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Jun 3, 25
Filed under: Featured, In Contempt
In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.
There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!
June 11th Day of Solidarity with Long-Time Anarchist Prisoners
June 11th, the international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners, is coming up!
You can read the 2025 call here. So far, statements for the day have been released by Michael Kimble and Marius Mason, and an expanded version of the June 11th zine is now hosted on archive.org. Early events have already been held in Savannah, GA, and Portland, OR.
Here’s a list of upcoming June 11th events announced so far, but be sure to follow June 11th on social media for future updates:
- Eugene, OR,
- Portland, OR,
- Asheville, NC,
- Cincinnati, OH
- Detroit, MI
- Bloomington, IN and here
- NYC, NY
- Toulouse, France
Fire Ant Movement Defense has also put out a call for people to celebrate June 11th as part of the growing campaign against repression of the Stop Cop City movement.
🚨 June 11 Movement Defense Day of Action 🚨On June 11, consider learning about Marius Mason and other long-term anarchist political prisoners, hosting a public event, dropping a banner, throwing a fundraiser, and taking action to defend our movements for total liberation.
Struggle Against ICE Expands as Trump Demands Increased Deportation Numbers
Actions by ICE have been ramping up, as the Trump administration continues to demand increased deportations. In the past month, recent ICE targets have included a raid on migrants involved in union organizing among farm workers in Western New York and the deportation of Alma Lopez Diaz’s children.
ICE attacked community members in #SanDiego who mobilized in defense of workers. "The crowd surrounded agents, yelling profanities + calling them fascists. Many people recorded the agents and the license plates of their vehicles." Police used weapons after the crowd attempted to block vehicles.
— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-05-31T07:40:40.190Z
Resistance to ICE raids continues, including a successful action that prevented ICE from detaining a parent and child in Nashville, Tennessee and widespread resistance to raids in Washington, DC. It’s Going Down has a roundup of courthouse mobilizations against ICE. An attempted ICE raid in San Diego led to agents using flashbang grenades against community members who gathered to disrupt the operation, block vans, and protect their neighbors.
Rally in Tacoma, WA against Northwest Detention Center (NWDC).
Living & Fighting has published a reportback from the struggle in Tucson, Arizona, and the Michigan General Defense Committee have an interview with someone involved in a Detroit Migra Watch project. In Dublin, CA, local residents are fighting against an attempt to reopen FCI Dublin, a notorious federal prison that was closed down in 2024, as an ICE detention center. Resistance also continues in Tacoma, WA, as community members continue to push for the closure of the deadly Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), and the release of union organizer and farm worker, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino.
Students and faculty at Florida International University are organizing against the institution’s decision to enroll in a partnership with ICE. Prism recently published an article from the Envision Freedom Fund, a bond fund that bails people out of immigration detention. Truthout was able to get an interview with someone who had just visited Jeanette Vizguerra, a long-term immigrant rights activist who was arrested in Denver in March.
So damn proud of these kids for their courage. 💥 Hundreds of Milford, MA high schoolers walked out in protest today after ICE detained their classmate Marcelo Gomes Da Silva. Detained on his way to volleyball practice. Illegally. These students aren’t backing down—they’re rising up. #OnYourSide
— Jennifer ✨Get In Good Trouble (@thejenniwren.teamlh.social) 2025-06-02T22:14:31.853Z
Labor unions have been organizing in support of immigrant members such as Maximo Londonio and Lewelyn Dixon in Washington, and Lewelyn has now been released. A rowdy anti-ICE protest at a courthouse in NYC at the end of May, where protesters attempted to block ICE vans, saw at least 20 arrests being made. Student walkouts also took place across New York and students in Massachusetts also held a walkout following the arrest by ICE of one of their classmates. Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born researcher, is now facing a felony smuggling charge for allegedly failing to declare frog embryos while crossing the border, and remains held in criminal custody despite a judge ordering her release from ICE custody.
Amazing to see actions in numerous cities today against Avelo Airlines, demanding that they drop their contract with ICE. Anger and action is growing. An injury to one is an injury to all!
— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-06-01T07:03:00.038Z
On May 31st, actions against Avelo Airelines took places across the US, with demonstrators holding rallies along the lines of protests which have been held against Tesla since the start of the second Trump administration. Protesters are demanding that Avelo drop contracts with ICE to fly migrants out of the country.
The Trump administration is looking at opening facilities in 19 other countries to deport people to along the lines of the CECOT deal with El Salvador, and at least two migrants from Myanmar and Vietnam have been deported to South Sudan in defiance of a court order. Independent researchers have been tracking planes used for deportations, along with potential opportunities to interfere with the process when they stop for refueling.
The CEO of GEO Group recently described the current moment as an “unprecedented opportunity” while at least three people are reported to have died in ICE custody in April.
Rümeysa Öztürk Freed as Fight Continues for Mahmoud Khalil and Beyond
Mahmoud Khalil recently appeared before an immigration judge, and was also able to hold his newborn child for the first time, while protesters rallied outside the Louisiana detention center where he’s held. An attorney representing Khalil says she was banned from using her computer during a hearing, preventing her from accessing vital evidence (paywall-busted version is here). So far, a judge has ruled that the attempt to deport Khalil is likely unconstitutional, but he remains in detention.
BREAKING: Court orders Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri to be *freed* from ICE detention.Dr. Khan Suri — whose research focuses on peace building — was detained by the Trump administration two months ago.Follows the freeing of Mohsen Mahdawi & Rumeysa Ozturk.
— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T16:24:35.953Z
In other Palestine-related cases, Michigan has now dropped the charges against Palestine solidarity protesters facing charges from the University of Michigan encampment. A judge has ordered the release of Virginia arrestee Badar Khan Suri. Massachusetts arrestee Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi from the Columbia encampment have also now been released from custody, while Alireza Doroudi has chosen to “self-deport.”
Political Prisoner News
Former Jane’s Revenge prisoner Caleb Freestone has been released from prison and recently gave an interview, and you can donate to his post-release expenses here.
His co-defendant Gaby remains incarcerated, you can write to her at:
Gabriella Oropesa #51617-510
FCI Tallahassee
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 5000
Tallahassee, FL, 32314
Unoffensive Animal have published a reminder to write to Leonard Peltier, who remains on house arrest after his release from prison:
Leonard’s release in February is of course wonderful. But unfortunately, that does not mean that he is completely free. Leonard has been imposed house arrest as a restriction, which means that he is not allowed to leave his home. Another thing that complicates Leonard’s difficult situation is that he has not yet received the medical care he needs, after years of neglect in prison. He is waiting for eye surgery in May. Leonard is 80 years old.
Leonard still needs our support. Show him that he is not alone. Keep writing letters to him (Leonard cannot read due to an eye disease, but he gets help to read all the letters sent to him).
TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER!
You can reach Leonard at:
LEONARD PELTIER
PO BOX 760
Belcourt ND 58316
A “Safeguard the Flame” event honoring political prisoners was held in Houston recently, featuring contributions from Jalil Muntaqim, dequi kioni-sadiki and Ashanti Alston, along with the campaign to free Xinachtli. You can watch an event marking the 40-year anniversary of the MOVE bombing here, featuring contributions from Ramona, Janine, Janet and Eddie Africa.
Former political-prisoner Eric King also has several upcoming speaking events at anarchist bookfairs, so be sure to check his social media feed here.
Uprising Defendants, Stop Cop City, and Other Ongoing Cases
The Final Straw recently managed to interview Ángel Espinosa-Villegas, a former George Floyd Uprising defendant now being held in ICE detention awaiting deportation to Chile. You can donate to support Ángel here. As of late May, it’s believed that Ángel has now been deported.
AJ, a 2020 uprising defendant, just came home!He did the full 5 years of his sentence and now needs support for reentry.Kick down! Share!gofund.me/5f0e70cb
— Oakland Abolition & Solidarity (@oaklandabosol.bsky.social) 2025-06-02T17:38:49.844Z
A fundraiser has been set up for AJ, a George Floyd Uprising defendant who is due to be released after completing a five-year sentence.
