Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Mapuches Begin New Territorial Recuperation in Lumaco

Communique from the Lof Madilhue and the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM) announcing a new territorial recuperation in the district of Lumaco, of land supposedly belonging to the forestry company Forestal Mininco. The original in Spanish was published by Radio Kurruf.

To the Mapuche People-Nation

To the Public

The Lof Madilhue and the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM) inform the following:

Kiñe: Today April 29, the Lof Madilhue of the district of Lumaco began a new process of territorial recuperation in the 450-hectare Lumaco country estate, supposedly belonging to Forestal Mininco. In addition, we are claiming the 67-hectare estate of El Laurel, the 50-hectare estate of El León, and the Las Huellas estate of more than 1000 hectares, all belonging to Forestal Mininco.

Epu: This new territorial recuperation has the unrestricted support of the Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM) and of the communities in resistance in the region. It will be based on the strategies of resistance and reconstruction of our Mapuche people. Therefore, from now on we will begin to exercise territorial control and the necessary actions with all the Mapuche newen (energy) for the definitive recuperation of this part of Wallmapu. We will begin forest recovery work, cleaning and planting, construction of rukas (traditional Mapuche housing), and the repositioning of our sacred spaces.

Kula: We call on all our Mapuche people-nation, principally the territories in struggle and communities in resistance, to be attentive and in combative disposition to support and accompany this new territorial and political struggle.

With Toño Marchant, Matias Catrileo, and Alex Lemun, we will continue to struggle head on against the forestry companies in our ancestral territory.

For territory and autonomy. Always!

Amulepe taiñ weichan!!

Weuwaiñ-marrichiweu!!

Lof Madilhue

Arauco Malleco Coordinator (CAM)

 


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Anarchist and Autonomous Formations Hit the Streets of Mexico City on May Day

Report from Mexico City on May Day, as various anarchist and autonomous groups and initiatives take the streets.

In Mexico City, a city where the revolutionary tradition of Flores Magon, Zapata, and Villa is alive and well, there were countless celebrations of May Day. Leaving aside the sparsely attended marches organized by Stalinists or the large glum parades led by bureaucratic unions and top-down clientelist “social movements” controlled by the ruling political party Morena, there were at least three marches that had notable participation from autonomist, anarchist or anti-state communist sectors, all of which converged in the Zocolo, the central plaza of the city.

A small but spirited anti-authoritarian march announced the public emergence of a newly formed “Coordinadora Anarquista,” which distributed food, the first issue of their new zine “La Grieta,”  and following their arrival at the Zocalo went to support members of the displaced indigenous Triqui community seeking a safe return to Tierra Blanca, Oaxaca. Last Monday, this community was violently evicted from a 15 month long occupation in the center of the city and held in a 24+ hour long kettle by riot police as community members valiantly refused to sign an agreement ending their protests.

In a large march largely consisting of state-co-opted unions, marched the Section 9 of the CNTE, the national teacher’s union, which is made up of many anarchists and anti-authoritarians who have struggled for democratic worker’s control of the union.

The largest anti-authoritairian march started near La Merced, a large market whose history can be traced to pre-colonial times and has also one of Latin America’s highest concentration of sex workers. This march was convened by Brigada Callejera, a radical sex worker organization that occasionally describes itself as an anarchist sex worker’s union and is an adherent of the Sixth Declaration of Lacandon Jungle. Highlighting the way in which the terrain of anti-capitalist struggles occur beyond the confines of the factory or the traditional subject of the workers’ movement, the 300+ sex workers were joined by hundreds of proletarians who live in self-organized autonomous communities in the city’s peripheries.

This included around nine hundred members from the nine autonomous communities belonging to the Organizacion Popular Fransisco Villa de Izquierda Independiente, or the Panchos as they are known (see this recent article for more information about the Panchos), and around 60 members of Xochitlanezi, another revolutionary autonomous community that belongs to the organization Brújula Roja and has been recent targets of counter-insurgency by the State. Also in attendance was a small but vocal anarchist, anti-fascist, and anti-authoritarian block that sung rousing courses of A Las Barricadas and ran through the streets, injecting a sense of joyous anarchy into at times, placid march.

