Rally and Court Date Mark 6-month Anniversary of NATO Raids and Arrests
Chicago—(ENEWSPF)—November 16, 2012. Activists from Occupy Chicago, Anarchist Black Cross, and the Free Jeremy Hammond Support Network will rally in front of Cook County Jail (26th and California) on Monday, November 19th, at 9am, to protest charges against the NATO5, Jeremy Hammond, and other political prisoners of the state.
November 19th will mark six months of incarceration for the NATO 5, and three of the young men will appear in court that morning.
The Chicago rally Monday morning will feature a noise demonstration and speak-out from those who provide daily jail support to political prisoners, including the Cleveland 4, who will be sentenced on terrorism charges similar in nature to the NATO 5’s in Ohio the following day.
“Whether it’s Jeremy Hammond, the NATO 5, or the Cleveland 4, there are troubling links between these cases,” says Rachel Unterman, who corresponds with Jeremy Hammond regularly and supports the NATO 5 through jail visits, court hearings, book shipments, and fundraising efforts. “They are targeting activists based on our political views. They are relying on entrapment to manufacture crimes to prosecute. They are denying reasonable bond, making it impossible for us to set our friends free during the lengthy trial process.”
One of the NATO 5, Sebastian ‘Sabi’ Senakiewicz, recently accepted a plea agreement because the 4-month boot camp sentence offered by the State’s Attorney’s office will see him released before his trial would have begun (https://www.facebook.com/notes/occupy-chicago-press-relations/breaking-alvarez-trades-guilty-plea-on-nato-terrorism-charge-for-four-months-in-/436871693042664).
Jeremy Hammond, a 27-year-old Chicago native, was arrested by the FBI on March 5, 2012. Hammond is accused of taking part in the compromise of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (aka “Stratfor”) computer systems, and providing information to Wikileaks. This information, released by Wikileaks under the name “The Global Intelligence Files,” revealed even further corruption within the U.S. intelligence community – including plans to target and infiltrate domestic popular movements such as Occupy.
A social activist himself, Hammond was deeply involved in some of the very movements targeted, including Occupy Chicago. While organizing demonstrations against the NATO Summit in Chicago, Hammond was arrested for involvement in the Stratfor hack based on the testimony and actions of FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur. Monsegur himself was facing 105 years in a Federal Penitentiary if he could not assist the FBI in identifying and apprehending other alleged members of Anonymous and Lulz Security (http://dc406.com/Monsegur-Hector-Xavier-Information.pdf).
After more than eight months in federal prison with no bond, Jeremy Hammond finally will be afforded a bond hearing at Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he is being held. Friends and supporters will gather at Foley Square for a brief rally and march to the courtroom in solidarity.
“We understand that these are not isolated incidents, but a systematic attempt to shut down political dissent,” Unterman concludes. “We respond by showing solidarity and love in the face of political repression.”
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/373399902750226/
Free Hammond banner: http://i.imgur.com/PmL3W.jpg
Free NATO 5 banner: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/12655_436872856375881_1762013966_n.jpg
