, get me a visit permit or anything like that. My mental state was ruined. So it wasn’t worth it to leave our country and get locked up. We were forced to do it, but we didn’t want to. Life is hard in prison. The police put us there—we don’t even know why. For example, we don’t know how long we’ll be here or how long we’ll have to stay—they don’t know anything at all I mean, I arrived in September, and people came after me and were released. I don’t know why they’re still here. No one even comes to tell us, “You’ll stay for this long and then be released.” Whenever we ask them, no one is willing to answer us. And here, there’s no food, no soap, no shampoo, no clothes—nothing is available Honestly, when I went to the hospital, the doctor was going to admit me because my mental state was ruined—I wasn’t eating or drinking—but the police had taken my phone, so they gave me treatment and sent me back. The problem is that I didn’t leave the country or cause any trouble. I mean, they brought me in from the sea and put me on the couch right away. The ones who should be detained are the ones causing trouble outside, but I just came from the sea. I didn’t cause any trouble, and I’m coming back to my country—not to cause trouble. I’m coming to work and support my family back in Egypt. And during the ten months I’ve spent here, my mental health has been completely destroyed.
I hope our voices reach the people in charge so they’ll let us out of here I mean, I’m 20 years old—I can’t handle this imprisonment.
Regarding the Appeal Trial for an Act of Solidarity During the Last Hunger Strike of Our Anarchist Comrade G. Michailidis
The summers of 2022 and 2023 were marked by two major struggles waged from inside the prison by our anarchist comrade Yannis Michailidis. With his primary demand being his release, which the state vindictively denied despite the years he had already served, G.M. escalated his protest to a hunger strike, reaching a critical health condition on both occasions. On the 30th day of his second hunger strike, he decided to further escalate his protest with a thirst strike, which ultimately resulted in the victory of his struggle and his subsequent release.
In this battle, the anarchist movement supported the strikers’ fight by convening central assemblies several times a week, writing texts and organizing actions on a nationwide scale. In Athens, the solidarity movement, drawing from various strands of struggle, did everything in its power to demonstrate its solidarity with the struggle of our comrade. It was within this framework that the “Assembly of Solidarity with the Anarchist Hunger Striker Yiannis Michailidis” sought to bring the issue to the forefront, raise public awareness, highlight the state’s vindictiveness toward political prisoners and to pressure the state to prevent the comrade’s murder.
One of the interventions of the assembly, which took place on June 13, 2023, was the highlighting of the responsibility of the judicial authorities who held the striker’s life in their hands. Specifically, the judges in Amfissa, who, in line with state strategy, had been delaying his release proceedings for months without even considering his request. With the striker’s health in a critical condition, having already begun his thirst strike, five comrades from the assembly went to Amfissa, where we proceeded to highlighting the state and judicial murder of our comrade, using spray paint at the walls of the local courts and throwing fliers.
After the intervention was over, as we were leaving, local cops arrested us. A few hours later, we were in the courts of Amfissa, where we appeared before a prosecutor, declaring the reasons of our intervention, while she mocked the hunger striker G. Michailidis and “prepared” us for our impending conviction. In the court hearing that followed, we emphasized the critical state of our comrade’s health, the historical gravity of his potential murder, and the responsibility borne by the tate and, in particular, the judges of Amfissa. We defended the hunger striker and his struggle using his own body and health to demand his release. Finally, we highlighted the importance of solidarity with political prisoners and our overall opposition to the institution of prison. Having no legal representation, we were convicted of aggravated criminal damage and disobedience for refusing to be fingerprinted.
We were sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment, suspended, and a fine of €3,600 each. Both the severity of the sentences and the large fine imposed on us highlight the vindictive treatment we received from the court.
We consider the solidarity with the struggles of prisoners as an integral part of our own struggles against the state and authority. We will defend our ideas and principles in the appeals court, which will take place on September 29, 2026, in Lamia, while aiming to limit as much as possible the blatant vindictiveness of the first-degree sentences.
We are still alive here. Still speaking. Still waiting.
How are things out there? Is the work going well? Do the agendas keep moving forward as usual?
Meanwhile, we remain here. Ten people in the West Java Regional Police detention facility. Living day after day with one question that keeps returning:
Do we still exist in your eyes?
