WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing Dinner

WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, June 24th, 2014

WHERE: CAGE – 83A Hester Street (UPSTAIRS) New York, New York 10002 (directions below)

COST: Free

Who doesn’t love really good sports talk, right? Of course you saw the way sporting team defeated their rivals at the Big Game™. In the latest global distraction, we’re rooting for the protesters, including those imprisoned for challenging the state and capital as they’ve colluded to further disenfranchise the poor. As our solidarity extends to comrades jailed in Brazil, we also return to the way we’ve been supporting U.S. held political prisoners for the past several years. The simple way NYC ABC does that is through every-other-week letter-writing dinners.

This week, we are writing to three imprisoned comrades— targeted by the state for their work to expose the atrocities committed by, and in service to, the United States government and the economic system that feeds it.

Having previously been raided by the FBI on March 6, 2012 and not arrested or charged, on September 12, 2012 Barrett Brown was again raided and this time arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation while he was online participating in a Tinychat session. He was subsequently denied bail and detained without charge and adequate medical treatment for over two weeks while in the custody of US Marshals. In the first week of October 2012, he was finally indicted on three counts. related to alleged activities or postings on popular websites such as Twitter and YouTube. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve additional counts related to data from the Stratfor breach, and a third time on two more counts, relating to the March 2012 FBI raid(s) on his apartment and his mother’s house.

Jeremy Hammond, a former member of the hacking network Anonymous who has become a cause célèbre for hacktivists, civil libertarians and those concerned about the rights of whistleblowers, is a gifted young computer programmer who is currently spending a decade in prison. His crime? Leaking information from the private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting, information which revealed that Stratfor had been spying on human rights activists at the behest of corporations and the U.S. government.

The trial of military whistle-blower and democracy advocate Chelsea Manning (known as Bradley Manning until her Aug 22, 2013 announcement) finished on August 21st, 2013. After a prosecution which starkly showcased US government officials’ misplaced priorities when it comes to human rights, Army whistleblower PVT Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison. This case sets a dangerous precedent for the first amendment, opening whistle-blowers and those who help them to extreme prosecution.

If, for some crazy reason, you can’t join us, please write to Barrett, Jeremy, and Chelsea (or send a book) from home:

Barrett Brown #45047-177

FCI Seagoville

Post Office Box 9000

Seagoville, Texas 75159-9000

Jeremy Hammond #18729-424

FCI Manchester

Post Office Box 4000

Manchester, Kentucky 40962

Chelsea E Manning 89289

1300 North Warehouse Road

Ft Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-2304

For more information about Barrett, visit freebarrettbrown.org

For more information about Jeremy, visit freejeremy.net

For more information about Chelsea, visit chelseamanning.org

The deal, as always, is that you come bringing only yourself (and your friends and comrades), and we provide you with a delicious vegan meal, information about the prisoners as well as all of the letter-writing materials and prisoner-letter-writing info you could ever want to use in one evening. In return, you write a thoughtful letter to a political prisoner or prisoner of war of your choosing or, better yet, keep up a long-term correspondence. We’ll also provide some brief updates and pass around birthday cards for the PP/POWs whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks thanks to the PP/POW Birthday Calendar.

DIRECTIONS:

Getting to CAGE is simple:

From the J/M/Z:

Essex Street Stop: Walk west on Delancey Street (toward Essex Street, away from Norfolk Street) and make a left on Essex Street. Walk three blocks and turn right onto Hester Street. We’re two and a half blocks down, on the right.

From the F:

East Broadway Stop: Walk north on Rutgers Street (toward East Broadway, away from Henry Street), that becomes Essex Street, and turn left on Hester Street. We’re two and a half blocks down, on the right.

From the B/D:

Grand Street Stop: Walk east on Grand Street (Toward Forsyth Street, away from Chrystie Street) and turn right on Orchard Street. Walk one block and turn right onto Hester Street. We’re a few storefronts down on the right.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. Otherwise, we’ll see you at supper.

This event is brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Anarchist Black Cross.

–

NYC ABC

Post Office Box 110034

Brooklyn, New York 11211

nycabc[at]riseup[dot]net

https://nycabc.wordpress.com

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Free all Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War!

For the Abolition of State Repression and Domination!