The radical street band La Comparza also marched, along with internationalists from Italy and the United States and several different autonomous media cooperatives. Popular chants included “Respeto Total al Trabajo Sexual” (“Total respect for Sex Work), a sex-worker’s twist on the anarchist slogan taken up by the Mexican revolution “La Esquina es de quien la trabaja” (“The corner is for those who work it”) and the populist “Cuando el pueblo se levante, por pan libertad y tierra, temblerán los poderosos de la costa hasta la sierra.” (When the people rise up for bread, freedom and land, those in power tremble from the coast to the mountains.)

 

While there were countless May Day activities throughout the city for the rest of the day, one notable one given the strength and importance of feminism throughout Latin America, was a post-May Day gathering organized as a fundraiser for a group of anti-carceral/prison abolitionist anarcha-feminists. The event started with a discussion of intra-feminist violence – touching on often taboo themes of violence in supposedly “violence free” separatist (no cis-men) spaces, the carceral logic that underlies punitive feminism and cancellation, and a discussion of the historical entanglement of patriarchy, colonialism and the emergence of the modern systems of carcerality. A raffle to raise funds for feminist prison abolitionists included prizes donated from herbalists, tattoo artists, print-makers, the aforementioned Brigada Callejera and others. Here, the raffle – a popular practice among proletarian, anarchist, and autonomous communities in Mexico – posed a counter-point to common practices of fundraising in the Global North.


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Help Save Coyote Bush Collective Garden in Oakland from Eviction Threat

Call to support Coyote Bush Collective Garden located in West Oakland, which is threatened with eviction.

Coyote Bush Collective Garden has existed since 2008 and has been cleaning the air of West Oakland with its dozen mature trees for over a decade. It has provided free housing for dozens of people over the years, fed the neighborhood with its produce, provided sanctuary for numerous birds, and powered itself with solar energy, only now it is threatened with eviction.

Without the knowledge of the residents and land stewards, Alameda County sold Coyote Bush to a private owner in a tax-auction. We have since attempted to negotiate with the new buyer, but on May 2 the garden was served with an ‘unlawful detainer,’ which is legal jargon for an eviction.

Theoretically, the buyer is open to selling it to us for the purchase price ($274,000), but he is unwilling to wait 3-6 months for the full amount. Currently, we have raised $30,000 in donations and pledges, which apparently is not fast enough. We now have no choice but to enter into a lengthy legal battle with this new landlord as we attempt to raise the funds.

To donate to our 501c3 and receive a tax-deduction, please go to our PayPal Giving Fund page:

https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/2409975

To make a pledge which we will ask for only when we near the full amount, email: gardens [at] idevdata.org

In Solidarity,

Coyote Bush Collective Garden


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Monday, May 2, 2022

New video by Unicorn Riot on YouTube - go check it out ;-)


Watch on YouTube here: One Year After 646+ Arrested: Reportback from Cory Maria Dack, Street Medic
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Sunday, May 1, 2022

Western Civilization Is Being Organized Around Winning US Infowars

Listen to a reading of this article:

❖

The US-centralized empire’s use of propaganda, censorship and Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation is the single most urgent issue of our time, because it’s what prevents attention from being drawn to all other issues. And all signs indicate it’s set to get much, much worse.

I feel the need to reiterate once again that the censorship we’re seeing about Ukraine is of a whole new kind than anything we’ve seen before. There’s no pretense that it’s done to save lives or protect democracy this time around, it’s just “We need to control the thoughts that people think about this war.”

Once it was accepted that disinformation and misinformation must be curtailed from above, government and tech institutions took that as license to decide what’s true and false on our behalf. We know this because now they’re just openly propagandizing and censoring us about a war.

You didn’t know that you were granting government and tech institutions authority to decide what’s true and false on your behalf when you agreed that it’s fine for them to work together to censor and sanctify Official Narratives about Covid, but it turns out that’s what was happening.

It looks pretty obvious in retrospect now though, doesn’t it? You can’t regulate “disinformation” and “misinformation” without first determining what it is, and you can’t determine what it is without assigning someone the authority to make those distinctions. There are no benefecent, impartial and omniscient entities who can be trusted to become objective arbiters of absolute reality on our behalf. There are only flawed human beings who act in their own interest, which is why we’re now being censored and propagandized about a war.

