At the sentencing hearing, now set for December 16, 2024 in Tampa, Florida, the U.S. government intends to lock up Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel, known as the Uhuru 3, for up to five years in federal prison for the “thought crime” of conspiracy. This is an urgent call to fight back and demand: “Not one day in prison!! Free the Uhuru 3! Hands off Chairman Omali Yeshitela!”
The use of the political charge of 18 USC 371, the federal crime of “conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. government,” is an attempt to establish a precedent by which the U.S. government can openly attack, criminalize and imprison those who exercise their constitutional right to free speech to speak out against colonialism, genocide and imperialist wars.
The outrageous conviction of the Uhuru 3 on false “conspiracy” charges is an attack on the Uhuru Movement’s more than 50 years of work to build political and economic power in the hands of the African working class. It is a desperate and vicious attempt to destroy the Uhuru Movement’s programs for African economic self-reliance including doula training programs for African women, farmers markets, community gardens, and workforce programs for Africans coming out of the colonial prison system.
The threat to imprison Chairman, along with two white Uhuru Solidarity leaders who work under the Party’s leadership, is also an assault on the Party’s work to build a principled relationship of solidarity from white people with the African community’s struggle for self-determination.
The U.S. government suffered a humiliating defeat when the Uhuru 3 won an acquittal on the main charge against them, absurdly alleging that they were “Russian agents.” Now the federal prosecutors plan to use the framed-up “conspiracy” conviction to put the leader of the African Revolution behind bars. But the movement of the people can stop them! Now is the time to mobilize, write letters to the judge ahead of the sentencing hearing and make plans to be in Tampa, Florida to pack the court on November 25!
The conspiracy verdict: A thought crime
The contradiction in the Uhuru 3 verdict is obvious to anyone who reads it. The Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of the U.S. government’s charge that they were working as “Russian agents” but were convicted of “conspiracy to work as Russian agents.”
The nonsensical conspiracy conviction is further evidence that this was a political trial. The U.S. government is using the law as a vehicle for a political attack on African people’s right to free speech and association.
How did this verdict come about? First, let’s start with what happened in the federal court in Tampa, Florida. Throughout the week-long trial, the Uhuru 3 legal team completely demolished the U.S. government’s slanderous charge that the Uhuru 3 had agreed to operate under the direction or control of the Russian government. Attorney Ade Griffin told the jury that Chairman Omali Yeshitela is a “revolutionary” who is “not for sale.”
The jury agreed. On September 12, 2024, the jurors returned from a day-and-a-half of deliberations to declare that Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel were NOT GUILTY of “acting as agents of the Russian government without notifying the Attorney General’s office.”
As Chairman Omali Yeshitela said on the courthouse steps following the verdict, “They were unable to prove that the Uhuru Movement works for anybody except for Black people.”
The split verdict, however, reflected a deliberately confusing and conflicting set of jury instructions on the spurious charge of “conspiracy.”
Conspiracy to do what? According to the verdict form: “Conspiracy to act as agents of the Russian government without notifying the Attorney General’s office.” Conspiracy to do the very “crime” the Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of doing. In other words, a conspiracy where the criminal object does not exist.
The Uhuru 3 legal team will be appealing the conviction. The mixed verdict is not only inconsistent but illogical. One verdict contradicts the other. Obviously the Uhuru 3 could not have conspired to “act as Russian agents without notifying the Attorney General” because, as the jurors affirmed, they were never acting as Russian agents in the first place.
If the Uhuru 3 never worked for the Russian government, then how could any of their speeches, articles, petitions or demonstrations be considered evidence of a conspiracy to work for the Russian government?
The U.S. government conspired to attack the right to free speech and association!
The prosecutors argued that they had shown evidence of a conspiracy in the form of a written agreement between the Uhuru 3 to “commit an unlawful act.” In reality, their “evidence” was nothing more than notes from a meeting in September 2015 where Chairman Omali Yeshitela presented on the African People’s Socialist Party’s goals for the struggle for African freedom, including a plan to recruit thousands of African people into the Uhuru Movement.
There was not a shred of evidence of any agreement to commit an unlawful act; there was only evidence of an agreement to fight for Black freedom.
As a matter of law, it makes no sense. Therefore, it can only be understood politically. As Chairman Omali Yeshitela states, “This was a political trial, using political charges. The law was used as a vehicle for political punishment.”
What they have characterized as a criminal conspiracy is a centuries-long struggle by African people for national liberation, for African people to recapture control over their own resources, lives and destinies.
The U.S. government has historically weaponized the false charge of “conspiracy” to attack organizations struggling against colonialism and for African liberation, as well as others who fight against injustice and oppression.
Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale in 1968, the New York Panther 21 in 1969, and the New York 8 in 1984 that included Omowale Clay and Viola Plummer are examples of African freedom fighters who faced “conspiracy” charges for the “thought crime” of working for self-determination for African people.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela has faced similar charges throughout his revolutionary life, including charges in 1968 of “incitement to riot” after making a speech in Gainesville, Florida four days following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Chairman and his comrade Levy Wilcox were the first to be charged under a new law that became known as the “Joe Waller Law,” referring to the Chairman’s name at that time. Being charged under this law did not require that a riot had actually occurred, only that the Chairman had “wanted” a riot to happen.
Convicting the Uhuru 3 with “conspiracy” for making speeches about African liberation is an extremely dangerous assault on the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. If the Uhuru 3 are put in prison for their words, the First Amendment will not be worth the paper it’s written on. The prosecution of the Uhuru 3 is an attempt to set a precedent for the FBI to be able to attack and indict anyone who uses their voice to criticize the U.S. government.
The Uhuru 3 are scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing on November 25 in Tampa, Florida where they face up to five years in federal prison. When we fight, we win. The acquittal on the “foreign agents” charge was a historic victory. Now it is time to complete the victory by demanding that Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the Uhuru 3 must be free to continue fighting for reparations and justice for African people.
Take Action:
- Write for Justice: Letters to the Judge in Support of the Uhuru 3. Our goal is to gather at least 500 letters for each of the Uhuru 3 by the October 15th deadline. Your letters are critical in helping the court understand the positive impact of their decades-long fight for justice and self-determination. These letters to each person should be sent to their specific attorneys and will be used to argue for a lenient sentence at their sentencing hearing. Go to HandsOffUhuru.org/Letters
- Pack the Courthouse! Attend the Uhuru 3 sentencing in Tampa, Florida on Monday, December 16th. Go to HandsOffUhuru.org for more info.
- Donate to the Hands Off Uhuru Legal Defense Fund. Fund the ongoing fightback as we prepare to launch our appeal to overturn the bogus conspiracy conviction. Go to HandsOffUhuru.org/Donate.
Not one day in prison!
Hands off Chairman Omali Yeshitela!
Hands off the Uhuru 3!