Anti-Gentrification Action

from Unravel

Philadelphia police are searching for multiple suspects caught on video vandalizing cars in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood back on Friday, March 29.

In the social media video obtained by police, you can see the suspects jumping on hoods of parked cars and kicking in windshields along the 1400 block of Oxford Street. Police say the string of vandalism incidents along Oxford Street happened around 8:30 p.m.

Philly Workers March for Palestine Protests Against Israel, Militarized Robots

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — On Saturday, April 13, local groups protested Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed 33,000 Palestinians according to the latest figures. The march gathered in Clark Park.

Organizers say that workers and unions are sending the message today. The Philly Palestine Coalition says groups involved include the Labor for Black Lives Coalition, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Philly IWW, TNG Local 10/CWA Local 38010, SEIU Healthcare PA, Unity Caucus, Philly Tenants Union, & Workers World Party. According to the post, “Our goal is clear: to stand in unwavering solidarity with Palestinian workers and communities. Together, let’s demand more than just a ‘ceasefire now’ – let’s demand justice and equality for all.”

See this livestream on YouTube, Facebook or X (Twitter)

One key focus of Saturday’s march is the company Ghost Robotics which makes what organizers call “killer robots” for Israel’s military; the company’s Vision 60 “dog robot” was reportedly used for IDF experiments in the Gaza Strip.


On April 4 a rally at the University of Pennsylvania kicked off the Shut Down Ghost Robotics campaign. Pics below from the April 4 event:

Since the April 4 event we have been checking more into Ghost Robotics and have some additional information to release later. We also have a report from a March 28 protest at Day & Zimmermann, a munitions manufacturer for the IDF headquartered in Philadelphia.

Graphic Liberation: Image Making and Political Movements with Josh MacPhee

from Making Worlds

ADVANCED REGISTRATION RECOMMENDED

From the fight against the AIDS crisis to the struggle for Black liberation and international solidarity, Graphic Liberation! digs deep into the history, present, and future of revolutionary political image making.

What is the role of image and aesthetics in radical change? In his most recent book, Josh MacPhee interviews some of the most accomplished international political graphics producers, and through these conversations charts the importance of revolutionary aesthetics as a through line connecting the Black Panthers to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa to the AIDS organizing of ACT-UP to the Palestinian struggle to organizing against nuclear power and militarism. MacPhee argues that the culture produced by and within social movements is both central to their organizing strategies but also their sense of community and social identity.

Josh MacPhee has created a composite work life that merges elements of designer, artist, author, historian, and archivist. He is a founding member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative (Justseeds.org), the author of An Encyclopedia of Political Record Labels, and coeditor of Signal: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture. He cofounded and helps run Interference Archive, a public collection of cultural materials produced by social movements (InterferenceArchive.org). He regularly works with community and social justice organizations building agit-prop and consulting on cultural strategy. work. In addition, MacPhee co-edits the publication Signal: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture, and this event will also be the release party of the newly published Signal:09.

Meat Market Destroyed by Fire (Catawissa, Pennsylvania, USA)

from North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Catawissa, PA, February 21, 2024 –
Fire completely destroys a meat market and deer processing business.

The Valencik family writes: “A devastating fire destroyed the nearly 57 year old deer processing shop at the Valencik farm. It is a total loss and although the building was insured it is not nearly enough to cover everything that was kept inside the entire building.”

This Week in Fascism #136: Hundreds Run Kyle Rittenhouse Off Campus in the South, Musk Removes Exposé of Neo-Nazi

from It’s Going Down

As always, we have a lot to cover in this column, especially some exciting action reports and important calls for solidarity with antifascists in trouble. With lots to talk about, let’s dive right in!

Research Roundup

In Pennsylvania, One People’s Project reports:

Area residents and allies helped in identifying a local business owner as the person caught stickering White Lives Matter propaganda in this municipality’s multi-ethnic downtown a month ago.

The neighborhood organization UDTJ reported on its social media accounts that they were able to identify David Miller who has a business, Upper Darby Auto Detailing at 25 Powell Lane, roughly a 5 – 10 minute walk from where he was caught and filmed propagandizing on the opposite side of the street from the 69th Street Transportation Center.