We often hear that everyone has the right to legal assistance. That access to justice should not be determined by political background, organizational affiliation, or the stigma attached to a person.
But when the label “anarchist” is placed upon us, does that principle still apply?
When someone is branded a perpetrator of violence, do they automatically lose the right to be defended? The right to be heard? The right to be treated as a human being?
We are not asking to be justified.
We are only asking: does the principle of legal aid still stand when the case is unpopular?
If you have the time, come and visit.
Tuesday and Thursday are our visitation days.
Or contact our lawyer if you wish to hear directly about our situation.
Because behind the case files, the news reports, and the labels that circulate, there are still human beings waiting for a sign from the outside world.
Thank you to comrades across Indonesia and around the world who continue to remember us, send support, and ensure that our names do not simply disappear.
Perhaps we are not always right.
Perhaps we do not always win.
But even those who are accused, hated, or abandoned still possess the same rights before the law.
And so we will continue to remind everyone:
Justice that appears only for those who are liked is not justice at all.
For International Solidarity Among the Oppressed. Against All the Masters of War and Exploitation (Rome, Italy, June 12, 2026)
As the four-year application period was coming to an end, the Ministry of Justice announced on April 30 that the 41 bis regime would be extended for another two years for Alfredo Cospito. A hearing regarding the appeal against the Ministry’s decision to extend the regime is scheduled for June 12 at the Supervisory Court of Rome.
Alfredo Cospito is an anarchist imprisoned in 2012 for attacking one of the key individuals responsible for the upcoming nuclear disaster. After nearly ten years imprisonment, he was transferred to the most oppressive prison regime in the Italian prison system. This measure is in line with the repressive maneuvers of all recent governments and is a clear expression of internal war policies imposed to silence him and halt the circulation of his writings. Meanwhile, in the final phase of the anti-anarchist “Scripta Manent” trial, he faced the risk of a life sentence without parole.
The international solidarity movement of 2022–23, which developed during Alfredo’s extremely long hunger strike, shattered the political and repressive balance on which the intent of total annihilation, represented by the combination of 41 bis and a life sentence, was based. At the same time, the movement pierced the veil of silence surrounding a torture prison regime that had previously been untouchable. Finally, last year, 12 anarchists, including Alfredo, were acquitted in Perugia of charges related to publishing a revolutionary anarchist newspaper. The investigation had been a key justification for the transfer to 41 bis.
Alfredo Cospito remains imprisoned under that regime of silent torture, so the struggle is not over. Continuing to fight against 41 bis is not merely a matter of prison conditions and state repression. The imprisonment of certain revolutionaries in special sections serves as a warning to those most active in the struggle against the state and capitalism.
Therefore, continuing to fight against 41 bis is an integral part of a revolutionary vision that won’t die out. For an authentic and complete freedom that does not yet exist in this reality but continues to beat in our hearts and in the hearts of those who gave their all until the very end without reserve. Sara Ardizzone and Alessandro Mercogliano, anarchists who tragically died in action in March, are among these comrades whose coherence and dignity will continue to unsettle power. We take the initiative for them, too.
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2026, 9:00 A.M.: SOLIDARITY GATHERING NEAR THE SUPERVISORY COURT OF ROME ON VIA TRIBONIANO.
Preparing for the worst: possible extradition to Italy of comrade Gabriel Pombo Da Silva
We recall that in December 2025, our comrade was arrested under an international arrest warrant (EAW issued from Italy). His detention lasted five hours until Judge Pedraz granted him provisional release with the conditions of signing in and a travel ban. This EAW stems from one of Italy’s many repressive operations: “Operation Scripta Manent” in 2016, which resulted in Gabriel being sentenced to two years’ prison in 2022 for incitement to commit crime. At the end of November last year, the Turin court announced that it would not accept the alternative measures to imprisonment requested by the lawyer due to a “lack of self-criticism of his own values” (a rather apt metaphor to emphasize his lack of remorse), thus paving the way for the execution of the sentence. This is why the EAW was issued: Judge Pedraz considered this offence a crime of opinion and therefore did not order imprisonment, requesting certain documentation from both parties.
