Anarchist Political Prisoner Dan Baker Needs Support!

“Your efforts to shine a light of awareness on our situations as political prisoners is all that keeps the cops from murdering us with impunity.“-Dan Baker

Daniel Baker is an anti-fascist activist who was arrested on January 15, 2021 for social media posts that called for defense against possible far-right attacks in the wake of the January 6th riots. Daniel was facing up to 10 years for two counts of transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kidnap or injure. On October 12th, 2021 he was sentenced to 44 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.

Recently, Dan has been going through an exceptionally hard time, and began a hunger strike in March to protest his conditions. He is currently in the SHU, has been attacked by a right wing bigot, and is being denied his right of a timely transfer to a halfway house, and contact with his lawyer has been limited. Here is a call for letters to let the BOP know Dan has people on his side on the outside, and that we want him to be treated humanely, and released soon.

Please check out Dan’s Book list here and sending him something read.

Supporting political prisoners such as Dan is vital, especially in moments such as this. In Dan’s own words:

“…please don’t be overwhelmed by the number of comrades in prison. Instead, take 5 minutes every day to write to a different political prisoner and reply when they write back. Your efforts to shine a light of awareness on our situations as political prisoners is all that keeps the cops from murdering us with impunity.“

NYC ABC is asking you to join us in writing to political prisoner Daniel Baker. Send him books. Pay attention to his campaign. Send him some love and show your support for a comrade!

Daniel Baker #25765-509
FCI Memphis
Post Office Box 34550
Memphis, Tennessee 38184

Tuesday, November 1st – Letter Writing for Daniel Baker

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: Tuesday, November 1st, 2022
WHERE: Your Home (or wherever you happen to be)
COST: Free

Now that bizarre right-wing election- or at least electoral-related violence is once again in the news, and a caricature of a comic book capitalist villain (and self-declared free speech absolutist, whatever that means) has taken over the most influential social media platform, it’s unfortunately an apropos time to bring up the unjust imprisonment of Daniel Baker.

Daniel is an anti-fascist activist who was arrested on January 15, 2021 for social media posts that called for defense against possible far-right attacks on the state’s capitol in the wake of the January 6th riots. Daniel was facing up to 10 years for two counts of transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kidnap or injure. On October 12th, 2021 he was sentenced to 44 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.

This week NYC ABC is asking you all to join us in writing to political prisoner Daniel Baker. Send your well wishes and solidarity Daniel’s way.

You can write to him at:
Daniel Baker #25765-509
FCI Memphis
Post Office Box 34550
Memphis, Tennessee 38184

BK/NY – Tuesday, November 2nd – Letter Writing for Daniel Baker

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm sharp, Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021
WHERE: The Base – 1302 Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11221 (directions below)
NOTE: The Base is on the ground floor, is wheelchair accessible, and has a gender neutral toilet.
COST: Free

We all know that life outside the walls is one precarious step away from the other side. Some released former political prisoners have referred to being out not as “freedom” but as minimum security, and unfortunately they know exactly whereof they speak. Truly no one is free while any single person is not. We know it, and the agents of authority know it just as well.

So while it is no surprise that the State surveils and targets those who actively work against oppression, the case against Daniel Baker is particularly shocking. To be charged and convicted for a hyperbolic post on a corporate social media platform is egregious, and the silence from so many apostles of “free speech” across the political spectrum is both predictable and appalling.

Our commitment to solidarity won’t waiver though, so this week NYC ABC is asking you all to join us in writing to recently sentenced political prisoner Daniel Baker.

Daniel Baker is an anti-fascist activist who was arrested on January 15, 2021 for social media posts that called for defense against possible far-right attacks on the state’s capitol in the wake of the January 6th riots. Daniel was facing up to 10 years for two counts of transmitting a communication in interstate commerce containing a threat to kidnap or injure. On October 12th, 2021 he was sentenced to 44 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.

