Originally published on 05.13.20 by TORCHLIGHT,
an anarchist news website based here in Pittsburgh Photos stolen from City Paper
Yesterday [05.12.20] a caravan of almost 30 vehicles circulated downtown, demanding that Allegheny County Jail release prisoners, especially Black mothers, in light of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic. The action was organized by Dignity Act of PA. Protesters hung signs from their cars and honked as they circled the City-County Building beside the county courthouse. After about a half hour there, the caravan headed over to Allegheny County Jail, where they stopped in front until the cops ordered them to move and started handing out tickets. Organizers then held a press conference.
Corporate media coverage was typically sparse, again, in comparison to the flood of coverage given to the right-wing astroturfed “reopen” protests last month. Only City Paper and KDKA Radioreported on the caravan.
Inside the jail, little has changed. The jail’s oversight board recently voted not to do universal testing for coronavirus. Last week Chelsa Wagner, the county controller, wrote a blistering op-ed in the Post-Gazette calling out county executive Rich Fitzgerald for lack of transparency, and questioning the testing priorities of UPMC and county officials.
Currently, jail testing data indicates 28 out of 59 prisoners have tested positive, a 45% rate. This is actually lower than the 56% from a couple of weeks ago, raising the suspicion that the jail is manipulating the numbers downward somehow. Given the crowded conditions and the number of symptomatic individuals reported to be inside, it is very unlikely that the true positive rate is going down.
photo of ACJ inmates from a noise demo during the 2016 national prison strike
This report was originally published on 04.16.20 by TORCHLIGHT — Anarchist News From Pittsburgh
UPDATE 2: Contrary to our previous reporting, prisoners in ACJ can buy postage stamps, but the process to do so is byzantine. A family member must access the prisoner’s commissary account to buy the stamps, which are then delivered to the prisoner’s cell. We do not know how long this takes, but suspect the wait is lengthy.
UPDATE 1:Pittsburgh Current has published an articlefeaturing a current prisoner at ACJ that confirms much of our information, and further exposes the media coverup of the Covid-19 outbreak in the jail. 60 prisoners recently wrote and signed a letter to the media, which never appeared in any outlet. In addition a second jail employee, this one a CO who had contact with prisoners, has tested positive. ACJ has updated their statistics to reflect the new data, but has not made any further announcement. No other outlets than the Current have reported on the new case.
Torchlight has spoken with multiple sources with inside knowledge who describe increasingly horrific conditions inside Allegheny County Jail. Many prisoners have symptoms of Covid-19, but the jail’s web page indicates only 12 have been tested as of this writing. Not only have visits been canceled, but commissary purchases and most phone calls have also been cut off. With only two five-minute calls permitted per week and no way to buy stamps, contact with the outside world has become almost impossible, leaving prisoners with little ability to report on the inhumane circumstances of their confinement.
Torchlight has learned that ACJ has devoted an entire housing unit to presumed Covid-19 patients. Prisoners there are only allowed out of their cells for a few minutes a day to exercise and are not being taken to a hospital. They are also still being housed two to a cell, in cells far too small to allow for the six feet of separation recommended by the Centers for Disease Control. This is a violation of the jail’s own Covid-19 procedures policy, which states “The ‘at-risk’ individual shall be placed in a holding cell alone or with other symptomatic individuals if space does not allow for single cell housing.” Due to the recent population reductionat ACJ, space does indeed allow for sick prisoners to be single-celled, but instead all prisoners there have beenpacked into fewer housing units, making social distancing impossible.
Anyone who needs medical attention now has to visit the infirmary instead of having a nurse come to their cell, risking coming into contact with potential coronavirus carriers. In addition to being a public health hazard, this practice violate ACJ’s own policy for combating Covid-19, which states “Healthcare staff will be deployed to housing units to perform non-emergency healthcare requests, provider visits, or assist in other locations of the facility that have critical staffing needs.” Without being able to buy food at the commissary, the only dining option for prisoners is the cafeteria, where small tables and general lack of space add to the risk of infection.
