#OccupyICEPHL camp destroyed, a new one begins at City Hall, & other updates from Friendly Fire

  • July 7, 2018 12:02 pm

From Friendly Fire Collective

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Yesterday the ICE encampment was aggressively and abruptly dismantled by counter-terrorism/DHS and PPD officers. Several were arrested. The experience for many was traumatic, seeing their hard work destroyed in a matter of minutes. That evening, on the ruins of the camp, a general assembly was gathered, giving voice to various orgs and participants. Many spoke about the victory of making it as long as we did, as well as the need for a diversity of tactics. Most decided it was not tactically wise to stay at that location, and the space was given up within hours.

Two dozen or so, independent of the original coalition, decided to trek out to City Hall after the assembly and focus their energies on confronting the mayor and city officials with the original occupation’s demands, as well as educating the public about Philadelphia’s Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS).

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The PARS contract allows ICE to access Philadelphia’s database of arrests with the intention of ridding our city of “criminal aliens” – though the Mayor’s office’s definition of criminal aliens includes those with minor offenses such as loitering and traffic violations. That being said, Philly’s police are cooperating and working with ICE and yet Mayor Kenney claims that this is a sanctuary city. This a lie.

The contract is up for review in August, and now is the time for there to be pressure on Kenney to not renew this contract.

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The new camp continues with 70 or so on the ground, who remain chanting, picketing, actively feeding all who pass by the very centrally-located camp, hosting discussions and communal meals.

Today the Mayor addressed this new camp, expressing concern that the camp may become “unsanitary and unhealthy and unsafe environment” but that it can remain as long as it does not become a “permanent encampment” with things like tents and generators. He said he has not come to the decision yet on whether or not he will renew the PARS contract.

It has been a long week for occupiers. Flash floods, police brutality, and a heat wave. The total number of arrests were around 40 or so, which included Friendly Fire comrades, both of which clung onto their rosaries in prayer as it occurred. The police responded by bashing one comrade’s head into the van, tearing the rosary out of her hand, and then stomping on it in front of her. This was after an already brutal beating. After being released within a few hours with a citation, she returned to camp, ready to continue holding ground.

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Friendly Fire has held small prayer meetings throughout the week at the occupation, including a tent meeting and an exorcism of the ICE building. We are all committed to the efforts at the new camp.

We have been blown away by how the Left came together for #OccupyICEPHL and we are hopeful that we will continue building coalitions, working alongside together, even with our various tendencies and tactics. To tackle the monster that is ICE, and dare I say the police, we have no choice but a diversity of tactics.

Rizzo Mural Defendant Legal Fund

  • June 28, 2018 2:05 pm

from Go Fund Me

In August of 2017, our friend was arrested and charged with vandalizing the Frank Rizzo mural. Ten months later, the court case is finally nearing an end.

Over the last 10 months, our friend:

– spent 24 sleepless hours shivering in a jail cell where their shirt
was confiscated and the air conditioning put on full blast.

– sat through 8 hearings totaling around 15 hours spent in courtrooms at
the CJC.

– dedicated countless hours and days planning for best and worst case
scenarios with their pro bono lawyer, friends, and community members.

– experienced persistent emotional stress and anxieties caused by the
case.

– faced charges that snowballed into two felonies and a misdemeanor,
which could have led to a judge putting our friend in prison for 7-16
years.

– took the substantial risk of rejecting an offer to drop the felony
charges in exchange for 4 years of probation, and a $9,200 fine paid to
Mural Arts, who sent a representative to take the stand and testify to
the damages.

The new DA has presented a different offer: 50 hours of community
service and a $2,000 fine.

Please help us come together to raise money to cover this fine and stand with our friend.