Cop City in Atlanta has now officially opened, while Stop Cop City defendant Priscilla Grim has shared an update from court, and reports that the judge in charge of the case wants to start trials in June. It’s Going Down has shared a call to defend the Atlanta 61, and you can read more about the case in a recent Inquest article, The Tools of Repression. Meanwhile, a rally in May was held in Atlanta in support of Cop City defendant Jack Mazurek, and a support rally also took place at the end of May to decide if the state can now enter new evidence. A support rally has also been called on June 4th.
May update from the Jack support crew! Visit freejack.co/2025/05/24/558 for the full update!
A report from the Atlanta Community Press Collective wrote:
Evidence and discovery issues were the focus of two court hearings held Wednesday for the 61 people charged under Georgia’s Racketeering-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for their alleged actions in a multi-year protest against the ‘Cop City’ police and fire training center in Atlanta.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin M. Farmer took over the RICO trial in early May after the Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams was transferred to a different court. A grand jury indicted the 61 defendants—collectively known as the ATL61—in August 2023, who were then arraigned in November. In the year and a half since the arraignment, defense attorneys have filed over 250 motions, many of which have not been ruled on.
Farmer’s task is to break up the sprawling case into manageable pieces for trial. Wednesday’s hearings were held to begin working through the backlog of motions and the overwhelming amount of discovery produced by prosecutors.
Trial schedules may be further complicated; at least four defendants—Priscilla Grimm, Spencer Liberto, Jamie Mariscano and Phillip Flagg—have filed new speedy trial demands, citing deprivation of Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights. Though defense attorneys brought up the new speedy trial motions Wednesday, Farmer did not say when he would rule on them or how they may impact trial scheduling.
One defendant, Ayla King, filed for a speedy trial in 2023. King’s trial is expected to begin in August.
In mid-May, banners were also dropped in solidarity with Stop Cop City defendants across the US.
Today, the 61 people facing trumped up RICO charges for opposing the construction of Cop City, a police militarization facility in Atlanta, assembled for a court date.All around the country, people dropped banners expressing solidarity with them. The fight is far from over.weelauneethefree.org
— CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective (@crimethinc.com) 2025-05-14T19:12:57.831Z
In Montreal, environmental group Last Generation report that one of their members was violently attacked by police for postering.
There’s a request to donate to bail funds for people arrested while counter-protesting an anti-trans rally in Seattle, donations can be sent to Super_UW on Venmo.
Minneapolis & St. Paul – Banners were dropped from overpasses this morning in solidarity with the #StopCopCity movement, including the 'SCC 61' facing politicized RICO charges and Jack Mazurek, accused of burning Atlanta Police motorcycles in connection to the movement.
— Unicorn Riot (@unicornriot.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T23:36:20.747Z
Three car marshals protecting a Palestine protest in Minnesota have beaten petty misdemeanor charges in court.
Rodney Hinton in Ohio is being held on charges of allegedly killing a police officer the day after his 18-year-old son Ryan was killed by police. You can write to him at:
Clermont County Jail
Rodney Hinton
4700 East Filager Road
Batavia, Oh 45103
See this post for more information about how to support him. Crowdfunding pages have been set up by both Anna Booker-Hinton, Rodney’s wife and Ryan’s stepmother, and by Ryan’s mother.
There’s an update from the support crew of Casey Goonan:
Casey’s sentencing hearing has once again been postponed until July 22nd at 1pm at the Oakland Federal Court house. We will be mobilizing court support again for this hearing so stay tuned for confirmation and guidelines a few weeks before that date.
Write to Casey here and check out this update on other ways to support:
Casey Goonan #UMF227
Santa Rita Jail
5325 Broder Blvd.
Dublin, CA 94568
Political Prisoner Kevin “Rashid” Johnson Launches Hunger Strike
Long-term revolutionary prison organizer Kevin “Rashid” Johnson has been transferred to South Carolina, and was injured in transit, leading to him launching a hunger strike after he was denied medical treatment.