A few days ago, a court order arrived, signed by the same judge, who, while partly agreeing with one side and partly with the other, facilitates the possible extradition of Gabriel to Italy if certain requirements are met.
For the moment, we are not interested in commenting on the legal details, although it is interesting to see how states use their labyrinthine “truths” to justify witch-hunts. This is an extremely contradictory ruling, full of lies, where the Italians have played with the psychology of propaganda, extrapolating words and concepts from Gabriel’s conviction to justify their request.
This ruling closes the investigatory phase, it is not final and the lawyer is appealing it; even though there are no legal grounds for Gabriel to serve his sentence in Italian prisons, it is not difficult to interpret this ruling as one of the many manoeuvres that the Italian state has been using for years to continue collecting its war trophies.
In a few weeks, the prosecutor and the lawyer will present their arguments at a hearing in the National Court.
We’ve always known that legal reasons won’t prevail, but rather political and personal vengeance. Dignified fighters must be punished in an exemplary manner. That’s why there’s no surprise, and we’re preparing for the worst, stronger than ever.
Prisoners on Hunger Strike Against Mandatory ID Badges and Video Surveillance
Several revolutionary prisoners are maintaining indefinite hunger strikes to protest the imposition of so-called “criminal inmate” badges and constant 24-hour camera surveillance in detention. To support them, the Association for Mutual Aid and Solidarity with the Families of Prisoners and Convicts (TAYAD) is calling for a day of solidarity fasting on June 28. Additionally, various solidarity actions have taken place in European cities outside Türkish state missions, notably in Athens on June 19.
International Repression
Belgium
Anarchist T. Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Police Car Arsons
On June 16, 2026, the French-speaking Criminal Court of Brussels sentenced an anarchist named T. to 40 months in prison for the arson of three police vehicles outside the Ixelles police station in November 2025. The sentence includes a five-year suspended term for the portion exceeding the first year of imprisonment. The defendant had contested the charges, seeking acquittal or a reduced sentence.
Czech Republic
The Never-Ending Story of the Phoenix 2 Case: A Statement from One of the Defendants
The next public hearing in the Fénix 2 case will take place on June 9, 2026, at 8:15 a.m. at the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem. As one of the defendants in this case, I would like to make a few brief remarks.
Publicly available sources indicate that since 2010, there have been at least 17 arson attacks on property in the Czech Republic for which anarchists have publicly claimed responsibility. Specifically, there were two arson attacks on toll booths, one on the Greek Embassy, nine on police cars, four on cars belonging to capitalists, and one on a Security Camera Store…
The police and the courts have plenty of technology, resources, and personnel at their disposal, yet someone is deliberately setting cars and other property on fire right under their noses, without anyone being able to prove who is behind it. Yet they keep trying and refuse to give up. The trial in the Fénix 2 case is still ongoing. They continue to try to link me and my friends to some of the aforementioned property attacks, to convict us, and to punish us. They still cling to the fantasy that anarchists’ direct actions happen because someone is inciting them or promoting something. But as is generally known, anarchists neither need nor want leaders who will tell them what to do and how to do it. If anarchists carry out offensive direct actions, they certainly have their own reasons and considerations for why they do so. I believe they are more motivated by the sight of police harassing, beating, torturing, or sending someone to prison than by what someone writes, says, or publishes.
Federal agents raided the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and visited the homes of staff and volunteers in an effort to intimidate the organization due to their voter registration drives and ballot issue campaigns. “The targeting of OOC is the latest effort from those in power to silence individuals and organizations they disagree with. Even for groups that have done nothing wrong, the intrusive investigative process is the punishment. They want to scare people from volunteering, donating, and participating in our democracy. We won’t let them win.”
“Freedom 250” Raids
Federal agents arrested seven people across the country they allege were planning an attack at Trump’s birthday UFC Freedom 250 event involving drones and snipers. After the parents called the police on their son Tycen Proper concerned about firearms purchases and online communications, investigators arrested Tycen, seized his phone and got access to Signal and SimpleX chats with 19 other people discussing the supposed plot. Agents quickly identified and arrested four others with conspiracy to commit murder and other weapons charges: Daniel K. Eskridge (Kansas City, Missouri); Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez (Omaha, Nebraska), Bryan Omar Roa(California), Michael Alan Thomas (California); days later the feds also arrested two more people, William Lee Spartacus Falkner (Washington) and Jordan W. Rincker (Missouri). A few weeks later, Alexander Iniguez Mercado was arrested in Chicago on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly deleting Signal from his phone after he had been questioned by federal investigators about the supposed plot.
