Anarchist in South Carolina Facing Federal Subpoena Releases Statement

The following is a statement from an anarchist in South Carolina facing a federal subpoena. For more information on state repression and grand juries, check out these articles from CrimethInc. and the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

In Charleston, South Carolina, an anarchist and musician was recently subpoenaed to appear in front of a federal grand jury. She asked that others widely share this statement in order to bring awareness to her ordeal:

My name is Cyprus Hartford. I’m a 20-year-old musician, trans woman, and anarchist. On June 5, 2024, I was stopped on the highway by federal agents and served a subpoena to testify before a Federal Grand Jury in Charleston, South Carolina on August 13, 2024. After consulting with friends, family, and attorneys, I’ve made the decision to challenge this subpoena, and if necessary, to refuse to give testimony before the grand jury. I will not allow the state to intimidate me. I will not put my community at risk by giving the state information that has nothing to do with harmful behavior, but discloses private information about our first amendment-protected beliefs, activities, and associations.

Grand juries are an archaic and secretive process by which the state secures indictments. They have been abolished everywhere they were ever implemented, except for the USA and Liberia. As an anarchist, I don’t believe that any court should have the power to condemn human beings to imprisonment, but this is especially true for grand juries. Grand juries undermine witness’s rights to protect against self incrimination by forcing them to testify under threat of indefinite federal imprisonment via Civil contempt of court. This is what I will be facing for refusing to cooperate. Grand Juries nearly always vote to indict, with one exception. Grand juries almost never indict white police officers who shoot and kill Black people. This legal process is essentially a kangaroo court. It has no place in a supposedly free country. I refuse to participate in the process of rubber stamping an indictment. Unlike every other legal process in the U.S., federal grand juries happen behind closed doors. There is no defense attorney, no judge, and no press or public. Secret proceedings are inherently undemocratic, and susceptible to politically motivated abuse.

Although I don’t think this subpoena is justified, I wasn’t surprised to receive it because of similar repression happening in the Charleston area. In March, the same ATF agent who served me the subpoena left a card at the door to my family’s house. During the spring of this year, several others in the Charleston, South Carolina area were subpoenaed and did give testimony. State and federal repression is ramping up all around the country. After years of successive mass protest movements, the state is cracking down even further on dissent. We have the tools to be able to fight against this in court. When I was served this subpoena, I called movement attorneys associated with the National Lawyers Guild. They connected me with people who had been in the position I’m in. I was assured that I am not alone. People have been in my position before and made the decisions I am making. The state seeks to isolate and atomize us from each other, but we are stronger when we stand together.

At the present time, I’m currently attempting to find a lawyer to represent me in court. This is a somewhat expensive and difficult process. A gofundme link to support me with this, as well as living expenses in the meantime and potential funding in the event that I am incarcerated for my refusal to cooperate, can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-cyprus-against-state-repression . Any money left over after all this is done will go to others facing state repression.

With Love and Rage,
Cyprus Hartford

It/they/she

To support Cyprus and share her fundraiser, go here. From the campaign:

Cyprus is a trans woman, a folk punk musician, and an activist.

Now Cyprus has been subpoenaed to testify in front of a federal grand jury. Federal grand juries are supposed to investigate federal crimes, but there is a long and well-documented history of politically-motivated federal grand juries being used to target dissident communities and gather private information otherwise protected by the first amendment. Grand Juries are notoriously secretive and play by very different rules than normal court proceedings. Jurors are hand-selected by the prosecution without screening for biases, and no judge, defense attorney, or member of the public may be present for proceedings. They are an effective tool of state repression, because they are so secretive, and so they are not subject to the requirements of transparency, rules of evidence, and opportunity for each party to be heard that apply to all other proceedings in the U.S. legal system. They also enable the state to access information about beliefs, activities, and relationships that are totally legal and even constitutionally protected, which can help make it possible to infiltrate and disrupt organizing.

Cyprus plans to challenge the legal validity of this subpoena, which will require her to hire an attorney. She may also be subject to consequences, including incarceration, for her act of principled resistance to this subpoena. Cyprus is an essential part of our community. She means so much to so many people. She has had her life uprooted by federal repression. She has been stalked by federal agents, who interrupted her tour to serve her this subpoena. Cyprus is working to keep our community free from state surveillance and intrusion and we must step up to support her. Now she needs our help to stand strong against state repression. Together we make a community. We need to support her through the grand jury resistance process.

Help her pay for legal fees and living expenses while she goes through this process.

Check Cyprus’ linktree here.