NLG stands in support of the Prairieland defendants facing unchecked Federal repression

 Sent out the evening of August 11th.

 

The National Lawyers Guild Stands in Support of the Prairieland Defendants Facing Unchecked Federal Repression

Dear [ ],

 

Update: The number of those arrested is now at 17.

On July 4th, a noise demonstration took place outside of the ICE Prairieland Detention Center in Texas. What was a typical pro-immigrant protest has turned into a massive federal investigation, with 16 defendants now facing criminal charges. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG [ NLG.org ]), The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the NLG, the TexOma region of the NLG, and the Mass Defense Committee of the NLG stand in support of the Prairieland Defendants.

Community members went to the Prairieland Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Alvarado, Texas, to rally against ICE's violent and relentless attacks on immigrants, and to express solidarity with those imprisoned inside the detention center. There was a planned noise demonstration at the facility, where fireworks were used, and other loud noises were made. Making noise outside of jails is an extremely common form of protest, extending solidarity to those behind bars. As the rally went on, ICE agents called the local police department. After local police arrived, one officer claimed to have sustained a minor injury to his neck by what the state claims was a gunshot. In response, the government has arrested 16 people, some through raids and traffic stops. Yet, through all of the federal government's criminal complaints, only two people have been described as alleged shooters.

Expansive and Unchecked State Repression

Due to unchecked state repression, people present at the noise demonstration are now facing decades of prison time and years of pre-trial detention, regardless of their actions or knowledge. For weeks, local and federal agents have terrorized friends and family members of those arrested at the rally, serving no-knock warrants and conducting widespread surveillance. Multiple people arrested were not even at the demonstration on July 4th. Most defendants remain detained without formal charges, without legal representation, and in limbo between state and federal jurisdiction. Finding attorneys has been extremely difficult given the incredibly repressive behavior of the government.

We are witnessing state repression in real time. It is clear that police and prosecutors hope that the deplorable conditions of imprisonment will break the defendants and compel cooperation under duress. State and federal agents are wielding their power to silence people who dissent, to terrify and deter the public from exercising their rights to protest, and to make an example of the Prairieland Defendants in order to quash anti-ICE speech. The government seems determined to criminalize everyone even remotely related to the July 4th rally, regardless of their level of involvement. The flurry of arrests and severe charges are meant to suppress political organizing and free speech.

Defendants Facing Violent Jail Conditions

Lawyers who have visited the defendants say Johnson County Jail's conditions are reprehensible. At least two defendants have been placed in solitary confinement without any explanation. One defendant was forced to clean the walls of feces left by a previously held prisoner. The defendants' ability to communicate with friends and family outside the jail has been restricted at least twice, without any notice or explanation. At least three of the defendants are being strip-searched regularly, even though they are in solitary confinement. Two of the defendants are vegan and were not fed appropriate food. The jail has denied multiple defendants necessary medical accommodations such as a basic pillow and blood pressure medication, resulting in serious pain and potentially lasting injury. Additionally, trans individuals have been dead-named and misgendered by the jail, the media, and their own state-appointed attorneys, even though their names have been legally changed to reflect their gender.

Making matters worse, the majority of the defendants are under federal investigations, yet are still being held on state charges. The state's actions reflect their aim to criminalize people who stand up to ICE's excesses. We have seen similar repression in Atlanta, Georgia, Spokane, Washington, and Los Angeles, California. It is abominable to arrest and detain people simply for their proximity to an alleged offense, in the absence of probable cause. The state's case has failed to afford the defendants their due process and is a clear violation of their rights.

To support the defendants, contribute here: https://givesendgo.com/supportDFWprotestors

BAP: The Biden Administration fails to win imprisonment of the Uhuru 3 + UNC and Stop Cop City legal cases

