Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rules in favor of NCGP, rejects DSCC motion for stay to keep Greens off the ballot

A victory, but probably not the end of the NC Green Party's legal battles for ballot access this November.  There is a ballot access fund, linked below, as is the court's ruling.  The Green candidates for this fall are Matthew Hoh for US Senate, Michael Trudeau for NC Senate District 16 in Wake County, and Joshua Bradley for Raleigh City Council; the 2022 general election candidates are or will be listed at:  www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/candidate-lists#current

For Immediate Release: *BREAKING* 4th CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS DENIES DSCC STAY OF JUDGE DEVER ORDER Contact: Tony Ndege & Michael Trudeau cochair [at ncgreenparty]; secretary [at ncgreenparty] For Interviews: Call/Text [  ] https://www.ncgreenparty.org/ballot-access-fund   Quote: NC Green Party Cochair Tony Ndege says: "NC Green Party applauds the just decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, securing NC Green Party's candidates their rightful space on the NC ballots this November. This ruling serves as vindication for NCGP, for our dozens of grassroots supporters who spent thousands of hours petitioning, and for over 22,000 residents of North Carolina who supported democracy  by signing our petition. That The People of this state will be able to vote for candidates who stand for affordable Healthcare for All, for eviction foreclosure and debt relief and for a systemic solution to environmental destruction, (instead of trillions for war), is a victory for democracy and voter choice  beyond the limited spectrum of solutions that Wall Street wants us to hear and chose from."   "If elected, as State Senator I will fight for municipal democracy and to bring down the costs of housing and regressive taxation in our state. Make the rich pay, not working people. It's time to build a new party that fights for our interests," said Michael Trudeau, candidate for NC State Senate District 16.    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT RULING ATTACHED: NORTH CAROLINA GREEN PARTY; TONY NDEGE; MATTHEW HOH; K. RYAN PARKER; SAMANTHA WORRELL; SAMANTHA SPENCE; AARON MOHAMMED; MICHAEL TRUDEAU Plaintiffs - Appellees v. NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS; CHAIR DAMON CIRCOSTA, in his official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; STELLA ANDERSON, in her official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; JEFF CARMON, in his official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; STACY EGGERS, IV, in his official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; TOMMY TUCKER, in his official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; KAREN BRINSON BELL, in her official capacity as a member or employee of the North Carolina State Board of Elections Defendants - Appellees and DSCC; NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PARTY USCA4 Appeal: 22-1830 Doc: 37 Filed: 08/11/2022 Pg: 1 of 2 Intervenors/Defendants - Appellants ------------------------------ NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE Amicus Supporting Appellees ___________________ O R D E R ___________________ Upon consideration of submissions relative to appellants’ emergency motion for stay pending appeal, the court denies the motion. Upon consideration of the motion for leave to file brief of amicus curiae National Republican Senatorial Committee, the court grants the motion and accepts the amicus brief as filed. For the Court /s/ Patricia S. Connor, Clerk NC Green Party http://www.ncgreenparty.org/

UNAC: Stop Israeli terror in Gaza! Free Palestine!

This statement from UNAC regarding the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza and the West Bank was originally posted at:  nepajac.org/palstatement89.htm

STOP ISRAELI TERROR IN GAZA! FREE PALESTINE!

8/6/22

The United National Antiwar Coalition stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine and strongly condemns the most recent violent attacks by Israel on the people of Gaza. At the time of this writing, 15 Palestinians (including a five-year-old girl) have been murdered by the latest acts of Israeli aggression, which targeted residential buildings and communities. We oppose all US funding of and military support for Israel, without which Israel would be unable to continue to wage war against Gaza and illegally occupy Palestinian land.

For decades, the people of Palestine have been made to suffer through: constant bombings and military strikes in Gaza and the West Bank, the mass imprisonment of their children, the demolition and destruction of their homes by Israeli settlers and the IDF, and evictions from their historic homes in Jerusalem. We denounce not only this most recent atrocity by Israel against the people of Gaza, but Israel’s illegal and immoral occupation Palestine, which has been ongoing for nearly 75 years now.