 

Palestine Supporters in Philadelphia Block Day & Zimmermann Weapons Company Entrances

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — Around a dozen protesters marched from City Hall in Center City up to 1500 Spring Garden Avenue, the headquarters of privately held Day & Zimmermann corporation on Thursday, March 28. The company says it has more than 43,000 employees and is a leading provider of munitions,” which includes 120mm tank rounds for Merkava tanks employed by Israel’s occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as 155mm artillery rounds.

The late March protest was called by Extinction Rebellion Philadelphia and supported by Montgomery County-based Montco for Palestine. Protesters briefly held positions blocking the parking lot and main building entrances — in both cases they were threatened with arrest by Philadelphia Police Department Civil Affairs officers wearing plain clothes & body cameras, although no actual arrests or detentions took place. (The city government says that Civil Affairs is supposed to lead protest responses [PDF].) While one of the officers joked to an organizer that it was a small demonstration, the event highlighted that even early on a wet day people are committed to sending a message about the lethal products made by Day & Zimmermann.

John, a retired 40-year union construction worker, told Unicorn Riot,

“It’s offensive to me our tax dollars go to murder people anywhere in the world, especially that our government is funding and arming this genocide in Gaza. It’s reprehensible, and both parties are responsible for this. This is why we need a party of our own and not subservience to Democrats or Republicans. Day and Zimmermann is a construction company but also is in the munitions business. They do business with Israel, with the IDF. They’re a legitimate target for boycott and for targeting as an accomplice of genocide. They should be in the International Court of Justice with every corporation that arms Israel.”

John, Retired union construction worker

Since the environmental group Extinction Rebellion organized the event, we asked them about the ecological fallout of the current conflict. Another participant told Unicorn Riot that “without a doubt” Day & Zimmermann is contributing to ecological problems because of chemicals in the munitions:

“These bombs are dropping and it’s decimating the ecology. The bombs release pollutants into the atmosphere, so it is happening directly in Palestine that the ecology, the environment is being destroyed and a result of that destruction is that we’re having chemicals released into the atmosphere. […] It’s measurable. It’s a statistically significant change that has been measured since this bombing campaign started in October.”

Protest participant

Another organizer told us Day & Zimmermann munitions are contributing to the ecological devastation of the Gaza Strip:

[Day & Zimmermann is] “one of the largest arms suppliers to the US military […], we’re just here to shut down for Palestine. We want to stop the genocide and we want to make sure that we’re targeting companies that are complicit in that in our local communities and Day and Zimmermann is one of them. […] The ecological devastation in Gaza is unimaginable. Environmentalists have said it’s going to take an insurmountable number of years to even be able to rebuild, to even be able to get the land back to the state that was in originally. Obviously, genocide causes mass pollution problems. Their plumbing system has completely been dissolved. There’s raw sewage that has been consistently been dumped into the sea. […] Plus, you also have the aftereffects of all the munitions being dropped. In addition to internationally banned weapons of war, including white phosphorus. […] And they’ve also obviously destroyed all the agriculture, including the animals. It is a largely self-sustaining–was a largely self-sustaining society–through the blockade. So, yeah, a lot of the trees, it’s polluted [in] forests.”

Protest organizer

The organizer recommended the BDS Movement (Boycott Divestment & Sanctions) website for more info about corporations that work with Israel. The American Friends Service Committee identified Day & Zimmermann as a major source for shells to Israel:

  • [Day & Zimmermann subsidiary American Ordinance LLC] operates the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP), which has been the source of much of the artillery munitions used by the Israeli military, including 155mm rounds, fired by Israel’s M109 howitzer guns, and 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds, fired by Israel’s Merkava battle tanks.
  • The factory has been operated by Mason & Hanger since 1951. Between 1998-2007, it was operated by American Ordnance, a joint venture of Mason & Hanger and General Dynamics. Day & Zimmermann acquired Mason & Hanger in 1999, and in 2007 acquired General Dynamics’ stake in American Ordnance.
  • In November, Israeli tanks fired M830A1 rounds as part of their attack on a U.N. school in Gaza. The serial number on one of the rounds suggests that it was made at IAAP by Mason & Hanger in December 1990.
  • On January 29, Israeli tanks fired M830A1 rounds as part of their attack that killed 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her six family members, and the medics that attempted to rescue her, in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa. The serial number on an exploded round found inside the ambulance suggests that it was made at IAAP by Mason & Hanger in November 1996.
  • In December, the U.S. government used emergency measures to approve sending Israel an estimated number of 14,000 M830A1 tank rounds, without congressional review. The transfer, from the existing inventory of the U.S. Army, is worth $106.5 million, funded by U.S. taxpayer’s money.
  • Day & Zimmermann’s factory in Texarkana, Texas, is the current supplier of M830A1 rounds for the U.S. Army. Between 2017-2021, the U.S. Army’s supplier of these munitions was a Northrop Grumman factory in Plymouth, Minnesota.

