Urgent Call To Defend The Uhuru Movement Against Imprisonment

Stop the legal lynching of Chairman Omali Yeshitela!

UPDATE: Federal judge rejects Uhuru 3’s Motion to Dismiss; Trial date expected to be set in February

On Friday, January 26, 2024 U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli in the federal district court of Tampa, Florida filed an order recommending that District Judge William Jung deny the Uhuru 3’s motion for dismissal of the bogus charges against Uhuru Movement founder and Black Liberation leader Chairman Omali Yeshitela, along with Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, two white solidarity organizers with the Uhuru Movement.

Last year the U.S. federal government indicted the Uhuru 3 on the absurd charges that Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru Movement’s 50 year struggle for Black freedom suddenly became a “Russian-led conspiracy.”

The indictment came nine months after the violent military-style multi-city FBI raids on seven homes and offices of the Uhuru Movement on July 29, 2022.

The Uhuru 3 attorneys’ motion for dismissal called for the baseless charges to be dismissed on the grounds that they violate the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

The case is expected to go to trial later this year. Dates for the trial are expected to be set at a status hearing in February.

“The U.S. government has put us in the position of having to fight for the free speech that they claim is the cornerstone of U.S. democracy,” said Chairman Omali Yeshitela.

The Uhuru 3 each face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The Uhuru 3 case sparked the emergence of a global anti-colonial free speech movement led by the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition. Donate to the Hands Off Uhuru Legal Defense Fund at handsoffuhuru.org/donate

On July 29th of 2022, the FBI militarily raided seven homes and offices of the Uhuru (“Freedom”) Movement including the home of its founder and leader, Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party. This video shows footage from the violent, unjustified raids. 

The U.S. government has fabricated the bogus charge that Chairman Omali and the Uhuru Movement are “Russian agents” to justify putting the 82-year-old Yeshitela in prison for the rest of his life and to silence him and his lifelong fight for the liberation of Africa and African people worldwide. Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s official statement can be read here.  

In April 2023, the Uhuru 3 (APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, APSC Chair Penny Hess, and USM Chair Jesse Nevel) were officially indicted and are facing trial and up to 15 years in prison for the bogus charges. 

A Motion to Dismiss the charges was written by Attorney Leonard Goodman and presented to federal court in the Middle District of Florida at an oral hearing on Sept. 28, 2023. Other members of the Uhuru 3 legal team including Attorneys Ade Griffin, Mutaqee Akbar and Angela Reaney were also present in the hearing along with the three defendants.  

As of January 2024, the DOJ has not responded to the motion and trial is pending.

Since its founding in 1972, the Uhuru Movement has organized for African liberation worldwide, building economic development and self-reliance programs in black working class communities such as the Black Power Blueprint in North St. Louis, MO. 

We are calling on all supporters of freedom of speech and justice around the world to show your solidarity with Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru Movement at this critical moment in history! We are building a powerful Anti-colonial Free Speech Movement! Together we will push back these attacks on our movements and we will win!

We request organizations and individuals to become a member of the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition at HandsOffUhuru.org/coalition, and to raise funds for the legal defense. 

The FBI’s threat to imprison Chairman Omali represents a profoundly dangerous assault on the supposed constitutional rights to freedom of speech, as well as on all political expression and rights to assembly for which African people have historically fought and died in the United States. 

If Omali Yeshitela is silenced, the right to freedom of speech for everyone as we know it will be over! Drop the charges on Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru 3! Hands off Chairman Omali Yeshitela! Hands Off the Uhuru Movement! 

What You Can Do: 

1. Donate to the Legal Fund! $25,000 is urgently needed for legal fees. Donate at HandsOffUhuru.org/donate

2. Join the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition as a member organization or individual at HandsOffUhuru.org/coalition

3. Take to the Streets! Print informational flyers, posters, banners from our website. HandsOffUhuru.org/outreach

4. Sign the Emergency Response Pledge and be prepared to pack the courtroom should we go to trial. HandsOffUhuru.org/emergency-response

5. Write letters to your Congressperson and make the demand to Drop the Charges against Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru 3.  

6. Spread the word. Follow the Hands Off Uhuru campaign on social media and share updates from those pages: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok.

7. Follow our events page at HandsOffUhuru.org/events

8. Volunteer on the Hands Off Uhuru Committee. Go to handsoffuhuru.org/volunteer to sign up to get involved. Learn how you can start your own committee. 

9. Sign up to receive updates at HandsOffUhuru.org homepage.