Those following the situation in the Middle East can easily see the connection between the timing of Israel’s aggression in Gaza and the resumption of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, the former happening 24 hours after the latter. Israel has long opposed any nuclear deal between the US and Iran, as it hopes to remain unchallenged in the region by keeping Iran militarily and economically weak. The Israeli government will continue to use the tired excuse of, “preempting terrorist threats,” as it always does, to try and justify its most heinous crimes. It will continue to point fingers and claim self-defense.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and support their resistance to Israeli occupation.

We call on all antiwar, peace, and justice organizations to take to the streets and join the in global condemnation of Israeli aggression in whatever capacity they can.

We encourage participation in all local actions in support of the Palestinian people

STOP ISRAELI TERROR IN GAZA!

FREE PALESTINE!

NO US AID TO ISRAEL!

Party of the Workers of Tunisia - Tunisia: after the failure of the sham referendum, Saïed is neither legal nor legitimate

 https://www.pcof.net/tunisie-apres-lechec-du-referendum-mascarade-saied-nest-ni-legal-ni-legitime/  

Tunisia: after the failure of the sham referendum, Saïed is neither legal nor legitimate  

Statement by the Workers' Party in the aftermath of the constitutional referendum organised by Kais Saied. "The time has come to resist this institutionalization of a new autocratic regime and the accumulation of forces."  

The curtain has closed on the sham constitutional referendum organized by Kaïs Saïed, by which he wanted to legitimize his coup d'état and send the country back to a new era of absolute autocracy. By claiming pharaonic powers, he is destroying the democratic gains won by the Tunisian people at the cost of blood and sacrifice.  

To carry out this pivotal stage of the coup process of July 25, 2021, material, administrative and propaganda resources of great magnitude were mobilized.  

Extended voting hours, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., were set up.  

The public media, including the first national television channel, were transformed into a crude propaganda tool for the benefit of Kaïs Saïed's project.  

Serious excesses were noted, including the violation of the electoral silence by the president himself on election day, not to mention the serious doubts surrounding the veracity of the figures announced by the established electoral body.  

Despite all this, three quarters of Tunisians registered on the voting lists ignored this electoral farce, in which Kaïs Saïed was not even able to gather as many votes as in the second round of the 2019 presidential elections.  

Given their crucial importance, constitutions can generally not be adopted with participation rates below 50%, or even 75% in some cases; this is a practice recognized worldwide, except by Kaïs Saïed. As an assistant professor of constitutional law, he welcomed the total success of the election, just as he applauded a national referendum in which the turnout did not exceed 5%.  

This confirms once again the tyrannical spirit that guides Saïed and that he is trying to impose on the Tunisian people.  

He alone decided to hold the referendum, to present a constitution that he drafted on his own and that no one discussed with him. It is a constitution that is only a catalogue of absolute powers that he attributes to himself, destroying the gains of the revolution in terms of rights, freedoms and equality.  

He also reviewed the composition of the organizing body for the elections, in order to appoint only his supporters, just as he is proceeding to the appointment of his faithful within the administration.  

He mobilized the resources of the State in the service of his project and incurred huge expenses to achieve a bitter failure, although he refuses to admit it.  

Kaïs Saïed derives his legitimacy as president of the republic from the 2019 elections, held on the basis of the 2014 constitution that he abrogated. He tried to build a new legitimacy for himself through a tailor-made constitution, believing that the people would applaud and follow him.  

Today he no longer has any legitimacy, he only has the strength of the institutions to impose his domination and his economic and social orientations that will bleed the popular classes even more.  

Like the heads of state who respect each other and their peoples, he could have acknowledged his failure and submitted his resignation, but he continued in his stubbornness by announcing a new electoral law, which he will, as usual, be the only one to draft and which he will promulgate by an unquestionable decree.  

The Workers' Party, which denounced the coup d'état of July 25 from the beginning, and warned against the dangers of the tyrannical project of Kaïs Saïed, who took advantage of the crisis that our country is going through and the resentment of our people following 10 years of calamitous management of the country by Ennahda and its allies, declares that:  

– It reaffirms the failure of the sham referendum and the subsequent invalidity of the constitution. It confirms that this proven failure of Kaïs Saïed makes him lose all legitimacy, and leaves him no other way out than that of resignation to let the Tunisian people, 3/4 of whom boycotted the pseudo election, decide his fate.  