In literally the very next instant after being given the authority to decide what’s true and false on our behalf regarding Covid, those same government, media and tech institutions launched into World War II levels of propaganda and censorship over a war we’re not even officially in. It was like they all said “Oh good, we get to do that now, finally.” The consensus that it was fine to launch into a shocking information lockdown about Ukraine was already formed and prepped for roll-out the day Russia invaded. It was taken as a given that they had that authority.

Over the last two years you’d get called an “anti-vaxxer” and worse if you said you didn’t think government-tied monopolistic megacorporations should be restricting speech about Covid measures that affect everyone, but it turns out those who issued these warnings were 100 percent correct.

It is clear now, as we see what we are becoming, that granting these powerful institutions authority to sort out fact from fiction on our behalf is far more dangerous than misinformation about a virus ever was. Now here we are, with the empire setting up “disinformation” boards while it escalates aggressions with Russia by the day and prepares to do the same with China in the not-too distant future. Our whole civilization is being organized around winning US propaganda wars.

Censorship is bad because free speech is how society orients itself toward truth, course-corrects when it’s going astray, and holds power to account. This is true whether censorship is by the government or by tech oligarchs. Only morons act like this is some weird right wing thing.

People say, “Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reach!”

And the answer to this is always, yes it does you idiot. If people who support status quo power have access to all the largest voice amplification platforms while critics of status quo power don’t, this kills the very purpose of free speech protections. Free speech protections are enshrined exactly because unrestricted speech puts a check on power. If critics of status quo power structures are being banned from the platforms where people get their voices heard, this function has been nullified.

You can’t say your society has free speech if critics of status quo orthodoxies aren’t free to speak where they will be heard, for exactly the same reason you can’t say people have free speech in Saudi Arabia as long as nobody hears their criticisms of the government.

Because free speech is designed to put a check on status quo power, it is exactly the voices who criticize the status quo that must be protected. Some of these voices will be unpalatable, but the alternative is permitting a Ministry of Truth to decide what dissent is permissible, an authority that’s certain to be abused.

Speech isn’t free if it isn’t free in all the areas where people congregate to speak. If only mainstream supporters of the status quo have free access to all platforms, then free speech isn’t happening, and power has a lot more ability to do what it likes unchecked by the public. Saying it’s fine because people are still free to go to Gab or Truth Social to voice their criticisms of establishment Ukraine narratives or whatever is the same as saying it’s fine because people can still speak their criticisms of the government into a hole in the ground. Free speech is not happening.

Consent for this was given when we allowed these powers to assume complete narrative authority over what constitutes “misinformation”. It’s never too late to revoke consent, though. It just means the fight to pry our voices out of the hands of our rulers is going to be a tough slog.

___________________

My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. All works co-authored with my American husband Tim Foley.

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In Contempt #16: Updates on Political Prisoners; Hot Horror in Texas Prisons; June 11th

Happy May Day! Welcome to your monthly installment of In Contempt.

We’ve got lots of important updates on political prisoners, George Floyd defendants, and news of repression and prisoners from across the world. As always there’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive right in.

Political Prisoner News

Once again, it’s been a big month for Eric King, as his victory in court at the end of March was swiftly followed by the BOP deciding to transfer him to USP Lee, a maximum-security prison where white supremacist prisoners have made active threats against his life. Amnesty International have now written to the BOP about Eric’s case, and you can learn more about the ongoing call-in campaign from this Unicorn Riot coverage. Kite Line was also able to broadcast a pair of interviews with Eric’s lawyer, Lauren Regan, as “Wall of Silence” and “Eric King’s Trials.”

Also, a new zine of poetry and art from Eric and his supporters has just been released, you can read it online here or order printed copies from the publishers here.

Green Scare defendant Joseph Dibee has taken a plea deal, pleading guilty to three charges, in what appears to be a non-cooperating deal. Indigenous political prisoner Oso Blanco has been moved to solitary, in what seems to be retaliation against indigenous prisoners at USP Victorville organizing for their religious rights.

Antifascist political prisoner Dan Baker still has a lot of books listed on his wishlist, and Mongoose Distro have recently published three articles by him, as “Current Events”, “Neo-Anarchism” and “A Message from Dan Baker.”