If you can’t make it out, but still want to support Dan, you can write to him at:
Daniel Baker #25765-509
USP Atlanta
Post Office Box 150160
Atlanta, Georgia 30315

BK/NY – Sunday, September 18th, 2022 – Running Down the Walls

WHAT: Running Down the Walls – 5k Run/Walk/Jog/Bike/Hang
WHEN: 2:00-7:00pm, Sunday, September 18th, 2022
WHERE: Prospect Park– Lincoln Road/East Lake Drive, east of the Terrace Bridge (see the below map for exact location)
COST: $10 registration, participants encouraged to get sponsors (includes vegan BBQ afterwards, with COVID precautions for serving!) Donate at paypal.me/nycabc venmo.com/nycabc or with the venmo app : @nycabc

NYC Anarchist Black Cross (NYC ABC) is excited to announce Running Down the Walls 2022! After making the difficult decision to not host RDTW in person in 2020, we are looking very forward to gathering as a community. Last year, we had an amazing time and a successful fundraiser. Please stay tuned to our website, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on twitter (@nycabc) or instagram (also @nycabc) for updates.

Every year, prisoners and supporters of political prisoners organize solidarity events with Running Down the Walls. In previous years, we’ve had runs in Albuquerque (NM), Arcata (CA), Ashland (OR), Bellefonte (PA), Boston (MA), Buffalo (NY), Chico (CA), Denver (CO), Elmore (AL), Inez (KY), Los Angeles (CA), Marion (IL), Minneapolis (MN) New York (NY), USP Navosta (TX), Pelican Bay (CA), Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), Seattle (WA), and Toronto, Ontario. This year we hope to expand the amount of runs in prisons and other cities, as well as increase the amount of funds raised for community projects. NYC ABC‘s goal with this year’s run is $4,500. You can donate online by going to venmo.com/nycabc: @nycabc

This year’s run will take place on Sunday, September 18th, 2022 at 2:00 pm in solidarity and conjunction with runs that will take place in cities and prison yards across the country at the same time. Stay after to enjoy a vegan BBQ, served taking every COVID precaution!

REGISTER AS, OR SPONSOR, A PARTICIPANT

To raise our goal of $4,500 we need your support.

* Promote – print and distribute flyers to friends and local businesses, your doctor’s office, laundromat, food co-op, wealthy benefactor, et cetera.

* Run/walk/bike/roll in the 5k – We need participants who can run/walk/bike/roll the 5k and are able to collect financial pledges to offer as donations to the run. Download the brochure, complete with registration and sponsor form right here.

* Volunteer for the run – We need folks who are willing to promote the run and bike the route as street medics.

* Donate online at venmo @nycabc

* Donate to the run/sponsor a participant – If you are not able to attend, but want to support this fundraising effort, please mail donations to:
NYC ABC
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211

Your donation of $10 or more entitles you to the celebratory picnic after the event.

Each year, we split proceeds between the Anarchist Black Cross Federation’s Warchest Program and a local organization. This year, local funds are going to Roots Unbound (RU).

The Warchest Program:
The Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) has initiated a program designed to send monthly checks to those Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little, or no financial support during their imprisonment. The Warchest program was initiated in November 1994. Its purpose is to collect monthly funds from groups and individual supporters, and send that money to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War (PP/POW) via monthly checks. Over the last twenty five years, the ABCF warchest has dispensed almost $200,000 to political prisoners. Currently, there are 17 imprisoned comrades who receive a monthly stipend as part of the program; they are Abdul Azeez, Dan Baker, Ed Poindexter, Eric King, Fidencio Aldama, Hanif Bey, Jamil Al-Amin, Joseph Bowen, Kamau Sadiki, Leonard Peltier, Malik Smith, Mutulu Shakur, Oso Blanco, Ronald Reed, Ruchell Magee, Veronza Bowers, and Xinachtli (FKA Alvaro Luna Hernandez).

For more information, visit: abcf.net/warchest-program

Roots Unbound:
Roots Unbound (RU) is an abolitionist grassroots organization based in Brooklyn offering nature-based programming centered around food justice, therapeutic horticulture, and ecological disinvestment to people in the NYC area with a focus on supporting and uplifting people impacted by the carceral system. Abolition is liberation for all.

For more information, visit: rootsunbound.org

We will be starting here:

From the Q train, get off at the Prospect Park stop. Walk to Lincoln Road and turn right into the park. We’ll be about 700 feet away.

The event will be one lap around what is known as the Main Loop, and will total five kilometers. For the curious, here’s what it looks like:

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us at nycabc at riseup dot net.

See you there!