Any financial contributions are deeply appreciated. Please share with
friends and community members on social media.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

The Frank Rizzo mural and statue still loom over downtown and the Italian Market, as Mural Arts has refused to publicly take a stand on the issue of whether or not they support a giant 40-foot emblem of racism and homophobia. Here are two articles among man documenting his career and legacy:

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/cross-cultural/calls-continue-for-mural-arts-program-to-remove-its-frank-rizzo-mural

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwxp3m/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022

“Live From the Trenches”: The Vaughn 17 Speak

  • June 20, 2018 10:23 am

from It’s Going Down

In early 2017, a large scale uprising was launched at the James T. Vaughn Correction Center in Delaware. For background information, see Bloc Party’s interview with a former Vaughn prisoner here, and print out an awesome poster with addresses to write to, here.

“Live From the Trenches” Zine for Printing HERE
“Live From the Trenches” Zine for Reading HERE

Between the months of January and May of 2018, a small group of friends in Chicago reached out to the 17 individuals charged with involvement in the February 2017 uprising at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware.

This zine is an attempt to share the thoughts and experiences of these comrades as they shared them in their letters. We asked for and were generously given their consent. We hope that reprinting them for others to read will deepen connections with these individuals and help to multiply acts of solidarity and support. Contact information for the Vaughn 17 may be found throughout and at the end of the zine.

There is also a callout for a phone zap on Monday, July 2nd starting at 9 AM. All of these individuals still experience daily retaliation over a year after the uprising took place. All are still held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, with only one hour out of their cells. One inmate was badly beaten just last week after being shocked with an electric shield and jumped by Correctional Officers at Howard R. Young.

In response this individual has started a hunger strike which may still be ongoing. A number of other letters containing documented cases of retaliation by both guards and administration can be found throughout the zine. These folks face brutal conditions every day for their suspected role in the Vaughn uprising and it is imperative that we show them continued support. We want the prisons to know that we are watching and their retaliation against these individuals doesn’t go unnoticed. Calling in can be a very effective way to do this. Please do call but also be creative in the ways you show your solidarity. Some other ways to show support are included at the end of the zine. A flyer containing the numbers to call and a sample script can be found below.

SNITCH DISCLAIMER: While there are 18 individuals charged with some form of connection to the uprising, one individual– “Royal Diamond Downs”–has collaborated with the authorities by giving statements against other prisoners. As such we refer only to the Vaughn 17 herein. May Royal Downs and all snitches get what they deserve…

Philly Socialist Statement Regarding a Comrade’s Arrest

  • June 13, 2018 12:37 am

from Facebook

Press contact: press@phillysocialists.org

Our statement regarding our comrade’s arrest:

On Sunday June 10, a comrade, ReeAnna Segin, was arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights by allegedly attempting to burn a “Blue Lives Matter” flag at the Philly Pride March. She was charged with arson, causing/risking a catastrophe, and other misdemeanors, and released from CFCF (a men’s prison) at approximately 5pm on Monday.

Several groups, including Philly Socialists and Philly for REAL Justice, helped to raise bail funds and legal support for her. We’re going to give ReeAnna some space, but we’ll let you know if she decides to make a public statement to the media. We cannot release much information at this time, but this incident highlights why cops should not be allowed at any pride parades.

As an institution, the police have no place at Pride. Police presence at Pride represents an affront to LGBTQ people and people of color, who daily face threat of unjustified, brutal violence and death at the hands of the police state. We must not forget the courageous work of trans women of color activists like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, whose actions at Stonewall against the dehumanizing systems of police oppression laid the groundwork for Pride and for the LGBT movement as a whole.

While there have been social and legal improvements for LGBT people since Stonewall, these improvements have disproportionately gone to cis white people. Trans people and queer people of color still face tremendous threats of violence from the state. Though Pride has become a celebration of all that the LGBT movement has accomplished, we cannot forget that the struggle against state oppression is far from over.

Philly Socialists stands in solidarity with all queer and trans comrades, and against the capitalist police state!

J20 & June 11th posters going up

  • May 20, 2018 6:31 pm

From June 11th

Some anti-repression posters were put up around West Philly.