Kansas City Arrests
Kansas City molotov arrests: Lake Roberts and Jarred Gilliam were charged with possession of an unregistered explosive device after a joint state federal investigation was able to access a “Red Legs” Signal groupchat. An FBI informant was present as the two allegedly experimented with molotov cocktails and discussed potential actions against ICE and other government agencies.
“Teen Takeover” Arrests
Mass arrests at “Teen Takeovers”: reactionary city officials bring back the summer trend of criminalizing black youth in public spaces as police enforce snap curfews and threatening to charge the parents of teens caught outside without accompanying adults.
Chicago, IL: A large gathering in Chicago near 57th Street Beach was targeted by CPD who arrested 53 people
Pittsburgh, PA: Police arrested five and peppersprayed crowds as hundreds of teens gathered in Liberty Green Park
St Louis, MO, police have been monitoring and disrupting planned “teen takeovers”, identifying event organizers and arresting a dozen teenagers at Forest Park
Detroit, MI: police issue hundreds of citations to teenagers for breaking an 8pm temporary curfew around the annual Ford Fireworks event; cops shot a teenager as they chased him, claiming that he was armed
Charlotte, NC: Police arrest 23 teenagers and issue citations to 13 parents for defying a new “Youth Protection Ordinance”
Florida: Dozens of teens are arrested at gatherings in Clearwater, Orlando and Tampa as top prosecutors threaten serious criminal charges and utilize digital footprint tracking to identify and threaten event participants
SF Pride
San Francisco Turns Up for Pride: Police attacked the SF trans march, scrapping with marchers and arresting six for allegedly vandalizing several security cameras and buildings with spraypainted “No Cops at Pride” and “From Comptons to Delaney Hall Free Them All”. The yearly “Stud Alley” block party resisted militarized riot police who arrest twenty people attempting to break it up; two Waymos were reportedly vandalized. “This year we are challenging ourselves, and anyone else who these words resonate with, to dream anew. What does it mean to take seriously the still-standing graffiti that declares: EVERY ALLEY IS STUD ALLEY!”
NY Pride
NYPD attacked a Pride gathering in Washington Square Park, arresting over 20 predominantly black queer women and trans people; NY Anti Repression Group is organizing jail support and aftercare funds.
Support Rihanna!
Rihanna Kelver, a transgender woman bartending in Laramie WY, is facing two felonies for drawing a firearm in self defense as she was physically attacked outside her bar by men yelling homophobic and transphobic slurs. One of the men who first pushed her to the ground was later discovered to be Scott Durham, a member of the fascist hate group Patriot Front. Please support Rihanna’s legal defense fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-rihanna-kelver-after-hate-crime.
Repression Roundup
Twelve people were charged as part of an alleged contraband smuggling conspiracy out of Georgia that used drones to drop drugs, cellphones and sawblades to 10 different federal prisons throughout the southeast.
63 year old David Glen Shuck faces eight federal charges after allegedly making three threatening phone calls to US Senator John Thune; the DOJ cited Trump’s NSPM 7 directive targeting “anarchists and anti-government extremists.”
The San Diego police department is facing a lawsuit after a man was jailed for a month based on a Flock camera alert that inaccurately connected him to an attempted carjacking even though Flock’s own data showed he was over five miles away.
A DOJ Office of the Inspector General’s own audit of federal prison USP Canaan reveals white supremacist symbols such as SS bolts, death skulls and 1% logos in work areas and a guard tower.
The US Supreme Court ruled that Daman Landor could not sue Louisiana jail officials who violated his religious protections as a Rastafarian by forcefully handcuffed him to shave his dreadlocks three weeks before his release.
Opposition grows to the potential privatization of the Bureau of Prisons food service who recently sent out vendor solicitations. Advocates, in a new report “Private Food Public Harm,” condemn the inadequate nutrition and portons as well as the corruption and conflict of interests when companies like Aramark/Union Supply Group run both the mainline and commissary.
