Page Text: Welcome home, Kevin!
JUSTIN SOLONDZ PLEADS NOT GUILTY
Justin Solondz plead not guilty to several federal charges in Tacoma, WA on Wednesday, July 27. The charges against Justin allege that he was involved in an arson at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001. Some of the charges Justin is currently facing could result in a life sentence. Please stay tuned for more information on Justin and how you can help.
TIM DECHRISTOPHER SENTENCED TO 2 YEARS
Today (July 26) Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in prison and fined $10,000 for bidding on 22,000 acres at a government auction of energy leases in Utah in an attempt to prevent the land from being destroyed. He was immediately taken into custody. Please stay tuned for more details. For more information on Tim, please visit: http://www.bidder70.org/
JUSTIN SOLONDZ IN FEDERAL CUSTODY, AWAITING EXTRADITION
According to various news sources, Justin Solondz is back in the states and in federal custody. More than likely he will soon be extradited to Washington state where he is facing arson and conspiracy charges in relation to an action in 2001 at the University of Washington. Justin's arrival back in the states comes less than a month after Briana Waters signed a plea agreement requiring her full cooperation with the state (see below). This would include testifying against Justin at any future trial. Please check back soon for more information - we will post it as soon as it's available.
BRIANA WATERS IS COOPERATING WITH THE STATE
Briana Waters accepted a plea bargain today, June 14th, which requires her full and complete cooperation with the state. It reads, in part, “Defendant shall cooperate completely and truthfully with law enforcement authorities in the investigation and prosecution of other individuals involved in criminal activity. Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited to, complete and truthful statements to law enforcement officers, as well as complete and truthful testimony if called as a witness before a grand jury, or at any state or federal trial, retrial, or other judicial proceedings. Defendant acknowledges that this obligation to cooperate shall continue after Defendant has entered guilty pleas and sentence has been imposed...” The plea agreement later states, “Defendant agrees that Defendant's sentencing date may be delayed based on the United States' need for Defendant's continued cooperation...”
The “Statement of Facts” in the plea agreement implicates other people in the actions to which she is pleading guilty. This includes Justin Solondz (who is currently awaiting trial), Rebecca Rubin and Joseph Dibee (who have not been captured).
To read the full plea agreement, click here .
FINAL JUNE 11TH COMMUNICATION AND STATEMENT FROM JEFF LUERS
Both of these communications are available on the website, june11.org/resources, as are a new radio interview about the day and the cases as well as an interview with Eric McDavid done by Jeff Luers. Thanks!
Dear Friends and Comrades,
As June 11th quickly approaches we wanted to share some thoughts with you about what this day means to us, and why we have felt it necessary to give it to all of you- to build and strengthen the work you do in your own communities, but also to weave us all together a little tighter and bring our bonds that much closer to unbreakable.
For that is partly why we find ourselves in this predicament to begin with, is it not?
Both Eric and Marie are in cages due in no small part to the fact that people they loved betrayed them--- and people that they thought were deeply committed to the same causes they were proved to be more interested in saving their own assess than in struggling for the earth and for liberation.
In organizing for June 11th, we are forced to remember why we do the work that we do in the first place. And why supporting each other can be such a powerful tool with which to attack the very systems and institutions we are struggling against.
Eric and Marie are locked away because they felt like they could no longer sit idly by while everything they loved was being destroyed. Their motivations were the same as ours when we do the work we do every day. And when we feel the people we love being torn from us, we know that searing pain in our chests will only be quelled by working against that which would tear us apart.
But this needs to be more than some well-intentioned, youthful rebellion. Marie and Eric know this. They are both spending 2 decades in prison. Marie will be in her 60s when she is released, and Eric well into his 40s. But they carry on from inside those walls---having sacrificed their freedom for resistance. A resistance free of spatial or temporal limits.
And if we are going to continue support them---we need to be just as committed. For the earth, for Eric and Marie, for each other. For ourselves. We need to be in this for the long-haul. And for longevity’s sake, we need to be rock solid in understanding why these struggles matter. Otherwise, when the shit hits the fan people’s priorities seem to suddenly shift in unacceptable directions.
If we are serious about liberation, we also need to be serious about how we deal with the consequences of fighting for it. Because repression is an inevitable part of any real, viable struggle. And prison is an inevitable part of repression. We will not let our friends disappear into the belly of the beast. They are an integral part of our movement---they were on the outside and they remain so on the inside. If we let their voices go unheard, we are complicit in their silencing. If we don’t include them in our strategizing, our process, the work we do---we are the ones who lose.
