[Ppnews] 6/11 benefit show for Jeff 'Free' Luers

Tue May 24 15:34:36 EDT 2005

hey friends,
The <http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005.html>June 10-12, 2005 Weekend of 
Resistance for Jeff Luers is coming up in 3 weeks. We are planning an event 
in NYC as well as twenty other cities worldwide.
  if you can help us spread the word and forward this email, that would be 
great.
Be sure to check out the list of events at 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005events.html>http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005events.html
and more information on the Weekend at 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005.html>http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005.html
thanks,
friends of jeff luers
<http://www.freefreenow.org>http://www.freefreenow.org
=========
More details at 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june05nyc.html>http://www.freefreenow.org/june05nyc.html

Open the Cages: A Night of Political Prisoner Support
Saturday, June 11th
7PM-2AM
$8-10 donation. sliding scale-no one turned away for lack of funds
All proceeds benefit the Jeffrey Luers Legal Fund and Jericho NYC.

DUMBA Art space, 57 Jay Street [between Front and Water
Streets]
Down under the Manhattan bridge in Brooklyn.
F train to York Street. Exit train, make right, go two
blocks down Jay Street. DUMBA is on your right side.

Speakers:

Ashanti Alston
Ashanti is a former member of the Black Panther Party and
former political prisoner [Black Liberation Army] for over
14 years. He was recently the Northeast regional
coordinator for Critical Resistance, a national radical
prison abolitionist organization and is now a member of
its New York City chapter; Estacion Libre, an organization
that works to strengthen ties between people of color in
the US with folks in the liberated Zapatista territories
of Chiapas [Mexico]; and Anarchist People of Color. He
sits on the board of the Institute of Anarchist Studies
and has been an invited guest teacher for the last two
summers at the Institute of Social Ecology in Vermont.
Ashanti also authors the zine Anarchist Panther.

Andy Stepanian
Andy is a member of the Animal Defense League of NY. He
has previously served time for his commitment to the
animal rights movement. Currently, he is being prosecuted
for actions against the vivisection industry, along with
others known as the Shac 7.

Other former Political Prisoners and representatives from
the Jeffrey Luers Defense Network and Jericho NYC will
speak as well.

Music:

Cipher
A political metal-core band from Long Island that merges
radical politics with punk/hardcore. Cipher is committed
to promoting revolutionary and radical tactics and ideals
through their work. The band is featured in James
Spooner's critically acclaimed Afropunk documentary and
will release their first nationally distributed album,
Children of God's Fire Tuesday, June 14th on Uprising
records.

Casey Neill-Brooklyn, NY based songwriter and band leader
in the American musical tradition. His music fuses modern
roots rock with country, punk, and Celtic styles.

Last but not least is Brooklyn's own Rude Mechanical Orchestra

Film:

This will be the New York City premiere of the new film
'22/8: the Jeffrey Luers Story'

There will be info-tables of radical groups, childcare,
food and drinks.

Contact: <mailto:freefreenow at mutualaid.org>freefreenow at mutualaid.org
====================================================
June 10-12, 2005 "Weekend of Resistance" for Political Prisoner Jeff 'Free' 
Luers

June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of our
friend and comrade: Oregon environmental political prisoner, Jeff "Free"
Luers. Jeff was sentenced to more than 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/23.html>22 years in prison for burning
three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) at a car dealership in Eugene, Oregon,
and on attempted arson charges. Jeff set fire to
SUVs to call attention to climate change and to protest oil wars and
environmental destruction. Jeff was motivated by compassion and a desire
to protect life, not to harm it, despite what some might think of his
tactics. Prior to his arrest, Jeff was a popular community activist in
Eugene. He was well-known to law enforcement because of his involvement
with national forest protection (starting an occupation of a controversial
old-growth timber sale in 1998), anti-police brutality activism
(documenting 
<http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/01/22/d1.cr.policereview.0122.html>rampant 
police abuse in Eugene), <http://www.foodnotbombs.net>free food programs in a
local park and his teaching of self-defense to women. Since his
imprisonment, Jeff has continued to be extremely active in prison and
fight oppression with his <http://www.freefreenow.org/writings.html>words 
and inspiration.