Closing off this section, news from two ongoing prisoner support projects: the call for this year’s June 11 International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners is now up, and the Certain Days calendar collective have put out a call for submissions for the 2023 calendar, with a deadline of June 14.

Uprising Defendants

It’s Going Down has a new report from the ongoing repression in Pittsburgh against uprising defendants, and the Pittsburgh NLG have more analysis on that subject here. Seattle defendant Isaiah Willoughby, who was recently interviewed by Kite Line Radio, has now been released, while Philadelphia defendant Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal has now pleaded guilty to two charges of obstructing law enforcement.

Also, Portland area prisoner Malik Muhammad has now been sentenced to 10 years, the longest of any George Floyd uprising defendant. Supporters are being asked to help support Malik’s family and follow his support crew.

Texas

There’s a whole lot of news from the hellish Texas prison system. To start off with organizing and resistance news, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee website now has a report up about the wobblies filing a class action lawsuit against the Texas prison system, and Mongoose Distro has new articles up from Texas anarchist/IWW prisoners Comrade Z and Jamon N. Hestand. It’s Going Down has a report from TX TEAM ONE and the Texas Liberation Collective, who are organizing a Juneteenth Freedom Initiative, and the End Ad Seg Texas facebook page is asking Texas prisoners and their allies to send in their stories of abuse by the system.

Recent media coverage of the Texas prison system has included a Scottish judge refusing to extradite a suspect to Texas on the grounds that conditions there are in breach of international human rights standards, a prisoner burning to death in his cell at the Beto Unit, and a report from the Intercept on deadly heat inside Texas prisons, an issue that will only continue to get worse as climate change intensifies.

North Carolina

During July of 2021, people incarcerated at Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville, NC issued a petition demanding the restoration of their rec time, an end to racist brutality by C.O.s, and reforms of the grievance process. Since then, folks have been taking action to uplift these demands, both inside and outside the prison walls. On the inside, incarcerated organizers have continued to document instances of abuse and brutality like this one, which will be included in a forthcoming zine about conditions at Alexander, and, in February of 2022, several people at Alexander went on hunger strike. While most of the original hunger strikers have been transferred away from Alexander, others have taken up this tactic, especially in ICON (segregation).

Meanwhile, activists on the outside have staged protests to deliver the petition to the NCDPS Division of Prisons headquarters in Raleigh, NC and western district office in Valdese, NC, as well as organizing phone zaps to both of these offices and to NC Sen. Bob Steinburg, the chair of the NC Senate Select Committee on Prison Safety. To find out more, follow Solidarity Beyond the Walls on Twitter @SolidarityWalls or email them at prisonjusticetaskgroup@gmail.com

General Abolitionist Media

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson has recently published an article calling for the release of Shawn “Flip” Joyner, a Virginia prisoner who suffers from brain cancer, as well as helping to publish an article by Kofi Donkur, an East Coast Blood leader, exposing how the prison system manipulates and manufactures racial and gang conflicts.

WNYC Radio recently ran a story on a group of jazz musicians who have come together to highlight the story of Lucasville prisoner Keith LaMar/Bomani Shakur.

Stevie Morris is an imprisoned anarchist writer and artist who’s looking to make more outside connections, you can see a sample of his work here:

View post on imgur.com

Stevie’s contact details are:
Stevie Morris #K84139
Salinas Valley State Prison
P.O. Box 1050, 07-114
Soledad, CA 93960

Formerly incarcerated writer Keri Blakinger has a new book coming out soon, Corrections in Ink, and is fundraising to get as many copies as possible sent in to prisons and jails before it gets banned. Prisons Kill have a new interview up on the struggle to free New York prisoner Dr. Al-Fatah Stewart, who has now been held pre-trial for three years, and you can donate to his legal funds here.

Recent episodes of Kite Line Radio have included an episode on poisoned water in California, and a new conversation about plea bargaining, which marks their 300th episode.