– It is convinced that Saïed will not go back on his project of his own will; he will pursue it by relying on the institutions of the State and resorting to the flagrant repression of his opponents, in order to establish his autocratic regime.  

– It considers, therefore, that our country is entering a new phase of political and social instability that will inevitably be exacerbated by the ongoing economic and financial crisis. This is a situation whose consequences the popular classes are suffering full force, and which results from the subjection to the injunctions of the international monetary institutions.  

This new stage will be marked by resistance to the despotic aims of Saïed in order to save our country and our people, without returning to either the period before July 25 or before January 14.  

– It calls on all democratic and progressive revolutionary forces, parties, associations, organizations and personalities that reject the path of arbitrariness and autocracy, to join forces to define together a rescue plan as well as the means to unite the majority of the people around it.  

The challenge is to overthrow the system of tyranny, corruption and collaboration in order to build the foundations of a new Tunisia.  

– No to the imposition of a failed referendum and a minority constitution on the people.  

– No to a constitution of an absolute autocracy, rejected by the overwhelming majority.  

– Down with the system of tyranny, corruption and submission.  

– Yes, to an alternative democratic and social national project to save our homeland and our people.  

Tunis, July 26, 2022  [Workers' Party Arabic website:  albadil.info ]

Federal court orders that NC Greens be included in the November election, press rally moved to Monday, August 8th

Federal District Judge Rules In Favor of NC Green Party; Issues strong Rebuking of SBE, DSCC and Democrats