The jail’s procedures do call for screening incoming inmates for fever, coughing, and other symptoms of Covid-19. However, they do nothing to address asymptomatic patients, such as testing for coronavirus, or the 14 day quarantine recommended by the CDC. New prisoners have been sent directly to work in the kitchen preparing meals for the entire population with no idea whether they were infectious or not. One source reports that only prisoners who hold jobs within the jail are having their temperatures taken. Any prisoner without a job has to visit the infirmary if they think they have a fever.
What sanitation is being done within the jail exacerbates prisoners’ vulnerability to Covid-19, because ACJ mandates the use of bleach. Fumes from the bleach solution used to clean surfaces are causing sickness and weakening respiratory systems already at risk.
In short, a major outbreak of Covid-19 appears to be on the verge of exploding in Allegheny County Jail, and jail officials are doing little except hiding their heads in the sand and issuing press releases. The 12 prisoners they have tested for coronavirus are 5 fewer than the number of ACJ staff who have received tests, despite staff being fewer in number. Of the 12 tested prisoners, four came up positive with one still pending. This represents at best a 33% positive rate, which is far higher than Allegheny County at large. Only one ACJ staff member has tested positive out of ten completed tests, a rate of 10%.
ACJ’s response has been to minimize the pandemic, hide conditions in the jail by cutting off contact with the outside, delay even the half measures they been forced to take as long as possible, and exaggerate their effectiveness. In this they have had the able assistance of most of the local media. For example, much has been made about the “over 900” releases in the last month – without taking into account the number of new prisoners who have been confined in that time. Pittsburgh Current (a notable dissenting voice) hasreleased a timelineof ACJ’s response to the pandemic that shows a clear pattern of pattern of delay, lies, and callousness. Historically ACJ has dealt with serious medical problems by letting the patient die and dealing with the PR fallout later. In a pandemic that approach will be even more lethal than in the past.
Photograph from a local march supporting the June 11th
International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners in 2017
CLICK HERE to donate to the
Bukit Community Bail Fund of Pittsburgh
“The Bukit Bail Fund of Pittsburgh is a coalation of individuals and organizations striving to provide support for those incarcerated at Allegheny County Jail, located in Pittsburgh, PA.
We hope to not just provide bail, but also to increase our capacity for supporting people after they have been released.
We are working to get people released from jail as quickly as possible. We call for an end to cash bail in Pittsburgh and everywhere. We believe no one should be in a cage.”
If you or someone you care about needs help paying bond in Allegheny County, please complete the form linked HERE.
You can also contact the Bukit Bail Fund by leaving a voicemail at 412-593-4355
The Bukit Bail Fund of Pittsburgh is named to honor the life of FRANK “BUKIT” SMART, JR.
Son of Tomi Lynn Harris; beloved brother, father of seven, and grandfather. He passed away onJanuary 5, 2015. A constant chess player who loved to fish, Frank wasfull of grace and lived life to the fullest. He was an amazing father and incredibly giving friend. He is missed every day, and his smile will always live in his loved ones’ hearts.
His preventable death was the result of restraints placed on him during a seizure at the ACJ. It is for him, and for all of us, that we fight for the abolition of all jails.
This is reposted on our website to promote the bail fund. The Bukit Bail Fund is not at all affiliated with the Filler distro.
This is an incomplete list of autonomous actions taken in solidarity with the (inter)national prison strike. It is comprised of several anonymous photo submissions and brief report-backs, all of which were sent in to Filler prior to the strike’s start on August 21st.
Abolitionist Yinzers
Today (8/12), an autonomous group of abolitionist yinzers hit the streets of Pittsburgh to promote solidarity with the upcoming national prison strike & call for police abolition.