As of late May, an article by staff at Virginia Defender, appearing in the San Francisco Bay View, wrote:
To support Rashid, contact these offices, express your concerns and ask about the current situation of Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, currently held at the Perry Correctional Institution in Pelzer, South Carolina. In case they ask, his South Carolina prison number is 397279.
- Ombudsman: email ombudsman@doc.sc.gov, phone 803-896-9409
- Medical Concerns Team: email MedicalConcerns@doc.sc.gov, phone 803-896-8547
And please let us know that you have taken this action by contacting us at DefendersFJE@hotmail.com.
Update on Rashid’s Situation
Summary: Now imprisoned in South Carolina, Rashid has been moved to solitary confinement for the second time, reportedly in retaliation for the phone and email campaign by his supporters. He is restricted to two handwritten letters per month, with no phone or email access. He has resumed his hunger strike and is asking folks to not back down and to increase their phone calls and emails to the prison officials. (See above.)
Rashid’s Current Conditions
- He is again sleeping on a concrete slab about six inches from the ground. Unlike the first time, he has clothes: a jumpsuit, boxer shorts, socks and crocs.
- He cannot make phone calls or send messages to anyone. He can only hand-write two personal letters per month.
- There are no materials in his cell, so he is forced to sit in his cell all day with absolutely nothing to do.
- He restarted his hunger strike on Tuesday, May 20.
- His leg is still stiff and still hurts when he bounces on it, but it feels like it’s mending. He no longer limps when he walks.
- The prison has given him the property he accumulated since he arrived at Perry, but has withheld all of his property from Keen Mountain, about 30 boxes of documents. They also took most of his legal mail and legal documents.
Defenders’ note: Our understanding is that Rashid is asking all supporters to keep flooding the outh Carolina Department of Corrections with phone calls and emails demanding that he be released from solitary; be given back his writing materials, his tablet and all personal property; and be allowed to communicate with his attorneys and supporters.
Send our brother some love and light: Kevin Johnson, 397279, Perry Correctional Institution, 430 Oaklawn Rd., Pelzer SC 29669. Even if the prison refuses to give Rashid his mail, it clearly shows that he has strong support. The Bay View salutes The Virginia Defender for its pivotal role in this struggle.
There’s an email tool you can use to send messages in support of Rashid here, and a guide to making phone calls here.
You can read Rashid’s own account of the situation here, along with previous articles on abuses at Red Onion and the retaliation he has faced for his reporting. Rashid has also reported on other vocal Virginia prisoners being transferred out of state. Other recent writings from Rashid include a revolutionary obituary for Ed Mead and part two of an interview on the 2016 national prison strike.
A rally in support of Rashid and against abuses in the Virginia prison system was held in Richmond on May 24th.
Legal Front: Mail Digitization and Attacks on Trans Prisoners in California
Physical mail bans have been spreading across prisons and jails across the country since 2018 in the wake of the last national prison strike and with them a trail of increased censorship, surveillance, institutional control, and misery.
The banning of physical mail is done under the guise of stopping contraband, but we all know how most contraband gets in – through the guards and staff. What it really is about is tightening the vice around prisoners necks even more than it already is, keeping prisoners isolated, and opening up new avenues for the prison system to surveil, censor, and retaliate.
The use of mass surveillance has been increasing on the outside just as on the inside. Digital tools are becoming more powerful and easier to use, which gives the oppressive police state previously unheard-of capacity to aggregate and analyze data. By forcing all mail to be digital, this allows it all to be easily fed through and stored in censoring and surveillance systems.
When we’ve investigated these companies that contract with the prisons to give tablets and phone services, we’ve found that they often actually sell themselves not as communications companies, but as surveillance companies that use communications provision to gather intelligence.
On the outside, we’ve experienced an increase in online censorship that is being done automated systems that punish you or prevent you from sending messages if those messages meet some unknown criteria, and without any clear recourse. Automated censorship often involves major decisions being made by a secret, extremely biased algorithm that is often almost impossible to appeal or even understand. Beyond being scary, it’s also endlessly infuriating and stupid.
