A terrible decision

  • August 12, 2020 1:20 am

from We Love Lore

Friends, I am so incredibly sorry to inform you that the Federal District Court has denied Lore’s emergency appeal for release on house arrest pending trial. We were horrified to receive the news late today, that the court would accept and repeat verbatim all of the US Attorney’s overreaches, unsubstantiated claims, basic factual errors, and bafflingly obvious falsehoods, to detain her indefinitely.

Lore has languished in detention for more than eight weeks already, including 18 days in solitary confinement, while we all worked and prayed so hard for her release. The Federal Bureau of Prisons offers no hope whatsoever of allowing any of us in her immediate family to see Lore. As you would expect, her abiding concern throughout this ordeal has nonetheless been for you and your welfare. We are absolutely astounded by our US Attorney’s capacity for cruelty against the community of care that feels so much safer with Lore than without her.

We’re inconsolable tonight, but we refuse to stop fighting for the champion who has always fought so hard for each of us. The road ahead is very long, but we are stronger and more determined than ever to walk it with your help. Your character references, support fund donations, and letters of encouragement and love to Lore; all of the public and private support to Lore, her family, and her community, continue to lift and empower us.

Please continue to lend her your strength. We will post further updates about opportunities to share your love and support in Lore’s much more joyous and creative spirit here, on Instagram, and Twitter as we go. Please continue, as our Quaker friends put it so eloquently, to hold Lore in the light ????

Help Raise Legal Funds for Imprisoned Encampment Volunteer Daniel Gibson

  • July 31, 2020 12:38 am

from Fundrazr

Hello everyone! My name is Christa Rivers. It brings me nothing but pain and anxiety to write to people in our community but I have to tell this story. My partner, Daniel Gibson, had been volunteering with the Occupy PHA encampment in north Philly. PHA police and Philadelphia police have been surveilling the camp. On the night of July 2, 2020 he was on his way home when he asked the police why they were following him. He was arrested that night, and is currently upstate in SCI Coal Township. They beat him; he still has bruises and scratches all over his body two weeks later, still has a swollen and fractured knee, fractured shin bone. The charges they have against him can be fought, we just need to hire a lawyer. Which is why we’re turning to the community for help. I want my loved one home. We believe that hiring a lawyer, whom we have already contacted, will yield the best results. This is going to be a long process because of covid 19 and because the court system is slow, especially for those who are already in state custody. I just want to do everything possible to make his time in prison end sooner than later. As of right now, we are keeping the fundraising deadline open to account for future curt dates. Please help anyway you can, share with people, donate, connect us with a pro bono lawyer–anything.  Thank you, from both of us.

[Contribute Here]

Support Prisoners of the George Floyd Uprising

  • July 29, 2020 1:27 am

Submission

Help Community Care Worker Lore Elisabeth

  • July 10, 2020 1:26 am

from We Love Lore

Latest update, July 9: $33,388 raised by 405 donors.

[Donate Here]

We are the family, friends, and loving community of Lore Elisabeth (Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal), a community care worker in Philadelphia. Our beloved Lore has dedicated her entire life to serving people and making them feel better. She provides essential, life-sustaining services to the most vulnerable Philadelphians as a care worker. She supports community members who live with HIV and chronic illnesses to access medical and critical care, often at her own expense. She has maintained multiple studios in massage therapy and provides regular outcalls to elders and clients who cannot leave their homes. She is the irreplaceable rock of support for her family through health crises. We all love and depend upon her incredibly generous spirit every day. If you’re seeing this fundraiser, then you may be among the countless Philadelphians (and beyond!) whose lives have been improved or even saved by this selfless volunteer.

Federal authorities raided Lore’s home in the early morning hours of June 15, 2020, in a manner that was meant to intimidate her housemates and neighbors. It has now been publicly revealed that their surveillance and raid tactics are an attempt to discourage public demonstration. She is currently being held in custody pending a trial for charges with enhanced federal penalties despite hundreds of other protestors being charged with property crimes in state court.

All proceeds to this fundraiser will support Lore. Funds will be withdrawn exclusively to a single-purpose account owned and managed by Lore’s brother Karl, strictly for this support. We are all united in our ongoing support for her and for an end to police brutality. We look forward to welcoming her home to the family, friends, and community who love and depend upon her so much.

