NYC Anarchist Black Cross has been promoting letter writing to political prisoners for many years and the COVD-19 pandemic has not slowed them down at all. Check out their latest announcement for their upcoming virtual letter writing event.
WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, May 19th, 2020
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free
As COVID 19 continues to rear its ugly head and capitalism continues to exploit vulnerable communities made even more vulnerable in the wake of the pandemic, we have no choice but to continue our work as well. Although we remain quarantined from our in-person communities, our friends behind the walls are experiencing a level of isolation and danger to which our chosen social isolation cannot compare. Therefore, instead of coming together at The Base in Brooklyn, we at Page One Collective are (virtually) joining our friends at NYC ABC to maintain some semblance of a bi-weekly letter-writing tradition. We ask that folks participate as well, so we can do our best to keep prisoners from being more alienated than they already are, by writing from home. Please post a photo of your addressed envelope on social media and tag us (with your return address blurred out) and we will share it, building digital community while our analog community stays indoors and washes its hands.
This week we are focusing on two anarchist folks who have both had particularly rough years, even by the standard of the hell that is prison. Please join us in sending them some much needed love and support as they navigate their respective situations amidst the pandemic.
Jeremy Hammond is an anarchist computer hacker from Chicago. In November 2013, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for leaking the personal information of 860,000 customers of private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) through the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. This information revealed that Stratfor spies on activists, among others, at the behest of corporations and the U.S. government. In early September 2019, Jeremy was transferred to Virginia and called against his will to appear before a grand jury. He was jailed at the same spot as Chelsea Manning, who was also being held for grand jury resistance, until March 12, 2020. Because of COVID, he is now stuck at Grady County Jail awaiting transfer back to a federal facility to resume his original sentence. For more information visit freejeremy.net.
In May 2019 Eric King was indicted by a grand jury in the District Court of Colorado for a new federal felony charge of Assaulting a Federal Official. This charge is based on what the government says happened during the interview in the Florence storage room with a Lieutenant. Eric now faces up to 20 additional years in federal prison and is fighting this charge while still in the custody of his accusers. Eric is pre-trial, do not mention his current charges.
Eric is a vegan anarchist prisoner serving a 10 year sentence for an attempted firebombing of a government official’s office in Kansas City, Missouri in September 2014. Eric was charged with throwing a hammer through a window of the building, followed by two lit Molotov cocktails. The criminal complaint states that both incendiary devices failed to ignite. We encourage folks to send him a card or letter and spread the word about him if not already doing so. More information can be found at supportericking.org.
Please take the time to write a letter to Jeremy and Eric (and share a photo of your completed envelopes with us online):
Jeremy Hammond #151960859
Grady County Jail
215 North 3rd Street
Chickasha, Oklahoma 73018
Eric King #27090-045
FCI Englewood
9595 West Quincy Avenue
Littleton, Colorado 80123