May 1st – May Day letter-writing for Anarchist Prisoners

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: May 1st, 2023
WHERE: your home (or wherever you happen to be)
COST: Free

“Give flowers to the rebels who failed,
Their sight fixed upon the break of dawn,
To the bold rebel who fights and works
To the far-seeing poet who sings and dies”
from Primo Maggio (The First of May),
by Pietro Gori, 1890

May Day is historically an anarchist holiday, which honors the date called for a nation-wide general strike for the 8 hour day work day in 1886. The tumultuous days that followed in the mid-western states resulted in multiple skirmishes and several casualties on both sides, and ultimately led to the railroaded conviction of 8 known anarchists from the Chicago scene. On November 11th, 1887, four anarchists were hanged—Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer; Louis Lingg took his own life the night before to deny the state the satisfaction. Their sacrifice became symbolic of the sacrifices, struggles, and victories of anarchists the world over who have given their time, energy, and risked their lived and freedom for the Beautiful Ideal.

So this May Day NYC ABC is asking you to write letters to some anarchists and comrades currently held in U.S. prisons. Please drop them a line or send a card to let them know you are thinking of them. (Note: the addresses below are correct to the best of our knowledge as of the time of this posting, though in some cases links to info about their cases does not reflect this; ie, Casey’s address has changed due to new digitized mail protocols.)

Gage Halupowski #21894460
South Fork Forest Camp
48300 Wilson River Highway
Tillamook, Oregon 97141-9799

Alexander Contompasis 22-B-5028
Upstate Correctional Facility
Post Office Box 2001
Malone, New York 12953

Benjamin Varela #434577
Stafford Creek Corrections Center
191 Constantine Way
Aberdeen, Washington 98520

Eric King #27090-045
USP Florence ADMAX
Post Office Box 8500
Florence, Colorado 81226

Daniel Baker #25765-509
FCI Memphis
Post Office Box 34550
Memphis, Tennessee 38184

Marius Mason* #04672-061
FCI Danbury
Route 37
Danbury, Connecticut 06811
*Address envelope to Marie (Marius) Mason.

Xinachtli* #255735
W.G. McConnell Unit
3001 Emily Drive
Beeville, Texas 78102
*Address envelope to Alvaro Hernández

Casey Brezik #1154765
c/o Digital Mail Center- Missouri DOC
Post Office Box 25678
Tampa, Florida 33622-5678

Bill Dunne #10916-086
FCI Victorville Medium I
Post Office Box 3725
Adelanto, California 92301

BK/NY – NYE – Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs

WHAT: Noise Demo
WHEN: 9:00pm, Saturday, December 31st
WHERE: Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC, the federal prison in Brooklyn); 29th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, Brooklyn, New York 11232 (D/N/R to 36th Street or R to 25th Street).
NOTE: we are not encouraging folks to take public transit or other risks. Please recognize your comfort level with attending this event)
BRING: Noisemakers, air horns, drums, anything that is loud!

On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons, is asking folks to join us outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Come, not to appeal to authority, speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand with comrades, at a safe distance, and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

The state, writ large, is targeting anarchists all across the United States and abroad. This will be both protest and celebration.

NYC/NYE – Noise Demo Against the Prison Industrial Complex, In Solidarity with PPs and POWs

WHAT: Noise Demo
WHEN: 9:00pm, Friday, December 31st
WHERE: Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC, the federal prison in Brooklyn); 29th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, Brooklyn, New York 11232 (D/N/R to 36th Street or R to 25th Street).
NOTE: we are not encouraging folks to take public transit or other risks. Please recognize your comfort level with attending this event)
BRING: Noisemakers, air horns, drums, anything that is loud!

On the noisiest night of the year in New York City, come help us remind folks locked up that they are not alone. NYC Anarchist Black Cross, in response to an international call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons, is asking folks to join us outside of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Come, not to appeal to authority, speak truth to power, or any other contrivance, but rather to stand with comrades, at a safe distance, and show direct solidarity to those on the other side of the wall.

The state, writ large, is targeting anarchists all across the United States and abroad. This will be both protest and celebration.

Illustrated Guide Version 14.9 Uploaded!

We’ve finished the latest version of the NYC ABC “Illustrated Guide to Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War” and it’s available for viewing (and download) by clicking on the tab at the top of this page. This update includes updated mini-bios, photos, and address changes for several prisoners. Unfortunately, we are adding a prisoner to the guide this month–antifascist Daniel Baker.