On the inside, we’ve heard reports of messages being automatically blocked from being sent because they contain words relating to the facility conditions, such as the word “lockdown,” and experienced seemingly completely mundane letters being rejected with no explanation.
You can read a letter opposing mail digitization from a number of groups here.
Oakland Abolition & Solidarity have also written on how the Trump administration’s attacks on the Prison Rape Elimination Act are crossing over with ongoing attacks on trans prisoners:
On his first day in office, Trump issued Executive Order 14168 withdrawing federal recognition of transgender people. The order denies the existence of both trans and intersex people, stating that gender is based on biological sex at birth and cannot be changed. Subsequent orders have targeted trans people’s healthcare funding, civil rights protections, and their participation in school and sports.
Order 14168 also called to amend the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers.” The order eliminates funding for trans medical care in federal prisons. Currently, PREA (28 CFR, Section 115) requires prisons to account for LGBT prisoners’ perception of their own safety when placing them into housing. PREA also prohibits policies that house transgender and intersex prisoners based “exclusively on external genital anatomy.”
Sexual abuse remains widespread in every prison, jail and detention center. Locally, extensive documentation and exposure of assault and abuse at CCWF in Chowchilla and at FCI Dublin in particular demonstrate definitively that state and federal compliance with PREA is poor, and its enforcement mechanisms are weak. Punishment for noncompliance consists only of small reductions in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Check out more from Oakland Abolition and Solidarity here and read the new issue of their newsletter, Keep the Fires Burning. In other news, check out this report from Gladlaw about legal challenges to Trump’s attacks on trans people:
Executive Order 14168, issued on January 20, 2025, is an alarming attempt to undo the basic protections that allow transgender people to go about their daily lives. It directs the State Department to stop issuing accurate passports for trans people, instructs the Bureau of Prisons to deny incarcerated transgender people health care and appropriate housing, and charges the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reverse rules that give trans people safe access to shelters. It also pushes federal agencies to remove mention of gender identity from their websites, materials, and forms.
Finally, Freak Press reports:
For nearly a quarter century, Nate Lindell has made a habit out of being a thorn in the sides of his captors. Convicted in 2001 of murder in the first degree, Lindell has since spent much of his time litigating cases against his jailers, both for himself and on behalf of fellow inmates. He is also an aspiring journalist, reporting on prison conditions and advocating for prisoners’ rights in such publications as Between the Bars and NYU’s The Harbinger.
Lindell’s litigiousness and work writing about incarcerated persons’ rights have led to a number of actions over the years that he alleges amount to retaliation. He claims he was recently punished due to an article on the need to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that was published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in January, as well as a post on his Facebook page stating the need for Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections to comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Lindell is currently bringing a tort suit against officials of the Columbia Correctional Institution, for the alleged actions taken against him for publishing his work on the PREA and PTSD.
In his latest case, Nate A Lindell XRE vs. Terri Rees et al, Lindell is challenging his denial of access to the body worn camera (BWC) footage of prison officials. In addition to dealing with BWC laws in Wisconsin (a much debated topic since implementation began in 2018), the suit concerns the state’s Open Records Law and national PREA policies. The outcome of the case could have important implications for prisoners’ rights in the state.
Read the full report here.
New Releases from Mongoose Distro and other Abolitionist Media Updates
Mongoose Distro has recently published a new interview by Ronin Grey with a survivor of the California State Hospital system, along with two new pieces by Comrade Z, on the tactics of the Piqueteros in Argentina and the origins of Mongoose Distro. They’ve also put out a collection of poems by Brian “Hakiym” Simpson, a Black father, firefighter, community leader, and poet who was imprisoned in Oregon for defending himself against a racist attack.
Hakiym welcomes all correspondence from supporters! Address envelopes to:
Brian Simpson* #27433390
Snake River Correctional Institution
777 Stanton Boulevard
Ontario, Oregon 97914-8335
To put money on his commissary, venmo @siskiyoumutualaid with “Justice 4 Hakiym” in the description.