A local NPR headline the morning of December 20th says that the prosecution of the remaining 2024 UNC pro-Palestine protesters has been dropped (as often has often happened when protesters at UNC have been charged with crimes over the past 20 years??).  The report mentioned that many people had already taken plea deals, and had been sentenced to community service, etc.  They said nothing about whether the people no longer being charged have been expelled, fired, lost scholarships, etc.  How did the prosecution derail their lives, even if it has now been dropped?  I wasn't listening closely, but there was something from an authority about universities being held to high Constitutional standards -- then why did UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harriss_Roberts ), etc. have them charged to begin with?  I don't know the details of how these prosecutions came about, but months ago it sounded like UNC was working with Orange County to have people prosecuted, while pretending that UNC would merely defer to Orange County's judgement about whether any crimes had been committed by the protesters.  I have a lot of anger at the UNC administration over its local collaboration with Biden-Harris and Netanyahu, and any government body that is working with UNC on this, or collaborating with the warmongers independently (the Town of Chapel Hill?  the Chapel Hill Public Library?  Orange County authorities in Hillsborough?).  I'm looking into what I can do beyond the petitions, GoFundMe appeals ($50,530 were raised at:  www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-unc-palestine-encampment-arrestees ; $5,950 has been raised at:  www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-disabled-student-activist-being-targeted-by-unc ; still open), etc. and I will get to it, even if it might be 'late' for 2024.  The 2023-2024 protests weren't well advertised for people who aren't on Campus regularly or on Instagram, and I don't know of any related continuous protests going on in Chapel Hill today.  I haven't done enough, but I'm also not in the UNC area very often these days.  I heard something about pro-Palestinian sentiment in the NCDP, but I don't get the impression that the State Democrats are much better than those in Washington, though maybe they would make somewhat better appointments to UNC's Board of Trustees.  I might have missed statements, but I don't recall any defense of the protesters or support for the rights of the Palestinians from Governor Roy Cooper, governor-elect Josh Stein, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, other local Democrats, etc.

The statement below notes that 60 anti-Cop City protesters are still facing RICO prosecution in similiarly Democratic Party-dominated Atlanta, which I need to look into.  See:  stopcop.city (no longer being updated?), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Cop_City , etc.

This was sent out December 17th in the morning and is posted at:  blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/2024/12/16/the-biden-administration-fails-to-win-imprisonment-of-the-uhuru-3 --

The Biden Administration Fails to Win
Imprisonment of the Uhuru 3

The Black Alliance for Peace welcomes the sentence of three years probation and community service which were imposed in the culmination of the baseless charges and trial of the Uhuru 3, Omaili Yeshitela, Penny Hess, and Jesse Nevel, which were initiated by the Biden Administration Justice Department.  

“The attack on the African Peoples Socialist Party and Uhuru movement was intended as an attack against the Black liberation movement in a pathetic move to intimidate into silence and non-resistance the most consistent anti-imperialist force in the United States of America - the revolutionary African working class, stated Ajamu Baraka, Chair of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace. “What the state did not understand was that no matter what the outcome would have been in the sentencing of the Uhuru 3, the resistance efforts on the part of our movement were going to intensify in 2025. Our movement cannot be intimidated by state actions.”

The government’s weak case was punctuated by its own witness admitting under oath that no evidence was found that proved the three were agents of the Russian government, but the overwhelming volume of that meaningless “evidence” also confused the jury into finding the three guilty of conspiring to do something that they also found they did not ultimately do. This is not logical, but logic is never the goal of the government when it comes to silencing dissent, and that certainly was the goal of the Biden Administration in this case.

It is interesting to note that it was a Trump-appointed judge who exposed the glaring contradiction of that trial in his sentencing, declaring that despite how one might respond to the rhetoric or ideas of the defendants, their actions were protected political speech that caused no harm, which he said must be allowed “or it gets chilled.” While any “punishment” handed down from imperialist courts for actions that are supposed to be legally protected are in themselves illegitimate in our eyes, the refusal of the judge to incarcerate the Uhuru 3 is a victory in the fight against a repressive regime regardless of which wing of the finance capital bird leads it. The irony of a Trump appointee defending free speech in a trial meant to imprison Africans for exercising it should be lost on no one.

The U.S. left also played a role in this two-year ordeal by acquiescing to the threat of Democrat-led government repression with little resistance and deafening silence. Whether due to fear of being next, because of their belief in the Democrat-created lie of Russiagate or because of their own internal Russophobia, or worse anti-communism (even though Russia is not a communist country any longer), the lack of support given to the Uhuru 3 reminds U.S.-based African anti-imperialists that we are largely on our own. Therefore, our greatest strength is found in international solidarity with like-minded and focused peoples around the world.

BAP reiterates its unwavering support for the Uhuru 3, and congratulates them on this outcome. We also recognize that this is but one small victory in a larger, ongoing battle against imperialist repression that we must continue to fight as the 60 Stop Cop City protesters facing RICO charges in Atlanta are next on the firing line of the same repressive Democrat-led government. We should not merely hope for a sympathetic judge, Trump-appointed or otherwise, to stand between the people exercising our rights and the state trying to deny them and criminalize us.

BAP declares that we are at war, so we must fight against this system and whomever is the face of it, and in doing so we will never fight alone. We fight with the entire anti-imperialist world already engaged in that struggle against this government that represses us all.

No Compromise, No Retreat

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