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On August 15, 2024, U.S. Federal District Court Judge William Jung issued his ruling denying the Motion to Dismiss filed by attorneys for the “Uhuru 3” – Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel – who argued that the case violates the First Amendment. Jung’s decision came over one year after the Motion was filed, ten months after oral arguments on the Motion were presented and six months after Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli recommended to the district judge that he deny the Motion.
On August 14, 2024, the same Judge denied the prosecutors’ “motion in limine”, filed August 1, 2024, to restrict the Uhuru 3 attorneys from arguing to the jury that their defendant’s speech is protected by the First Amendment, stating that “whether the conduct is shielded by the First Amendment is a legal issue to be decided by the Court, and arguments concerning such legal issues will only confuse the jury.” Responded Jesse Nevel, “In other words, in the case that is increasingly recognized as the most consequential free speech trial of our times, the government attempted to muzzle the Uhuru 3 from being able to talk about free speech.”
On September 3rd, 2024, Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel will appear in federal court in Tampa facing baseless charges that they are secret pawns in a Russian government conspiracy to “sow discord” and “interfere in elections”. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison, effectively a life sentence for Yeshitela, 82-year-old veteran of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement.
Chairman Omali says, “They hoped we would capitulate with a plea deal that would require us to perjure ourselves by admitting to something we didn’t do. They hoped we would run or commit some adventurous act that would give them a justification to lock us up. They hoped they could bankrupt us with legal costs. I refuse to surrender the democratic space that African people fought and died for in this country.”
First Amendment lawyers and analysts warn that this is a precedent-setting case that will put an end to constitutional protections of everyone’s free speech rights because it is the first time that a “foreign agent” law is being used to prosecute alleged “crimes” consisting exclusively of giving speeches, attending conferences, printing articles and running for elected office.
The DOJ’s prosecution of the Uhuru 3 has been denounced by free speech defenders across the political spectrum, including the National Lawyers Guild, the U.S. Peace Council, Former NYC Councilman Charles Barron, Civil Rights Attorney Robert Patillo, Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, independent presidential candidate Dr. Cornel West, Jimmy Dore, Margaret Flowers, Margaret Kimberley, SNCC veterans Efia Nwangaza and Willie Mukassa Ricks, Ajamu Baraka, Mumia Abu Jamal, journalist Glenn Greenwald of System Update, Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone, author and professor Dr. Gerald Horne and broadcaster Tucker Carlson.
Concerned individuals and groups activists will make their voices heard in a national rally on August 31 in St. Petersburg, FL, birthplace of the Uhuru Movement. They will then converge on the federal court in Tampa for the start of the trial on September 3rd. “Hands Off Uhuru!” defense campaign leader Mwezi Odom calls for support from freedom-loving people everywhere. “We must pack the court on September 3rd! Come out and stand up for everyone’s rights to free speech!”
More information can be found at www.handsoffuhuru.org