Graffiti Actions
An Idea
The other night, a friend and I conspired over a sigil to support the prison strike. Later, after catching wind of the counter-repression phone blasts, they remembered a story about an anarchist who faxed thousands of copies of a black piece of paper to several prisons that repressed comrades on the inside. Later that night, after throwing our sigil up around town, we found a working fax machine.
All technology is already weaponized, might as well use it…
Against the prison state. Against a predictable life. Against civilization. Against consensus reality.
Against toner cartridges >:-)
We also wrote Eric King’s name on a bunch of shit. Much love.
Sometime after midnight on Saturday, August 18th, a dozen or so anarchists rolled up on a Skull Fest (it’s a punk fest) show with a sound system, flags, banners, and goodie bags full of road flares, black masks, and pamphlets about the National Prison Strike.
From August 21st (the anniversary of Nat Turner’s revolt and of the assassination of Black Guerrilla George Jackson) through September 9th (the anniversary of the Attica prison uprising), prisoners from all across the so-called united states are rising against the modern plantation system.
“Already, the strike has spread into Canada, and numerous facilities around the US are already seeing hunger strikes pop off as prisoners issue demands. Prison officials are also cracking down on various facilities, shutting them down, and locking up prison rebel leaders as deep in the hole as they can.”
Since we figured Skull Fest punx probably know shit is fucked and might be down (?), we took the opportunity to incite our friends on the outside to act in solidarity with our friends who are locked down on the inside. Even small gestures like ours can subvert the isolation of prison, inviting the unrest that’s too often locked and hidden behind walls into our streets.
Out of the large crowd, a few punx showed interest in joining the march, and some actually did for a bit, which was tight. But tbh most remained indifferent and just kinda stared at us. One jag yelled, “Burn out already!!” If only he knew how many times we have (: …but pamphlets about the strike were distributed to the fest goers, and a few fists were raised. Punk is dead, blah blah. ANYWAYS, the march made its way up on to fucking Butler Street. What’s good, hipsters?
After leaving the show, we marched a short ways through Lawrenceville, distributing literature to some (surprisingly receptive?) folks at a few hipster bars. We dispersed shortly after the cops arrived, but not before getting a few laughs in first—this one pig’s tough-guy “who’s in charge?” routine devolved into him jogging from person to person straight-up pleading for someone, anyone, to talk to him. He had this sorta desperate look on his face, clearly just couldn’t process it. Dude was shook as fuck. The authors of this report would also like to add that we hope he winds up like those two screws who got shanked at Allegheny County Jail the other day.
It’s been a hot summer in Pittsburgh, but as the homies at Torchlightwrite,
“[Pittsburgh’s new protest restrictions] make it obvious that the cops are gaining confidence and worrying less about Pittsburgh going up like Ferguson.”
Spontaneous, unpredictable actions do more than show solidarity and “raise awareness” — they disrupt the state’s ability to use threats of repression to siphon unrest into the professional Left’s array of dead-end “community” dialogues and electoral campaigns. The new protest guidelines threaten to criminalize radical individuals, crews, and organizations who continue to organize beyond the self-appointed leaders and managers of the various movements. Solet’s continue catching the pigs off guard, challenging their newfound confidence, and opening up space for further decentralized, autonomous action — by any means necessary.
Solidarity with everyone that’s still pushing the envelope in Pittsburgh. Solidarity with all prisoners.
Behind Enemy Lines probably said it better than us:
Immersed in political strategies Government policies create endless catastrophes and we all pay the price when our movement becomes stagnant, anchored by apathy We can’t just give up, we can’t just give in There are no wasted attempts when it comes to action The smallest act could cause a chain reaction that could bring this entire system down Light it up Ignite a spark Every single action could be the start It will take all of our efforts to get out of the dark You could be the one that offers hope and inspiration to everyone who feels defeated and moves the depleted towards motivation and helps the flame continue to burn The most important thing that we still need to learn is that we’re in this together, don’t shut out one another Don’t ever forget that we depend on each other
For this year’s day of solidarity with Eric King, anarchists in Pittsburgh PA threw his name up around the city with streaks and stickers. A banner was nailed up over a gross navy seal recruitment billboard in support of EK as well, because fuck the water pigs. The shit Eric went down for was an action in support of the Ferguson Uprising; in the wake of the murder of Antwon Rose Jr. by a killer cop here in Pittsburgh, his action resonates deeply right now especially.
