Oso Blanco Beaten and Tortured by Prison Guards

Sisters and Brothers,

Indigenous Political Prisoner Oso Blaco has been beaten, tortured, and had his native rights broken. Oso Blaco (along with his cellmate) was humiliated in an unprovoked act of terrorism, carried out by prison authority.

JUSTICE FOR OSO BLANCO!

-Sinapu, Arcata Anarchist Black Cross

-Mapache, Los Angeles Anarchist Black Cross

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THE FOLLOWING IS OSO BLANCO’S ACCOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED:

On November seventh, two thousand nine (11.07.09) at the hour of 11:00am myself and my cellmate were assaulted by Lt. Galletta and Lt. Sassaman and many staff (at Lewisburg Prison). We were shot and gassed with a Rapid Fire pepper-ball gun – same as a paint ball gun but with pepper agent powder inside not paint. Then we were sprayed with oc agent a lot. I cuffed up and was being shot and gassed anyway. My cellie Coyote hardly had time to cuff up and they started shooting us in the cell. It was very painful then they stopped shooting so my cellie came to the door and cuffed up. They put us in a freezing cold cell and they then came and rushed in (goon squad) the cell and took us to a mop closet where they forced my head back as the guard was digging his fingers under my side jaw bone, pulling my head back, and 7 or 8 were holding my arms and legs – they squirted hot water on my face and up my nose. I let out a native war cry scream and yelled to all the men here to stay strong! This was all on camera. They then took me on camera to the four point cell where it’s very cold and stripped me naked and put very, very, very tight restraints on me. Locking the belly chain and black box cuffs down to the bone. I told Lt. Sassamen what, “What you’re doing to me is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, a violation of my human rights! It’s wrong and evil what you are doing to me!” All on Camera. Sovereign Cherokee Nation citizen have the full protection of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Then they held me down on the cement table and PA Potter cut off 4 inches of my ponytail braid. This is an illegal act and crime committed against an enrolled Native American! To cut off part of my ponytail. And a great insult!

We were left in separate freezing cold cells in tight restraints cutting into our wrists for 9 hours. After the 4th hour a dark Lt. A Spanish Lt. came and told my cellie across the hall we were being charged with assaulting Lt. Galletta, that he was in the hospital and the FBI would be coming to see us. And he gave me a false charge – write-up for a weapon.

The sun went down and the cold cell had its large window 2 feet by 3 feet wide open and its Nov in PA. I was laying on the floor with these cuffs and belly chain and shackles cutting into me. So I prayed in Cherokee – “CREATOR why is this happening? I have done nothing! Why are you letting my oppressor hurt me without cause and torture me?” A few minutes later, they came and let me out of restraints, and told me I was going back to the cell. It was full of about 50 pepper-ball rounds and OC Agent. One young guard said in a low voice, “They messed up doing this to you guys.” He said he is tired of this place and he is going to quit his job. The next shift staff who took our cuffs and restraints off 9 hours later looked at my hands ballooned up and looked at each other – with a shake of the head and one said, “Who did Chubbuck piss off?” asking the other guard. The guard just looked away shaking his head. I have at least 20 witnesses. It was unprovoked 100 percent. I have statements.

-Oso Blanco

Interview with Jailed Grand Jury Prisoner Carrie Feldman

the following interview is from voiceofthevoiceless.org

Nov 19th, 2009  Peter Young

On November 17th, Minneapolis residents Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth were jailed for refusing to testify at a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. It is believed the grand jury is investigating and seeking to indict persons unknown for the Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa in 2004. 401 animals were liberated in the overnight break in, and nearly $500,000 damage was done to the labs.

The jailing of the two activists (15 and 17 at the time of the raid, respectively) received heavy media attention. Before her grand jury appearance on Tuesday, I did a short interview with Carrie on the her experience at her first Iowa grand jury experience several weeks prior. While most grand jury coverage has focused on the principles behind grand jury resistance, I wanted to ask Carrie about the experience itself: What they asked, how she was subpoenaed, and more.

Please visit the Support Carrie and Scott website to find out how you can support the both of them for their noble acts of grand jury non-participation.

VOV: Tell us how you were served with the subpoena.