American Friends Service Committee, “The Companies Profiting from Israel’s 2023-2024 Attacks on Gaza

Unicorn Riot also covered a similar protest at the Northrop Grumman factory in Plymouth early on February 12.

In a statement on October 13, 2023, Day & Zimmerman Chair and CEO Hal Yoh said, “Acts of terror, oppression and the loss of innocent lives is tragic and should be condemned. This is not about specific groups, ideology, religion, or politics. We stand with those who work to protect freedom and democracy around the world.”

Regardless, munitions made by Day & Zimmermann subsidiaries Mason & Hanger and American Ordnance have caused “the loss of innocent lives” during the conflict. A much larger demonstration by the Philly Palestine Coalition network on Saturday, March 9 also brought protesters to the company’s doorstep.

Israel’s demand for these munitions, particularly artillery shells, has also sapped the supply chain for Ukraine’s military, which has been attempting to fend off the Russian army since the full-scale invasion that commenced in February 2022.

Day & Zimmermann’s Iowa Army Ammunition Plant has been slated for $1.2 billion in upgrades according to an October 2023 report in the Des Moines Register, but the US military refused to tell the paper about specific ammunition flows to Israel.

An organizers’ flyer about Day & Zimmermann war materiel references the War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel (WRSA-I), a strategic pre-positioned stockpile of weapons. Only a handful of US-based manufacturers create ammunition of these types. WRSA-I is “a little-understood and opaque store of weapons” inside Israel but managed by the US Department of Defense, according to Just Security, which reports “publicly available policy guidance for WRSA-I is all but non-existent.” The hawkish pro-Israel Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) called for “replenishing and updating” this stockpile in 2020. (BreakingDefense also covered the issue of WRSA-I artillery stockpiles, Ukraine and Israel last August.)

Image gallery: (1) Three observers from the building containing Day & Zimmerman offices; two recorded demonstrators. CBS-3 is co-located in the building and did not cover the demonstration. (2) An observer from inside the building recorded also demonstrators. (3) Three Philadelphia Police Department officers believed to all be from Civil Affairs. The officer at right issued threats to arrest after demonstrators blocked entryways.

Antipersonnel mines are another controversial type of weapon, and Day & Zimmermann is connected to that business as well. In 2014, the Obama Administration said it would abandon the technology; procurement was suspended during the Obama Administration and then rebooted under Trump. Day & Zimmermann makes both GATOR [PDF] and Volcano [PDF] mine distribution system under the euphemistically named “Area Denial” brand category. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines reported more than 1660 people were killed by mines in 2022 [PDF].

Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC

from The Final Straw Radio Podcast

Black and white cartoon of a grill with prison bars at bent and torn
Download This Episode

SCI Rockview is a prison in central Pennsylvania where incarcerated comrades have been facing repression for demanding justice in the face of impunity by racist COs and following a year of prisoner deaths due to institutional toxicity and guard violence. We speak to an outside supporter about the situation at Rockview, the reactions of administration, inside / outside relationships and solidarity that have flared up. We hope that this conversation contributes to increased and thickened ties between folks on both sides of the walls.

You can read some recent posts about this situation at AbolitionistStudy.com and PHLAntiCap.NoBlogs.org and you can find audio from the wives of prisoners at SCI Rockview on In The Mix Prisoner Podcast. A few other sites of interest include StudyAndStruggle.com, DC IWOC on instagram, and In The Belly Journal.

This conversation was conducted via encrypted messages and recorded by a comrade Golem and Ash from the the MolotovNow! Podcast, so a big thanks is due to them.

Announcement

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel

Jorge has now been held in prison for over a year without a trial, and urgently needs funds to cover legal fees and prison costs (food, water, phone calls, visits, administration fees, service costs, etc).

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel is a beloved compañero of the punk community, and a long-time participant of the Okupa Che. He was arrested on December 8, 2022 by plainclothes police as he was leaving the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (of the UNAM university) in Mexico City as part of a campaign of criminalization against the Okupa  or squat.