A Note on Signal Security:
Many developments this month, including the Minneapolis 15 indictment, is based in large part on Signal messages and groupchats apparently recovered from seized or compromised phones. Additionally, it was revealed that right-wing infiltrator “bitchuneedsoap” and others gained access to dozens of national rapid response Signal groupchats; separately; fascist live-streamer Cam Higby and O’Keefe Media Group are bragging about having infiltrated “Antifa” Signal groups, including a clumsy attempt to hijack and disrupt Delaney Hall organizing chats, as well as posting the entire member list of the Jahki Support groupchat. While there’s no indication Signal itself is compromised, it is a good time to freshen up on phone security best practices and consider compartmentalization of public/private organizing spaces through vetting processes.
After 80 days of detention, a judge ordered the release of Palestinian communnity activist Salah Sarsour.
Free Karmelo!
Karmelo Anthony, 17-years-old when he was arrested for defending himself, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 years. BLM Grassroots, condemning the sentence, vows to keep fighting: “Karmelo Anthony was a child, who should be cared for after a deeply traumatic experience. Instead, the system has shown how brutal and racist it is. It will never give Black people justice. What is happening to Karmelo makes the case for abolition. We will continue to fight to free Karmelo and every Black child that the system intends to chew up and spit out.”
Conor Cauley, finishing up a 60 day sentence for battery on a police officer after being arrested during a Jacksonville city council meeting, recently posted a statement about his case and the other people at the Duval County Jail:
Victory for Isa
After a year of facing multiuple assault and obstruction charges stemming from community defense from federal raids on Lake Street St Paul, Isa Lopez beat back the bogus accusations and plead to a single misdemeanor. Isa and supporters spoke at a victory rally outside the Minneapolis federal courthouse.
Cities Church Case
Unicorn Riot posted an update on the Cities Church case with newly unsealed documents showing that the judge had previously denied search warrants for lacking probable cause and had admonished prosecutors for not meeting basic legal standards.
Month of Action for Jahki McCray
The Jahki McCray Solidarity Committee is calling for a Month of Action from June 14 to July 21st: supporters are urged to participate in letter writing, fundraising events, anti-repression workshops, banner drops and wheatpasting nights [https://www.imginn.com/p/DZhq2v5EePR/]. After pleading guilty to federal arson charges having torched several NYPD cars, Jahki McCray is currently awaiting sentencing faces 5 to 20 years in federal prison. Jahki also recently published an article “Nine Months Later“ for the latest issue of the People’s Senate newsletter.
Fundraisers
The Informal Solidarity Network for Political Prisoners of the “Anarchist” Cluster, are raising funds to cover legal expenses for prisoners. (Indonesia)
In August and September 2025, following the killing of a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver during protests against government corruption and police brutality in Jakarta, Indonesia erupted in a massive popular uprising that shook the regime of President Prabowo, a former military officer. In the aftermath of the unrest, the ruling elite blamed “anarchists” for the disorder and launched mass arrests of thousands of young people across major cities, accusing them of involvement in the protests.
Across the country, young people were abducted by the Densus 88 counterterrorism unit and tortured into giving false confessions. The regime targeted young people in the streets, motorcycle taxi drivers, IT workers, activists, punks, journalists, musicians, and many others, all accused of committing serious “crimes.”
Most were detained for months without due process. Access to legal assistance was restricted. Many cases proceeded with little public attention, while the defendants and their families were forced to bear severe economic, psychological, and social burdens.
To this day, some of them continue to face long and exhausting legal proceedings. Among them are Komar in Surabaya, Dena in Bandung, Mpe in Bandung, Dani in Bandung, Kuple in Bandung, Fadil in Bandung, and Amal in Makassar. These names represent only a small fraction of those who have been targeted by state repression and criminalization.
For this reason, solidarity is more than a slogan. It is a real and urgent necessity. Material and moral support from one another is one way to ensure that those facing criminalization are not left to struggle alone.
We, the Informal Solidarity Network for Political Prisoners of the “Anarchist” Cluster, are raising funds to cover legal expenses for these prisoners. We urgently need additional resources, as three other detainees have not received any legal representation at all.
You can contribute by purchasing the “Black Cross – Kinksters” T-shirt.
