Tuesday May 31st: Letter-writing for Jessica Reznicek

  • May 30, 2022 1:09 am

from Philly ABC

jessica-reznicek-letter-writing.jpg

With the weather cooperating, we are back to in-person events! Our next letter-writing will be at Clark Park on Tuesday, May 31st at 6:30 pm. Snacks and letter-writing supplies will be provided.

Jessica Reznicek is a land and water defender who has worked with and lived in the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community for the last 10 years. In 2016, Jessica took a stand against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Iowa. Jessica attended public comment hearings, gathered signatures for valid requests for Environmental Impact Statements, and participated in civil disobedience, hunger strikes, marches and rallies, boycotts and encampments.

When the process failed, she concluded the system was broken, and it was up to individuals to take action and protect the water. She and a fellow Catholic Worker then spent the next couple of months disabling construction machinery along the pipeline route. No one was injured by their actions, and the land was protected from the flow of oil for an additional six months. In 2021, Jessica pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility, was designated a domestic terrorist by the court and then sentenced to 8 years in prison, followed by 3 years supervised probation, and restitution of $3,198,512.70 paid to Energy Transfer LLC.

On May 13th, her legal team presented oral arguments to appeal her sentence and the use of the terrorism enhancement. The verdict may take a few weeks, but if successful the enhancement would be removed she would be re-sentenced. Jessica has a deep love for nature, camping, swimming, hiking, theology, music, gardening, laughter and eco-sustainability, as well as a commitment to self-discovery and intentional community living. Join us while we send her notes of encouragement in this time of uncertainty while waiting on the results of the appeal.

If you are unable to make it, please drop Jessica a line at:

Jessica Reznicek #19293-030
FCI Waseca
P.O. Box 1731
Waseca, MN 56093

Pipeline Construction Halted in Chester, PA

  • January 10, 2022 1:31 am

from Twitter

#BREAKING Chester Co, PA: a local nurse and scientist lock down to highly controversial Mariner East pipeline construction and halt construction.
[Video Here]

Monday June 28th: Letter-writing for Fidencio Aldama Perez

  • June 24, 2021 1:17 am

from Philly ABC

fidencio-aldama-perez.jpgFidencio Aldama Perez is an indigenous Yaqui land defender and political prisoner from the northern Mexican state of Sonora. He was arrested on October 27, 2016, and later sentenced to fifteen years and six months in prison on trumped-up charges related to a death in the community of Loma de Bácum, Sonora. It is believed that he was targeted due to his support for the indigenous community’s opposition to a gas pipeline that was to pass through Yaqui territory.

Before his imprisonment, Fidencio loved playing soccer with his children and the community. His favorite team is C.F. Pachuca. He is a talented singer and musician, playing the guitar, bass, accordion, and flute. He has long been involved in practicing, teaching, and strengthening the culture and traditions of the Yaqui people, including playing guitar in traditional Yaqui ceremonies and participating in communal dances. For Fidencio, his identity as indigenous and Yaqui is extremely important, something he has passed on to his children. His vision is for a Yaqui territory that fully belongs to the Yaqui people and from which no one can be displaced.

Please join us this coming Monday in Clark Park (stone platform near 45th and Chester) for letter-writing and art-making in participation of the international week of letter-writing and artwork in solidarity with Fidencio Aldama Perez!

We will also send birthday cards to a political prisoner with a birthday in July: Gage Halupowski (the 1st).

Wednesday March 31st: Letter-writing for Fran Thompson

  • March 30, 2021 1:23 am

from Philly ABC

fran-thompson.jpg

Philly ABC has been busy gearing up for this year’s Running Down the Walls 5K (save the date of September 12th with funds split between the ABCF Warchest and Mumia Abu-Jamal!), but we didn’t want to miss a monthly letter-writing so we are hosting the next event online this Wednesday the 31st.

Philly ABC is energized by building momentum towards abolishing the police. As prison abolitionists, we stand in solidarity with the many people who have taken necessary actions to defend themselves without engaging police or courts. We believe self-defense is a right, and recognize that police and courts do not provide viable options to ensure safety. Both are even more biased against people who are known to stand up against injustice.

This month we encourage people to write letters to Fran Thompson, who was sentenced to life in prison for self-defense in 1994. Prior to her incarceration, Fran lived on a farm in Knox County, Nebraska. She was a dedicated animal rights and environmental activist. After a man who was stalking her threatened to kill her and then broke into her house, Fran shot and killed him in self-defense but was charged with murder.

