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Uhuru 3

Failing In Its Case Against The Uhuru Three, The US Manufactures ‘Thought Crimes’

December 10, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , , , ,
The Uhuru 3 - Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel - will have a sentencing hearing on December 16 in Florida. Failing to find evidence to convict them of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the US Government manufactured a charge of conspiring to violate the law by thinking about it. There is no evidence to support this. This conviction creates a new level of state repression. Clearing the FOG speaks with Chairman Yeshitela about the case, the current political environment in the United States, including his opinions on the recent presidential election, and the recent events in the Sahel Region of Africa to decolonize the area.

Uhuru 3 File For Judgment Of Acquittal In Free Speech Case

October 30, 2024 Fight Back! News. , , , , , , , ,
On Thursday, October 10, Attorney Leonard Goodman filed a post-trial motion on behalf of the Uhuru 3 – Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel – asking Judge William Jung for a “judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge” or a new trial on that charge. In September’s contradictory verdict, the Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of acting as unregistered agents of the Russian government but were unjustly convicted of “conspiracy” to act as unregistered agents of the Russian government. Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel declared victory in defeating the government’s claim that their lifelong advocacy for Black reparations, justice and peace was conducted under the direction and control of a foreign government.

Ajamu Baraka On Global Conflicts And Social Transformation

September 23, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , , , , , ,
In addition to risking a nuclear war with Russia, the United States is stoking greater conflicts in West Asia and China. Ajamu Baraka speaks with Clearing the FOG about his recent tour in Iran where he spoke to a cross-section of people about their concerns and the need for greater international solidarity. Baraka also discusses the responsibility of people, particularly in the collective West, to organize in order to change course away from militarism. He provides an analysis of the upcoming presidential election, the verdict in the case of the Uhuru 3 and why people must avoid aligning themselves with the ruling class, which will stop at nothing to hang onto power.

From The Phony Debate And Gaza To The Uhuru 3

September 22, 2024 ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka and Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. , , , , , ,
Our first topic will be the trial of the Uhuru 3.” Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, were found guilty of conspiring to be foreign agents in a federal case in Tampa, Florida involving the African People's Socialist Party and its Solidarity Network. The 3 were accused of being foreign agents. The jury acquitted them on that charge, yet convicted them of this conspiracy charge, which seems to be odd until we realize the history of how the Black left are targeted, going back to the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Ajamu, talk to us about your thoughts on the case of the Uhuru 3 and what it tells us. Ajamu Baraka: It's important for people to understand the importance of this case, because it's quite clear to me that the indictment and the aggressive prosecution of the Uhuru 3 was meant to be a shot across the bow, if you will, to intimidate left opposition, progressive opposition in the US that is emerging and solidifying, in opposition to not only Gaza, but in opposition to the broader agenda, warmongering that is at the center of US policy from Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and on the African continent.

Official Statement By Chairman Omali Yeshitela On Behalf Of The Uhuru 3

September 15, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
On September 12, 2024 a jury in the federal courthouse in Tampa, Florida repudiated the more serious charge of the U.S. government’s frame-up of the Uhuru 3 by finding myself, along with Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, NOT GUILTY of being agents of the Russian government. The prosecutors unleashed a barrage of lies and distortions of the law, along with deliberately confusing jury instructions, to mislead the jury into returning an inconsistent verdict, convicting us on the lesser charge of “conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States,” which we intend to appeal and are confident we will win. But more importantly, the jury’s “not guilty” verdict on the “Russian agents” charge means that the jurors agreed with the legitimacy of our efforts to advocate for the liberation of Africa and African people.

Uhuru 3 Found Not Guilty Of Being Russian Agents

September 12, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. , , ,
On the morning of September 12th, the jury returned a verdict in the free speech trial of the century, where Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel faced bogus charges of working as Russian agents.  The 12 person jury concluded a not guilty verdict on count number two, “failure to register as a foreign agent,” in other words, working as agents of Russia. This was the big charge that carried an up to ten year prison sentence. The jury contained no black jurors, but to their credit, they saw clearly that African people have agency and sovereignty over their actions. 

Uhuru 3 Trial: FBI Lead Investigator Exposed, Both Sides Close

September 11, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru! Hands Off Africa!. , , , ,
On Monday, September 9, 2024, the free speech trial of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel began its second week. Proceedings were delayed because two jurors had not arrived. One of the missing jurors arrived late and then at 9:45am, Judge William Jung declared that he would give the other absent juror 30 more minutes and then would remove her from the jury. Attorney Mutaqee Akbar raised the fact that the missing juror was the only African on the jury. He asked the judge to replace her with the sole African juror in the pool of alternates who have been seated in the jury box throughout the trial. The judge refused and seated a white juror. The 12-person jury now has no African members.

