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Jan 8, 20

Over 100 People Show Up to Support Sherrie Andre of the FANG Collective on Trial for Resisting ICE

Call to support Sherrie Andre of the FANG Collective who is on trial for resisting ICE.

On January 7th, over 100 people came to New Bedford District Court to support Sherrie Andre, the co-founder of the FANG Collective, as they headed to trial.

Despite the fact that both Sherrie’s legal team, and the prosecution were prepared for the trial, the judge inexplicably decided to move the trial to February 26th. After the decision was announced, court officers violently and aggressively removed supporters from the court house. We won’t back down and will continue to support Sherrie and resist ICE and state violence in Bristol County.

Sherrie is the co-founder of the FANG Collective, a non-violent direct action group in the northeast. In August 2018, Sherrie was one of four people arrested for an action in solidarity with individuals detained by I.C.E. at the Bristol County House of Corrections. The people on the inside were engaged in a hunger strike due to horrendous conditions in the facilities. Sherrie blockaded the entrance to the facility, and was brought down violently by Bristol County law enforcement.

Since 1997, Thomas Hodgson has been the sheriff of Bristol County, Massachusetts, which includes cities such as New Bedford, Fall River, and Dartmouth. He is a loyal supporter of Donald Trump, has contributed to the administration’s immigration policies, and is the honorary campaign chair in Massachusetts for the Trump re-election campaign. Recent e-mails uncovered by the ACLU revealed that he is in constant communication with white supremacist Stephen Miller. He has snitched on his own church for providing literature in Spanish, and frequently provides information to the White House about local activists, including the action in which Sherrie participated.

Hodgson is an enthusiastic proponent of the 287(g) program, which are contracts that individual counties can sign with I.C.E. These agreements permit local law enforcemernt to act as immigration officers and detain undocumented people, extending the powers of I.C.E. and of the police. Protests of this agreement, especially in Bristol County, have been met with violence and extreme sentences for activists. FANG’s Shut Down ICE campaign is an effort to end these agreements, focusing on the three counties in Massachusetts that have them: Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable.

On January 8th at 4pm please join us as we March on Ash Street Jail in New Bedford. Check out the Facebook event here.

Ash Street Jail, one of the oldest jails in the country, is overseen by the Bristol County Sheriffs Office and is notorious for its awful conditions.

We will be gathering at the New Bedford District Court at 4pm and then marching to Ash Street Jail to express our solidarity and support for all individuals who are incarcerated, as well as our demand that the 287(g) and IGSA contract between ICE and the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office be cancelled.

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Join us TOMORROW as we march on Ash Street Jail in New Bedford to demand an end to Bristol County's contracts with ICE. . Ash Street Jail, one of the oldest jails in the country, is overseen by the Bristol County Sheriffs Office and is notorious for its awful conditions. . We will be gathering at the New Bedford District Court at 4pm and then marching to Ash Street Jail to express our solidarity and support for all individuals who are incarcerated, as well as our demand that the 287(g) and IGSA contract between ICE and the Bristol County Sheriff's Office be cancelled. . *** . On Tuesday morning, Sherrie Andre of FANG was supposed to begin a trial for their direct action in solidarity with individuals detained by ICE at the Bristol County House of Corrections. . Despite the fact that both Sherrie's legal team, and the prosecution were prepared for the trial, the judge inexplicably decided to move the trial to February 26th. After the decision was announced, court officers violently and aggressively removed supporters from the court house. . We won't back down and will continue to support Sherrie and resist ICE and state violence in Bristol County. . We are going to meet in front of the New Bedford District Court building at 4:00pm, and begin our march from there. People are encouraged to bring anything that makes noise. . Accessibility Notes: The march route is about 0.7 miles, and slightly uphill at times. There will be people with cars at the courthouse for anyone who needs a ride to the jail. If you need a ride to New Bedford for the march, please send us a direct message. . More info about FANG's Shut Down ICE campaign can be found at: ShutDownICEnow.org . #ShutDownICE #FreeThemAll #AbolishICE #End287g

A post shared by The FANG Collective (@fangcollective) on

You can read more about FANG’s #ShutDownICE campaign and how to support Sherrie here. On Twitter and Instagram, @FangCollective will be updating followers about the trial.

You can also donate to the campaign here: bit.ly/FANG-Collective and pledge to take action with the FANG Collective to resist ICE in Massachusetts and Rhode Island: bit.ly/ShutDownICE

#ShutDownICE #End287g #FreeThemAll

 

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