The Fight Against Criminalization and Repression under the Guise of COVID-19

  • July 4, 2020 1:02 am

from Dreaming Freedom Practicing Abolition

Due to COVID19, the prison has us coming out for phones, showers, kiosks, meals and recreation in cohorts of 21 or 22 cells (roughly 38 prisoners per cohort). Initially, we were in cohorts of 5 cells with 45 minutes per cohort. Now we are in phase two. The problem is that while the cohort size has more than quadrupled, the time out of cells hasn’t. We have eight phones on the block. Staying in touch with family and friends is of the utmost important to us. So phone time is priority.

We get two day room periods (phone, shower, kiosk time) per day for 1 hour each period. Do the math. Everyone cannot use the phones. This creates hostility between prisoners. Everyone wants to call home and check on their loved ones. We have had to negotiate phone time so there are no fights. Everyday, there is an incident. But we know we have to work together.

The incident last night was an attempt by an officer to stoke hostilities between us. Burning us for day room time and telling us to blame certain prisoners was a divide tactic. We don’t need this stuff, especially right now. We are stressed and worried we will be back on lockdown due to the uptick in infections. Some people have never developed a cooperative attitude until now. Because they have to. Our peace is fragile.

The administration is aware of the problems over the phones. It is prison wide. People have written to the Superintendent and the Deputies about the problem. They need to reign in these officers who create problems and difficulties for prisoners. The administration has asked us to be patient and work with them during this crisis. All we want is the same cooperation and patience. Some officers want us to fight each other to justify their creating a more oppressive environment than what we already have. Some officers wish we were locked down completely with no communication to the outside world. We cannot let that happen.

Political Prisoner and Prison Rebel Birthdays for July

  • July 3, 2020 12:21 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Inspired by the spirit of the Political Prisoners Birthday crew, here’s a short listing of some rebel prisoners who have upcoming birthdays in July.

For an introduction on how to write to prisoners and some things to do and not to do, go here. If you have the time, please also check IWOC’s listing of prisoners facing retaliation for prison strike-related organizing.

In recent years, July 25th has also been commemorated as an international day of solidarity with Jock Palfreeman and all antifascist prisoners, so you might want to do something for that, like raising funds for the International Antifascist Defence Fund or the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association, emailing Belarus ABC to ask them to translate your message and pass it on to one of the several Belarusian antifascist prisoners, or whatever else seems appropriate to you.

Happy birthday to our comrades Ilya Romanov and Oleg Sentsov from Russia, and to Nina Droz Franco from Puerto Rico, who’ll be celebrating their birthdays in freedom this year!

On a less positive note, 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. So far, I’m only aware of an organized defence campaign for Colin and Urooj in New York, but there must be many others out there facing serious charges with less organized support. At the time of writing, both Colin and Urooj have been bailed out.

SAMANTHA SHADER #83823-053
MDC BROOKLYN
P.O. BOX 329002
BROOKLYN, NY, 11232

Please do not write anything to pre-trial defendants that could in any way have a negative impact on their trial, and keep an eye out for changes in their status

Eric King has also been facing a particularly brutal time of it lately, and is currently under incredibly harsh restrictions. Please support any calls coming from his support crew, and donate to his legal fund ahead of his upcoming trial.

If you would like to buy a nicely-designed face mask while also raising money for a Lucasville Uprising prisoner’s legal costs, Greg Curry has you covered – check out his store here.

Much as I hate to see even more of our lives and communications being enclosed by tech companies, it seems inescapable at the moment, so for anyone who doesn’t want to leave their house to buy stamps/cards/envelopes or to send mail, a reminder that many prisoners can be contacted electronically, via Jpay or similar services.

Corey Smith

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Corey Smith in relation to the uprising, he is facing continued retaliation, as he has been moved to Pennsylvania, where he is being held on lockdown indefinitely (via placement on PA’s Restricted Release List) on vague and questionable grounds. More than two years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0456”.

Birthday: July 14

Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Corey Smith
NU0456
SCI Camp Hill
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

Kevin Berry

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the court found Kevin Berry not guilty on all charges in relation to the uprising, he is facing continued retaliation, as he has been moved to Pennsylvania, where he is being held on lockdown indefinitely (via placement on PA’s Restricted Release List) on vague and questionable grounds. More than two years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Kevin Berry is a contributor to the Vaughn 17 “Live From the Trenches” zine, and also wrote a June 11th statement for last year’s day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners.