Hakiym also wants to encourage folks to check out a hip hop / spoken word track he released during the George Floyd Uprisings, titled “Old News”: https://youtu.be/NHBASipyR0A.
To support Hakiym, visit @justiceforhakyim on IG.
Dwayne “BIM” Staats of the Vaughn 17 now has a YouTube channel, and his book Rebellious Hearts will be available in audio format on youtube from the start of June.
Michigan Abolition and Prisoner Solidarity have published a new issue of their regular newsletter The Opening Statement.
The notes from the edge of empire blog has published a first-hand account of staff abuses at RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in California.
Texas prisoner Jason Renard Walker has written on the arrest of a TDCJ Captain who had previously attempted to have him killed.
Unicorn Riot have covered the launch of the Coalition to Free Mahdi Ali, a group aiming to overturn the conviction of a Minnesota prisoner wrongfully convicted of a triple murder when he was 15.
The Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign is asking people to use a new online tool to send letters in support of Shaka’s release.
Recent episodes of the Outlaw podcast have included an interview with Kristian Williams and Garrett about the changing terrain of counter-insurgency and political repression, and Shirin Sinnar on terrorism laws.
Rattling the Bars has a new interview on prison farms and “agri-carceral” slave labor.
Freedom News has reviewed Shadows in the Struggle for Equality, the recently published book on the history of the Anarchist Red Cross in Russia.
Shine White Transferred
Revolutionary North Carolina prisoner Joseph “Shine White” Stewart has been released from solitary confinement and moved to Foothills Correctional. He writes:
Conditions here are somewhat better and other than being told not to bring my “revolutionary shit” here I’ve been left alone. I’ve enrolled in school, been assigned to a janitorial job, and I was recently taken to Duke for a procedure to have cancer removed from my thyroid gland.
I’m doing OK overall, but am in dire need of financial support, and this cannot solely be placed on the one individual who has supported me unconditionally throughout my struggles. Raising funds for me must be a collective effort. I am in need of shoes, phone and tablet time, and hygiene. And I would like to enjoy some real food.
Any amount will help thank you in advance. Support can be sent via cashapp to $mawmaw2007 with “for shinewhite” in the memo/note.
For a full report, see Blue Ridge Anarchist Black Cross (ABC).
General Prison and Repression News
Women prisoners held at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan are suing the Michigan Department of Corrections after having been illegally filmed during strip searches. The lawsuit alleges multiple violations, including invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sex-based discrimination under Michigan’s Elliot-Larson Civil Rights Act, and violations of Michigan constitutional rights.
Organizers in Albuquerque, New Mexico have been challenging plans to deploy the National Guard to police the city. Check the SouthWest Solidarity Network for more updates on the struggle against the National Guard as it develops.
According to documents obtained by the Appeal, the Department of Justice has cut all funding for the National Prison Rape Prevention Center.
The Intercept has a report on plans for a new platform intended to centralize and streamline the process of intelligence agencies buying personal data from tech companies.
An investigation by the Washington Post on New Orleans police using real-time facial recognition tracking (paywall-free version), has apparently caused the police force to pause their use of the program in response to widespread criticism.
Thousands of people say they were sexually abused in Maryland juvenile detention centers. Is anyone investigating? baltimorebeat.com/thousands-of…
— Baltimore Beat (@baltimorebeat.bsky.social) 2025-05-25T15:01:18.588Z
An audit of police custody deaths in Maryland has found at least 36 cases recorded as accidents that should have been identified as homicides. The audit investigated autopsies carried out by Dr. David Fowler, who testified at the Derek Chauvin trial that George Floyd’s death was not caused by Chauvin kneeling on his neck. In a separate Maryland story, up to 6,000 people are suing the state over claims that they were sexually abused at state-run juvenile detention facilities, some as recently as 2022.
Eduardo Caba, who was wrongfully convicted of a 1995 robbery in New York, had managed to get the Bronx District Attorney to agree that his conviction was wrong and should be overturned, but Judge Alvin Yearwood refused to approve the motion to overturn his conviction, arguing that it would set a precedent to challenge others.