Fran’s case was highly politicized. Fran had taken on the prosecutor and local government during her activism, organizing against two big projects, the Walden Egg Factory and a nuclear waste facility, that would have brought the county big profits. She was treated harshly by the local court for her commitment to animals and the environment. She was not allowed to enter a plea of self-defense and received a sentence of life without parole.

This event will be held on Jitsi – we’ll post the meet link on social media the day of. You can also message us to get the link beforehand. If you are unable to make the event, please drop Fran a line and let her know she is not forgotten:

Fran Thompson #93341
Nebraska Correctional Center for Women
1107 Recharge Rd.
York, NE 68467-8003

We also encourage sending a birthday card to Mumia Abu-Jamal, as a U.S.-held political prisoner born in April. Sadly, the other political prisoner who we would have been sending a birthday card to– [Chip Fitzgerald] (https://www.prisonersolidarity.com/prisoner/romaine-chip-fitzgerald)– recently suffered a severe cardio-vascular event and passed away on March 31st, so we send heartfelt condolences to his loved ones.

Green Anti-capitalist Front stencils and banner drops

  • February 6, 2021 1:46 am

from Instagram

Photo by Philly GAF on February 05, 2021. May be an image of brick wall.

GAF stencils and banner drops! WE WANT EVERYTHING!

Photo by Philly GAF on February 05, 2021. May be an image of brick wall and outdoors.

Virtual Letter Writing Party For Marius Mason

  • January 26, 2021 1:26 am

from Instagram

Photo shared by Philly GAF on January 24, 2021 tagging @supportmariusmason. Image may contain: text that says 'SUPPORT TRANS X PRISONERS GAF VIRTUAL LETTER WRITING PARTY FOR MARIUS MASON TO CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY January 26th, 2021 6:00 PM EST DM @PhillyGAF FOR MORE INFORMATION'.

Letter-writing party!

January 26th, 2021
6:00PM EST

Marie (Marius) Mason #04672-061
FCI Danbury
Route 37
Danbury, CT 06811

[DM @PhillyGAF FOR MORE INFORMATION]

Photo by Philly GAF on January 24, 2021.

Photo by Philly GAF on January 24, 2021. Image may contain: 1 person.

Mid-July virtual anarchist discussion: land and freedom

  • July 16, 2020 1:03 am

from Viscera

Join us Sunday, July 19th for our next virtual reading discussion and hang-out! We’ll be reading Seaweed’s Land and Freedom:

Drawing from histories of rebellion, Seaweed begins a conversation with fellow anarchists about struggle, strategy, subsistenence, or past, and our future. What kind of communities do we need to exist to support long-term rebellion against Capitalism? What would it mean to create insurrectionary movements for subsistence? What kind of relationships might arise from long-term ecologically-based struggles? This book is an invitation to explore these ideas.

Find the reading hereDownload

(Note that this is the full version, not the excerpts uploaded to the anarchist library – you can also buy the book in full from us or Little Black Cart)

Related, optional pieces to consider are Seaweed’s appearance on The Brilliant as well as Bellamy Fitzpatrick’s An Invitation to Desertion for comparison (or here for the pdf).

As usual, we’ll be meeting on jitsi in room Viscerapvd – the password changes each time, so contact us beforehand! Casual discussion from 1:30-2:30, reading discussion until 4!

Letter Writing to Marius Mason (5/25)

  • May 19, 2020 11:39 am

from Philly ABC

Our letter writing event for this month will be for Marius Mason, who has unfortunately been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and will be fighting the virus from behind bars. Marius was chosen both because of his diagnosis and also because of the fast-approaching June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Marius and all long-term Anarchist prisoners.

The event will be held on May 25th at 6:30 PM. Due to COVID-19, this event will be held online using the secure open source video conferencing platform, Jitsi. Privacy is encouraged – no one is expected to share their camera. The meeting details will be posted here a day before the event.

Background: Marius Mason is a transgender, environmental and animal rights activist. In 1999, in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) he set fire to a lab at the University of Michigan that was conducting research on genetically modified organisms (GMO).  After Marius’ husband turned states-evidence, Marius was threatened with a life sentence for the arson and other acts of sabotage. With little financial stability and fear of dragging his family into a costly legal battle, Marius pled guilty and was given an extreme sentence of nearly 22 years. No one was ever harmed in any of his actions.