Press Contact: NCGP Cochair Tony Ndege, [ ,] and Secretary Michael Trudeau [  ] Ndege quote: "NC Green Party applauds this afternoon's court order which comprehensively vindicates our party who have only functioned transparently and in full accordance within the statutes of NC law. This important legal victory comes on the heels of unprecedented voter intimidation, harassment and fraud perpetrated by well financed partisan operatives to keep us off the ballot. There is a reason why unaffiliated voters have become the largest voting block in our state. People are dissatisfied with the non-solutions of the politics of fear and division. They are hungry for new ideas and solutions. We are tired of being corralled into the dead-end politics of fear and cynicism that marks political parties beholden to Wall Street money and corporate interests. We are trying to fundamentally redefine what an American party is and move beyond the era of Coke vs Pepsi politics where voters are presented two unlikable options without much input and then fear-mongered into believing these candidates are owed our vote. The N.C. Green Party and it dedicated supporters went through extraordinary efforts to collect well over the required signatures for party recognition because we speak to the concerns of millions of voters and our independent voice must be allowed on the ballot this November and beyond."   Eastern NC Federal District Court Judge Dever has ruled in favor of the North Carolina Green Party and ordered the NCSBE to place its candidates on the ballot this November.  Link to ruling document  [The ruling is posted as a pdf here.] U.S. District Court EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA Notice of Electronic Filing The following transaction was entered on 8/5/2022 at 5:40 PM EDT and filed on 8/5/2022 Case Name: North Carolina Green Party et al v. North Carolina State Board of Elections Case Number: 5:22-cv-00276-D-BM Filer:   Document Number: 64     Docket Text: ORDER - The court CANCELS the hearing scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on August 8, 2022. The court GRANTS the intervenors' motion to intervene [D.E. 15] and DENIES as moot the intervenors' motion to expedite [D.E. 21]. The court GRANTS the NRSC's motion for leave to file as amicus curiae [D.E. 42]. Finally, the court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction [D.E. 28]. Counsel is reminded to read the order in its entirety for critical deadlines and information. Signed by District Judge James C. Dever III on 8/5/2022. (Edwards, S.) NC Democratic Party Lawsuit Against Democracy: NC Green Party to Hold Press Rally for Voter Choice WHAT  Emergency Press Conference for Democracy and Voter Choice WHERE: In front of Terry Sanford Federal Courthouse [in Raleigh] WHEN: 11:30AM-12:10AM [Monday, August 8th; the event Friday was cancelled; I apologize if there was any confusion.] CONTACT: [ ] EMAIL: [cochair [ncgreenparty]; secretary[ncgreenparty]] North Carolina Green Party Blasts NC State Board of Elections: Justice Is Not Fully Served by NCSBE's Aug. 1, 2022, Ballot Access Certification Decision PITTSBORO, NC – The North Carolina Green Party (NCGP) sees the August 1 certification of our party by the North Carolina State Board of Elections as vindication for our organization and for the over 22,000 residents who signed our petition for more voter choice in this state. The decision is a reversal of the June 30, 2022, decision by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) in a party-line vote of 3-2 to reject the NCGP’s petition for “new party status” and with it the ballot access required to run Green candidates. North Carolina Green Party www.ncgreenparty.org For Immediate Release August 2, 2022 Contact: Tony Ndege, Cochair, [ ] Michael Trudeau, Secretary, [ ] However, NCGP cochair Tony Ndege stated, "This ruling is only the first step toward justice, democracy, and transparency for the people of North Carolina." According to Ndege, "The decision by the NCSBE to certify our party two months after our application deadline and one month after our nominee deadline does not surprise us. The NCSBE’s behavior has been observed nationwide, and this has significantly tarnished the board's public standing. At this juncture, justice has not been fully served to the NCGP, which is why we are seeking to have our Green nominees rightfully placed on the North Carolina ballot for November 2022." Some of the damage NCGP believes the State Board has caused include the following: By refusing to certify the NCGP in a timely manner in accordance with state statute, the NCSBE has caused serious damage to our party as well as to all independent parties and future unaffiliated candidates. By refusing to certify the NCGP in a timely manner in accordance with state statute, the State Board of Elections has irreparably damaged current and future petitioning endeavors in North Carolina.  The actions of the NCSBE have left the door open for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, other dark-money super PACs, and other partisan operatives to engage in harassment, voter intimidation, and even fraud toward thousands of people who signed the NCGP petition, and this has caused lasting damage not only to the party but also to the entire electoral process. The actions of the State Board of Elections have defamed the NCGP, unconstitutionally casting “a cloud” – as the NCSBE director Karen herself has publicly stated – over the NCGP's petition signatures and with them the party, its candidates, and its volunteer supporters, all while the NCSBE has failed to officially produce a shred of evidence to the NCGP to support its false and, the NCGP believes, willfully misleading allegations against the party and specifically against the party's working-class volunteers. By forcing county boards of election staff to verify the handwriting of the signatures against voters’ signatures on voter registration forms, the State Board of Elections has engaged in what the NCGP believes is disingenuous, blatant partisan hypocrisy, in that on July 15 of 2022, two weeks after the NCSBE voted 3-2 along party lines to deny the NCGP’s petition, the NCSBE again voted 3-2 along partisan lines that county elections officials shall not crosscheck voter signatures on absentee ballots against the respective signature on voter registration forms. Further, it is NCGP's belief that the actions of the State Board of Elections have appeared to be partisan in favor of the Democratic Party, and these actions have resulted in serious injury to the democratic process in our state: for one, the NCSBE has undermined and tarnished the reputation and standing of the NCSBE’s own county boards of election, casting "a cloud" over the directors and staff of the county boards and forcing these workers to engage in many hours of forensics signature-checking (for which they are not qualified), as well as tedious paperwork.  If the NCSBE’s intentions to ensure democracy were sincere, then instead of the recommendations it has come up with to make petitioning even more difficult in the wake of the NCGP's petitioning effort, the board would be arguing for commonsense remedies to this state’s onerous petitioning requirements, such as passing an official rule allowing or recommending that the General Assembly allow electronic petition signatures and that the GA also reduce the number of required signatures from 13,865 to a more reasonable number (for example, the ballot access petition requirement in New Jersey is just 800 signatures). The NCGP’s attempts to ask for Covid-19 emergency petition relief from the office of the governor also went unanswered. (Notably, the governor’s office's legal intern wrote a public records request to the NCSBE to obtain the NCGP's petition signatures, the language of which, in some places, matches verbatim the language that the Democratic Party’s Elias Law Group used in its subsequent requests for public records.) Collecting over 22,500 signatures during the height of a global pandemic put at risk not only NCGP's petitioner volunteers but also tens of thousands of North Carolinians – that is, the State Board of Elections and NC Democratic Party have put unprecedented time and resources into "verifying" NCGP's petition signatures while they spent no or negligible effort attempting to make petitioning safer, fairer, and more democratic to new parties and unaffiliated candidates during a global pandemic. For these reasons and more, the NCGP is confident that in the near future it will legally prevail and that the party's 2022 candidates will be placed on the ballot. However, true vindication for the North Carolina Green Party will ultimately involve lasting remedies for the damages inflicted upon it and the democratic processes in our state. For a Green, ecosocialist future, Tony Ndege, cochair Michael Trudeau, secretary North Carolina Green Party