Update On The Uhuru 3 Free Speech Trial Of The Century

September 8, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Tampa, FL—The first week of the free speech trial of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel left observers shaking their heads and asking how the government has dedicated 30 FBI agents over the course of 3 years, conducted military raids on peaceful U.S. residents, offered a $10 million reward for information and still has no case. With only one witness left, the prosecution has failed to present any actual knowledge or evidence of the government’s baseless charges that the Uhuru 3 are “secret pawns in a Russian government conspiracy to sow political discord and interfere in elections”.

Race, Rights And Repression

September 8, 2024 ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka and Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. , , , , , , , ,
As the presidential election will take place in about two months, we need to discuss the prospects of peace, if any, under a Harris or Trump administration, but specifically in Palestine and in the West Asia region, but Ukraine is still an issue, more than two years after Russia's special military operation began. Who is in charge of the US as Ukraine undertakes an incursion into Russia, and what does this mean for the future? Also, we'll talk about AFRICOM, the US Africa Command, which was founded in October of 2008 in the waning days of the George W Bush administration, but under Obama and other presidents, has grown significantly. Also, how does this impact domestic policy, with the 1033 program giving surplus military equipment to police departments and the IDF training of police forces, why do we have a more than $800 billion military budget, which, of course, is a leading cause of austerity.

Uhuru 3 Trial Enters Second Day

September 7, 2024 Fight Back! News. , , , ,
Tampa, FL – As the trial of the Uhuru 3 enters its second day, the prosecution calls its first witnesses. The Uhuru 3 are members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement who are charged with conspiracy and “acting as agents of the Russian government within the United States without prior notification.” The courtroom was packed with supporters of the defendants. Many had traveled from all across the country to be there. The prosecution first called Professor Brian Taylor, a professor of political science, to the stand as a witness. Taylor’s role in the trial was to provide background information on the Russian intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Free Speech Trial Of Uhuru Three Begins In Tampa

September 5, 2024 Phil Wilayto, Popular Resistance. , , ,
The trial of the Uhuru 3 opened this morning at U.S. District Court in downtown Tampa, Judge William Jung presiding. The defendants in the highly politically charged case are facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted of charges that they have been operating as unregistered agents of a foreign government, Russia. The three defendants are Omali Yeshitela, the longtime chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party; and white supporters Penny Hess, chair of the African People's Solidarity Committee, and Jesse Nevel, chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement.  As noted in a post by the Hands Off Uhuru! Coalition, the 82-year-old Yestitela “has protested every U.S. war that has taken place during his lifetime.”

Uhuru 3 Free Speech Trial Begins; Jury Selection, Opening Arguments

September 4, 2024 Hands Off Uhuru, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Day one of the free speech “trial of the century” began with a press conference across the street from the Federal Courthouse in Tampa. Free speech defenders and social justice activists from across the U.S. expressed their support for the Uhuru 3—Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, falsely accused of being secret pawns in a Russian government conspiracy to “sow discord” and “interfere in elections.” The press conference was hosted by Mwezi Odom, Chair of the Hands Off Uhuru! Campaign. She declared that the government’s false accusation that the Uhuru 3’s call for reparations, a petition against the U.S. charging genocide against Black people and the group’s opposition to U.S. wars were carried out under the control of the Russian government to be a “racist denial of Black people’s agency. We can think for ourselves and define our own agenda!”

Black Alliance For Peace Condemns The Federal Indictments Of Uhuru 3

September 4, 2024 Black Alliance For Peace, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
The process of jury selection on September 3rd, 2024, will mark the beginning of the federal trial of Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP); Penny Hess, Chair of the African People’s Solidarity Committee (APSC); and Jesse Nevel, Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement (USM), together known as the Uhuru 3. The Uhuru 3 were indicted by the U.S. government in April 2023 on the absurd charges of being “agents of a foreign government.” Charges very similar to the indictment of W.E.B. Dubois, the internationally known Black scholar and human rights defender. Dubois was eighty-one at the time of his indictment as a supposed agent of the Soviet Union for his anti-nuclear and pro-peace advocacy.

Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss In Free Speech Case

August 18, 2024 Uhuru Solidarity Movement, Popular Resistance. , , ,
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.”

Freedom Summer 2024, The Struggle For Black Rights Continues

August 6, 2024 The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
On July 29, 2022 the U.S. government initiated violent military-style assaults on seven offices and homes of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) and Uhuru Movement in two cities and states – St. Louis, Missouri and St. Petersburg, Florida. Nine months later three members of the Uhuru Movement, African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, two white leaders of the Party’s solidarity front, were indicted under charges of being Russian agents.  This is one way the colonial government is attempting to stifle any criticism of the U.S. for its ongoing mistreatment of African people within this country.
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