OCF Windows

  • April 8, 2018 12:12 pm

Submission

Guess you didn’t get this PSA the first time around, but thanks for the pictures!

I opened the windows a crack to let in the night air…oh right, they were the windows of gentrifying OCF Realty’s main office ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, this got me thinking that lots of people may not feel comfortable or confident in their ability to throw, limiting the range and impact of some attacks. So I wanted to encourage folks to play catch with their friends, throw a ball against a wall, play fetch with their four-legged friends, etc. It’s fun and builds useful skills!

Shout out to those facing continued repression here and elsewhere.

Rest In Power Paul Z. Simons.

J20 Benefit Series: LAVA 2

  • April 6, 2018 5:21 pm

from Facebook

The battle still continues….

Our efforts have led to full acquittals for the first 6 defendants to go to trial. The prosecution has dropped 129 additional cases since. There are 59 defendants still facing decades in prison for protesting trump. This is the SECOND of two LAVA shows to benefit the remaining 59. We must keep fighting and we must keep winning.

BANDS:

ZORN – Dark
https://zornphilly.bandcamp.com/releases

DEEP TISSUE – Deep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJJ0T6yVDDU

IRON WIND – Drunk
https://ironwind.bandcamp.com/album/demo

CLAM – Snot
https://clamphl.bandcamp.com/

$5-$10
Nobody turned away for lack of $
Don’t be an asshole

VOL 1: https://www.facebook.com/events/424496247985195?%3Fti=ia

http://defendj20resistance.org/

[April 13 from 7PM to 10:30PM at LAVA]

Philly ABC April Letter Writing to Janet and Janine Africa

  • March 27, 2018 3:30 pm

from Facebook

On 04/02/18 Philly ABC will be hosting a letter writing event to Janet and Janine Africa, 2 members of the MOVE 9. Please join us in writing letters to these rad folks.

” The August 8, 1978, police attack on MOVE followed years of police brutality against MOVE and was a major military operation carried out by the Philadelphia police department under orders of then-mayor, Frank Rizzo. Mayor Rizzo’s reputation for racism and brutality was and is well known–it followed him up through the ranks of the police department to the police commissioner’s office to the mayor’s office.

During this attack, heavy equipment was used to tear down the fence surrounding our home, and cops filled our home with enough tear gas to kill us and our babies, while SWAT teams covered every possible exit. We were all in the basement of our home, where we had 10 thousand pounds of water pressure per minute directed at us from 4 fire department water cannons (for a total of 40 thousand pounds of water pressure per minute). As the basement filled with nearly six feet of water we had to hold our babies and animals above the rising water so they wouldn’t drown. Suddenly shots rang out (news reporters and others know the shots came from a house at 33rd and Baring Street, not our home, because they actually saw the man shooting) and bullets immediately filled the air as police throughout the area opened fire on us. Officer James Ramp, who was standing above us on street-level and facing our home, was killed by a single bullet that struck him on a downward angle…Nine of us were charged with murder and related charges for the death of James Ramp.” (http://onamove.com/move-9/)

J20 Benefit Series: LAVA 1

  • March 24, 2018 5:17 pm

from Facebook


The battle continues….

Our efforts have led to full acquittals for the first 6 defendants to go to trial. The prosecution has dropped 129 additional cases since. There are 59 defendants still facing decades in prison for protesting trump. This is the first of two LAVA shows to benefit the remaining 59. We must keep fighting and we must keep winning.

Bands:

Sciamachy – Epic melodic crust.

Bitter Taste – Punk
https://bitterxtastehc.bandcamp.com/

Bloated Subhumans – uncomfortable noises
https://bloatedsubhumans.bandcamp.com/

$5-$10
Nobody turned away for lack of funds
Don’t be an asshole

VOL 2: https://www.facebook.com/events/565095977187096?%3Fti=ia

Defendj20resistance.org

[March 31 at 7PM at LAVA]

Help NJ Activist Resist Police Repression

  • March 23, 2018 12:38 pm

from You Caring

During the summer of 2017 Linette was wrongfully accused and arrested for vandalism in South Jersey. Linette is being wrongfully targeted by police due to their leadership as an activist against police violence and repression. Linette’s ongoing legal battle is becoming increasingly difficult and they need your help.