Carrie: I was subpoenaed on a Tuesday around 5:00, just after leaving my house. Looking back I had stayed in most of the day because I was hanging out with a friend who was in town, so I wonder if they were waiting outside my house all day for me to come out. I had only gone about two or three blocks when I saw police lights flashing in my rear view mirror. I thought it was just a traffic stop or one of those awkward times when a cop is right behind you and turns on their lights to do something else. So I pulled over to let them pass, but soon realized that it was a black SUV, and they pulled over right behind me.

Two people got out, a man and a woman. I rolled down my window, and the man approached. “Carrie?” he said. I never know what exactly to say in those situations. I think I just muttered something vaguely affirmative. They identified themselves as members of the Cedar Rapids FBI, and handed me a piece of paper that turned out to be the subpoena. They informed me that I would have to appear before a grand jury in Iowa the following Thursday. I think I said something incredulous about having to show up in Iowa two days later, and they told me to contact the victim/witness coordinator whose number was on the subpoena. I asked for their cards but they didn’t have any, so I wrote down their names and the number for the Cedar Rapids FBI office. I told them I would have my lawyer contact them.

(A funny side note– they pulled me over across the street from the church where the RNC 8 were having a meeting, which I knew because a few of them had just walked over from our house. I went and talked to all the folks at the meeting about what happened and what to do. I also ran into someone from Twin Cities indymedia who was on their way in to the church, and he sent it out over their twitter. So a ton of people knew about it within minutes.)

Prosecutors are not required to divulge the crime that is the subject of a grand jury. To date, what evidence is there they are investigating the 2004 ALF action at the University of Iowa?

The first piece of evidence came before I was served the subpoena. I got a call a few days earlier from a teacher at my old high school, to let me know that the FBI had called with a subpoena for my high school attendance records from 2004. She said that they didn’t keep those records any more and she had directed them to the district. I thought back to 2004 and was totally baffled– at that point I was 15 years old and had just gone vegetarian. Still had a year or so before I would get into more radical politics.

After I was served the subpoena, I gathered that these things must have been related. I went home and did a Google search of “Iowa 2004 communique”. The first thing that came up was a news story about the UI raid. At that point I was already pretty convinced. I can’t imagine anything else happened in Iowa in 2004 that was a big enough deal to have two FBI agents drive 6 hours to subpoena me.

Since then, it has been pretty well confirmed in my mind. My public defender independently came up with that as what he suspected, and one of the grand jurors asked me if I was ever a student at the University of Iowa. The Omaha FBI website also indicates that it is an open investigation, and shows a sketch of a young woman they believe to have been involved (despite the speculations of right wing bloggers, I think the sketch looks about as like me as any sketch of a generic white female with dark hair.)

What questions did they ask you during the grand jury?

It started off with the prosecutor, Clifford Cronk, asking basic questions like my name and where I was from. That’s always awkward because it’s unclear where to stop. The third question was where I was born, and at that point I decided that there was no reason to answer questions that they already knew, and that it was just going to transition into the more serious questioning. Especially without a lawyer present to tell me what to answer and not to answer, I just went ahead and plead the fifth and read my statement saying that I wasn’t going to cooperate. Cronk was like, “you’re not going to tell us where you were born because you think it might incriminate you?”

Mostly after that they asked me about my refusal to cooperate. Cronk was rude and argumentative. He said something along the lines of, “I hope your lawyer didn’t tell you that you have the right to do this, because you don’t.”

The only two questions that weren’t about that were when Cronk asked me whether I had posted the subpoena online, and a juror asked if I had ever been a student at the University of Iowa. I wanted to say, “are you asking if I went there when I was fifteen years old and the action happened, or do you want to know if I go there now?”, but instead I just repeated the line “I am not answering any questions before this grand jury”.

One of the jurors, a middle aged woman, told me to tell my mother about this right away. I think she must have a daughter about my age or something.

Have you received any indication from the grand jurors (or prosecutor) that others have testified at this grand jury?

No, I have not. I’m guessing that there are people testifying who are not radicals, maybe people who work at UI or FBI agents or people like that. But no one else has come forward about a subpoena, and I didn’t see anyone else at the courthouse who seemed to be a witness.

