Category: Prison
🦄 Prison
Prison Abolition Advocates Rally Outside Federal Prison on NYE
Lakewood, CO — As 2020 comes to an end, prison abolition advocates around the world will be continuing an annual tradition of demonstrating outside of prisons on New Year’s Eve.
A call for New Year’s Eve prison solidarity demonstrations was circulated earlier in December by…
🦄 Prison
Myon Burrell Released Following 18 Years in Jail
St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Board of Pardons announced Tuesday evening Myon Burrell’s life sentence will be commuted to 20 years and that he should be released immediately from the Stillwater Prison. Burrell was convicted as a teenager for the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha…
🦄 Prison
Slain Oglala Lakota Woman’s Convicted Murderer Granted Parole, Release Delayed
Sacramento, CA – An Oglala Lakota woman’s convicted killer had his sentence commuted earlier this year by California Governor Gavin Newsom, which made him eligible for parole seven years earlier than his original sentence. Rodney “Patrick” McNeal was found guilty of second-degree murder and on…
Feds Leverage Civil Disorder Charge Against George Floyd Protester
Saint Paul, MN – Charges against an Illinois man facing federal felonies from this summer’s uprising in Minneapolis showcase the tactics, techniques and procedures applied by the U.S. government against some of the more enthusiastic participants in the George Floyd rebellion.
Repressive responses by the…
Former Probation Officer Convicted of Double Murder Commuted by California Gov., Granted Parole
Sacramento, CA – On Tuesday, October 20, the State of California granted parole to Rodney “Patrick” McNeal, who had been sentenced to 30-years-to-life on May 3, 2000, for the 1997 murder of his wife and unborn child. He was suspected for the brutal killing of…
Chauvin Has 3rd Degree Murder Charge Dropped, 2nd Degree Charges Upheld
Minneapolis, MN – Unintentional second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges have been upheld on Derek Chauvin while the third-degree murder charges were dropped in a pretrial ruling made by Judge Cahill on Thursday, October 21.
Responding to motions and orders filed in the run-up to…
🦄 Prison
Whistleblowing RN Complaint Revealed Two Years After Death of Inmate
Sartell, MN – Complaints from a nurse surfaced during a recent investigation into Hardel Sherrell’s 2018 death in the Beltrami County Jail. The whistleblowing complaints of medical neglect, further findings, and a new Kare 11 investigation has led to the director of the Minnesota’s Department…
Reports of Forced Sterilizations in ICE Facility Spark Protest
Minneapolis, MN – Nearly a hundred people gathered in South Minneapolis to protest recent revelations of non-consensual hysterectomies sterilizing detained immigrant women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Georgia.
Unicorn Riot was live for most of the protest at the Emiliano Zapata…
Pretrial Begins: County Attorney Freeman Pulled from George Floyd Police Prosecutions
Minneapolis, MN – The pretrial hearings for the officers charged in the murder of George Floyd began on the morning of Friday, September 11. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse and chanted for hours as several motions were heard in court.
Hennepin County Attorney…
Two Years Later: Protest at MN-BCA Seeks Justice for Hardel Sherrell
ST. PAUL, MN – 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell died in a cell in Minnesota’s Beltrami County Jail on Sept. 2, 2018. He died a tortuous death of medical neglect, suffering from an undiagnosed case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare condition that attacks the nervous system.