BACKGROUND

On February 24, 2016, an operative was carried out in which plainclothes policemen detained him, “planting” drugs on him in order to fabricate crimes, and accusing him of drug trafficking, as part of a campaign of repression on the squatted auditorium Okupa Che in UNAM (still existing). The whole case was plagued with irregularities. He was transferred to Oaxaca and then to a maximum-security prison in Hermosillo as a strategy to hinder his legal defense by taking him far away from his support networks. Thanks to the solidarity and legal work, he was reclassified from the crime of drug dealing to simple possession of narcotics, and was released on bail in March 2016.

Even though he was no longer in prison, he was not out of danger. Constant threats and journalistic reports did not cease; the press even reported his death and accused him of participating in organized crime. Meanwhile, steps were being taken to frame him once again and re-arrest him for the same fabricated crime.

On December 8, 2022 he was arrested in exactly the same place – a few steps outside Ciudad Universitaria, where the Okupa is located, once again by plainclothes police – with the grounds for this illegal
detention being that the Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision to reclassify the crime.

The compañero’s health is fragile due to an extended hospitalization a couple years back and the toll the prison conditions have taken on him.

CURRENT SITUATION

Jorge is currently incarcerated in the Reclusorio Oriente prison in Mexico City. The legal process is still in the evidence stage. Several hearings have been postponed and Jorge’s process is being delayed and prolonged to keep him in what is called “preventative imprisonment” with no sentence, which is common for cases of political prisoners in Mexico.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence to keep him in prison, the strategy of the State is clearly to drag it out as long as possible, which is a tortuous level of uncertainty for all of us close to Jorge.

Thanks to the solidarity of individuals, collectives and networks, it has been possible to cover Jorge’s expenses inside the prison, which have been very high due to the corruption that reigns in Mexican prisons. We are raising funds to support his legal costs and basic needs to be able to survive in this unjust incarceration, and to re-join the community on the outside as soon as possible. We call upon the solidarity of our friends and compañerxs around the world to help us in supporting our compañero Yorch.

For updates and news:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Ba Teaches Yoga by Four Tet from Beautiful Rewind

 

. … . ..

Beautiful Boxer Screening Benefit for Balagoon Boxing Club 4/14

Submission


“Beautiful Boxer (2004), directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, is the biopic of Muay Thai boxer Parinya Charoenphol, who pursued the sport to pay for her gender reassignment surgery.”

Rockview Erupts!

from Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition

Listen to the new episode of In the Mix: prisoner podcast

4/6/24 | Rockview Erupts!

https://inthemixprisonerpodcast.libsyn.com/rockview-erupts

 

“In this episode, we speak with the Spouses of incarcerated organizers who exposed SCI Rockview’s attempts to cover up anti-Black racism in their prison. In November 2023, guards hung two nooses in the bubble in view of incarcerated people. Listen to how incarcerated people and their accomplices have been demanding accountability from the prison.”

🏴 Are you anarcho-curious?

from Iffy Books

April 13 @ 1:00 pm3:00 pm

Flyer with Care Bear characters with anarchy-related symbols on their bellies, allong with the following text: Are you anarcho-curious? / Bring your thoughts and questions to an open discussion! With snacks!! / Saturday, April 13th / 1–3 p.m. / Iffy Books / 404 S. 20th St., PHL / iffybooks.net

Are you anarcho-curious? Bring your thoughts and questions to an open discussion!

In Contempt #39: Jack Out on Bond, Resistance at Tacoma Detention Center Continues

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.]

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Political Prisoner News

The call for support to get adequate healthcare for longterm Black Liberation prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal continues, with a request to keep the pressure up on the Pennsylvania prison system. You can read a report from a recent visit with Mumia here. A new fundraiser has been set up to help the fight for Mumia’s medical treatment.

General Prison News and Abolitionist Media

The Pennsylvania network of abolition study groups have organized a campaign in solidarity with prisoners at SCI Rockview, a prison where guards hung nooses up and prisoners who complained were sent to solidarity. You can read the original call for a phone zap here, along with an update for the second week of the campaign here. They also have documentation of the mass grievance letter-writing campaign that was launched by comrades inside the prison, and a set of broader reflections on abolitionist strategy.