Linette has been denied for Pre Trial Intervention four times and is now facing five misdemeanors of criminal mischief and the possibility of a minimum of 5 or more years of jail time. In order to be accepted into the Pre Trial Intervention program, which would in turn drop all of Linette’s charges, Linette needs to pay $30,000 of restitution. Friends of Linette are trying to raise $15,000 to help mitigate the cost for Linette’s family.

If Linette cannot raise this money by April 20th 2018 the case will unfortunately go to trial. Because Linette is already a target for police the likelihood of the court system making and example of them is extremely high. If you oppose police repression, support activism, or believe in freedom of speech and expression please give to Linette’s fund. Keeping activists out of prison and in the communities where they are doing the work is critical to upholding justice, we can’t do it without you!

[Donate Here]

Monday, March 5th: Letter-writing for Cleveland 4 prisoners

  • February 26, 2018 1:51 am

from Philly ABC

We’re back on our normal first Monday of the month schedule in March and will be writing letters to Josh Stafford, Connor Stevens and Doug Wright of the Cleveland 4.

They were arrested on April 30th, 2012. They were accused of plotting a series of bombings, including that of an area bridge.  However, the real story is that the FBI, working with an informant, created the scheme, produced the explosives, and coerced these four into participating.

Connor and Doug took non cooperating plea deals and pled guilty to all charges.  The judge applied a “terrorist enhancement” charge to each of them, elongating their sentences as well as subjecting them to harsher prison conditions.  Doug is serving 11.5 years, Brandon 9 years 9 months, and Connor 8 years 1 month.

Skelly took his case to trial. He went pro se and acted as his own lawyer. The FBI offered him a non cooperating plea deal with a 3 year sentence, if he would have plead guilty. Josh refused to plead guilty to something he wasn’t guilty of doing. He was found guilty on all counts by his jury and sentenced to 10 years. Even though Skelly had the most minimal role, he got the second longest sentence because he took his case to trial.

Doug and Connor plead without an agreement while facing the threat of life in prison. On appeal of there sentencing they were primarily fighting against the life long probation that was handed down at sentencing. Doug also fought against being branded the leader. After months of waiting for a verdict on the appeals, we got word back. The appeal have been denied.

They all continue to fight against the government’s attempt to brand them as terrorists and to expose the techniques of entrapment employed by the FBI and their informants.

Dinner will be served by North Philly Food Not Bombs and we will sign birthday cards for Joy Powell (the 5th), Andrew Mickel (the 13th), Cinque Magee (the 16th), and Jaan Laaman (the 21st).

[6:30 pm at LAVA (4134 Lancaster Ave)]

Whammo!: MOVE9 Parole; Addicted to Screens; Anarcho-Syndicalism in Kosovo

  • February 21, 2018 2:12 am

from The Final Straw Radio

This episode contains three segments:

Move 9 Parole
“Stare Into The Lights My Pretties”
Anarcho-Syndicalist Organizing in Kosovo

Audio Player

00:00
00:00

MOVE9 Parole

First, there’s the interview that Bursts held with Michael Davis Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE organization.  MOVE is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by John Africa in 1972. The group lives communally. During the conversation, Michael Jr. talks about the case of the MOVE9, who were 9 members of that group who were arrested and accused of the killing of a police officer in 1978 in Philadelphia, a charge they each deny.  Officer James Ramp was killed following a year of the Philly PD blockading the house for a year under an eviction order and the police besieged the house on August 8th, 1978.  The MOVE 9 have been incarcerated for almost 40 years now, with Merle & Phil dying behind bars.  Police and white supremacist affiliated groups have successfully gotten parole denied for Eddie, Michael and Delbert Africa over the last 9 months as they do for many Political Prisoners from the 1960’s through 80’s in the U.S.  There are upcoming are parole hearings for Janet, Janine and Debbie Africa and more info on who to petition for their release can be found at http://onamove.com/move-9/. The name of the D.A. who prosecuted the MOVE9 in 1978 and who is still on the paperwork and has a say on the parole of the MOVE9 40 years later is named John Straub.