Can you describe the inside of the grand jury room and the experience of being inside?

It was just a regular courtroom that was being used for the grand jury. They had it in the “historic” courtroom because it was the biggest. The jurors were in the area where the jury always is, and the prosecutor was at the normal prosecutors stand. I was at a table directly across from the grand jurors, sitting next to a large projection screen, and the prosecutors’ table was to my right, towards the door. On my left were the empty judge’s seat and the court reporter.

I didn’t count the grand jurors. In federal grand juries there are 16-23, and I’m guessing it was the full 23 because it seemed to me like a lot.

Anything else of interest you would like to add regarding this GJ, and the overall experience, please do.

It’s really frustrating when people assume that I was involved in the UI raid just because I am resisting this grand jury. I’m not doing this to cover my ass; the easy thing to do would be to go in there and tell them the truth–that I was 15 when that happened and I don’t know anything about it. That may be what my dad wants me to do (he supports me, he just says he doesn’t want me to go to jail for no reason), but this is a matter of principle, and of not allowing repressive and coercive systems to dictate our lives. My cooperation would allow them to gather more information about activists and movements, and would violate my personal privacy as well as that of any others they would ask me about. They are targeting me for my political beliefs, because I am an anarchist and because I have spoken and worked publicly in support of animal rights and environmental movements, and I’m not going to let them get away with that. What I said in the statement about how our complicity allows the grand jury system to happen, I meant it. That’s why I am resisting this.

Thanks to Carrie Feldman for doing this interview. She is currently incarcerated in Washington County Jail. Please write her a letter of support:

Carolyn Feldman
Washington County Jail.
2185 Lexington Blvd. PO Box 6
Washington, IA 52353

A second MN activist was also jailed the same day. Write him at:

Muscatine County Jail Inmate
c/o “Scott DeMuth”
400 Walnut Street
Muscatine, Iowa 52761

Grand Jury Resistance Blog

Grandjuryinfo.wordpress.com

http://grandjuryinfo.wordpress.com/

If you have been contacted by the FBI, or have been subpoenaed for a Grand Jury, or have any information relating to the Grand Juries currently operating in NYC please email us at grandjuryinfo[at]gmail.com, or post a comment on this site. We will have a phone hotline set up shortly. The purpose of state repression is to silence us and to make us scared.

The state wants to single out individuals and we must speak out, share information, publicize their harassment and come together to develop strategies of survival

Solidarity is our best weapon!

Ariel’s Benefit Show: Update and Thanks!

The benefit show for Ariel Attack went smashingly well!  Feeling Beastly, R.I.I.P. with DJ Panda, and 10-4 Eleanor all contributed their talent, energy, and passion in support of Ariel’s legal defense.  It was an evening with lots of different music and lots of fun!  On top of that, some cash was raised, as well as awareness about Ariel’s situation and, more broadly, the struggle against binary politics and identity.  At various times throughout the evening, folks could be spotted at tables or leaning against a wall reading the Denver ABC statement on the Colorado Democratic headquarters incident (available here: http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/2082).  If you haven’t read it, check out the statement—it helps give context to an incident which the capitalist press has only been able to comment on in the typical binary perspectives of Democrat/Republican and female/male.

There was also a pile of zines exploring all sorts of radical politics from prison abolition and prisoner support, radical feminism, and eco-action to insurrectional anarchism and historic anarchist though.  Folks listened to awesome music and left the evening with something to read later.

Unchained Books would like to give a very special thanks to 10-4 Eleanor, Feeling Beastly,  and R.I.I.P. and D.J. Panda for their solidarity and efforts—without you all this benefit would not have happened.  As we listened to R.I.I.P. rap against the prison industrial complex and representative party politics—and all the other music throughout the night, we all were aiding one of our friends currently besieged by that very system.  Ariel is still engaged in a legal struggle, so continue supporting them in the ways we can.

Thanks so much!

Anarchist Grand Jury Resisters Scott and Carrie Held Hostage by the State!

Today, Minneapolis-based activists Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth refused to testify in front of a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, and were found to be in contempt of court. They were immediately handcuffed and hauled off by U.S. Marshalls. According to District Judge John Jarvey, who presided over the contempt hearings, both will remain incarcerated until they agree to testify. The state can lock them up for the duration of the grand jury–another 11 months.