Size S M X XXL : 12 USD (t-shirt mock up attached)
“The species that acquire habits of mutual aid are undoubtedly the fittest. They have the greatest chances of survival.”
— Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Spread the word. Build solidarity. Do not let them face repression alone.
palanghitam@riseup.net
“Blind Date with a Book” fundraiser for NYC Stop Cop City Defendant Priscilla Grim
Priscilla Grim was arrested in Atlanta during the Stop Cop City week of action three years ago. She was jailed for a month on outrageous domestic terrorism charges, denied bond twice despite substantial lack of evidence, and endured brutal and unsanitary conditions in both Dekalb County and Fulton County jails.
This “blind date with a book” fundraiser will directly support her material and legal needs. How it works is that you will purchase one of the bundle options, and Priscilla will pull books from her personal library to be sent to you. Topics range from labor history, Marxism, film, music, and more. You also get pins and stickers with every purchase!
Scan the QR code on the graphic or visit the website to purchase priscillagrim.com/blind-date-with-a-book
Background: supportpriscilla.org/
Legal Defense for Chicago Animal Rights Activists
Two dedicated animal rights activists are currently facing a protest-related order of protection for an active anti-foie gras campaign. This is not only a scare-tactic meant to cause a chilling effect, but it threatens their ability to continue advocating for the animals. The order of protection not only impacts their personal freedom, but also sets a precedent that could discourage others from speaking out for animals.
To produce “foie gras” (the French term means “fatty liver”), workers ram pipes down the throats of male ducks twice each day, pumping up to 2.2 pounds of grain and fat into their stomachs, or geese three times a day, up to 4 pounds daily, in a process known as “gavage.” The force-feeding causes the birds’ livers to swell to up to 10 times their normal size. Many birds have difficulty standing because their engorged livers distend their abdomens, and they may tear out their own feathers and attack each other out of stress.
The funds raised through this campaign will be used to hire lawyers who can help fight the order of protection. Legal representation is crucial in ensuring that these activists have a fair chance to defend themselves and protect their rights. Your support will directly help cover these expenses.
Grace Pinson set to be released to the halfway house after 23 years in federal prison. A prerelease fundraiser is being organized by Grace’s family and Let’s Get Free:
Grace Pinson is being released from federal prison after 23 years and heading home to Oklahoma. A trans woman and a jailhouse lawyer who has successfully sued the Bureau of Prisons, Grace went to jail at 17 for sending prank letters to government officials.
Grace has become an activist for reform of the criminal legal system and transgender rights while incarcerated, acting as her own attorney in lawsuits advocating for herself and supporting other incarcerated people in their cases.
With the election of Donald Trump, Grace and other trans people in federal prison have had even less access to care and accommodation and Grace has continued to fight for herself and for other trans people in prison.
Now, Grace needs support after spending 23 years in jail. We can ensure she has the funds she needs to begin to build a life with a steady stream of income toward rent, clothes, food, and transportation.
Grace writes:
“My life is a testament to the notion that that which does not kill us only makes us stronger. I cannot count how many times my life has taken a sudden turn for better or for worse but I believe in redemption and the promise living within us all to rise above our circumstances and to never stop striving for better in every possible way. Now I come with a humble heart and thank anyone who chooses to help me along my journey to freedom. It is not easy to ask for help, especially from a stranger or a charity, but in the end we all must survive in the same basic ways and have either the resilience to withstand the storms of life or be swept away by them. Your help is going to be appreciated by me and my family who themselves really cannot afford another grown dependent in their homes. You alone have the power to help me succeed where so many others fail, to be the rocket fuel to rising above my circumstances to be a better person with a mission to do good and honorable things in life to help others for as long as I live. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you endlessly.”
In addition to the go fund me, you can donate via Paypal and Venmo (@debra-pinson-2) that goes directly to Grace’s family account. We will include these donation totals in our updates.
Media
A revised edition of anarchist and anti-imperialist political prisoner Casey Goonan’s book, Lines in the Sand: Writings on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment & Campus Flood at U.C. Berkeley from an Anarchist Prisoner of War is available to read. Each chapter is also available as a zine to print and share.