June 11th is for those who are forced to fight against this prison society in its most tangible manifestations. For people who are quite literally fighting for their lives and their liberation. The forms are probably eerily similar to what they experiences on the outside---but the content is horrifyingly more blunt and forceful.
What we ask from each of you is a commitment. A commitment to the work that you do. To the people that you love. To the movements of resistance. A commitment that is unwavering and timeless and indestructible. It is no small task. But it is the only thing that will see us through to the end. And to a new beginning…
Until all are free,
The Sacramento June 11th Crew
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Statement from Jeff ‘Free’ Luers
Today is a sad day for me because I continue a legacy that started with me, but sadly does not end there. June 11th 2001 was the day I was sentenced to 22yrs and 8 months in prison. It is a day that both forever changed my life and the life of this struggle.
But, rather than collapse under the weight of the states repression we rose. It took time. It took years actually but in 2004, after 4 years in prison, my support group and I organized the first annual international day of solidarity with myself, Jeffrey Luers. It always feels weird to say that.
48 cities in a dozen countries spread across 4 continents held solidarity events and actions demanding my release. And those numbers held true the next and the year after that.
In 2006, the hammer really fell and what started with the arrests of Critter and me spread to radical communities across the nation. To this day the FBI is actively hunting down eco-saboteurs and activist both underground and above. We have numerous of our people in prison today: Marie Mason, Eric McDavid, Daniel McGowan, Nathan Exile Block, Joyanna Sadie Zacher, Grant Barnes, Michael Sykes, and Steve Murphy, with Briana Waters' fate still unknown.
This June 11th marks the first international day of Solidarity with Eric McDavid, Marie Mason, and all our long-term anarchist political prisoners. We are here to honor them, support them, remind them that they are not forgotten, and most importantly to demand their release.
June 11th is a reminder to us that though we spend our days outside of a prison many of our friends and allies spend theirs behind bars having sacrificed what little freedom they had to fight for something greater than themselves. We have a responsibility to them and to ourselves to struggle and fight until all are free.
I may no longer be imprisoned, but I cannot and will not rest until my friends are back home with their families and our struggle for Earth, Animal, and Human liberation is successful.
We must free our political prisoners and prisoners of war.
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BRIANA WATERS CHANGE OF PLEA HEARING
Briana Waters has a change of plea hearing scheduled for Tuesday, June 14th. No further details are available at this time. Please stay tuned for more info. To find out more about Briana and her case, please visit: http://supportbriana.org/
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JUNE 11 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH MARIE MASON, ERIC MCDAVID, AND LONG-TERM ANARCHIST PRISONERS, UPDATE 1
June 11th Reminder and Event Suggestions
May 27, 2011
The Day for Solidarity with Long-term Anarchist Prisoners is now two weeks away. June 11th is an open invitation to demonstrate support for Marie Mason and Eric McDavid, who are each serving 20 years. This date provides an opportunity to build links of affinity and solidarity towards the destruction of the prisons and prison-society.
As anarchists, this occasion to support Marie and Eric has been exciting - it's a practical basis for solidarity, for linking together anti-repression and anti-prison struggles in many places. Currently there is a substantial list of June 11th events occurring across the US and internationally. And there are more to come!
This occasion for solidarity—as an open invitation—can to be responded to however people want, according to their own ideas and contexts. But many people have written asking for suggestions so we wanted to share a quick list of ideas for people who wish to plan events:
*Organize an info-night. Prepare a presentation on these two cases, or about repression more generally and other examples of anarchists who have faced the state's wrath. Include a movie, such as in San Francisco , or a practical workshop on resisting grand juries and supporting prisoners, such as in Cincinnati . We are happy to help prepare presentations and provide materials if desired.
*Throw a benefit party/show/pancake breakfast/barbeque/picnic, such as in New York City . Both Marie and Eric have serious ongoing legal and logistical costs even though they've already been convicted. If you're facing repression locally and have fundraising needs, we'd invite you to still throw a benefit in conjunction with June 11, to make clear the practical links of solidarity against the state's conspiracy to wipe out resistance. (Please keep in mind, when organizing food events, that both Marie and Eric are vegan.)
Though Marie and Eric’s cases cannot be simplified to a lack of support, we understand that the state succeeded in imposing such long sentences on Marie and Eric in part because it was able to isolate them, both politically and socially.