For reasons all too familiar and valid to anyone who has followed the escalation of Green Scare repression, both Carrie and Scott refused to cooperate with the grand jury by providing information about themselves and their comrades. We stand in solidarity with them for refusing to be complicit in their own persecution. We will stand with them every day until they are free.

While the law does not compel the U.S. Attorney’s Office to disclose the subject of the grand jury investigation, supporters believe that it is likely related to an unsolved Animal Liberation Front action in 2004 at the University of Iowa. At the time, Carrie was only 15 years old and Scott was only 17 years old; both were residents of the Twin Cities.

However, both have more recently been involved in supporting political prisoners, specifically those incarcerated as a result of the government’s targeting of animal-rights and environmental activists. Carrie, Scott, and their communities feel that this support work has now made them targets as well.

Prior to their grand jury appearances today and the contempt hearings that followed, between 30 and 40 supporters rallied outside the Federal Courthouse in Davenport. The support rally was characterized by a disproportionate law enforcement presence, and the proceedings themselves by a sense in the courtroom that the state’s actions were perfunctory at best. District Judge Jarvey dismissed out of hand arguments offered by both Carrie and Scott’s counsel regarding the need for them to remain free. For instance, Carrie is her ailing grandmother’s caretaker and Scott is currently a graduate student whose intellectual and professional integrity would be irreparably damaged by participating in a sealed investigation. In response, the judge simply read verbatim the legal language about contempt charges and then ordered the two taken into custody immediately.

For his part, U.S. Attorney Cliff Cronk not only ignored the calls that flooded his office on Monday demanding that the subpoenas be quashed, allowing Carrie and Scott to continue on with their lives, but went substantially further down the rabbit hole. In Carrie’s case, in particular, his arguments and implications were egregiously over-the-top. Cross-examining Carrie’s father, for instance, Cronk cynically implied that the elderly grandmother she cares for was a sort of pawn in an elaborate ruse to avoid incarceration. He suggested that a shirt Carrie had been photographed wearing, in which the letters “L” and “F” were visible, was evidence of “membership” in either the ALF or ELF. And he even cited the fact that she has a white rat companion animal as evidence of … something or other. It would all be a rather inspired piece of satire if he were kidding.

With both Carrie and Scott currently incarcerated, it’s unfortunately clear he’s not.

But the community members who attended the morning’s rally – as well as those who publicly gathered in support from Minneapolis to Dallas, TX – aren’t laughing, either. They have vowed to mount pressure on Cronk’s office, demanding Carrie and Scott’s immediate release. Since the grand jury process gleans much of its power from its secrecy, they intend to increase the attention currently being cast on these Orwellian proceedings.

Prior to appearing before the grand jury, Carrie and Scott prepared statements regarding the repression they are facing:

Carrie Feldman

Today I have my second appearance before a federal grand jury that is investigating animal rights actions that occurred at the University of Iowa in 2004. Last month, after being subpoenaed in Minneapolis with one day’s notice, I appeared before this grand jury and plead my Fifth
Amendment right to remain silent. Today, that right will be sidestepped with technical legal “protections” that have little or no substantive value. I will once again be put in front of a grand jury with no lawyer present in the room, and once again they will attempt to coerce me to testify.

The prosecutor has filed to grant me immunity. I do not need immunity from prosecution for a crime that I was not involved in and have no relation to. This will not change my decision to refuse to cooperate with the grand jury. I stand here today in solidarity with everyone who has stood up to resist the exploitation of the environment and animals, the repression of the state, and the abuses of the justice system.

In anticipation of my refusal to cooperate, the court has scheduled a contempt hearing for today at ten o’clock. And they’re right. I do feel contempt for a justice system that prosecutes people for property damage that is done in defense of life, while real violence is committed at the hands of vivisectors, the police, and the military on a daily basis. I feel contempt for the federal agents that would use these prosecutions as a pretext to investigate above ground movements and activists like me, with no apparent grounds other than my political beliefs and legal activities. I will not help them to do this, and I will not let them violate my rights and privacy.