Marius lived and worked in the Detroit area for most of his life. Like the late Earth First! (EF!) organizer, Judi Bari, he was part of a generation of radicals who worked to link the environmental and labor movements, and was jointly active in both EF! and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It was this alliance which led to the initial success of the anti-globalization movement such as at the 1999 anti-WTO demonstration in Seattle. Mason was an editor of the Industrial Worker, the IWW newspaper, and a musician who recorded a neo-folk album, Not For Profit, with fellow EF!er Darryl Cherney in 1999. He also worked with numerous political as well as traditional charity groups.

If you are unable to join us on Jitsi, please send Marius a letter anyways:

Marie (Marius) Mason -061

FCI Danbury

Route 37

Danbury, CT 06811

United States

Guerilla Garden Poppin Back Up

  • April 4, 2020 1:35 am

Submission

Looks like the autonomo gardeners are back this spring

Text of flyer reads:
“There is an autonomous garden here. There’ve been various gardens in this lot over the years but they were all destroyed by developers who want to build luxury condos here.
Below this plot is the old Mill Creek. The 2019 sinkhole occurred just a few days after developers began resuming their construction project.
This land should not be developed! It is not the time for new condos. It is time for us to begin healing our relationship with the land.”

Text of sign reads:
“Red Belly Autonomous Garden- Garden @ Ur Own Risk”

Rail Sabotage in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en and Land Defenders

  • February 24, 2020 10:59 pm

Submission

This week we used copper wire to disrupt rail traffic on two different tracks here in occupied Lenapehoking. Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation, and all those blockading and sabotaging the economy and the state.

They are trying to extinguish our spirits. Keep a strong heart. Keep your heart burning bright. Reconciliation is dead, insurgency is alive!

Anarchy Afternoons: Unistʼotʼen Camp

  • February 18, 2020 6:13 pm

from Facebook

During this week’s open hours, we are going to be watching short films about the Unistʼotʼen Camp.

To our north, this month has witnessed an explosion of actions intended to “shut down Canada” with blockades of rail lines cancelling passenger service trains across the country and paralyzing freight shipment. In the cities, protests have blocked streets, highways, and bridges. The present wave of resistance can be traced to the Unistʼotʼen camp’s decade-long battle against proposed pipelines in unceded Wetʼsuwetʼen territory. We will watch films and discuss this history to get a clearer picture of what has been happening.

For more information on recent events: https://itsgoingdown.org/from-sea-to-sea-train-blockades-colonialism-and-canadian-rail-history/

3:00 open hours
4:00 films

[February 21 3-6pm at A-Space 4722 Baltimore Ave]

Tagging spree

  • November 30, 2019 5:14 pm

Submission

We went on a hella tagging spree tonight in preparation for Black Friday. Started at broad and walnut and got all the way up to broad and diamond with 2 cans of paint and a white paint marker. Hit the armed forces recruiting center, a Bank of America, some construction equipment, properties currently being developed, 24 indiego bike tires slashed, and a lot learned and there was much joy taken in simple acts of rebellion. Fuck this colonial holiday, super fuck Black Friday, fuck those who would have us feel shame around mental illness and lack of perceived productivity under this coercive capitalist structure, when the real people who deserve to feel shame are those bulldozing and developing land that used to be wild and beautiful, banks that collaborate with ICE, and fucking army recruiters!
Signed, with all the love in our hearts-

Prison abolitionist queers who will never stop disrupting. Stay sexy, Stay violent, Stay unpredictable

Statement of the hospital and the refinery.

  • September 9, 2019 10:47 pm

from Philly IWW

We, the Philadelphia General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, condemn the eventual closing of Hahnemann Hospital in Center City, Philadelphia, as well as the safety and environmental negligence that led to the explosion at the Energy Solutions Refinery in South Philadelphia on June 21st.

The assets of Hahnemann Hospital have been gradually stripped away by a private equity firm, which did not seek any improvements or reinvestments in the hospital. Patients in the United States continue to deal with private insurance companies that do not cover the total costs of their clients’ health care. Real estate developer Joel Freedman bought the hospital and has plans to sell the building for the development of high-cost real estate. Hahnemann Hospital provides care for many low-income and unhoused patients; these patients are to be moved to other area hospitals, which may burden and disrupt Philadelphia’s healthcare networks and the working class people they serve. Hahnemann employs doctors, nurses, cleaning staff, record keepers, security guards and other workers to maintain the hospital and provide care for patients; these workers will lose their jobs and livelihoods in the event of a closure. We support the efforts of unions such as the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PASNAP, along with other unions and supporters in taking action against the closing of the hospital. The Philadelphia GMB, however, is wary of politicians that promise to stop the closure, or who use the cause to strengthen their campaigns. This is only one of many hospital closures in urban and rural areas in the United States for similar reasons.