Fuckin stay strong homie, Pitts loves you Eric!!!!
Love, Rage + Chaos Magik,
Some Anarchists in So-Called PA
WE dont have to
A Poem by Eric King
We dont have to accept this world
We dont have to be ok with the cammo bros
Destroying lives and invading worlds
We dont have to be ok with orange rapist
Becoming leaders
They dont have to be our leaders
We dont have to accept Veterans Day
We dont have to tip toe around these clowns
We dont have to Salute flags and Blue ribbons
We dont have to tolerate predators
We dont have to build fucking walls
and lock fucking cages
We dont have to stand by while this happens
We dont have to stay silent or submissive
We dont have to forget our friends
or pretend they are doing just fine
We dont have to ignore our mental issues
and act like we aren’t on the brink
We dont have to be ok with capitalism
We dont have to fucking buy everything
they push down our throats til were
gagging on god damn receipts
We dont have to laugh at rape jokes
We dont have to quietly endure ‘casual racism’
We dont have to be accept ‘locker room talk’
We don’t have to bow down
We dont have to close our eyes to whats happening
We dont have to belong and fit in
We dont have to devour our world
We dont have to hate and we dont have to stay angry
We dont have to do anything that doesn’t feel right
We dont have to give our support to things that make
Action report from the Fight Toxic Prisons convergence.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — On the heels of the 3rd Annual Fight Toxic Prisons Convergence, dozens of organizers, community members, and friends and family of currently- and formerly-incarcerated peoples marched through downtown Pittsburgh, making stops at the headquarters of EQT and ending at a power plant belonging to coal utility NRG Energy on the North Side. The demonstration concludes a weekend of lectures, workshops, and discussion about mass incarceration and its links to environmental health.
EQT Corporation, a major oil and gas company notorious for poisoning drinking water supplies across rural Appalachia, is one of the largest companies involved in fracking, with 793 active wells in Pennsylvania alone. They’re also one of the top ten worst polluters in the industry, according to a 2015 report published by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 2012, EQT received several charges for water pollution and disturbance of waterways, and a $1.1 million fine for poisoning drinking water supply sources through a shale pit leak at Rock Run in Tioga County, PA, and has received several other fines, violations, and complaints as well.
The march culminated in a rally at the NRG Energy Center calling attention to the health and human rights atrocities occurring at SCI Fayette, a state-run prison that currently houses 2,176 inmates. SCI Fayette was built in 2003, directly on top of a toxic coal ash dump that has been in operation for decades, receiving millions of tons of waste from coal processing companies, including NRG.
The inmate population of SCI Fayette, and the surrounding community of Labelle, PA, have reported alarmingly high rates of health issues linked to the ash that blows off the dumping site and into the surrounding air.
Richard Mosley, a member of Fayette Health Justice and Put People First PA and a former prisoner at Fayette, spoke to the crowd via telephone about his experiences there, including respiratory ailments and medical neglect. “I was admitted into the infirmary well over 10 times and at medical at least 40 times during my four years at SCI Fayette. My weight dropped down from 225lbs to 170lbs. I got so sick at one point that I kept a letter with me to send to my family in case I died.”
Other speakers at the rally highlighted campaigns and organizations working alongside and on behalf of prisoners everywhere, including Shandre Delaney of Human Rights Coalition (HRC), a prisoner-led human rights organization based in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA. HRC was a local host of the Fight Toxic Prisons Convergence.
Speaking to the crowd, Ms. Delaney said “HRC believes that it is critically important that prisoners are treated with humanity in every aspect of their incarceration. A prison sentence should not become a death sentence because of the lack of healthcare or the access to legal remedy or complaint of their treatment.”