Uprising Defendants

See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:

David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701

Anthony Smith
14813-509
FCI Fort Dix
Federal Correctional Institution
Satellite Camp
P.O. Box 2000
Joint Base MDL, NJ 08640

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia is an award winning journalist and was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party chapter in Philadelphia, PA. He has struggled for justice and human rights for people of color since he was at least 14 years old; the age when he joined the Party. In December of 1982, Mumia, who moonlighted by driving a taxi, happened upon police who were beating his brother. During the melee, a police officer was shot and killed. Despite the fact that many people saw someone else shoot and then runaway from the scene, Mumia, in what could only be called a kangaroo court, was convicted and sentenced to death. During the summer of 1995, a death warrant was signed by Governor Tom Ridge, which sparked one of the most effective organizing efforts in defense of a political prisoner ever. Since that time, Mumia has had his death sentence overturned, but still has a life sentence with no opportunity for parole.

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 Mumia as a contact by searching his name or “AM8335.”

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal
SCI Mahanoy
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733

Janiis Mathis

A former Vaughn 17 defendant.

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 “NU0423.”

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Janiis Mathis
SBI# 00492275
Sussex Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 500
Georgetown DE 19947

Timeline of the autonomous struggle to fire guards at SCI Rockview

Submission

Timeline of the last *two weeks* alone, in the autonomous struggle to fire guards for nooses at SCI Rockview:

 

March 13 Press Release :

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/13/correctional-officers-hang-nooses-and-sci-rockview-does-nothing/

March 13 we learn about letter campaign:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/23/inside-letter-campaign-as-tactic/

March 14 Centre Daily article drops

https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/community/article286651355.html

March 18-22 Phone Zap:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/18/phone-zap-in-solidarity-with-comrades-at-sci-rockview/

March 21: Notes on Insurgency

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/21/notes-on-abolitionist-insurgency-prisoner-support-in-pennsylvania/

March 25-29 Phone Zap:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/25/rock-zap-2nd-week-ftp/

 

March 26 Press Release:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/26/impunity-and-cover-up-correctional-officers-hang-nooses-in-sci-rockview-prisoners-speak-out/

 

March 26: Security Van Tires Slashed

 

March 27: Public Call for Autonomous Campaign drops

https://phlanticap.noblogs.org/sci-rockview-autonomous-campaign/

https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/29/sci-rockview-autonomous-campaign/

March 28: First audio clip of Charles G’s wife leaks

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5GbzSZOQy_/?igsh=b

March 28: Nicki Paul phone call audio leak:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/28/conversations-with-grievance-coordinator/

March 29 Phone Zap update (updated again Mrch 31):

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/29/3-29-phone-zap-persists-update-rockview/

Nationalist White Power Band Condemned84 South Jersey Show Cancelled

from Jersey Counter-Info

In November 2023, Stomp Out NJ, a NJ hardcore show and event planning project run by Jay Baluski, announced it would be hosting a show on April 20, 2024 featuring nationalist punk band Condemned84.

A screenshot from Stomp Out NJ’s Instagram page, which depicts a number of different metal and punk shows, including the Condemned84 show (bottom left corner).

 

Jay Baluski’s advertising of the show on his personal Facebook page.

Condemned84 has decades long ties to Britain’s nationalist socialist and white power movements. Immediately upon the shows announcement there was understandable outcry from the local hardcore community over the organization of the show.

The event flier for the ill-fated Spring 2024 Condemned84 show. Note the coded swastika, depicted on the center of the flier by way of a nationalist punk and lightning.

Baluski/Stomp Out NJ played dumb and tried to shrug off people’s legitimate concerns like Condemned84’s nationalist and racist history, the date of the show overlapping with Hitler’s birthday (a well known and celebrated ‘holiday’ among national socialists), the event flier having a coded swastika on it, and the location of the show being a secret.

Baluski playing dumb on the Stomp Out NJ Instagram page.

While Baluski tried to play coy about the show and offered half-assed excuses to avoid any heat, the NJ hardcore scene and antifascists started to apply pressure to get the show cancelled. With consistent public pressure applied to Baluski/Stomp Out NJ, information about the scheduled April 20, 2024 show went dark for several months. In March 2024, Baluski made a public announcement on his social media that he had cancelled the Condemned84 show and was refunding ticket sales.