The explosion at the Energy Solutions refinery in Southwest Philadelphia was partially caused by the company’s neglect of basic safety and environmental standards. The company should compensate both the community members affected by the explosion and the hazardous chemicals that were released, and the workers who will be made jobless due to the destruction of the plant. The Philadelphia IWW GMB calls for the company to liquidate itself to pay for these damages, and rejects calls for the plant to return to the hazardous fossil fuel industry. The workers in these industries, including those who formerly worked for the Energy Solutions Refinery, should be retrained to work in less hazardous industries.

Both of these closures represent a glaring failure and the inability of the capitalist system to meet the needs of the people and workers. The price of healthcare necessities has risen unchecked and basic safety precautions in a potentially deadly plant are phased out as too costly, all while CEOs and the stock market make record profits. These are not isolated incidents: this is the logical outcome of a system that demands continuous growth. This system must be stopped and the workers themselves, not politicians or NGOs, are the only ones with the power to do so. We must organize now for the abolition of wage slavery and the preservation of what is left of our environment.

Community Groups Across Pennsylvania to Protest Mariner East Pipelines, Jailing of Huntington County Resident Ellen Sue Gerhart

  • August 25, 2018 8:01 pm

from Earth First! Newswire

On Saturday, August 25th, community groups across Pennsylvania will participate in a coordinated day of resistance to Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners’ Mariner East pipeline projects. The events will highlight the safety and environmental concerns associated with the Mariner East pipelines, as well as the unjust jailing of grandmother and retired teacher Ellen Sue Gerhart for opposing pipeline construction on her family’s property.

Since construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline began, there have been an astounding 224 documented spills, including a 4,000 gallon hazardous drilling fluid spill on the Gerhart property. Over a dozen families across the Commonwealth have lost access to their well water due to spills, while over 40 schools are situated in the blast zone of the pipeline.

In a variety of coordinated actions across the state, residents and community groups will demand that Governor Wolf halt construction on the Mariner pipelines, which pose a grave risk to residents, schools, communities, and waterways of the Commonwealth.

Ellen Gerhart, known by many as “mama bear”, has been unjustly incarcerated for nearly one month.  Organizers of the events chose the #WeAreMamaBear hashtag to demonstrate that residents across the state stand in solidarity with the Gerharts, and that Sunoco’s attempt to intimidate residents into silence is only causing more people to speak out.

 

WHAT: Statewide Day of Community Resistance

#DefendWhatYouLove #WeAreMamaBear

 

WHEN: Saturday, August 25 | All day

 

DETAILS: A map of public-facing events is available here: bit.ly/wearemamabear. Highlights include:

 

  • In East Goshen, Chester County at 10am, Uwchlan Safety Coalition & Goshen United for Public Safety will host a family friendly rally to voice opposition to Mariner East, in solidarity with Ellen Gerhart. Residents directly impacted by pipeline construction will be available to speak to press.

  • In Butler Township at 11am, Marcellus Outreach Butler will host a die-in at PNC Bank, one of the major funders of Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Mariner East pipelines.

  • In Annville Township at 4pm on Friday, August 24, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness will create a ‘human billboard’ along Main Street to demonstrate opposition to Mariner East and solidarity with Ellen Gerhart

 

Several actions have yet to be announced.  Releases will be forthcoming throughout the day

Sabotage at Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction Site

  • July 18, 2018 12:34 pm

Submission

In late June, we sabotaged construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Pennsylvania by tampering with the liquidation system of an excavator being used on a construction site. We did this in a way that would not be noticeable until operating the machine afterwards had ruined it permanently.

Despite conditions changing after several scouting trips, we were able to adapt our plans in the moment and find a different suitable target. If you visit the pipeline route, machines and other infrastructure are everywhere, and many are still unguarded.

According to Sunoco/ETP, the pipeline is 98% complete. But the pipeline project is struggling due to growing opposition, other vandalism incidents and repeated shutdowns of construction due to heinous environmental violations. These major financial losses and plummeting stocks make ETP a prime target for further sabotage, which could tip the scales so that this and future earth-destroying pipeline projects are no longer viable. We encourage people to safely do their own research and join in on the fun!