Family…
🦄 Prison
GEO Group’s ICE Jail Lies to Immigration Lawyer, Attempts Unlawful Deportation
Aurora, CO — On the morning of June 30, 2020, Pablo Mackleen Grijalva’s lawyer tried to contact him at the GEO Group’s ICE jail where he is detained, but to her shock, the officer on the phone told her he was not there. She immediately…
🦄 Prison
Racial Justice Teach-in at Abolish ICE Camp in Aurora CO
AURORA, CO – The encampment at the GEO Group’s ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado, is hosting a teach-in about reparations and racial justice. The Black Hammer will be leading the event. Yesterday was the end of week three for the encampment which is demanding the…
🦄 Prison
Gross Violations Found in DOC Review of Inmate’s Death at Beltrami County Jail
Bemidji, MN – “Pervasive” policy failures leading to “regular and gross violation[s] of Minnesota jail standards” were found in a second review of the death of 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell in Beltrami County Jail. The findings of the re-review were detailed in a May 15 letter…
🦄 Prison
New Year, New Outbreaks: Detainees at GEO Group’s Colorado ICE Facility Face More Quarantines
Aurora, CO – Since February 20, 2020, a total of 141 detainees remain quarantined due to outbreaks of the flu and mumps at the sole Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Colorado, privately owned and operated by GEO Group. This facility is currently…
🦄 Prison
Support Builds for Grand Jury Resistors in D.C. Metro Area
Alexandria, VA – On New Year’s Eve, supporters held a noise demonstration for imprisoned grand jury resistors Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond, contributing to a swell of support that has grown for the past several weeks. The rally follows efforts to petition the judge overseeing…
🦄 Prison
Harrowing Footage Shows Man’s Last Days Before Dying in Jail
Bemidji, MN – Shocking jail surveillance footage shows days of medical neglect that led to 27-year-old Hardel Sherrell’s death inside of Beltrami County Jail last September. Del Shea Perry, Hardel’s mother, recently filed a lawsuit against Beltrami County and dozens of other defendants, claiming medical…
🦄 Prison
Anarchist Hacker Jeremy Hammond Ruled in Contempt of Federal Grand Jury
Eastern District of Virginia – Imprisoned Anarchist hacker Jeremy Hammond was ruled in contempt of court today by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga for refusing to testify in front of a federal grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA).
Hammond was…
🦄 Prison
Anarchist Hacker Jeremy Hammond Summoned to Testify in Front of Grand Jury
Eastern District of Virginia – Imprisoned anarchist hacker Jeremy Hammond has been summoned to testify in front of a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. It is unclear what matters the federal grand jury is investigating but it is largely presumed to…
🦄 Prison
Second ‘Vaughn Uprising’ Prison Revolt Trial Underway in Delaware
Wilmington, DE – On Monday January 14, opening arguments took place in the second trial of prisoners accused of involvement in a prisoner revolt at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center on February 1, 2017. During the events that were quickly labeled the ‘Vaughn Uprising’,…
🦄 Prison
Federal Prosecutions From #NoDAPL Movement Continue
Bismarck, ND – Almost two years after the eviction of indigenous encampments resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), federal prosecutions have continued to crack down on some of those involved.
All of the federal #NoDAPL cases stem around events on October 27, 2016, when a…
🦄 Prison
Delaware Vaughn Prison Revolt Trial Ends In Mixed Verdict
Wilmington, DE – The trial of three prisoners accused of involvement in a February 1, 2017 prisoner uprising at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center finished testimony and closing arguments last week. After a trial lasting about a month, jurors began deliberations on Friday, November…
🦄 Prison
First Vaughn Prison Revolt Trial Begins
Wilmington, DE – On February 1, 2017, a prisoner uprising took place at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware. Over 100 inmates at the maximum security prison seized control of ‘Building C’ at the state Department of Corrections complex, taking several prison…
🦄 Prison
#NoDAPL Water Protector Michael ‘Rattler’ Markus Sentenced to Federal Prison
Bismarck, ND – A third federal defendant has been sentenced to prison as the US Attorney’s office continues to prosecute indigenous people involved in defending protest encampments opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in fall 2016.
Last Thursday, September 28, Michael Markus, also known as…
🦄 Prison
Harsh Conditions, Violent Repression: Stoking the Flame of the 2018 Prison Strike
Prisons, USA – An “improvement to the conditions of prisons” is part of the first of ten demands of the nationwide 2018 Prison Strike, which comes to a symbolic end on September 9. That day is the 47th anniversary of the Attica Uprising, the historic…