Katherine Passley, the founder of Beyond the Bars, a member-led worker center for people with criminal records and their families, has been recognized with a Labor Organizer of the Year award for her work with previously incarcerated workers. In These Times have also published a piece looking at how labor unions can work with prisoners and previously incarcerated workers to fight for abolition. From the article:
Abolition posits that these hellscapes known as jails and prisons must be replaced with institutions that provide basic needs, such as housing, healthcare and employment. Unions are indeed best positioned to recruit, train and provide skills as alternatives to incarceration. To get there, we need a radical social movement that can bring labor and reentry together for, as I call it, “abolition reentry.”
We know that strong labor organizing and unions are fundamental to protecting workers’ rights and democratic values. Yet incarcerated and formerly incarcerated workers have, historically, generally benefited least from this framework because of draconian “tough on crime” policies entrenched in the United States.
The family of Glenn Smallwood are suing Angelina County in Texas, after he was left to choke to death in a restraint chair at the Angelina County Jail in 2023.
10 inmates managed to escape from the Orleans Justice Center, a jail in New Orleans, earlier this month. The jail is now experiencing further problems with flooding and plumbing failures.
International
Sanaa Salama Daqqa, the widow of long-term Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqa, has been detained by Israel. Addameer has published a report on conditions in Gliboa and Maggidd prisons and the Ramla prison clinic, and one on the conditions faced by Palestinian women prisoners. Samidoun reports that Ayman Qudaih, Bilal Salameh and Mohammed al-Astal have died inside Israeli prisons, bringing the number of Palestinian prisoners who’ve died in prison since 7 October 2023 to 69. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has cut payments to 1,612 Palestinian prisoners, released prisoners and their families.
In Russia, anarchist Alexey Rozhkov has been given a 16 year sentence for setting fire to a military enlistment office, and anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui has been sentenced to 29 years for his acts of anti-war sabotage. You can read more about the case in this article from Freedom. ABC Moscow also report that 18-year old anarchist prisoner Lyubov Lizunova has been transferred to a new penal colony, and send birthday greetings to Network case prisoner Vasily Kuksov.
“I just understood that one cannot remain indifferent” ~ Alexy Rozhkov sentenced to 16 years“The exact time as long as the torture lasted, I can not say, since after a few shocks my mind blurred, I can say that it is unbearably painful” ~ Ruslan Sidiki, sentenced to life in prison
— Rita, antifascist🏴 (@oldsquida.bsky.social) 2025-05-21T12:17:45.325Z
The Budapest Antifa case continues. You can read a recent court statement from the defendant Maja here. ABC Dresden have published a roundup of recent developments in the case, and there will be a national demonstration in Germany in defence of antifascism on June 14th.
There’s a call for people to continue writing to Italian anarchist prisoner Alfredo Cospito, and to send copies of all correspondence and proof of postage to cassantirepalpi@autistici.org so they can track the censorship of his mail.
The Susaron case prisoners in Chile have given a statement to Unoffensive Animal about looking after kittens while in prison. Chilean anarchist prisoner Tomás González Quezada has also written a new text.
Solidarity and repressionThe new year is not even halfway through, and yet events in 2025 have already unfolded almost as rapidly as the authorities in their efforts to criminalize anti-fascists and subject them to repression.
— Anarchistisches Schwarzes Kreuz Dresden (@abcdresden.bsky.social) 2025-05-28T18:59:13.000Z
The Nakba 77 protest in Berlin saw heavy repression with 50 arrests reported.
Greek anarchist prisoner Marianna Manoura has written a new article, and Marianna Manoura and Dimitra Z have shared a statement in support of hunger strikers in the Turkish prison system. A text on Palestine by Greek anarchist prisoner Thanos Chatzianggelou is now available as a zine on archive.org.