In the wake of these long-term sentences, support for Eric & Marie—and for other Green Scare and anarchist prisoners—has relied on the consistency and commitment of their respective families and support crews.
To prevent further repression against them in prison and to break out of the current lull, we need to respond with an upsurge in both ongoing material support AND an end to the political isolation and invisibility experienced by anarchist prisoners. As anarchists, we think there are many ways to improve their visibility that don't rely on the mass media,
but rather on organizing and face-to-face interactions in the street.
“No one should be able to walk down any street . . . without seeing the prisoners' names written on the walls. And the songs that are sung about them must be heard by all.”
Thus, in particular we encourage people to:
*Organize microphone demos and other very public events. A microphone demo means occupying a corner or a busy park, setting up banners and a sound system, and passing out materials about Marie and Eric and against repression. Switching between music and reading statements over the microphone helps create a good atmosphere, but of course adapt it to your local resources and constraints.
*Put-up posters, and drop banners (only with permission, of course!). Full-color posters were just printed that can be sent your way. Just ask!
*Operas, plays, ballet, like Redbird Prisoner Support in Colombus, OH! They are performing Dario Fo's Nobel Prize-winning "Accidental Death of an Anarchist."
*Other, wholly-new and original plans that we'd be excited to promote and spread for June 11, 2012, and until every prisoner is free,
-Mid/east June 11 Crew
Expect two more lead-up missives before June 11, including a longer strategy statement!
Get organized, and get in touch with us if you need to! june11thsolidarity@gmail.com
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(from the EF!PSP)
Marie has asked for a few, simple items:
1) information on what's going on with conservation efforts, education and protection - this kind of news is hard to come by in prison
2) reading material and book suggestions
3) books or internet articles on graphic layout and drawing instruction
For more information on Marie, including how to write to her or how to order new t-shirts, please visit: www.supportmariemason.org
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MIDWEST INDICTMENTS AND INFORMANTS
Information about two indictments for actions that occurred in the Midwest over a decade ago have recently come to light.
The first is the indictment of Jesse Waters for an action that occurred in January 2000. The indictment, which was filed and sealed in 2009, alleges that Jesse did “knowingly conspire, confederate and agree with Marie Jeanette Mason, Frank Brian Ambrose, and other persons known to the Grand Jury, to maliciously damage and destroy, by means of fire, personal property used in interstate commerce and in an activity affecting interstate commerce, to wit, commercial lumbering equipment consisting of a “John Deere” brand Hydro-Ax Shear and a commercial flatbed trailer.” Marie Mason is currently serving a 20+ year sentence for this and other actions. In a motion (filed March 21, 2011 ) to unseal the original 2009 indictment, the government claims that they are only requesting the indictment be unsealed because a significant cooperating human source (CHS) in the case will be testifying in another trial. Since the source's identity will be revealed at this trial they feel it is no longer necessary to conceal it from the public, though the source is not named in the indictment.
The second indictment is that of Daniel Kruk , who is being charged with carrying out an arson at the headquarters of the Indiana Republican Party in Bloomington on or about September 9, 2000. The indictment mentions but does not name or charge another person “known to the Grand Jury.” This action was later claimed by the ELF as a direct response to I-69.
What links these two cases?
In the motion to unseal the indictment in the Waters case, the government claims that their cooperating human source (CHS) will be testifying at trial in a Southern Indiana case on May 23, 2011 – effectively ending their career as an informant (which is why the Waters indictment has been unsealed). Daniel Kruk's case is set for trial on that day in the southern district of Indiana.
It would seem that the same informant was used in both of these cases. At the time the Waters indictment was originally filed, the CHS was actively assisting the government in other arson investigations in “numerous” federal districts. The statute of limitations was set to expire very soon for both of these cases, which may or may not explain why they are finally being prosecuted now. At this time the identity of the informant is unknown, although the informant is referred to as “he” in the motion to unseal. It is also unknown what other (if any) cases they have been involved in.
Since the motion to unseal the indictment was filed in the Waters case, a motion has been filed by the defense in the Kruk case to postpone Daniel Kruk's May 23 trial indefinitely.
These are all the details we have at this time. Please stay tuned for more information. Stay alert! And remember – never talk to law enforcement.
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DANIEL'S BIRTHDAY ON MAY 2ND!
Hi friends,
Just a quick reminder to get your cards in the mail over the next few days for Daniel's birthday on Monday, May 2. Please send cards and letters to:
Daniel McGowan