International

In France, anarchist prisoner Libre Flot has now been freed from pre-trial detention after 37 days on hunger strike. The International Antifascist Defense Fund has been busy, helping out with the cases of an antifascist group banned by the state in Lyon, France, Belarussian antifascists facing heavy state repression, activists in the Netherlands facing charges for an action against the border regime, and antifascists facing charges in West Attica, Greece for clashes with Golden Dawn and other far-right groups. There are at least two legal fundraisers currently running in Greece, one for the West Attica antifascists and another for anarchists in Messolonghi facing charges after an action against Makis Voridis, a prominent politician with a background on the far-Right.

Recent articles from Belarus ABC have included one about the repression against antifascists in Mozyr, a report on the “Pramen case” where four anarchists have just been convicted of membership in an extremist organization, an interview with Pramen case defendant Zhenya Rubashko, and a general round-up of the last month’s news. In recent weeks, the Belarussian state has also launched a new wave of repression against trade unionists.

The “Kill the Bill” trials continue in Bristol, UK, where another defendant, Charli Mae, has just been convicted of riot, and another trial starts on May 3rd. The mother of Mariella Gedge-Rogers, another defendant who’s just been given a five and a half year sentence, has just given a new interview about the case.

A new interview has been published with British anarchist prisoner Toby Shone, who’s still fighting the attempt to impose a new “Serious Crime Prevention Order” that will control his movements after his release. The application for the order is due to be heard on May 6.

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:

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

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

Malik Muhammad #825999
Currently being transferred

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.

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
FDC Philadelphia
PO BOX 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105

Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal 70002-066
FDC Philadelphia
PO BOX 562
Philadelphia, PA 19105

Andrew Augustyniak-Duncan
2016-0021433
100 W. Cherry Ave.
Washington, PA 15301

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.

Ellie Brett 14822509
Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility
PO BOX 730
Lovejoy, GA 30250

John Wade 14762509
Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility
PO BOX 730
Lovejoy, GA 30250

Alvin Joseph
Updated address coming soon

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

Diego Vargas 55070-424
In transit

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

Andrew Garcia-Smith 02324-509
FCI Williamsburg
PO Box 340
Salters, SC 29590

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

Chase Vladimir Spencer
Kent County Correctional Facility
703 Ball Avenue NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Howard Eugene Nall
Kent County Correctional Facility
703 Ball Avenue NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

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

Upcoming Birthdays

Xinachtli (Alvaro Luna Hernandez)

Xinachtli (Nahuatl, meaning “seed”) is an anarchist-communist community organizer and Chicano movement revolutionary from Texas. Police informants were used to monitor Xinachtli’s organizing activities in the barrio. They were told Xinachtli was “typing legal papers,” “had many books” and was working on police brutality cases in Alpine. The police knew of Xinachtli’s history of community-based organizing and his legal skills. Xinachtli was recognized nationally and internationally as the national coordinator of the Ricardo Aldape Guerra Defense Committee, which led the struggle to free Mexican national Aldape Guerra from Texas’ death row after being framed by Houston police for allegedly killing a cop. Xinachtli’s human rights work was recognized in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico and other countries. He was sentenced in Odessa, Texas on June 2-9, 1997 to 50 years in prison for defending himself by disarming a police officer drawing a weapon on him. The trial evidence clearly showed Xinachtli was the victim of witch hunts and a police-orchestrated conspiracy to frame or eliminate him.

To learn more, you can listen to this interview he did with the Final Straw.

Birthday: May 12

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: 255735”. Or to send him a letter on standard white paper that complies with Texas restrictions, write to:

Alvaro Luna Hernandez #255735
W.G. McConnell Unit,
3001 Emily Drive,
Beeville, Texas 78102

Thomas Meyer-Falk

In 1996, Thomas was sentenced to eleven and a half years for a bank robbery carried out to fund political projects. Because of his strong beliefs, he’s been subject to very harsh repression – kept in solitary, daily cell raids, suppression and censorship of mail, no access to education. In 2007, he was finally been moved out of solitary and was able to participate in education and other activities. He has applied for parole on a number of occasions since then but has always been turned down. At the end of June 2013, the District Court of Karlsruhe decided that Thomas was still a “danger” to the community and he is now being held in preventive detention.

