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Dec 2, 22

In Contempt #23: Antifascists Given Long Sentences for Self-Defense; Mutulu Shakur Granted Parole

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

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

Political Prisoner News

Perhaps the biggest piece of political prisoner news is that Mutulu Shakur has finally been granted parole after more than 36 years. Natasha Lennard has written a report and analysis of the situation, which is available in a more accessible form on the ABCF site.

The support crew for anarchist prisoner Eric King have published an update on his situation, featuring new writing and poetry from Eric, who remains amazingly defiant while in the depths of the supermax.

Earth liberation defendant Joseph Dibee has been sentenced to time served, meaning that he’s due for release, a rejection of the prosecution’s attempt to get a longer sentence.

A rally in support of Chicano anarchist political prisoner Xinachtli was held on November 21st in Austin, Texas.

Indigenous anarchist political prisoner Oso Blanco has designed some new greeting cards to raise money for children on reservations and in Zapatista territory.

The Anarchist Black Cross Federation has launched an appeal to “Give Through The Bars” to raise money for their ongoing work with political prisoners, and James River ABC will be holding a holiday letter-writing party on December 20th in Richmond, Virginia.

Anarchist and antifascist prisoner Dan Baker continues to publish new writings regularly through Mongoose Distro, such as “Confessions and Self Criticisms,” “Selfless Anarchism in Action,” and “Herstory.”

Uprising Defendants and Other Ongoing Cases

Recent weeks have unfortunately seen the sentencing of a number of antifascist defendants. In Olympia, Benjamin Varela was sentenced for his part in defending Olympia from a rampage by the Proud Boys, led by Tusitala “Tiny” Toese.

His address is:

Benjamin Varela #434577
Washington Corrections Center
P.O. Box 900
Shelton, WA 98584

In California, Nikki Hubbard has been sentenced to four years for taking action to oppose a violent “Patriot March” in Pacific Beach that involved several of the January 6th rioters. Nikki, a trans woman, is currently being held in a men’s prison, and her supporters have set up a linktree, where you can find her support facebook, tiktok, and instagram pages, as well as a cashapp. A petition to get her moved to a women’s prison will also be set up in the near future.

Over on the East Coast, Alexander Stokes Contompasis has been sentenced to 20 years for his part in a confrontation with a group of Proud Boys on January 6th, 2021. Supporters have set up a site, Free Alex Stokes, and are selling prints of his art to help with his costs. Donations can also be sent directly to Cashapp – $freealexstokes or Venmo – @free_alex_stokes.

In more positive news, November also saw a string of victories involving water protector defendants, as five of the “Shell River Seven” had their charges dropped, along with other cases connected to the Treaty People Gathering, while former NoDAPL political prisoner Rattler was granted early release.

In other news from ongoing cases, Portland anarchists are raising money for a defendant who’s been sentenced to pay almost $50,000 after being sentenced for riot charges.

The Nation has published an in-depth article on the case of Dawn Jeffrey, a George Floyd Uprising defendant from Arkansas who’s currently awaiting sentencing in early December. You can donate to Dawn’s legal defense fund here, and check out the work of the Little Rock Freedom Fund, an organization she helped found. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jessica Lopez has been convicted of riot after taking part in a protest against police killing during the uprising.

Prison Strikes

Following on the footsteps of the strong prison strike that recently took place across the Alabama system, the SPARC collective have just put out a call for a strike across the Pennsylvania prison system starting in January 2023. For more analysis on the Alabama strike, Jared Ware recently published an in-depth article on Prism Reports.

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

Supporters of imprisoned organizer Kevin “Rashid” Johnson continue to call for him to receive adequate medical treatment following his cancer diagnosis. For updates on his situation, you can see his recent articles, “Retaliation for Litigation”, “Medical Care as a Political Weapon” and “Why Would Medical Professionals Lie? My Denied Cancer Treatment Becomes More Sinister,” as well as listening to this short audio update he was able to record. You can donate to his defense campaign here and find a general introduction to the campaign here.

General Prison News

Jailhouse Lawyers Speak are holding a “seasonal joy drive” to get presents to the children of incarcerated parents, and have also been fundraising to restore the property of organizers who’ve had their personal items confiscated or destroyed after being subjected to vindictive cell searches, leaving at least 40 law books destroyed. You can donate to Cashapp $arebelsworld or Venmo @ arebelsworld.