Today, I may be taken to jail for up to eleven months, solely for taking a moral stand against an institution that I believe to be corrupt and obsolete. I have not been accused of any crime. So let me ask you this, Clifford Cronk. Is it worth it to you? Is it worth it to you when my friend’s eight year old sobs, wondering if her mother could be going to jail next? Is it worth it, Tom Reinwart? Is it worth it to you when my elderly grandma is without a caretaker? Is this what you work for, Melissa Hendrickson? Is it worth it to tear an innocent 20-year-old woman away from everyone that she loves and cares for? Is this justice?

Thank you for your support.

Scott DeMuth

Hau Mitakuyapi. Cante wasteya nape ciyuzapi do. Iyuskinyan waciyankapi do. Dakota ia Hepan emakiyapi do. Wasicu ia Scott DeMuth emakiyapi do. Damakota do. Oyate mitawa kin hena Bdewakantunwan ewicakiyapi do. Bdote heciya tanhan wahi do. Wanna nina cante mawaste do.

Hello all my relatives. With a good heart, I greet you all with a handshake. It is good to see all of you here today. My name is Scott. My place name is Dakota is Hepan. I am from Bdote, the confluence of the Mnisota and Mississippi Rivers, where the creation of the Bdewakantunwan took place.

Before anything else, I wanted to address you all in the Dakota language. State repression isn’t anything new to this country, or even to this city. One hundred and forty-six years ago, only a few
miles from this courthouse, over 300 Dakota prisoners of war were held in a concentration camp. Over a third of them died in their captivity. Whatever happens to me today, whatever I face, it will be easy in
light of the hardships those men faced. Right now, my heart is really good. I am glad to see so many people from so many of the communities I am a part of here to support me today. Being part of a community means we help each other. We support each other. We strengthen each other. And sometimes, we must make sacrifices for each other.

Grand juries started as an important part of our justice system to prevent over-reaching prosecuting powers. However, this process has been used historically against political movements. In the context of
this history, most recently in the Green Scare, when investigative techniques of law enforcement have been halted by the silence of political movements, grand juries have been used as a tactic to intimidate our communities and as an attempt to coerce testimony from movement members. This is an abuse of a constitutionally mandated process by using it as an investigative tool rather than its intended purpose.

Grand juries can be very disempowering for us all, and especially for those targeted by them. We face questioning without legal counsel present or a right to remain silent. We can be threatened, coerced,
and jailed. However, no punishment could be worse than surrendering our values. And this decision, whether we cooperate or resist, is the one thing we, as individuals, have control of in this process.
Luckily, this is the choice that allows these grand juries to succeed or to fail.

Our willingness to cooperate and to be complacent, our willingness to be intimidated and to be scared, not only serves to legitimize these proceedings, but it also empowers the tactics of state repression.
However, when we as individuals, with the strength and backing of our communities, are no longer afraid of their punishment, choose to resist this process and refuse to cooperate, we dis-empower this
tactic and give strength to our communities. We return the strength that is given to us.

So thank you all for giving me that strength. And I only hope to give back as much as has been given to me.
***

Supporters are still determining where Scott and Carrie are being held. Watch for more information about where to send them mail, as well as other ways to help. Meanwhile, legal funds are needed.

To donate, and for more information about Carrie and Scott, please visit http://davenportgrandjury.wordpress.com.

Support Released Anarchist Prisoner of War, Ojore Lutalo

New Afrikan Anarchist Political Prisoner, Ojore N. Lutalo, is out after 26 years of imprisonment!

In continuation of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) fundraising efforts to support Ojore transition back to life on the outside, we have created a gift registry of items for his new apartment. Please visit https://www.target.com/lists/2G4Y0IKDCZMNX (or go to target.com and search for Ojore Lutalo List ID:012399301813930) and make a purchase either as an individual or an organization.

This financial assistance will allow Ojore to transition more smoothly, giving him the needed time to readjust to life on the outside that he hasn’t experienced since 1982. Please note that his move-in date is Sunday, Nov. 15th so purchasing items for shipment on this Thursday or Friday would be ideal.

