In this video you can hear Mel talking about what it means to receive letters whilst in prison. Mel Broughton spent quite a few years locked up (and a good few afterwards on tag) for their actions to further animal liberation. He is a good reference to explain why letters to prisoners are so incredibly important.
In this times of lockdown and widespread actions to contain a virus, prisoners have it hard. In many prisons a “two week lockdown” has been imposed, where folks have to stay 24 hours a day locked up in the cell. No access to anything else, no access to the outside, to a cafeteria where they might be able to swap their yogurt for an apple, no access to showers, to library, nothing. It is a hard time and you can do something about it.
The first part of this call to action is for you to write to a prisoner, or two. Maybe make it a daily routine where you write something for someone each day and post a bulk of letters once a week. It is up to you, but send some letters to prisoners. You can find a few addresses on our website under “prisoner support”.
The second part of this call to action is more specific. Leonard Peltier was locked up in 1977 under completely fabricated evidence accused of the murder of two police officers. Although since then it has been proved that ballistics, forensics, testimonies and even the murder weapon was completely fabricated by the FBI, the courts have always denied a second trial. His release date is non existent as court recoded his sentence as “life”. The only reason for this is because Leonard is a resilient native rights activist.
He has multiple underlying health conditions that make him vulnerable to any viral outbreak in prison. Due to the fact that the US Attorney General has given the power to the Director of Bureau of Prisons to release vulnerable prisoners to home confinement, we should all do some effort and help Leonard get back home, where he can be safe and at least, a little safe.
You can read all the details about what to write and where to write to in the link below:
http://www.abcf.net/blog/covid-letters-needed-for-leonard-peltier
Please, please, please put some effort into this. Help folks in prison. Tell them you’re there for them. Do not let them feel that the system has made them invisible.
SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON.
UA
