The Uhuru 3 — African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess and Uhuru Solidarity Movement Chair Jesse Nevel — were found not guilty in September of frame-up charges of acting as unregistered Russian agents. In a lesser charge, they were found guilty of conspiring to become Russian agents, which will be appealed.
Activists attend Uhuru 3 rally in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2023. Monica Moorehead holds Workers World Party sign. WW PHOTO: Joe Piette
The anti-imperialist movement won a significant political victory when, in the sentencing hearing on Dec. 16, the Uhuru 3 received no fines or jail time for these false charges.
U.S. District Court Judge William Jung sentenced them to three years probation and 300 hours of community service on the conspiracy conviction, which will be served by the three former defendants. They had faced a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine each for the most serious charge.
Chairman Omali stated on the Uhuru 3 website that, “The only reason we didn’t get prison time is because we fought back against this government attack. We fought! Our lawyers were outstanding! The jury affirmed that we work for Black people, not Russia.” (Dec. 17)
An injury to one is an injury to all!
On July 29, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted an illegal terrorist raid on the home of Yeshitela and his spouse with flash-bang grenades. The pretext for the raid was that the U.S. government had accused the three former defendants of alleged connections with a Russian national charged with “spreading propaganda in the United States.”
The APSP had attended a 2015 international conference, along with other progressive organizations inside and outside the U.S., in Moscow to learn the truth about the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine, which imposes an imperialist threat against Russia’s sovereignty.
Workers World issued a statement on Aug. 1, 2022, two days after the raid took place, in defense of the APSP. In part, the statement read: “The ruling classes of the U.S. and Western Europe have unleashed an avalanche of lies, trying to justify the U.S./NATO intervention and to blame Russia for every ill that occurs in the world. That the FBI attacks the antiwar movement here indicates that the U.S. rulers fear their Big Lie will fail.
“Under those conditions, it is not just the right but the duty of U.S. antiwar organizations to act against the U.S./NATO warmakers. This includes taking part in meetings in Russia.
“The FBI chose to attack the APSP, a Black organization, first. That is no surprise given the U.S.’s racist history.
“Workers World defends the APSP and calls on all anti-imperialist and antiwar organizations, on any who defend democracy in the United States, to do what is necessary to stop the persecution of the APSP leaders.” (workers.org/2022/08/65779/)
The fact that other progressive organizations came to the defense of APSP against this repression reflected the need for a united response, demonstrating that an injury against one individual or organization is an injury to all, no matter the differences in political views.
The U.S. ruling class and its repressive apparatus, including the FBI, will deploy any phony tactic to divide and weaken the antiwar movement in order to hold on to its crumbling empire.
The truth is that any organization could have found itself in a similar position as the APSP was in 2 1/2 years ago. What happened to the APSP is very reminiscent of the CounterIntelligence Program (COINTELPRO) initiated by the FBI that began during the Cold War in the early 1950s and targeted U.S.-based Black, Latine and Indigenous organizations fighting for social justice and national liberation. The tactics employed by this vicious campaign included phony legal frame-ups, wiretaps, infiltrations and outright murders of activists.
Workers World Party was proud to do its part in providing legal and political support for the Uhuru 3, prioritizing mass support above any organizational gains. It is this example of class solidarity that will lay the basis for helping to strike a blow against the divide and conquer system of imperialism on a global scale.
The writer spoke on behalf of WWP at an Uhuru 3 rally in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2023.