Since this past July the North Syrian city of Kobanê, in the central canton of the Autonomous territory of Rojava, has been under siege by ISIS. ISIS fighters, armed with modern U.S. manufactured tanks, artillery, and small arms have been held at bay by volunteer fighters affiliated with the militias of the Kurdish People’s
Protection Units (YPG) armed with dated small arms and improvised weapons.

Tens of thousands of residents of Kobanê, mostly ethnic Kurds, have been forced to flea to neighboring Turkey, made refugees in a country that has historically persecuted and oppressed them.

Hundreds of Kurdish volunteers have crossed the border from Turkey to help aid in the defense of Kobanê. Turkish soldiers and police have attacked those volunteers and observers, including international media, with teargas and batons, in attempts to seal off the border and prevent aid from reaching those struggling to hold the city against ISIS.

In response, anarchists from the Turkish anarchist organization, Revolutionary Anarchist Action (Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet, DAF) have joined the efforts to keep the border open, as well as support those struggling in Kobanê and those made refugees from the fighting. DAF members are taking part in guarding the border against ISIS movements in and out.

Funds are urgently needed to support their work, especially to aid in the efforts to provide material aid for those who have been displaced by the conflict and forced to flee to Turkey.

We, as international allies of Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet, call on all who see affinity with those struggling and suffering in and around Kobanê to help assist in these efforts. No amount is too small or too large. All funds raised will be sent directly to the DAF to be used as needed in their efforts.

In Solidarity,

Denver Community Defense Committee
Denver Anarchist Black Cross

–

If you want to donate financial or material solidarity in the way of cash, computers (laptops), video cameras, phones and other items, please email:

denvercommunitydefense(at)riseup.net
denverabc(at)riseup.net

http://denverabc.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/call-for-support-for-devrimci-…

First, let’s acknowledge the timing of this event: We’re well aware that arresting Tyler Lang on an indictment of federal charges was coordinated to coincide with the annual National Animal Rights Conference and the Fight or Flight Tour fundraiser. It was the FBI’s blatant and clumsy attempt to scare activists, create divisiveness, and deter Tyler and others from the above-ground activism they practice. But word of the incident spread quickly—not only among attendees at the LA conference, but throughout the country’s network of animal advocates—and one thing is resoundingly clear: we’re angry, but we’re not shaken.

Last summer, ten fur farms were raided in ten weeks, resulting in more than 10,000 mink, foxes, and even a rare bobcat being freed from certain death at the hands of fur farmers. And since the beginning of the government’s resulting witch hunt—when Kevin and Tyler were arrested in the course of a routine traffic stop on a road trip last August, when Kevin’s ID came up with a “domestic terrorist” flag—we’ve all known that law enforcement has been trying to connect dots that they simply cannot. We’re in the midst of what the FBI is attempting to make into a classic AETA prosecution. And the activist community is all too familiar with the insidiousness and inaccuracy that underpins this law…

Ultimately, we want it known that Kevin and Tyler are not faltering. They’re aware of their position, they’re confident in the facts, and they want to make sure other activists are not set off course by these incidents.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the drama law enforcement tries to create for us. And it’s easy to lose yourself in some the issues surrounding this movement…but it’s not about us or them at all. It’s about injustice—and about what we can do to stop it,” says Tyler, who was released on bond Thursday afternoon.

Funds are needed NOW for attorney fees and Kevin’s ongoing support. Please donate via the PayPal link or Donations page.

***

Please send Kevin a letter of support:

Kevin Johnson, M42382
Vandalia Correctional Center
P.O. Box 500
Vandalia, IL 62471

Tyler Lang was released in November.

Who are Kevin & Tyler?

Tyler Lang and Kevin Olliff are two Los Angeles animal rights activists who were arrested in rural Illinois for “possession of burglary tools.” After a traffic stop in which they refused consent to a police search, their car was searched anyway. Inside, police allege they found bolt cutters, wire cutters, muriatic acid, ski masks, and cammo clothing.