HRC is involved in drafting legislation to end solitary confinement in Pennsylvania, as well as highlighting ongoing cases of abuse behind prison walls. They were also involved in co-producing a report on the toxic conditions at SCI Fayette with the Abolitionist Law Center, a legal advocacy nonprofit based in Pittsburgh.
More information about the Fight Toxic Prisons Convergence can be found at: FightToxicPrisons.org
From Pittsburgh to Washington DC: DROP THE CHARGES
Anarchist banner dropped in solidarity with the ACJ noise demo arrestees and Dane Powell. (circle A pictured on the left side of the banner)
Today in Pittsburgh, the 11 comrades arrested for allegedly demonstrating in solidarity with striking inmates at the Allegheny County Jail are scheduled to waste a perfectly good Friday in court. We dropped this banner in hopes that a few of yinz might see it on your way downtown. We sincerely love you, even if we don’t know you. Stay strong! The bastards aren’t invincible, no matter how many cops they can get to lie under oath. Who knows, maybe you’ll even catch a glimpse of justice, like the one we celebrated just last week when former ACJ inmate Andre Jacobs won an abuse settlement against the jail for nearly $300,000. Fire the warden, fire to the prisons!
**UPDATE** Charges dropped to summaries for at least 9 defendants!
Today, Dane Powell is far from his home in Florida. As preliminary hearings take place here in Pittsburgh, Dane will be in another courtroom in Washington DC, receiving his sentence after having plead down to felony riot and felony assault on a police officer. Dane faced the choice between a plea deal and the possibility of never seeing his kids again. On January 20th, 2017 – Day One of the Trump Regime – Dane (allegedly) joined one of the largest black blocs in US history todirectly confrontthe hetero-patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalist Empire on its home turf. He is one of over 200 comrades charged with multiple felonies for (allegedly) choosing to fight that day. While it may be too late to drop the charges, this banner is also for him. “We love you, stay strong, the revolution lives on!”
Solidarity with the rebel inmates at ACJ and everyone arrested at L&12 on J20.
*disclaimer* there is a circle A on the other side of the banner! we promise!
In the video below, you can see Dane carry a child through the crowd in search of a street medic after police indiscriminately attacked with chemical weapons. Other black bloc comrades can also be seen defending and shielding protestors from police violence. Click HERE to watch a mini-documentary / video montage that includes footage from both the ACJ noise demonstration and the J20 riots.
These judicial proceedings are an expression of the war that the authorities are waging on the bond between thought and action, which is the foundation of anarchism’s dangerousness. […] active solidarity is a fundamental element of our anarchist acting and relations of complicity aimed at the destruction of dominion. This form of solidarity goes beyond repression’s attacks, and is capable of not letting itself be suffocated by the specificity of the trajectories of struggle when we recognize ourselves in a common tension of attack. In particular, active solidarity is an essential instrument to respond to state violence and not take its blows passively but maintain a stance of attack, so as not to develop attitudes of victimization, which is what repression wants. Thinking in terms of offensive, of permanent and internationalist conflictuality beyond each one’s path, the risk of isolation can be reduced and one of the enemy’s most important goals can be made ineffective.
The insurrectionist’s response to state repression is to release the tension you feel, to find the frontline that weighs heaviest on your mind and attack. The frontlines are all around us: from the fucked up shit that the system pulls on us, to the fucked up shit that we pull on each other. Find a reason to get out of bed that offers something more than the day’s routine of work, school, court, addiction, or whatever other obligations we millennials face. Participation trophies all around.
We are calling for a Week of Solidarity with the J20 defendants from July 20 to 27, 2017. July 20 marks six months from the initial actions and arrests during Donald Trump’s inauguration, and on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court. The case has finally begun to receive the media attention it warrants; with this court date approaching and the cases underway, this is a crucial time for a second Week of Solidarity.