NCGP gains recognition, but not yet ballot access; emergency rally August 5th in Raleigh

The NCGP received renewed state recognition Monday, August 1st but due to the State Board of Elections the Greens missed this year's candidate filing deadline and a legal victory will still be required for the Greens to appear on North Carolina ballots in November.  In a separate lawsuit the NC Democratic Party wants the new state recognition removed.  For more information see:  www.ncgreenparty.org/news and www.matthewhohforsenate.org/category/media/statements/ and previous posts.  There will be an Emergency Rally for Democracy and Voter Choice in downtown Raleigh later today, Friday, August 5th.  Below is the NCGP's announcement email:

NC Democrats Sue Against Democracy: NC Green Party to Hold Press Rally for Voter Choice

WHAT  Emergency Press Conference for Democracy and Voter Choice
WHERE: Outside of Dobbs Building (Halifax Mall side), Raleigh NC

WHEN: 4:30PM-5:15PM (arrive no later than 4:15) [3:50-4pm to volunteer]

CONTACT: [ ]

EMAIL: cochair [ ncgreenparty ]; secretary [ncgreenparty ] 

The NC Democratic Party is suing the State Board of Elections and the North Carolina Green Party to overturn the Board's decision to certify NCGP as a ballot-qualified party on Aug 1. Despite the audaciousness of the Democrat's complaint, NC Green Party leadership sees the suit as typical Wall Street party politics: the politics of one upmanship, fear and back room betrayal. It appears that the NC Democratic Party is seeking to circumvent the Federal District complaint by filing a complaint at the state Superior Court level. This move comes off the heels of an unprecedented campaign of harassment, voter intimidation, and even fraudulent misrepresentation by wealthy Democratic Party operatives in attempts to knock Greens off the ballot which received nationwide coverage and outrage.

Most outrageously, the Democratic Party lawsuit claims that NC Green Party, a new small independent dues-paying party of working class members being on the ballot will somehow hurt the Democratic Party’s vast resources and encumber a burden on their own responsibilities to get their voters to the polls!

Both of the major Wall Street parties see themselves as primarily responsible to the big donor class and not the interests of their voters. The Democratic Party is desperate to keep the political discussion within their narrow spectrum of non-solutions and therefore sees a party that provides an answer to militarism, infrastructural decline, debt and inequity as a major threat

NC State Board of Elections was unable to challenge enough signatures that were already validated by county board and conceded by giving [the NC Green Party recognition.]

The NC Green Party will hold an Emergency Press Conference for Democracy and Voter Choice to address both the Federal and State cases and to hopefully celebrate our legal victory!  

https://www.wunc.org/politics/2022-08-01/nc-elections-board-certifies-green-party-democrats-sue-pol

Response to NCSBE Certification Ruling
https://www.ncgreenparty.org/response_to_karen

Kyle Kulinski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omwJ4b3uNOc

Two statements on FBI raids targeting the African People's Socialist Party July 29th

Below are two statements condemning violent FBI and police raids on Friday, July 29th targeting the African People's Socialist Party in Florida and Missouri, allegedly over "Russian propaganda," which even if true would seem to be protected free speech.  The first document is a joint statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the second is from the Black Alliance for Peace.  For more reactions see:  apspuhuru.org/category/all-news/  

[The United National Antiwar Coalition has a petition at:  unac.notowar.net/condemn-fbi-raids-on-african-peoples-socialist-party-and-uhuru-movement/  More statements have been posted on the APSP's website, including a statement by NC-based Black Workers for Justice.  I'm posting a third statement, from Defend Rights and Dissent:  www.rightsanddissent.org/news/fbi-raids-homes-and-offices-of-activist-groups-claiming-russian-influence/ ]

Condemn the FBI raids in St Louis, MO & St Petersburg, FL!