Police believe these items were “burglary tools” intended to be used in a crime, and arrested Kevin and Tyler. The two are held on felony charges which carry up to 3 years in prison. They have remained in jail since their arrest on August 14th.

There is no evidence linking them to any crime or intended crime, nor were they arrested on anyone’s property, and their history as animal advocates is the only basis for these serious felony charges.

There are additional details which cannot yet be released, but will be posted here as soon as we are able to share more.

About Kevin Olliff

Kevin is a 25 year-old activist from Brentwood, California. A vegan since age 15, Kevin has been involved in numerous animal rights campaigns since the mid-2000s, including vegan outreach, anti-vivisection work, and a tour with the Sea Shepherd.

About Tyler Lang

Tyler Lang is a animal rights activist from Los Angeles, California. He went vegan at the age of 14 and has been an activist for animals since. In 2009 Tyler was arrested and given several misdemeanor charges for participating in home demos against UCLA vivisectors. Later that year he helped organize demonstrations against Fortress Investment Group, an HLS affiliate. After six months of home protests, Fortress announced they would no longer do business with HLS. Between 2011 and 2012 Tyler was sued by AstraZeneca, BlackRock, and Beckman Coulter for his role in organizing protests against their key executives.

Tyler continues to organize demonstrations in LA with Empty Cages Los Angeles, holding demonstrations at the LAX airport and other venues associated with airliners that ship primates to labs for animal testing.

Currently Tyler is patiently awaiting his release so he can continue fighting for animals.

UPDATE: Tyler was released on a plea deal November 6th!

We would like to let everyone know that Marius Jacob Mason will no longer be using the name Marie, and will be using male pronouns. We hope that you will all join us in supporting Marius through this transition, which will no doubt be extra challenging within the prison system. Until his name is legally changed, any mail sent to Marius in prison will still need to be addressed to ‘Marie Mason’ on the envelope. This goes for donations also. Please write to Marius at this time! Receiving supportive and friendly mail makes a world of difference. Below is a statement read out by Moira Meltzer-Cohen, one of Marius’ legal representatives, at a solidarity event organized by New York City ABC recently.

“My name is Moira Meltzer-Cohen. I’m an attorney working with a person of immense courage and integrity, someone who struggles for liberation and self-determination on behalf of other people, non-human animals, and life on Earth itself. This is someone whose courage and integrity are made even more salient by the fact that their own liberation and their own autonomy have long been severely circumscribed.

Even more than most people in prison, my client and those in their unit face rigid, arbitrary constraints on communication and expression that impact every part of their lives. But even more – I want you to imagine how difficult it would be if all your struggles toward liberation and autonomy were taking place not only in a prison, but in a world that always targets trans people for further violence, confinement, and abuse.

I am proud to be working with Marius Jacob Mason to change their name to the one that reflects his masculine gender identity.

It is my sincere hope that this announcement does not serve as any kind of excuse for argument or debate – it should be self-evident that trans-exclusion is indefensible in any movement claiming to move us toward collective liberation. If we are serious about liberation and autonomy, it is incumbent upon us to take seriously that all our various struggles are mutually implicated, that earth liberation and trans liberation are not simply mutually compatible, but that achievement of each is a necessary condition for the satisfaction of the other.

So I want to call on “us” – anarchists, allies, environmental justice advocates – let us acknowledge Marius’ gender now, not only for Marius’ sake, but for the sake of our collective liberation. This transition not only does not undermine the importance of Marius’ environmental and other social commitments – it is further evidence of his commitment to justice, and bravery in the face of repressive and destructive systems. It has not been and will not be easy for Marius to transition while in custody of the most heinous part of the U.S. prison system.

