[Sdalliance] press release: Drop Trumped-up J20 Charges in DC! Free Antifascist, An ti-racist Political Prisoners Worldwide!

[Monty Kroopkin]

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 20:29:27 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: Wildcat News Service wildcatnewsservice at earthlink.net




PRESS RELEASE  CONTACT:Lydia Wood: 802 999 5120 lydpw86 at gmail.comContinuing Legal Aid Committee of Collective Resistance San Diego (CRSD) *   July 24, 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Drop Trumped-up J20 Charges in DC! Free Antifascist, Anti-racist Political Prisoners Worldwide! A week of solidarity actions in Washington, DC and other cities, began July 20, 2017, demanding that trumped-up felony charges against over 200 J20 protestors and observers be dropped. Simultaneously, Tuesday, July 25th, marks the 3rd Annual International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. The Continuing Legal Aid Committee of Collective Resistance San Diego (CRSD)* joins the call to drop all charges against the J20 protestors in Washington, DC, investigate the violations of local law and human rights by DC police, and to free antifascist, anti-racist political prisoners worldwide. J20 IN WASHINGTON, DC200+ demonstrators, Legal Observers (LOs) and members of the press were arrested on Friday, January 20, after thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of the nation’s capital to protest the Inauguration of Donald Trump. A total of 222 people were arrested under felony “incitement to riot” charges that carry  the possibility of ten years of incarceration and a fine of $25,000 if convicted. Additional charges, added later, could result in sentences of up to 75 years! We call on all people of good conscience to endorse the call to drop these charges. Breaking with the last decade of Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) practice, police “kettled” (i.e. indiscriminately surrounded and arrested) a group of people at 12th and L St. NW in violation of DC Code § 5–331.07, which prohibits mass arrests and requires law enforcement to give dispersal warnings. MPD also needlessly deployed tear gas, pepper spray, concussion grenades, rubber bullets and batons. Despite the media’s focus on isolated incidents of property destruction, MPD indiscriminately targeted people for arrest en masse based on location alone. The charges against J20 defendants are an experiment. If the government is able to successfully prosecute those arrested at J20, this will send a green light to the forces of repression seeking to contain, control, and eliminate social movements around the country. There is no doubt that this repression represents a larger strategy by the State to quell dissent. Anti-protest bills have been proposed in 10 states, and seek to criminalize First Amendment activity, while Trump’s recently signed executive order on immigration (commonly referred to as the “Muslim ban”) also directly threatens First and Fourth Amendment rights.  ANTIFASCIST, ANTI-RACIST POLITICAL PRISONERS NATIONWIDEBeyond the J20 arrestees, we are aware of two dozen prosecutions this month alone of people involved in antifascist, anti-racist activity. When the Ku Klux Klan rallied at a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, anti-racist demonstrators vastly outnumbered them, but many anti-racists were arrested and hit with riot-related charges, including felonies: https://fundly.com/solidarity-c-ville-7-8-anti-racist-legal-fund Back on our coast, activist Mike Williams is being held on a half-million dollars bail after being arrested on a riot-related charge and a felony, more than a full year after a courageous antifascist action against white supremacists rallying in Sacramento: https://www.fundedjustice.com/FreeMikeWilliams  Finally, over two years after the Baltimore uprising against the racist police murder of Freddie Gray, 20-year old Allen Bullock has been sentenced to four years in prison for violating probation on a riot-related charge:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-bullock-sentencing-20170712-story .html Outrageously, this means Bullock will serve more time for damaging a police car than anyone will serve for murdering Freddie Gray. We believe Bullock, Williams, the Charlottesville 22, and the J20 defendants are being politically prosecuted for antifascist, anti-racist activity. The Continuing Legal Aid Committee of Collective Resistance San Diego (CRSD)* is committed to defending our fellow activists from legal attack and urges people everywhere to get organized do the same.  3rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH ANTIFASCIST PRISONERSSince the beginning of 2017, scores of antifascists and other revolutionaries have been arrested, and the numbers keep growing. On July 25, solidarity actions calling for their release and fund raising for their defense and aid are planned internationally. -30-   Related:7/22/17 3rd Annual International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners https://itsgoingdown.org/get-ready-3rd-annual-july-25th-international-day-solidarity-antifascist-prisoners-upon-us/  7/20/17 Week of protests launched for anti-Trump demonstrators; Activists rally in solidarity with more than 200 protesters charged with felonies over Inauguration Day demonstration. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/07/week-protests-launched-anti-trump-demonstrators-170717145127499.html Statement of Solidarity with #DisruptJ20 Defendants; current signatures list http://defendj20resistance.org/support#statement   *COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE SAN DIEGOMISSION STATEMENT2.26.2017The fundamental needs and rights of the people of our communities are under attack by a tiny elite that hoards resources and authority. We cannot trust or respect any government that claims to protect us but instead ruthlessly protects the elite. We are an alliance of organizations, collectives, and individuals of various identities and perspectives working in collaboration to stop this attack. Collectively, we are anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist. We are revolutionary, intersectional feminists. This alliance is non-sectarian: we welcome those who want to fight exploitation and oppression. We seek to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable and the voices of the oppressed and the marginalized and build trust through joint work. We are committed to organizing, mobilizing, supporting and defending our communities.  We work in solidarity to unify our struggles to dismantle the systems that harm us and the environment. In addition to resisting attacks, we will work together for a just and cooperative future for San Diego and beyond. This will be accomplished by building powerful community-based movements around a shared platform for advancing political, economic, and social liberation and self-determination for all oppressed peoples. We work for concrete goals today that build toward a revolutionary future. Our movement is based in love for each other, and the assertion that we must fight for liberation. In the words of Assata Shakur, "It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains."  
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