Write to Casey:
Casey Goonan #24611-511 FCI Allenwood Medium P.O. Box 2000 White Deer, PA 17887
Dwayne “Bim” Staats published an article at Solitary Watch, “Voices from Solitary: When Toxic Fumes Turned My Solitary Cell into a Death Trap.” Bim is currently incarcerated at the Delaware supermax facility James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. Bim has served 22 years of a life sentence, and has spent 17 years in solitary confinement in prisons across Pennsylvania and Delaware. In the following piece, Bim recounts a situation in which he and other men were trapped in an isolation unit with no ventilation, and with the air vents spewing noxious gas. While Bim’s attempts to find out the cause of the gas hit dead ends, the symptoms he describes the men experiencing notably mirror those of carbon monoxide poisoning, a medical emergency so potentially deadly that most states require carbon monoxide detectors in homes and buildings. The environmental and medical hazards commonly found in prisons and jails are well-documented, supported by the work of researchers, grassroots organizers, and other incarcerated writers. Bim is on Instagram @_bim_21 and YouTube. He can be emailed on GettingOut by adding him as a contact using his name “Dwayne Staats” and number “467005,” or reached by mail:
Dwayne Staats 467005 Delaware DOC – 1101 PO Box 96777 Las Vegas, NV 89193.
Kwame Beans Shakur and the late Playbwoi released a single, “Pray For Me.”
Kwaneta Harris, incarcerated journalist, writer, and activist exposing the abuses and conditions suffered by incarcerated women published an essay, “Two Juneteenths: Which One Survives?“ on her substack Write or Die and a short story, “Letters from the Free City of Maroon“ on Scalawag Magazine.
POW Radio Podcast, a new show about Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, released it’s inaugural episode “Clarifying Our Stance” discussing the Pendleton 2 Defense Committee and the BAP Prisoner Solidarity Network.
Events
A fundraiser for the Virgin Islands 3 held in Brooklyn:
Join family and friends of the Virgin Islands 3 on Saturday, June 27th for music, food and a wellness raffle to raise funds and support for their freedom!
Where: Vital Shoppe, 1030 Union Street, Brooklyn Doors open: 5pm Presentation from Mas Rising: 7pm Raffle closing: 8:30pm Music by One Nation Sound and Rev Love throughout
No door cover to come enjoy the vibes in community. Vital Shoppe will be serving their menu and we’ll be collecting donations for VI3 merch + the wellness raffle (yoga classes, acupuncture and massage).
Accessibility: This will be an indoor/outdoor event, and there’s a step with a small ramp to get into the restaurant. There is some seating but bringing a folding/camping chair is encouraged if you’re more comfortable sitting.
Outlaw Podcast, NYC Anti-Repression Group and PDX Anti-Repression Committee are hosting virtual study sessions covering a new chapter of “A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant” every sunday night – signup at https://bit.ly/tilted-2026
How would you navigate the legal, political, and personal costs of being deemed an extremist by your government? How would you face your prison sentence with clarity and dignity?
Join Outlaw Podcast, NYC Anti-Repression Group, and PDX Anti-Repression Committee for a virtual study group of “A Tilted Guide To Being A Defendant”, a guide to fighting criminal criminal charges from the perspective of movement lawyers and comrades who have faced political repression and imprisonment. We’ll discuss the book, its lessons, analyze recent cases, and strategize together for potential repression.
Read a digital version of the book [for free] here: bit.ly/read-tilted. There’s never been a better time to learn about navigating criminal cases from a movement perspective 🙃
This Month in History
On June 1, 1975, the George Jackson Brigade bombed the Washington Department of Corrections headquarters in support of striking prisoners in Walla Walla state penitentiary.
On June 1, 1977, Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), Leonard Peltier, received two life sentences for his alleged role in death of FBI agents at an AIM encampment.
On June 2, 1863, the Combahee River raid took place, with Harriet Tubman, formerly an enslaved woman, leading 150 Black Union soldiers.
On June 2, 2011, Geronimo Ji-Jaga died of a heart attack in Tanzania.
On June 4, 1972, Angela Davis was acquitted of murder and kidnapping charges.
On June 5, 1861 Mikhail Bakunin began an elaborate escape attempt from exile in Siberia.
