NYC Jericho Movement

LET'S BRING THE VIRGIN ISLANDS THREE
HOME WHERE THEY BELONG!

Please pass on to all respective list serves - members, supporters, family and friends!

The campaign to free the Virgin Island 3, who have been locked up for 46 years, is kicking into high gear. Like many aging prisoners, they are experiencing increasing health problems and pose NO RISK to the society they’ve been locked away from for nearly half a century. Because Governor Mapp’s term is ending and he is up for re-election this November, *now* is the time to contact him to urge for commutation of their sentences. This is it; all hands on deck!

How you can help:
1) Write a letter [ideally mail it the second week of November]

Please start by writing a letter to the Governor. This is also a good time to urge folks you know who care about social justice to get on board with this campaign!

Suggested letter format:

Governor Kenneth Mapp
Government House
21-22 Kongens Gade
Charlotte Amalie
St. Thomas, VI 00802

Re: Warren Ballantine, Meral Smith, and Beaumont Gereau

Introduce yourself. This could include comments about your job, family or work in the community, and give respect to the Governor's Office.

Explain how you know their cases and/or how you may know them personally.

Explain why you are concerned (if you are from the VI, explain how this affects your vote and if you are from elsewhere explain how commuting their sentences would positively influence society or your view of the VI).

Some Issues are:
1. Length of time in prison
2. Their deteriorating medical conditions
3. Aging and getting old
4. No community threat (example: while they were housed in the St. Croix, they were actually allowed to go out in the community to religious services, sometimes unsupervised, with no issues)

Implore the Governor to commute their sentences. Explain that you understand that he alluded to this before he was elected and at the beginning of his term.

Respectfully end your letter.

2) Fax your letter [ideally the third week of November]:

Fax the letter you wrote to the Governor’s office at: (340) 693-4374

If you do not have a fax machine, you can send a free online fax using faxzero.com.

3) Email your letter [ideally the fourth week of November]:

https://www.vi.gov/contact.html

4) Call the Governor’s office [as much and as often as possible until further notice] to ask if they received your letter/fax/email:

Phone: (340) 774-0001

Leave messages urging Governor Mapp to make good on his promise to free the Virgin Island 3 – Warren Ballantine, Meral Smith and Beaumont Gereau (these are the names the state recognizes them under) – by commuting their sentences and releasing them with time served.

A few talking points if desired, but feel free to keep it short and sweet:

• After 46 years of incarceration, they are of seriously ailing health and are extremely unlikely to re-offend… Warren alone is on 6 different types of medication after a massive heart attack a year ago.

• It is costing the state a TON of money to continue to house them and pay for medical care.

Keep up the pressure throughout November or until their sentences are commuted!

When you can, drop one or all of the Virgin Island 3 a note telling them about the actions you took on their behalf.

Warren Ballentine #16-047
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
415 US Highway 49N
Tutwiler, MS 38963
His name is Abdul Azeez, but address letter to Warren Ballentine

Beaumont Gereau #16-001
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
415 US Highway 49N
Tutwiler, MS 38963
His name is Hanif Shabazz Bey, but address letter to Beaumont Gereau

Meral Smith #16-024
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
415 US Highway 49N
Tutwiler, MS 38963
His name is Malik Smith, but address letter to Meral Smith

Let's keep the pressure on and bring these brothers home!

Urgent Call for Political Prisoner Kamau Sadiki!

From Kamau’s daughter Ksisay: The prison wants to amputate my father's foot at the ankle.
He needs a wound specialist, not an amputation!

Freddie Hilton AKA Kamau Sadiki #115 06 88

Call and Write Letters:

Chief Medical Facilitator Dr. Mary Alston
Warden Ted Philbin
Augusta State Prison, 3001 Gordon Hwy, Grovetown GA 30813

(706) 855-4700

Be sure to write Kamau and let him know he is in our hearts and on minds:

Freddie Hilton (Kamau Sadiki) #1150688
Augusta State Medical Prison, Bldg 23A-2
3001 Gordon Highway, Grovetown, GA 30813

For more information on Kamau,
please visit http://www.freekamau.com/
(website is not current, but history of Kamau is excellent)

An Urgent Call to Support Black Revolutionary
Political Prisoner of Conscience Kevin Rashid Johnson!!

Kevin Rashid Johnson is a longtime prison organizer, artist, writer, Prison Radio contributor, and co-founder of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter.

He is also a supporter of Black4Palestine. Kevin was just transferred again as retaliation for his commitment to speaking truth to power and his role in the Nation wide #August21 Prison Strike.

He was recently transferred to a new prison, and was treated so violently upon arrival that he is currently having a high blood pressure episode that could lead to a stroke, but the prison refuses to give him a medical evaluation.

The Abolitionist Law Center and Prison Radio are asking us to call the warden and demand that Kevin receive fair treatment and the medical care that he needs.

The Warden at Sussex II is Beth Cabell. The number to reach her is (804) 834-2678. Please call and if you can't get Cabell on the phone, ask to speak with her assistant or with Assistant Warden Darden.

You can also write to Kevin:

Kevin Rashid Johnson #1007485
Sussex II State Prison
24427 Musselwhite Dr
Waverly, VA 23891

Here is an account of his treatment:
On arriving at Sussex II, he was greeted with attack dogs lunging at him while he was fully chained up. He is being served meals on a rubber mat, without utensils, and with no cups, so he is being made to eat with his hands. He was placed in a filthy cell that has blood on the toilet. There is no toilet paper or other hygiene products for him to clean himself with. He is currently refusing meals because he is being presented with the choice of eating like an animal in filthy conditions where he cannot clean himself.

He is in his cell 24 hrs per day. He is being refused any recreational time. He has a guard standing sentry in front of his cell door 24 hrs a day. All staff have been instructed not to speak to him, and with the exception of brief conversations with the warden and a nurse they are following through on that. About 2 or 3 cells on either side of his cell are being kept empty so he can't communicate with other prisoners. They placed a sandbag in front of his cell door so he can't send kites. He has not been let out of his cell since arriving yesterday. When he eventually does leave his cell he will be required to have a 4-guard escort along with a supervisor.

He was not given his blood pressure medications last night. He began having a headache at that time and repeatedly asked a Sgt. Morse for medical assistance.

When he woke up around 4:30am he had a severe nose bleed, and again repeatedly requested medical attention from the guard posted in front of his cell. He was ignored. When he requested forms to file an emergency grievance he was told that he was not allowed to have the forms, and that he was not allowed to have ink pens to write with.

A nurse Burgess came by his cell on rounds at about 5:30am and gave him his first dose of medication. She said that with his symptoms and diagnosis he should be sent to medical for evaluation, but the guards refused to allow it. She went back to talk to her supervisor and was told that security would have to arrange to move him.

Security never made those arrangements, and so Rashid is stuck in his cell without anyone monitoring his blood pressure or adjusting his medications while he's having a high blood pressure episode that could lead to a stroke.

He has been presented with no disciplinary reports since being placed back in the Virginia Department of Corrections. He suspects that, while at Sussex I, VADOC security personnel arranged for him to be put in a holding area with a prisoner with a psychiatric disability who was setup to tell lies about Rashid regarding gangs and a plan to hurt a guard. This happened just before he was told about an impending hearing for an interstate transfer. He also says that he'd sent 4 articles for publication, which have never arrived, and would have included writings about the use of dogs to abuse VA prisoners and more.

We must stand up to the constant abuse, medical neglect, and censorship targeted toward Rashid. Help us amplify his fight for his own health and safety, and his commitment to speaking out against injustices and organizing movements from the inside. Please call and stay tuned for more action updates.