The official announcement from Baluski/Stomp Out NJ about the cancellation of the Condemned84 show.

 

Baluski/Stomp Out NJ posted further details about ticket sales being refunded.

The cancellation of the Condemned84 show can be attributed to the collective effort between the NJ hardcore scene and NJ antifascists, who created an inhospitable environment for racist nazi bullshit. Baluski/Stomp Out NJ do not currently have plans to reschedule the show or host future national socialist shows but both should be regarded with extreme caution. Nazi sympathizers and their ilk have no place in NJ.

Encuentro Internacional de Prácticas Anarquicas Antiautoritarias Contra las Fronteras Reporte & Filmes Cortos

Submission

International Gathering on Anarchic and Anti-Authoritarian Practices Against Borders

Report-back & Short Films
A brief bilingual report-back, Q&A, and conversation on the anarchist convergence against borders that took place in Tijuana, MX at the end of January
Will be followed by some shorts in English.
Wednesday, April 3rd
6:30 @ ORCA
DM for address:
@OrcaPhilly (Xitter)
orca.philly@protonmail.com
accessibility info:
orcaphilly.noblogs.org
Encuentro Internacional de Prácticas Anarquicas Antiautoritarias Contra las Fronteras
Reporte & Filmes Cortos
Un breve reportaje, Q&A, y conversación bilingüe sobre el encuentro anarquista anti-fronterizo que ocurrió en Tijuana, MX a fines de enero.
Será seguido por algunos cortos en inglés.
Miércoles, 3 de Abril
6:30 @ ORCA
pregúntenos la dirección:
@OrcaPhilly (Xitter)
orca.philly@protonmail.com


Impunity and Cover-up: Correctional Officers Hang Nooses in SCI Rockview, Prisoners Speak Out!

from Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition

March 26, 2024

For Immediate Release

Benner Township, PA.- On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke. By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates” and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance over two months later by February 5, 2024 under the guise that it was “being investigated.” However, the sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions for this racist act.

As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison. Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility’s virulent institutional racism.

In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent’s assistant and “grievance coordinator” informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong. When family and friends of prisoners in the facility called en mass between March 18th and 25th to voice their concern, Paul was flippant, dishonest, and dismissive to nearly every caller. Several family members of prisoners felt incredibly disrespected by the behavior of Paul and other staff who answered their calls. In the process of calling in, it also became known that Paul holds several other titles within the prison, including “staff officer,” “lieutenant’s assistant,” and “community liaison.” Samuel Condo, a PA-DOC official responsible for overseeing SCI Rockview, was called over a dozen of times to no avail. When contact was finally made with Condo, he simply would redirect calls back to Nicki Paul whose multiple roles on the prison staff create severe conflicts of interest.

Paul admits that SCI Rockview does indeed have video footage, yet the reasons why they refuse to make this footage public has not been given any reasonable justification. As of the week of March 18th, SCI Rockview has closed the internal investigation, choosing to protect the guards who did this hateful and racist act over the safety and well-being of the prisoners. In the meantime, the administration removed two prisoners from general population who brought the situation to public light. One was transferred out of the prison, and the other one is still in administrative custody, aka “the hole” under  accusations of “encouraging group activity.”

This incident is coming after a year that saw 11 prisoners die in custody. Seven people died amidst an outbreak of legionnaires disease, and four people died while in administrative custody (punitive solitary units with very little public oversight and severely limited communication access). Unfortunately, there is a well-known pattern of premature death and racist discriminatory practices (including beatings and verbal harassment) at SCI Rockview.

There is a resistance campaign that has emerged from the persistent actions of prisoners and outside supporters, who together are demanding an external investigation of the facility & its staff for the cover-up of hanging the nooses. The severity of retaliation for speaking out must also be considered a central object of investigation. We believe the inaction of officials at this facility is symptomatic of a deeper condition of antiBlackness, white supremacy, and class warfare that PA-DOC legally sanctions and politically condones. On both sides of the wall, people most impacted by the racism of SCI Rockview continue to uplift the demands of prisoners to investigate the noose incident as a hate crime, to terminate Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard, and to require mandatory therapy for CO Kirchner. While a grassroots campaign is indeed growing, and as PA-DOC slides further into dissonant inaction, the call for popular resistance to SCI Rockview’s lethal conditions rings louder by the day.

Contact: abolitionist-study@protonmail.com