On the morning of Friday, July 29th, the FBI conducted raids at multiple locations, including the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida, the private residence of Omali Yeshitela in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as the Uhuru Solidarity Center, also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while the house was raided. The FBI says that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian man, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.
 
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression unequivocally condemn these raids. We oppose all efforts by the U.S. government to target activists in any progressive movement in this country. We call for an end to investigations, political harassment, and threats against activists and our movements.
 
The DOJ is alleging that those raided collaborated with a "Russian asset" to spread "Russian propaganda." At a time when the U.S. is engaged in an imperialist proxy war with Russia in the Ukraine, these raids have all the makings of a witch hunt. All progressive people should oppose any attempt by the FBI and police to attack people's movements and organizations. We must always be vigilant about defending our democratic rights to organize and speak out against injustice - including communicating with activists in other countries and building international solidarity. It should also be said this repression come in the context of upsurge of struggle in the Black community.
 
The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression are committed to pushing back against this repression and we stand in solidarity with those under attack.
 
We know from experience how importance resistance to repression is. On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided seven homes of anti-war activists and the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War committee. Twenty-three activists were subpoenaed to a Chicago-based grand jury that claimed to be investigating "material support for terrorism." As time went on, the FBI continued their attack on anti-war and international solidarity activists by targeting important veterans of the movement who worked with the Anti-war 23, including Chicano activist Carlos Montes in Los Angeles and Palestinian organizer Rasmea Odeh in Chicago. A national defense campaign defeated most of these attacks.
 
All those active in the movements for peace and justice should use this moment as a reminder to never speak with agents of the federal government prying into your activism or the activism of others. "I have nothing to say, please speak with my lawyer," are all that need to be said. If you are being taken into custody, all you are required by law to do is confirm your name and tell them that you would like to speak with your lawyer. If federal or local agents show up at your home or organizing office, do not let them in without a warrant, and if they have a warrant, inspect the details of the warrant closely - if any detail is incorrect, such as the spelling of a name or address, point out the error and do not permit entry onto the premises.
 
Don’t talk to the FBI!
Stop FBI repression!

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns FBI Attack on the African People’s Socialist Party

For Immediate Release            

Media Contact
communications [at blackallianceforpeace]
[  ]

AUGUST 01, 2022—The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) unequivocally condemns and opposes the latest domestic U.S. state repression and intimidation tactics currently being leveled against the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP).

On Friday, July 29, 2022, the FBI executed multiple raids against APSP’s Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida and their Uhuru Solidarity Center in St. Louis, Missouri and the private residence of APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while their house was raided. The FBI claims that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian national, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.

BAP believes that these raids continue the history of state repression directed against Black people in the U.S. This repression now occurs under the guise of opposing “adversary” nations but regardless of how these actions are characterized, Black people still bear the brunt of surveillance and police violence. The APSP has the right to freely associate with people around the world, to hold any political beliefs it may choose, and to express them without fear of intimidation, persecution, or prosecution.

We believe this repression to be a hysterical response to the United States’ loss of legitimacy in the context of the deepening crisis of capitalism and U.S. global hegemony. The unleashing of policing and counterintelligence forces domestically and increased militarism and warmongering abroad in the name of national security are the only avenues left to the U.S. ruling class that is engulfed in an irreversible economic crisis. They represent the hallmarks of a naked fascism that the U.S. ruling class appears to be increasingly committed to in order to maintain the rule of capital. 

BAP reminds the public that the war against working class people generally, and Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers particularly, is ongoing. The masses must acknowledge and resist this reality. While it is APSP today, it will ultimately be the rest of us tomorrow. Resistance is our only option.

Given our steadfast commitment to rebuilding the broader anti-war, anti-imperialist peace movement, BAP is not intimidated and will not retreat. We are guided by the position articulated by the Black is Back Coalition, of which BAP is a proud member, that "Now is the time to throw off all hesitation, open up new forms of struggle and to launch every protest, demonstration, and anti-imperialist action - from the ballot box to the barricades - as an act to deepen the crisis of imperialism." 