On January 20, 2017, thousands of people came to Washington, DC to protestthe presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. In the early morning, blockades shut down security checkpoints and discouraged people from attending the inauguration itself, while impromptu marches and direct actions occurred throughout the day. There was a spirit of defiance in the air.
Midmorning, an “anticapitalist and antifascist” march of several hundred people made clear its opposition not just to Trump but also the system that made Trump possible. Led by banners reading “MAKE RACISTS AFRAID AGAIN” and “TOTAL LIBERATION FROM DOMINATION,” the disruptive march took the streets of DC to the sound of fireworks and anticapitalist chants. After about half an hour, the march was brutally attacked by police, who used chemical and crowd control weapons along with physical force, then boxed in (“kettled”) and mass-arrested people. Everyone on an entire city block was arrested and given the same charge of felony rioting. Approximately 214 arrestees now face a total of eight felony charges, including conspiracy and destruction of property. All of the J20 defendants are now facing up to 75 years in prison.
A great deal has happened in the six months since the inauguration. Confrontational protests have taken place across the continent, challenging the political landscape shaped by Trump’s election. Participants have stood up to emboldened white supremacists, disrupted airports in the face of anti-Muslim bans, blockaded proposed pipeline routes, set up sanctuary spaces and rapid response networks against ICE deportations, and much more. In turn, states are passing legislation aimed at further criminalizing protest and limiting resistance.
The J20 case fits into this wave of repression. The police seized and hacked phones in an attempt to strengthen the government’s case, and subpoenaed social media accounts. They raided an organizer’s home in DC. Arrestees had their personal information leaked online. The prosecution filed additional charges, essentially accusing the entire group of breaking the same handful of windows. All this has disrupted the lives of the defendants in the J20 case, who have lost jobs, incurred legal expenses, and been forced to make repeated trips to DC. The majority of cases are now headed to trial, with a handful of trials set for November and December 2017 and the rest scattered throughout 2018. Despite the fact that the state forced a large number of strangers into this situation at random, the majority of defendants are working together, responding to the charges in a collective way.
In order to continue to build our capacity to counter state repression and strengthen our interconnected struggles, we are calling for a Week of Solidarity from July 20 to 27, 2017, to make support for the J20 defendants widely visible. July 20 marks six months since the initial actions and arrests; on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court.
DONATE HERE to support and welcome back our friends Maxx and Shea. Click HERE or HERE to read the report-backs from the action and subsequent arrests.
Banner hung at the foot-bridge of Duquesne, the private university that overlooks the county jail. It reads ABOLISH PRISONS. FUCK ACJ.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY JAIL IS A DEATH TRAP.
Since April of 2017, three inmates have died at the hands of Warden Harper due to abuse, neglect, and horrible health conditions. ACJ is Pittsburgh’s segment of the modern day slave plantation, murdering people while profiting the state.
In March, 80 inmates participated in a sit-down strike to protest the conditions inside the jail. On the outside, noise demos were organized in solidarity with the strikers which led to 11 arrests. Protesters are still facing charges. You can donate to the legal funds for the arrestees here: https://www.fundedjustice.com/71Dss1?ref=sh_b6YOs8
Although not affiliated, we stand in full solidarity with The ACJ Health Justice project, a local campaign fighting the conditions of the jail.
FIRE WARDEN HARPER. ABOLISH ALL JAILS. ABOLISH ALL PRISONS. THE FIGHT CONTINUES UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE.
Pittsburgh anarchists held a march in solidarity with anarchist prisoners on June 11th, 2017. Full marching band in tow, the group disrupted traffic patterns and whatever the fuck else gross yuppie shit goes down on Butler Street, Pittsburgh’s “hipster” strip. Banners in solidarity with Eric King, Marius Mason, and Fernando Bárcenas were on display, along with other anti-prison banners.
After the march, a picnic and info fair was held near by, where t-shirts and buttons were traded in exchange for commissary funds for Joseph Buddenberg, Nicole Kissane, Eric King, and Marius Mason.