Coming up this Saturday, February 24th starting at 4pm there’ll be an event called “Framed In America: The Making of Political Prisoners”.  This will take place at The National Black Theater, 2031 5th Ave in Harlem, New York and will include presentations by Ramona Africa, Fred Hampton Jr, Pam Africa, Roger Wareham, Betty Davis, Ralph Poynter and Johanna Fernandez.  More info can be found on the Justice for the Move 9 fedbook group.

J20 info session and support dinner

  • January 21, 2018 7:57 pm

from Facebook

Greetings Friends,

Many of you may have heard that there was a substantial victory this past week in the cases of the more than 200 people (collectively referred to as the J20) arrested and charged at last year’s Inauguration Day protests in Washington DC. 129 people had their charges dropped, while 59 people still face multiple felonies and potentially decades of jailtime.

In an article appearing in The Intercept on Friday, one of the defendants, Miel Macchio, who was acquitted in the first trial, notes that “the dismissals are a testament to the success of the defendants’ collective defense strategy. By refusing to plea and instead coordinating their defense, the accused succeeded in thwarting the government’s effort to collectively punish dissent. ‘What we are [now] seeing, is a strategic narrowing of the government’s case,” Macchio says, “Those still facing charges are now much more vulnerable as a smaller group.'”

On this coming Sunday, January 28, from 5:30-7:30pm we will be hosting a J20 InfoSession and Support Dinner at 5835 Hadfield Street in West Philadelphia. This will be a chance for folks to gather in one place in order to be updated on the current situation, to learn how they can get involved and provide support for those still facing charges, and to generally share food and company together.

We will be making a big batch of vegan chili and some cornbread, but it would be great if others could bring and contribute food to the mix as well!

Again, the basic details:
What: J20 InfoSession and Support Dinner
When: Sunday, January 28 from 5:30-7:30pm
Where: 5835 Hadfield Street, Philly 19143

Hope you can make it!

In struggle,

Emily & Layne

Vegan Brunch Spectacular!

  • January 13, 2018 12:21 pm

from Facebook

That’s right, it’s time! Us North Philly Food Not Bombadiers wish to honor the one year anniversary of a day that shook this planet: January 20th of 2017, the day trump seized the mantle of control of this (lol) ‘democracy’. To oppose trump and his zombies, there were some brave and marvelous souls that took to the streets, galvanized into fierce action, and kicked off a wave of rebellion that has not ceased yet (we hope it never does!). Essentially they put their lives on the line, as hundreds are facing what amounts life sentences for their public defiance.

We want to offer up another all vegan brunch fundraiser as a means for people to get together, forge bonds and to hold space for this important day. Everything will be completely vegan and delicious. We will invite some other wonderful radical groups into the mix too, there will surely be some fantastic books and art.

Please make it out! Each brunch we’ve done has been better then the last. We will update menu and location as soon as confirmed!

[10AM to 3PM January 20 Location Cindergarden-Ask a skunk!]

Nightfall / Serqet (RVA) / Somnium Mori / Schiamachy

  • December 2, 2017 7:48 pm

From Facebook

Nightfall – Hardcore and noise against the bloodsuckers
https://nightfall.bandcamp.com/

Serqet (RVA) – Anarcho-Goth featuring members of Asylum & Lost Tribe
https://serqet.bandcamp.com/

Somnium Mori – Darkwave punk
https://somniummori.bandcamp.com/

Schiamachy – Melodic driving crust

Proceeds will go to the J20 Defense Fund
$7-10 sliding scale
8pm

[December 9 at Cousin Dannys]