Jailhouse Lawyers Speak also report that their previous phone zap, for South Carolina prisoner Sundiata Jawanzaa, has now been successful in getting him and several other jailhouse lawyers moved out of solitary confinement.

A new phone zap has been called for North Carolina revolutionary prisoner Joseph “Shine White” Stewart, who’s just been subjected to a punitive transfer and is being held in unsanitary conditions without access to his personal property.

Anarchist prisoner Sean Swain has just published “The FBI Can Go Fuck Itself,” a major new piece of writing based on gaining access to his own FBI file. Texas anarchist prisoner Noah “Kado” Coffin has just gone through the parole process and been approved for release, although he’s not been given a release date yet.

Abolitionist Media and Projects

Issue 14 of anarchist prisoner zine Fire Ant has now been released, with updates from Michael Kimble and Jennifer Rose as well as an interview with Sean Swain. Oakland Abolition & Solidarity are selling new shirts to raise money for their work.

Recent episodes of Kite Line Radio include a two–part interview with Sincere, a woman who spent 13 years in Indiana prisons, and another two–parter on prisons in Brazil.

A new issue of the Pennsylvania prisoner zine IB 64 has been released, and can be downloaded from Mongoose Distro. Mongoose also continue to publish new prisoner writings regularly, including an important new article from Jason Walker on guard-instigated violence in Texas prisons, as well as other articles on prison slavery and “flat time” records.

International

In international news, November saw a lot of energy and action around the ongoing hunger strike of Italian anarchist prisoner Alfredo Cospito. November 30th was called as a day of action in solidarity with Alfredo and other hunger striking prisoners, and there’s a call to extend that into a week of action lasting until December 5th, when Alfredo and his co-defendant Anna Beniamino, who is also on hunger strike, will appear in court.

Alfredo and Anna’s hunger strike, against the incredibly harsh “41 bis” prison regime, has been joined by others, including Italian anarchist prisoner Juan Sorroche Fernandez, French anarchist prisoner Ivan Alocco, and an intermittent strike by UK anarchist prisoner Toby Shone. You can listen to a short audio interview about the hunger strike, here. International actions in support of the hunger strikers have included a banner drop outside the Barton jail in Hamilton, Canada, and a truck arson in Milwaukie, Oregon, USA.

Meanwhile, 11 Turkish political prisoners held in the Greek prison system have also been holding another hunger strike to demand a fair trial, and the trial of Greek anarchists Vangelis Stathopoulos and Dimitris Chatzivasiliadis is approaching its end, with the defendants having been sentenced to 19 and 16 years in prison respectively.

Özgül Emre, a Turkish revolutionary political prisoner in Germany, has just published a new letter.

In Ireland, an antifascist has appeared in court on a number of charges related to a successful action against the fascist National Party, and funds are being raised for his legal defense, including a t-shirt being sold by antifascists from Manchester.

Repression continues in Belarus, and Belarus Anarchist Black Cross are still publishing their monthly updates, as well as a profile of Anastasia Kukhta, who’s just been given five years in prison. The Telegram channel Freedom Is A Right publishes more information on Belarus anarchist prisoners.

Over the border in Russia, a new fundraising initiative has been launched for anti-war prisoners, and you can donate via FireFund here. The Dresden Anarchist Black Cross have published an article on the “Tyumen case”, a new case against six anarchists and antifascists facing terrorism charges, and Autonomous Action have published testimony from a man who was tortured because his brother was an anarchist.

In Egypt, the COP27 summit took place against the backdrop of an ongoing hunger strike by political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

In the UK, more defendants continue to be sentenced as a result of the Bristol “Kill the Bill” cases. The Network for Police Monitoring published accounts from Christopher Hind and Tyler Overall, two new Kill the Bill prisoners who’ve been given 21 months each, and Bristol Anarchist Black Cross continue to keep an updated list, which had already reached 15 names before the new sentences. Freedom News has published a statistical analysis of the cases so far. Meanwhile, another new case has been launched against a defendant facing terrorism charges for allegedly holding a Kurdish liberation flag.

The Colombia Freedom Collective report that Christian Andres Aguilar was released after 14 months of pre-trial detention, on charges related to his participation in the 2021 national strike.