As many former prisoners and their supporters know, coming back home after a doing a long stretch in prison is difficult, and without a support base it is even more difficult. The ABCF, anarchists and many PP/POW activists who have maintained contact and supported Ojore over the years, have benefited immensely from the example that he’s set as what it means to be a revolutionary. His untiring advice/criticism to us has helped many of us and our organizations grow politically and deepen, not only our commitment to the struggle to free political prisoners and prisoners of war, but to that of building a revolutionary movement.

It’s our revolutionary duty ensure Ojore has all the support he needs!
We encourage folks to organize fundraisers or donate whatever they can towards Ojore’s housewarming fund, and circulate this appeal far and wide.

To make a donation without selecting an item from the gift registry, check or money order payable to TIM FASNACHT, can be sent to:
Philadelphia ABCF
P.O Box 42129
Philadelphia, PA 19101

Thank you for your support! Solidarity and Struggle!

For more information: nycabc[at]riseup.net

—

Ojore Lutalo was locked down in Trenton, New Jersey, for actions carried out in the fight for Black Liberation. In Ojore’s own words, he is,”serving a parole violation sentence (we received 14 to 17 years) stemming from a 1977 conviction for expropriating monies from a capitalist state bank (in order to finance our activities) and engaging the political police in a gun battle in December 1975 in order to effect our departure from the bank, and to ensure success of the military operation…” “After my parole violation term terminated in December 1987, I started serving a forty year sentence with a twenty year parole ineligibility (I was paroled in 1980, and I have been back in captivity since April 20, 1982) that I have received in 1982 for having gun-fight with a drug dealer. The overall strategy of assaulting a drug dealer is to secure monies to finance one’s activities, and to rid the oppressed communities of drug dealers.”

Ojore was originally arrested with New Afrikan P.O.W. Kojo Bomani Sababu, and was struggling with comrade Andaliwa Clark up until the point that Andaliwa was killed in action within the confines of New Jersey’s infamous Trenton State Prison after he shot two prison’s security guards in the repressive Management Control Unit (M.C.U.) on January 19th, 1976 when they tried to stop him from escaping from captivity.

Ojore was a comrade of the late Kuwasi Balagoon, a New Afrikan anarchist P.O.W., and states, “I’ve been involved in the struggle, the war against the fascist state since 1970. I’ve been an anarchist since 1975 without any regrets. Prior to my involvement in the struggle, I was just another apolitical lumpen (bandit) here in Amerika.” “I was… influenced and highly motivated by the Black Liberation Army (B.L.A.) here in Amerika. These sisters and brothers were New Afrikans just like me from the streets of the ghettos who took the initiative militarily, to start assassinating members of the state’s security forces who were murdering black people in our communities. From the inception of all revolutions, I feel that the people need armed combat units to check state sponsored acts of terrorism by the government’s security forces. In addition, I feel that these armed combat units are necessary to show the people that fascist acts of state-sponsored terrorism… will be responded to militarily. In 1975 I became disillusioned with Marxism and became an anarchist (thanks to Kuwasi Balagoon) due to the inactiveness and ineffectiveness of Marxism in our communities along with repressive bureaucracy that comes with Marxism. People aren’t going to commit themselves to a life and death struggle just because of grand ideas someone might have floating around in their heads. I feel people will commit themselves to a struggle if they can see progress being made similar to the progress of anarchist collectives in Spain during the era of the fascist Bahamonde…”

Belgrade 6 Face International Terrorism Charges.

The IWA/AIT Secretariat and Serbian comrades have just informed us of some terrible news – the 6 anarcho-syndicalists from Belgrade, arrested and held in confinement since 5th September, are to be tried for international terrorism.

They face 15 years in prison. They are accused of being the authors of graffiti painted on the Greek embassy last 25th August, and of having thrown a petrol bomb which only damaged a window.

The fact that the comrades deny that they had anything to do with these events clearly does not worry the Serbian State in its obsession to find someone guilty. Indeed, from Paris to Belgrade, the international police are all very much alike…

They must have had the same instructors… So, the comrades are being charged with international terrorism. In the near future, this means they will remain incommunicado in jail for at least several months.

Those comrades who are still free are trying to see if there is any way to appeal the decision. Further information will follow.

