BK/NY – Saturday, May 21st – The Hydra We Face (CLDC Benefit)

WHAT: Civil Liberties Defense Center Fundraiser
WHEN: 7:00-11:00pm, Saturday, May 21 2016
WHERE: Brooklyn Commons – 388 Atlantic Avenue (Between Bond and Hoyt Streets)
COST: $10

MORE:
Come hear from friends fighting the repression of eco, animal liberation & and social justice activists in the Pacific Northwest, Buffalo and in America’s prisons. We will also hear what people are doing to fight back against this via the Freedom of Information Act, proactive lawsuits and more.

with:
•Lauren Regan, Executive Director, Civil Liberties Defense Center (Eugene, OR).
•Leslie James Pickering, owner, Burning Books (Buffalo, NY), press officer, Earth Liberation Front Press office.
•Rachel Meeropol, Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights.

The Commons has a wonderful cafe and bar which features organic/fair trade coffee, beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks, dessert and more. Please come on an empty stomach and support the Commons!

This event takes place during the Left Forum which is happening at John Jay College 5.20-5.22

Presentations:
Lauren will provide case examples, tips, and traps regarding government and corporate surveillance of climate activists and frontline communities, their campaigns, and their lawyers, and why everyone needs to take security issues seriously to be a serious activist, advocate or attorney.

Rachel will discuss her legal challenges to the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which allows for the prosecution of non-violent property damage as a federal crime of terrorism, as well as the suppression of dissent within the federal bureau of prisons, where animal rights and environmental activists are singled out post-conviction, along with other unpopular prisoners, for heightened restrictions and surveillance.

Leslie James Pickering highlights two decades of activism through secret files pried loose from the FBI. From living under federal surveillance to being targeted by informants to supporting underground liberation movements, this presentation offers a rare glimpse into maintaining the struggle in spite of repression.

Directions:
Hoyt-Schermerhorn: A, C and G
Bergen Street: F
Atlantic Ave – Barclay Center: B, M, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5,
Flatbush Avenue: LIRR
B63 and B65

BK/NY – Friday, February 13th – “If A Tree Falls” Benefit Screening for Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang

WHAT: Benefit for AETA defendants Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang
WHEN: 8pm sharp, Friday, February 13th, 2015
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: Entrance is free but we will be requesting donations for Kevin and Tyler’s legal defense fund.

Tyler Lang and Kevin Olliff are two animal rights activists who, in 2014, were arrested in Illinois for “possession of burglary tools.” After a traffic stop, cops allegedly found bolt cutters, muriatic acid, ski masks, and camouflage clothing in the car. Tyler pleaded to 3 months time served while Kevin received a 30 month sentence in state prison. In July 2014, both were indicted under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) and are accused of liberating animals from fur farms in 3 different states. They face up to 10 years in prison.

We will be screening If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, a film that focuses on our friend and New Yorker, Daniel McGowan. He was arrested in 2005 by federal agents in a nationwide sweep of radical environmentalists involved with the Earth Liberation Front– a group the FBI has called America’s “number one domestic terrorism threat.” The ELF operates in separate anonymous cells without any central leadership and launched spectacular actions against dozens of environmentally destructive businesses: timber companies, SUV dealerships, wild horse slaughterhouses, and a $12 million ski lodge in Vail, Colorado.

After the film, there will be time for questions and answers with special guests, including Rachel Meeropol (Center for Constitutional Rights attorney on Kevin and Tyler’s legal team) and Jenny Synan. NYC ABC will have a table with information and merchandise on political prisoners.

For more information, go to supportkevinandtyler.com

March 10-24: Bureau of Prisons to Reopen Comment Period on Communication Management Units

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has reopened the public comment period for the Communication Management Units (CMU). You may remember that the original comment period of 2010 netted 700+ letters and emails against the restrictions outlined in the proposal. The Department of Justice ended the comment period and have sat on their hands since then in terms of getting actual legal approval to operate and maintain the CMUs. As a prisoner at Marion CMU during that time, our comrade Daniel McGowan tells us, “knowing that people outside of prison cared enough to put their concerns in writing on our behalf was heartening and re-energized my effort to close the CMUs.”

NYC – December 7th – Raffle and CCR + Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan Panel Discussion

WHAT: Panel discussion with Robert Meeropol, Will Potter and Jenny Synan with an introduction by Rachel Meeropol plus an AMAZING raffle
WHEN: 6:30-8:30, Wednesday, December 7th
WHERE: Community Church of New York (40 East 35th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues)
COST: Free entry; raffle tickets are $2 each or three for $5

On the sixth anniversary of the first wave of Operation Backfire arrests, including that of friend to NYC ABC Daniel McGowan, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Family & Friends of Daniel McGowan are hosting a panel discussion and raffle. The panel will discuss the Red Scare, the Green Scare, and ongoing repression of political dissidents in the United States.

Raffle prizes are being added daily, but currently include:

• Fingerless mittens, hand-knitted by Sarah Paul (mother of Jonathan Paul, Daniel’s co-defendant!)
• Sparrow Media Shirts: One, Two, and Three
• Bluestockings membership & t-shirt
• Books from Crimethinc. (Recipes for Disaster and Work)
• Pie Any Means Necessary: The Biotic Baking Brigade Cookbook
• $75 worth of Books from Justseeds
• IFC Membership (The Cineaste Plus One)
• If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front DVDs
• Livescribe Echo 4GB smartpen + 4-pack of Livescribe Dot Paper
• BORF signed limited-edition Support Daniel print ($100 value)
• Dr. Bronner’s Holiday Gift Basket ($50 value)
• Let Freedom Ring, edited by Matt Meyer
• Eco-Warriors by Rik Scarce
• Subscriptions to Fifth Estate
• The Will of the Many by Marrianne Maeckelbergh
• Books by Brian Tokar (“Toward Climate Justice” and “Agriculture & Food in Crisis“)
• 2012 Justseeds/Eberhardt Press Organizers
• Books from Eberhardt Press
• Books from Combustion Books
• Books from Burning Books (Buffalo, New York)
• Green is the New Red book donation and signed posters
• A pair of tickets to the Spectacle Theater
• Two gift certificates to Book Thug Nation
• 1 acupuncture session with Famous
• Wind(s) from below: Radical Community Organizing to Make a Revolution Possible
• Team Colors Posters
• 1/2 Gallon Wilder Brook Farm Maple Syrup
• DVDs from Whispered Media (Boom and We Interrupt This Empire)
• Art by Elektra KB
• Support Daniel McGowan T-shirt
• Support Daniel McGowan Water Bottle
• Certain Days: Freedom For Political Prisoners 2012 Wall Calendar
• One year subscription to 4StruggleMag

Buy your raffle tickets at supportdaniel.org