The treatment of the APSP is reminiscent of McCarthyist witch hunts that targeted and criminalized workers, immigrants, and colonized people who organized domestically and internationally against capitalist imperialism. Likewise, the FBI’s actions represent COINTELPRO-like tactics employed to crush organizations and individuals fighting to protect and expand the rights of oppressed people in general, and Africans in particular.

These tactics came back forcefully in response to the 2014 uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri. FBI agents tracked the movements and monitored the individuals tied to the protests. In 2016, when the murder of Freddie Gray ignited protests in Baltimore, the FBI admitted to providing an aircraft for surveillance in the weeks following the unrest. In 2017, the FBI created the designation “Black Identity Extremist” to monitor Black movement organizers. The term was updated to “Racially Motivated Violent Extremism” in 2018. FBI surveillance was rampant going into the summer 2020 rebellions, with FBI agents attempting to infiltrate protests in Portland.

The Black population in the United States has historically stood at the forefront of resistance and condemnations of war and state repression. In this spirit, the Black Alliance for Peace reiterates the critical, moral stance against such government aggression and stands in resolute solidarity with the APSP. 

By comprehensively linking the issue of state violence and militarism, BAP will continue to concentrate its efforts on not only opposing the U.S. war agenda globally but the war and repression being waged on Black and Brown communities within U.S. borders.

In this charge, The Black Alliance for Peace says there will be "No Compromise and No Retreat!”

BAP Coordinating Committee

 
Link to online version: https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/bapsolidaritywithapsp

[ FBI Raids Homes and Offices of Activist Groups, Claiming Russian Influence

On Friday July 29, 2002 the FBI raided homes and offices associated with the African People’s Socialist Party and Uhuru Solidarity Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri. These related groups describe their political views as socialism and African Internationalism. Property, including cell phones and computers, documents, and a car were seized. One member of the party alleges that during the raid FBI agents set off flash bang grenades, used drones, and handcuffed him. 

None of these individuals have been charged with any crime, however, they are widely understood to have been labeled as unindicted co-conspirators in the indictment of Alexander Viktorovich Ionov. According to the indictment, the US government believes Ionov and the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia acted with Russia intelligence to get three domestic US political organizations to act as unregistered foreign agents of the Russian state. Ionov has been charged with “conspiracy against the United States.” Multiple unnamed US political activists and unnamed Russian intelligence operatives are described as “unindicted co-conspirators.”  Given that Ionov is a Russian national who lives in Russia, it is unlikely that this case will ever be brought to trial.

Defending Rights & Dissent takes seriously the problem of a foreign intelligence service interfering in the domestic political affairs of another nation. Nonetheless, we have serious concerns about the raids, which seem deeply disproportionate to the allegations, as well as the potential chilling impact an overly broad response to perceived foreign influence could have on dissent in the US. While the indictment alleges the group received money from the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (which they have denied), it includes as overt acts in the conspiracy a speaking tour in support of reparations for slavery and a petition to the United Nations condemning the US’s treatment of Black Americans as “genocide.” These views have been held by the African People’s Socialist Party, and other Pan-Africanist and Black Liberation organizations for decades. Conflating these points of view with “Russian misinformation” and foreign attempts to “sow division” runs the risk of stigmatizing dissent.

This is made all the more concerning given the US government’s history of suppressing Black Liberation organizing based on fears of foreign influence. The Uhuru Solidarity Movement’s UN petition appears modeled after the “We Charge Genocide” petition of the Civil Rights Congress.  Paul Robeson and W. E. B. DuBois were unable to deliver the petition in France, as they had their passports revoked. When William Patterson of the Civil Rights Congress did so, the US government seized his passport while he was abroad. DuBois was later himself indicted as an unregistered foreign agent, but was acquitted. Similarly, in the early 1970s J. Edgar Hoover kept a file on “Foreign Influences in the Black Extremist Movement” and tasked the NSA with helping the FBI to reveal it. 

While this does not refute the veracity of the indictment, it gives reason for caution. Defending Rights & Dissent will continue to monitor this situation as it develops. ]