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 “NT0583”.

Birthday: July 17th

Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Kevin Berry, NT0583
SCI Benner Township
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

 

Help Community Care Worker Lore Elisabeth

  • June 22, 2020 1:03 am

from gofundme

We are the family, friends, and loving community of Lore Elisabeth (Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal), a community care worker in Philadelphia. Our beloved Lore has dedicated her entire life to serving people and making them feel better. She provides essential, life-sustaining services to the most vulnerable Philadelphians as a care worker. She supports community members who live with HIV and chronic illnesses to access medical and critical care, often at her own expense. She has maintained multiple studios in massage therapy and provides regular outcalls to elders and clients who cannot leave their homes. She is the irreplaceable rock of support for her family through health crises. We all love and depend upon her incredibly generous spirit every day. If you’re seeing this fundraiser, then you may be among the countless Philadelphians (and beyond!) whose lives have been improved or even saved by this selfless volunteer.

Federal authorities raided Lore’s home in the early morning hours of June 15, 2020, in a manner that was meant to intimidate her housemates and neighbors. It has now been publicly revealed that their surveillance and raid tactics are an attempt to discourage public demonstration. She is currently being held in custody pending a trial for charges with enhanced federal penalties despite hundreds of other protestors being charged with property crimes in state court.

All proceeds to this fundraiser will support Lore in this matter. We are all united in our ongoing support for her and for an end to police brutality. We look forward to welcoming her home to the family, friends, and community who love and depend upon her so much.

[Donate Here]

Phone Blitz for Hoagie

  • June 19, 2020 1:27 am

from Twitter

Phone blitz for Hoagie! Call Lee Estock at 724.465.9630 Jerome Coffey (AS1558) was put in the hole at SCI Pine Grove on Tuesday 6/18. The demands are 1. his release and 2. the video footage be given to his lawyer #FreeHoagie #SCIPineGrove #FreeThemAll

Up Against The Law on Dealing with Law Enforcement

  • June 18, 2020 1:38 am

from Facebook

FBI agents can lie to you, but it is illegal to lie to them. So it’s best to just DONT TALK. Ask for their business card, or name/phone number. Say nothing else. Do not consent to any searches. Then email up against the law for FREE legal support.

 




FTP Noise Demo at FDC

  • June 18, 2020 1:10 am

from Twitter

Philly! Friday! Juneteenth noise demo to free all looters
[Meet 7:15 Washington Square Park Fri June 19th]

Up Against The Law statement on Raid and Arrest in Germantown

  • June 16, 2020 5:38 pm

from Facebook

[Statement release date: 06/16/2020]

Early yesterday morning, Monday June 15th, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE,) Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), FBI Homeland Security, and the Philadelphia Police Department knocked down the door of a Germantown house and took one person into custody. An ICE agent, who refused to identify himself, was at the forefront of the intrusion. We believe this individual was targeted due to alleged protest activity and support for the Movement for Black Lives. This action is not only an egregious infringement on Civil Rights, but also in direct opposition to Mayor Kenney’s statements and purported actions in support of establishing Philadelphia as a “Sanctuary City.”

Up Against the Law is working to ensure the individual who was picked up has legal and community support. If you or someone you know is approached by the FBI, PPD or ICE relating to protest activity or support for the Movement for Black Lives, please remember you have the right to remain silent and contact Up Against the Law.

[Arrest Hotline: (484) 758-0388
UpAgainstTheLawLC@gmail.com
UpAgainstTheLawLC@riseup.net]

Updates on George Floyd Protests, Riots, Repression, and Reaction

  • June 2, 2020 3:01 am

from Instagram

Today the cops and the racists waged war. A very unrowdy, chill march had a deluge of teargas leveled at them by the hands of state and city police agents from both the ground and helicopter as they tried to disperse. If you don’t know your history, in 1985 the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb via helicopter on a residential block of West Philadelphia then shot people trying to flee the ensuing fire, murdering 11 MOVE members and burning down 61 homes. Helicopters and weapons targeting us here, that’s a trauma that hits HARD.