But we can make this process a little easier by supporting his gender identity, by using the appropriate masculine pronouns and his correct name, writing to him and other incarcerated trans folks, providing meaningful social support, and funding legal battles and medical needs both in and out of prison. We have an opportunity as a community to demonstrate conclusively that we are strong, that we understand the mutual implications of all forms of oppression, and that we can reject the subordination of any cause to another. I want to also remind you that because transpeople are disproportionately and aggressively policed, there are many many folks in prison who need your support, including one I want to highlight, Jane Doe, a 16 year-old trans girl who is being held without charges in Connecticut. You can find more information at facebook/justice4janeCT. You can find information about incarcerated trans people at SRLP.org, and more information about Marius Jacob Mason at supportmariemason.org“

Ebba Olausson is a young Vegan Straight Edge woman that is currently under arrest in Skovde, Sweden, suspected for over twenty different attacks on fur farms and the fur industry as well as liberations of minks.  Ebba has tried to write me but I was not allowed her letter by the prison in which I am currently entombed.  Nor am I able to write to her since I am not allowed to write prisoners.

I request that you, my supporters, in America and abroad, flood Ebba with support mail so that she knows she is loved and we are all concerned for her well being and freedom.  The Vegan Straight Edge kids, Vegan Hardliners and Animal Rights Activists of Sweden have been so supportive of me over the years.  Now I want to support them back.

(Excerpt from a 2012 letter from Ebba)

“I found an interview you did on the internet and read your thoughts about Straight Edge. I’ve been Vegan Straight Edge for five years. You said “You must remain focused, ferocious, positive and resilient!” When I read that I got back the fighting spirit I had in the beginning of Straight Edge! Some Hardline kids from Sweden say hello, keep up the fighting spirit, Much Love -Ebba”

You keep that fighting spirit up as well Ebba and know that even though there are walls, prison bars and an ocean that separate us, you are my Vegan sister and you are in my heart, always. Animal Liberation, Whatever It May Take!

Please write to Ebba at:

Ebba Olausson
Box 194
551 13 JÖNKÖPING
SWEDEN

Regards,

Walter Bond
ALF POW

Ebba Olausson’s facebook support page is https://www.facebook.com/supportebba

Marie Mason is a loving mother of two and a long-time activist in the environmental and labor movements. In March 2008, she was arrested by federal authorities for charges related to two acts of property destruction that occurred in 1999 and 2000 – damaging an office connected to GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) research, and destroying a piece of logging equipment. No one was injured in either act. She faced a life sentence before accepting a plea bargain in September 2008.

Mason was  sentenced on February 5, 2009 in federal court in Lansing, Michigan. She received almost 22 years – the longest sentence of any Green Scare prisoner. An appeal for a reduction in her sentence was denied in 2010.

The Green Scare is the name given to the arrests of animal rights and environmental activists who have been charged with acts of economic sabotage. Federal authorities have sought outrageous sentences (often life in prison) and have publicly and legally labeled the activists as “terrorists” – despite the fact that no one has been killed or injured in any of the acts. For an intro to the Green Scare, see here.

Supporting Marie Mason does not mean agreeing with her acts. It does mean opposing the fear-mongering tactics of the federal government, and the outrageous sentences they have imposed.

Support Political Prisoners in Mexico!

It has been 8 years since the federal government of the Mexican state Jalisco brutally detained and tortured many protesters who mobilized against the summit of the heads of state from Latin America countries, the Caribbean and European Union.

At this moment, some of arrestees are still facing criminal proceedings. The public prosecutor has decided that neither the imposed sentences are finished, or that the legal time limit for persecution has lapsed. And he is looking for harsher punishment of the comrades so to crush any other attempt of protest in the region.

In 2006 the organized anarchist movement in Guadalajara was fiercely hit. 45 comrades were imprisoned and tortured. The judgement was disastrously rigged and most of them were found guilty of various offences. Now after 8 years 12 comrades remain imprisoned without the right to bail. And for those that were released, exorbitant bail amounts are demanded.

In support of the prisoners we invite you all to vegan solidarity dinners.

December 3 and 17

Joes Garage,

Pretoriusstraat 43, Amsterdam

from 7pm.

Support political prisoners! No one can be completely free as long as one single person is still imprisoned!