Meanwhile, the worst case scenario has now happened. The battle will be long and difficult and these comrades will need all our support.

Lawyers’ fees will obviously be extremely high, so anyone who wishes to contribute financially to solidarity efforts can send a cheque made out to the CNT AIT, with the words “Solidarité Belgrade” on the back, to the following address:

CNT AIT
108 rue Damrémont
75018 PARIS

Ariel Attack’s Next Court Date: This Thursday, Nov. 5th

Show your support and help us pack the courtroom on Thursday to support Ariel for her disposition hearing.

Nov 5 @ 8:30am
Courtroom 472W
1435 Bannock
Downtown Denver

A disposition hearing is when the District Attorney presents a bare minimum of evidence to a judge to prove that a crime was committed and they might be able to convict the individual charged. If the DA wins the disposition hearing, the court is bonded over to district court where Ariel will continue on with the case. This is a SUPER important hearing, as this is the first opportunity to have a case thrown out. The more people we can pack into the courtroom, the better we are.

G20: Twitter Charges Dropped!!

Tortuga House Update: Pennsylvania Drops All Charges Against Madison & Wallschlager for Twittering

In the face of a PR nightmare, Pennsylvania authorities have withdrawn all charges against two members of Tortuga accused of using Twitter to aid protesters at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. At a hearing today, instead of oral arguments regarding a defense motion to unseal the secret 18-page affidavit authorizing the arrests of Elliott Madison and Michael Wallschlager at a motel just outside of Pittsburgh, the prosecution immediately moved to withdraw all charges against the two before the defense had a chance to argue its case. Although clear from the beginning that these charges were absurd based on the State’s very own laws, our housemates were incarcerated for 36 hours, had their van towed and belongings confiscated, and one house member was given $30,000 in straight bail.

The District Attorney and his spokesperson were at pains to explain why the State would drop all charges against these dangerous twitterists and of course, refused to admit that these charges were unconstitutional and a heavy-handed attempt to scare anarchists and others from protesting in ways unsanctioned by the government. Instead, the prosecution says they decided that pursuing the charges “would be unwise” after consulting other law enforcement agencies and because of other pending investigations. The secret affidavit authorizing the arrests in Pennsylvania is set to become public on Nov. 23rd. We imagine the Pennsylvania State Police will seek an extension to keep this document sealed—perhaps in order to hide the flimsiness of their secret evidence? However, no matter the reason, we will fight to unseal this document and we will not let the State hide behind sealed evidence, obscure innuendo, and other traditional tactics used by secret police.

Though it is a victory that all the charges against our two housemates were dropped in Pennsylvania, we cannot forget that there is still a mysterious grand jury and other “ongoing investigations” out there. While we may be free from criminal proceedings now, we are still under the threat of future charges/indictments. What these might be, when they might happen, and what cause the State has is, of course, secret. Although our only option is to wait and see, we refuse to let them go about their business ruining our lives in peace and quiet and will continue fighting them every step of the way.

For more information and updates, please go to friendsoftortuga.wordpress.com

Mexican Political Prisoner Gloria Arenas Released

Photos by Comite Verdad, Justicia, y Libertad Jacobo y Gloria

Gloria Arenas Agís was released from prison around 7:30PM on October 28, ten years after Mexican federal agents abducted, tortured, and then—after several days of being held incommunicado—arrested her and her husband Jacobo Silva Nogales on charges ranging from terrorism and homicide to rebellion.

Arenas and Silva are the co-founders of the ERPI, Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo Insurgente (the Insurgent People’s Revolutionary Army), a guerrilla movement based in Mexico’s impoverished Guerrero State, with roots going back to the Lucio Cabañas guerrilla up-rising of 1967-1974.

Mexico State prison officials released Arenas without advanced notice or asking her to sign a single document.

“I did not know that I was going to be released,” Arenas told a reporter from La Jornada upon leaving the Mexico State prison in Chiconautla, “all of a sudden they just told me, get your things and leave.”

Minutes later she was standing outside the prison, alone, with two plastic bags. Elizabeth Silva, Jacobo Silva’s sister, arrived first and took Arenas to her house where she was met by scores of supporters.