On <http://www.freefreenow.org/june1204na.html>June 12, 2004, social and 
environmental activists in the US, Canada,
England, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Russia participated in
an "International Day of Action" with Jeff by organizing non-violent
protests and community events to show their support for him and their
disgust for his cruel sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real
'Green Scare', <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122290,00.html>sending 
a memo to businesses, corporate media, and
government agencies warning of planned "terrorist attacks" by the "Earth
Liberation Front" on June 12. Of course, no "terrorist attacks" ever
occurred. All of the events were peaceful and public, ranging from
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june1204photos.htm>concerts and demonstrations, 
to video showings and dinner parties. Even
some mainstream media outlets recognized the FBI memo for what it was - a
manipulative, dishonest attempt to incite fear- and criticized them for
that. Some participants in the June 12 day of action withstood 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june1204na.html#Worcester>intense
harassment including being photographed, videotaped and questioned with
one group actually being evicted due to the hysteria from the FBI.

Since the June 12, 2004 Day of Action, support for Jeff has 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/signon.html>continued to grow
and strengthen. People all over the world see Jeff as a political prisoner
and acknowledge that his sentence is meant as a deterrent to increased
resistance to oppression. Overall however, the political climate in the US
and abroad has become more corrupt and repressive. On the home-front, the
prison industrial complex continues to expand, repressive laws and
legislation continued to get pushed by lying politicians, political
prisoners are denied parole as the real criminals receive little or no
punishment, and the already weak laws that exist to protect the
environment are quickly being eliminated by blood-thirsty industry and the
Bush administration. On the international level, the Bush regime is
intensifying military aggression in Iraq, planning future actions in Iran
and the proposed Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales is attempting to
undermine the Geneva Convention to justify the torture tactics used by US
soldiers and prison guards at Abu Gharib and 
<http://www.ananova.com/images/web/71683.jpg>Guantanamo Bay. The
conditions are ripe to expose the hypocrisy of the system. Opposition and
dissent is needed now possibly more than ever before.

During the weekend of June 10-12th, 2005, social justice activists from
across the world are called upon again to organize and show their outrage
about Jeff's imprisonment and the continued abuse and isolation of
dissident prisoners across the globe. State repression is meant as a
deterrent to social and environmental movements all over. Jeff received a
sentence of over 22 years for an action that harmed no one except for the
pocketbook of a local car dealer. Typical arson charges in Oregon result
in 
<http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/10/01/d1.cr.juvyarson.1001.html>sentences 
less than five years. The Judge in Jeff's case sentenced a
man to 18 years last year for child molestation.   Charles Graner Jr,
responsible for the brutal torture and sexual harassment of Iraqi
Prisoners of War at Abu Gharib received only ten years!  Every day in
every city, cops receive little or no punishment for crimes against the
public. This cannot be tolerated! Fight for the political prisoners
because they have fought for you, against racism & poverty, war &
imperialism, and the pillaging of the natural world. They're in there for
us - we are out here for them!

June 10-12th, 2005, is a Weekend of Resistance with Jeff "Free" Luers. 
There is no central organizing body or group to check in
with but the Jeff Luers Support Network can help by providing you with
flyers, graphics, and merchandise such as videos, zines and stickers about
Jeff and allies in the struggle. Begin planning your event now. Read more
about Jeff's case at <http://www.freefreenow.org>www.freefreenow.org Read 
more about political
prisoners at <http://www.jerichony.org>www.jerichony.org. Plan an action 
that makes
sense for your area: a demonstration, treesit, music festival, teach-in,
<http://www.freefreenow.org/fjl.pdf>stenciling campaign, rally, protests at 
an American consulate/embassy
overseas or public forum. Circulate 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/signon.html>petitions. Write letters to the
<http://www.governor.state.or.us>Governor of Oregon asking him to look into 
Jeff's case. Contribute to
Jeff's <http://www.freefreenow.org/appeal.html>legal defense. Do what you 
think is appropriate. But please
remember when planning an action or event think about how it could affect
Jeff's upcoming appeal. Ask yourself: does this help or hurt Jeff? Does
this strengthen the movement or weaken it in the long-term?

Download a PDF of this call <http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005call.pdf>here.

Download a general flyer for the Weekend of Resistance 
<http://www.freefreenow.org/june2005general.pdf>here.

----------
East Coast contact:
Friends of Jeff 'Free' 
Luers-<mailto:freefreenow at mutualaid.org>freefreenow at mutualaid.org

West Coast contacts:
<http://www.breakthechains.net>Break the Chains-PO Box 12122, Eugene, OR 
97440, <mailto:breakthechains02 at yahoo.com>breakthechains02 at yahoo.com
San Francisco Jeffrey Luers Support Network- 
<mailto:freejeffreyluers at resist.ca>freejeffreyluers at resist.ca

European contact:
<http://www.brightonabc.org.uk>Brighton Anarchist Black Cross- PO Box 74, 
Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 4ZQ, UK, 
<mailto:mail at brightonabc.org.uk>mail at brightonabc.org.uk

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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