The warm weather is here, and prison rebels are wasting no time to get moving. After the short-lived but intense revolt in Holman Prison in Alabama, Texas prison rebels called for a work stoppage to start on April 5th. That shit certainly kicked off, but for many obvious reasons communication from folks on the inside has been difficult. On the first day of the strike, officials from 7 facilities claimed that they were on “lockdown”, and as of the beginning of this week, there are still 4 on lockdown. Of course, we know this is just a bullshit way to obscure the strikes that are popping off in several facilities. Authorities have been censoring mail and other communications, making it difficult to tell how folks are doing inside, and how many are left on strike. We have also heard from organizers than since the prisoners run the kitchen, they are not receiving adequate food, being thrown two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day. Continue reading BLOC PARTY: REVOLT ON THE INSIDE, REVOLT ON THE OUTSIDE→
Jay’s trial was postponed yesterday to April 11. He’ll also have a status update before that on February 3. Thank you so much to the awesome group of people who were there in solidarity. If you couldn’t make it, I understand, believe me. Asking people to deal with the arduous process of getting to and into the courthouse here is no light request. Continue reading Update on Jared Chase (Nato 3)→
A fundraiser to raise money for commissary for the NATO 3 and Marie Mason. These are some of the many political prisoners serving unjust time in our prison industrial complex. Please come for support and educate yourself on the issue of the P.I.C. Peter Werber who is close to the Marie Mason story will be speaking and providing literature.
Today in the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, the NATO 3 were sentenced to between 5 and 8 years in prison. The prosecutors had argued that they should receive 14 years and serve their sentences consecutively, whereas the defense attorneys had obviously argued that they should receive light sentences, if not simply being sentenced to time served. Brian Jacob Church was sentenced to 5 years, Brent Betterly to 6 years, and Jared Chase to 8 years. They will all serve this time at 50% of the sentenced time (e.g., 6 year sentence equals 3 years served) and will receive credit for the two years they have served pending trial. Upon release, they will each have two years of supervised release as well. Continue reading NATO 3 sentenced to prison→
*This Statement does not represent the official opinion of the NATO 3 Defense Committee, the People’s Law Office or the NATO 3 themselves. It was written on the night of Feb 6, 2014. After closing statements and testimony, but prior the the verdict.* Continue reading Personal Statment on the NATO 3 Trial→
Trial today consisted of a long series of tedious evidence submission processes. The defense objected to many of the state’s attempts to submit evidence collected from computers seized during the raid when Brian Jacob Church and Jared Chase were arrested, but most were overruled. The defense did win some of their arguments, though, preventing some evidence from getting in and ensuring other important pieces of evidence got in over the state’s objections. Undercover Chicago cop Mehmet Uygun, aka “Mo” or “Turk,” was expected to take the stand but did not because the proceedings today drug out for so long. He will take the stand at 10am on Thursday. Continue reading Trial Day 7: Defense Attorney Calls State’s Attempt at Getting Some Evidence in “Desperate,” Facebook and Other Electronic Records Submitted Over Defense Objections→
Undercover cop Nadia Chikko, aka “Gloves,” spent the day on the stand giving testimony about a litany of audio recordings from the wires that she and the other undercover cop involved in this case, Mohmet (“Mo” or “Turk”) Nguyen, wore while infiltrating the Chicago activist community and targeting these defendant. The state has introduced 55 audio recordings into evidence. Chikko’s testimony went through more than 30 of the recordings today, with the remaining expected to be covered tomorrow. Continue reading NATO 3: Undercover Cop “Gloves” Continues Testimony, More Tomorrow→