Uprising Defendants
See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. You can also check With Whatever Weapons for regularly-updated zines listing current prisoners. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:
Tyre Means 49981-086
USP Victorville
US Penitentiary
P.O. Box 3900
Adelanto, CA 92301
Margaret Channon 49955-086
FCI Tallahassee
P.O. Box 5000
Tallahassee, FL 32314
Malik Muhammad #23935744
Snake River Correctional
777 Stanton Blvd
Ontario, OR 97914
Montez Lee 22429-041
FCI Petersburg Medium
Federal Correctional Institution
PO Box 1000
Petersburg, VA 23804
Matthew White #21434-041
USP Terre Haute
PO Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
Matthew Rupert #55013-424
USP Big Sandy
US Penitentiary
P.O. Box 2068
Inez, KY 41224
José Felan #54146-380
FCI Terre Haute
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 33
Terre Haute, IN 47808
David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701
Khalif Miller #QQ9287
Camp Hill
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Alvin Joseph 1002016959
Hays State Prison
PO Box 668
Trion, GA 30753
John Wade #1003510744
PO Box 3877
Jackson, GA 30233
Mujera Benjamin Lunga’ho #08572-509
08572-509
FCI Beaumont Medium
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. Box 26040
Beaumont, TX 77720
Christopher Tindal 04392-509
FCI Cumberland
PO Box 1000
Cumberland, MD 21501
Upcoming Birthdays
Sergey Romanov
Letters written in languages other than Russian or Belarusian may not reach prisoners in Belarus, but if you email your greetings to belarus_abc(AT)riseup.net, or enter them into this online form, they should be able to translate them and pass them on to Sergey for you. See here for more information.
Birthday: June 7
Address:
(for letters in Russian or Belarusian only)
Romanov Sergey Aleksandrovich
IK № 11, ul. Rokossovskogo, 118,
Volkovysk, 231900
Volkovysk district, Grodno region, Belarus
Jesse “Tall Can” Cannon
Jesse Cannon (AKA Tall Can, TC for short) is an antifascist political prisoner who is currently at Wasco State Prison serving a 5 year sentence for 2 different cases – both of them for fighting against white supremacy.
Jesse loves nature, music (hip-hop and rap, but really anything), photography, and he likes to hear about space and the moon. He’ll love it if you just say what’s up and if you tell him about your cat or a cute squirrel you saw at the park.
California uses Connect Network/GTL, so you should be able to contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: California, Facility: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilition,” going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “BX4822.”
Birthday: June 9
Address:
Jesse Cannon* BX4822
Sierra Conservation Center
5150 O’Byrnes Ferry Road
Dorm 27, Upper Tier 7U
Jamestown, California 95327
*Address envelope to Jesse Cannon; cards/letters to TC or Tall Can.
Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers
Vaughn Uprising prisoner, one of the only two prisoners from the Vaughn 17 to be convicted. As one write-up put it, “Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats, already incarcerated under the hopeless sentence of life without parole, took it upon themselves to admit to involvement to prevent the rest of their comrades being found unjustifiably guilty, which led to success – not guilty verdicts or their charges being dropped.”
You can learn more about Ruk in his own words at Rebellious Hearts and his Instagram.
Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NS9994”.
Birthday: June 15
Address:
Smart Communications / PA DOC
Jarreau Ayers – NS9994
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733
Jason Renard Walker
Texas prison writer and organizer associated with the 2016 prison strike, contributor to the Fire Inside zine, facing down heavy repression for his ongoing attempts to expose the brutality of the prison system. You can find his writings at his website, Jason’s Prison Journal, and his work has been collected as an ebook, Reports from Within the Belly of the Beast. To find out more about Jason, you can also listen to this interview he recently conducted with the Final Straw.
Birthday: June 17th
Address:
Note: Texas prisons have now banned all greeting cards and postcards. As Texas uses Securus, you can send him a message by creating an account at securustech.online, clicking “emessaging – launch account”, then searching his name while selecting “State: Texas, Inmate ID: 1532092”. Or to send him a letter on standard white paper that complies with Texas restrictions, write to:
Jason Renard Walker #1532092
PO Box 660400
Dallas, TX 75266-0400
cover photo via BlueSky