Uprising Defendants

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

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

Kelly Jackson 50288-086
FCI Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. BOX 5000
Sheridan, OR 97378

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew White #21434-041
USP McCreary
P.O. Box 3000
Pine Knot, KY 42635

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

José Felan
Sherburne County Jail
13880 Business Center Dr.
NW Suite 200 Elk River, MN 55330-1692

Branden Wolf #22425-041
FCI Oxford
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. BOX 1000
Oxford, WI  53952

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

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

Christopher West 04670-509
USP Canaan
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 300
Waymart, PA 18472

You can also buy fundraiser clothing for Christopher “Brother Hush” West here.

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

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

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

Alvin Joseph 1002016959
Metro Reentry Facility
PO Box 17668
Atlanta, GA 30316

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

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

Adam Walton 55322-424
FCI Forrest City Medium
PO Box 3000
Forest City, AR 72336

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

Kyree Robertson #597000
Parnall Correctional Facility
1780 E. Parnall Rd.
Jackson, MI 49201

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

Antonio Wooden 17569-028 (Tony Cushe)
FCI McDowell
PO Box 1009
Welch, WV 24801

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

Upcoming Birthdays

Ellie Brett

Ellie Brett is a George Floyd Uprising prisoner from Georgia, convicted of charges related to vandalism against government property and police cars. You can read a short statement from him here.

Birthday: December 1

Address:

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

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

Rashid has been an outspoken revolutionary prisoner for years and is highly active with the New Afrikan Black Panther Party and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, facing harsh repression for his organizing and position as one of the public faces of the prison strike movement. He is currently fighting for adequate medical treatment after being diagnosed with cancer.

Virginia uses Jpay, so you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Virginia, Inmate ID: 1007485”.

Birthday: December 3

Address:

Kevin Johnson 1007485
Sussex 1
24414 Musselwhite Dr.
Waverly, VA 23891

Fred “Muhammad” Burton

Fred Burton is one of the Philly 5, a group of men accused of an alleged attack on a police station in 1970. He was sentenced to a life term for murder. Burton has maintained his innocence since his arrest. His preferred name is Muhammad, but envelopes should be addressed to Fred Burton.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “AF3896”.

Birthday: December 15

Address:

Smart Communications/PA DOC
Fred Burton
AF3896
SCI Somerset
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida
33733

Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Alejandro in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. Years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NW2883”.

Birthday: December 17

Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz, NW2883
SCI Huntingdon
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

Julio A. Zuniga

Julio “Comrade Z” Zuniga is an anarchist prisoner, writer, artist, and IWW/IWOC member held in Texas. You can see some of his work at his instagram page, and check Mongoose Distro for some of his writings.

Birthday: December 23

Address:

Note: Texas prisons have now banned all greeting cards and postcards. As Texas uses Jpay, you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Texas, Inmate ID: 1961551”. Or to send him a letter on standard white paper that complies with Texas restrictions, write to:

Julio A. Zuniga #1961551
McConnell Unit
3001 South Emily Drive
Beeville, TX 78102

Casey Brezik

Anarchist prisoner serving time in Missouri.

Missouri uses Securus, so you should be able to send him a message by going to securustech.online, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Missouri, Inmate ID: 1154765”.

Birthday: December 30

Address:

Casey Brezik
Daviess/Dekalb County Regional Jail
102 Meadows Lane
Pattonsburg, Missouri 64670

Noah “Comrade Kado” Coffin

Anarchist prisoner and artist being held in long-term solitary confinement in Texas, and regular contributor to the Fire Ant zine. Noah now has an instagram page you can check out here, and his writings are published by Mongoose Distro. As of November 2022, he’s just been approved for parole.

Birthday: December 30

Address:

Note: Texas prisons have now banned all greeting cards and postcards. As Texas uses Jpay, you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Texas, Inmate ID: 1795167”. Or to send him a letter on standard white paper that complies with Texas restrictions, write to:

Noah Coffin #1795167
Ellis Unit
1697 FM 980
Huntsville, TX 77343

You can also write to the Fire Ant Collective, who’ve set up a fund to support him, at:

Noah Coffin Fund
c/o Fire Ant
PO Box 164
Harmony, ME 04942

Jonathan Rodriguez

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Jonathan in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. Years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0434”.

Birthday: December 31

Address:

Smart Communications / PA DOC
Jonathan Rodriguez – NU0434
SCI Rockview
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733

photo: Radical Graffiti

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A monthly report on prison rebels, State repression, and news from an abolitionist perspective.

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