To make things more terrifying today, bands of white people were encouraged by the PPD to arm themselves and patrol the streets, beating the hell out of a number of folks with baseball bats, and then congratulated by the police. We did our best to support who we could, and will continue, but the horror of today was beyond words… #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter

from Instagram

Another day of Philadelphia Uprising. People are still standing off across Philadelphia. In west philly police tear gassed the surrounding neighborhood of 42nd and market so we made this guide about tear gas. Send this to all your west philly friends. Love and Rage. .

from Twitter

After hearing several reports that Philly cops were “warning” white residents that “antifa is coming”, about 50 – 150 all white men gathered around Girard and Berks and started heading west down Girard. At least three reported by assaults by them.
This guy attacked street medics who were helping another person they attacked.
Some footage of them marching down Girard. They are being protected by Philly police, who seem to have intentionally instigated their violence
Please share more pics and videos if you have them. Make sure your comrades and loved ones are aware. As always, it’s on us to defend ourselves from violent white supremacists.

Up Against The Law: Solidarity statement with Twin Cities response to police terrorism

  • May 30, 2020 12:57 pm

from Facebook

May 29th, 2020

First, a big thank you to those saying “fuck the police!”

This statement is our written expression of solidarity to the Twin Cities rioters and against all police.
We are saddened and angry to hear about the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. But we are not surprised.
We support the actions of racial justice by whatever means participants deem necessary. We urge people who are ideologically opposed to certain freedoms of dissent to step aside. Interventinon, especially by white people, will support further police terrorism. Respect a diversity of tactics. Our experience has shown that power and white supremacy doesn’t give up voluntarily, and neither will we.
Don’t attack each other. Understand that this isn’t simply about the choices and actions of individuals, but is a product of the racist system that we live under.
We believe that solidarity is our greatest weapon against state repression.
We need to take care of each other, so we can be dangerous together.
It is our duty and commitment to support those who fight back against police terrorism of black, brown and indigenous communities. We’ve been with you in Baltimore, Charlottesville, DC, and of course Philly. We will march with you as legal observers, call the bail commissioner to see that we can help you out of jail, host trainings at your request, and in some cases get locked up with you.
We want you to know you are not alone in this fight.
We are watching from Philadelphia, and we will support those fighting locally, as we always have.
Please visit our Stop Snitching On Yourself series on our website and arm yourself with the legal ways of dealing with law enforcement, which includes what to do if you witness police brutality.
https://upagainstthelaw.org/be-prepared-watch-know-your-rights-training/
In solidarity, with love and rage,
Up Against The Law Legal Collective
Philadelphia, PA
UpAgainstTheLawLc@gmail.com
Our arrest hotline is (484) 758-0388
*Know that we are an all volunteer collective that is committed to mutual aid and community empowerment. We do not solicit donations, but these MN orgs could use resources: http://justiceforgeorgefloyd.link

Phone Zap for Akil January 17

  • January 17, 2020 2:27 pm

from Dreaming Freedom | Practicing Abolition

Important: Please do not mention anyone’s name on the inside when asked how you know about the attack. You do not have to give your name either.

Yesterday, two guards at SCI-Fayette in PA had a calm, compliant man in handcuffs. They punched him in the pack of the head, body slammed him, and threw him in the hole. All of it went down in front of cameras and an entire block of witnesses.

Akil Johnson needs medical care and immediate release from the hole. The two officers who did this–CO Williamson and CO Lacey--deserve to be fired immediately. At the very least, they must be suspended, investigated, and disciplined. At the absolute least, they must never be permitted to be on Akil’s block again.

Today we are calling to voice these demands, and to remind PA-DOC and its racist, violent guards that we see them.

Please call SCI-Fayette and ask for Superintendent Mark Capozza: 724-364-2200

And PA-DOC Deputy Secretary for the Western Region Trevor Wingard: 717.728.4122 ext 4123

Here is a sample script you can use:

“Hello, my name is _______. I am calling to express my concern for the well-being of Akil Johnson, who was attacked yesterday by two COs. Akil needs real medical care, and he should be immediately release back into general population. I am also calling to ask what, if anything, will be done to COs Williamson and Lacey, who attacked Akil while he was handcuffed on camera? [They’ll deflect and say they do not know, etc]. Both COs should be suspended or terminated, or at least disciplined and separated from Akil.”

Thank you to everyone who can call in. When we stood up for our comrade Andre at Smithfield last summer, we got him released and transferred. We can do this again for Akil.

In Struggle,

Outside comrade IJ

Phone Zap for Obadiah Miller

  • December 10, 2019 8:40 pm

from Twitter