Birthday: May 15

Address:

Thomas Meyer-Falk
JVA (Sicherungsverwahrungs-Abteilung)
Hermann-Herder-Str. 8
D-79104 Freiburg
Germany

John-Paul Wootton

John-Paul Wootton is a vegan anarchist prisoner and IWW/IWOC member, wrongfully convicted of the murder of a police officer in the “Craigavon 2” case, after a trial before a “Diplock” court, a secret military court with no jury. The case has been supported as a miscarriage of justice by high profile campaigners, legal experts & human rights activists. The prosecution used discredited witnesses, inconclusive forensics, and tampered evidence to secure a conviction that does not stand up to scrutiny. Security services destroyed evidence, intimidated witnesses and defence lawyers. Following his wrongful conviction, he attempted to appeal, but his defense campaign was infiltrated and sabotaged by an undercover agent working for the British state.

For more information about John-Paul and the Craigavon 2 case, you can read this interview he did with IWOC Ireland, watch the short film “Was Justice Done in Craigavon?”, and see the new Justice for the Craigavon 2 website.

UK prisoners can be emailed using emailaprisoner.com

Birthday: May 15

Address:

John Paul Wootton
Maghaberry Prison,
17 Old Road
Lisburn
BT28 2PT
Northern Ireland

Brendan McConville

Brendan McConville is the other defendant in the Craigavon 2 case, wrongfully convicted of the murder of a police officer alongside John-Paul Wootton.

UK prisoners can be emailed using emailaprisoner.com

Birthday: May 19

Address:

Brendan McConville
Maghaberry Prison,
17 Old Road
Lisburn
BT28 2PT
Northern Ireland

Abednego Baynes

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. Baynes was found innocent of all charges in relation to the uprising, but he has still been punished with a move out of state, and deserves respect and support for staying in solidarity with his codefendants throughout the process and refusing to cooperate with the prosecution. You can read more about Baynes in his own words here.

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 “NT0594”.

Birthday: May 20

Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Abednego Baynes, NT0594
SCI Mahanoy
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

Diego Vargas

Diego Vargas is a George Floyd uprising defendant who has been given a five-year Federal prison sentence for property destruction during a demonstration on June 1, 2020.

The Federal system uses Corrlinks, a system where a prisoner must send a request to connect to someone on the outside before they can exchange emails, so if you’re not already connected to Diego then you’re best off just sending him a card or a letter.

Birthday: May 26

Address:

Diego Vargas 55070-424
At time of writing, Diego is at
FTC Oklahoma City
P.O. BOX 898801
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73189
However, this is a transfer center, and so he is likely to be moved soon – check by searching his inmate number on the BOP inmate locator before sending anything.

Kojo Bomani Sababu (Grailing Brown)

Kojo Bomani Sababu is a New Afrikan Prisoner of War serving a 55 year sentence. Kojo was captured on December 19th 1975 along with anarchist Ojore Lutalo during a bank expropriation. He was subsequently charged with conspiracy for an alleged plan to use rockets, hand grenades and a helicopter in an attempt to free Puerto Rican Prisoner of War Oscar Lopez Rivera from the federal prison where he was serving.

The Federal system, where Kojo is held, uses Corrlinks, a system where a prisoner must send a request to connect to someone on the outside before they can exchange emails, so if you’re not already connected to Kojo then you’re best off just sending him a card or a letter.

Birthday: May 27

Address:

Kojo Bomani Sababu* #39384-066
USP Canaan
Smart Communications
PO Box 30
Pinellas Park, Florida 33781

*Address envelope to Grailing Brown

Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar)

Bomani Shakur is on death row awaiting execution after being convicted of involvement in the 1993 Lucasville Uprising. If you’d like to learn more about Bomani and his perspectives, We Want Bomani Shakur Free!: A Zine Commemorating RAM’s Month of Action for Bomani, which was put together by True Leap Press, is a great place to start.

Ohio uses Jpay, so you can send him a message by going to jpay.com, clicking “inmate search”, then selecting “State: Ohio, Inmate ID: 317117”.

Birthday: May 31

Address:

Keith LaMar, #317117
OSP
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Road
Youngstown, OH 4450


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New video by Unicorn Riot on YouTube - go check it out ;-)


Watch on YouTube here: One Year After 646+ Arrested: Reportback from Brandyn Tulloch, Protester
Via Christian Gasper
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