On June 6, 1780, the notorious Newgate prison in London was burned down, and all prisoners freed by Gordon rioters, as was the Clink prison. It is rumoured that a message was daubed on Newgate prison’s walls stating that the prisoners had been released on the authority of “His Majesty, King Mob.”
On June 8, 1961, a group of Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, including Kwame Ture, Gwendolyn Greene and Joan Mulholland.
On June 9, 1963, Fannie Lou Hamer was arrested on trumped up charges and brutally beaten in jail.
On June 9, 1976, anarchists Noel and Marie Murray were sentenced to hang by a Dublin court for the killing of a police officer during an attempted bank robbery.
On June 10, 1927 in Italy, the trial of anarchist Gino Lucetti concluded. He had attempted to assassinate Mussolini on September 11, 1926. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison; two others received 12 years.
On June 10, 1942, nine Polish prisoners at the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp managed to escape.
On June 10, 1997, Geronimo Ji-Jaga released after 27 years in prison.
On June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back and killed as he fled from police in Atlanta, Georgia.
On June 15, 1917, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman were arrested at the offices of Mother Earth magazine in New York City for their role in forming the No-Conscription League during World War I.
On June 16, 1937, the leader of the Spanish Marxist Unification Workers Party (POUM), Andreu Nin, was arrested as he walked down Las Ramblas during the Spanish Civil War and later tortured to death by the Soviet NKVD.
On June 17, 1932, 24-year-old Italian anarchist coal miner Angelo Pellegrino Sbardellotto was executed by a firing squad in Italy for planning to assassinate fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
On June 19, 1953, communists Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed by the US state.
On June 20, 1835, Tomás, an enslaved Nagô (from modern day Nigeria) was sentenced to death for his role in the Malê rebellion in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.
On June 24, 2018, Robert Seth Hayes released from prison after 45 years.
On June 26, 1859, Chicano and Indian prisoners broke out of San Quentin; 40 escaped and 10 were killed.
On June 28, 2016, anarchist and anti-fascist Eric King was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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 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.
Derek Cannon
Birthday: July 21
Derek Cannon is serving life without parole after being wrongly convicted of murder during the 1993 Lucasville Uprising, based on the testimony of jailhouse witnesses who have since confessed to lying about the case. For more about Derek’s case, see “Let Lucasville Uprising Prisoners Tell Their Own Stories!” in the NLG Review. Due to his connection to the uprising, he is still a frequent target for staff harassment, even decades later.
Letters and cards should be mailed to the Ohio central mail scanning center:
Derek Cannon #221-663 ORDC Mail Processing Center (OMPC) 884 Coitsville-Hubbard Road Youngstown, Ohio 44505
Books and zines can be mailed directly to the prison:
Sam Faulder is an anarchist prisoner currently serving a life sentence in England. Sam’s case is miscarriage of justice, having done over ten years in the prison system for a murder she did not commit. She spends her time supporting other prisoners. She is now working with Cardiff University’s Innocence Project on her appeal.
Sam’s story highlights intersecting challenges of mental health, trauma, addiction and a corrupt criminal justice system in which there is no even playing field. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, beginning a long journey of medical neglect in the prison system where access to treatment faced significant delays and disruption. Her interests include music, astrology, and pagan spirituality. She loves post with silly pictures and nature images.
UK prisoners can also be contacted via emailaprisoner.com
Write to Sam:
Samantha Faulder A1209CF HMP Drake Hall Stafford ST21 6LQ UK
Samantha Faulder A1209CF HMP Eastwood Park Falfield Wotton-under-Edge GL12 8DB
Note: We’re unsure which address is correct, since UK prisoners’ info can’t be found online & support sites seem to be down! Email us with a correction if you’re connected.
Dakota Moss
Birthday: Jul 17, 2026
Dakota Moss was sentenced to 20 years for stealing guns for people to use during the 2014 riots in Ferguson after the non-indictment of the cop who murdered Michael Brown.
You can send mail to Dakota Moss at this address:
Dakota Moss #11400-025 USP Allenwood P.O. BOX 3000 WHITE DEER, PA 17887
Dzmitry Dubovski
Birthday: July 29
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
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.
Birthday: Aug 3, 2026 Bill Dunne #10916-086 FMC Butner Medium II Post Office Box 1500 Butner, North Carolina 27509
