Black Dove Support Network: Two I-69 Resisters Arrested

Monday, May 11, 2009

Two I-69 Resisters Arrested

Two anti-I-69 organizers in Indiana were arrested by state police with the
assistance of the FBI Friday. Tiga and Hugh are both being charged with two
counts of conversion, two counts of intimidation and one count of corrupt
business influence, stemming from actions surrounding the I-69 campaign. Both
are being held in the Pike County, Indiana jail; the phone number there is
812-354-6024.
Support site plus donation info Questions: freetigaandhugh [at]
mostlyeverything.net
Original story posted at Chicago Indymedia/Infoshop.org Tiga's Arrest Warrant
PDF Hugh's Arrest Warrant PDF
Indiana statutes: Corrupt Business Influence (Class C Felony; Min. 2 years)
Intimidation (Class A Misdemeanor, Max 1 year) Conversion (Class A
Misdemeanor)
UPDATED INFORMATION 4/25:
In what appears to be the culmination of a several year long case the state has
been building against I-69 resistance, two Indiana residents, Tiga and Hugh,
were arrested this afternoon. Although the charges against the two include
individual acts, for the majority they are trumped up charges of conspiracy
leveled against any movement against I-69. You can read the sordid details in
their arrest warrants at mostlyeverything.net
In what appears to be the culmination of a several year long case the state has
been building against I-69 resistance, two Indiana residents, Tiga and Hugh,
were arrested this afternoon. Although the charges against the two include
individual acts, for the majority they are trumped up charges of conspiracy -
fairly explicitly, conspiracy to collectively organize, to challenge
environmental and social devastation perpetrated by the state and capital -
leveled against any (not easily recuperative) movement against I-69. Although
it appears that no other warrants have been issued, that for now no other
individuals will be facing the severe penalties these charges carry, it must be
noted that this brash move by the state is a most blatant affront to any
initiative towards social organization.

Tiga, a long time Indiana resident, was arrested early today as she appeared in
Gibson County court on charges stemming from anti-I-69 actions this past
summer. The arrest was made by the Indiana State Police, including Officer Brad
Chandler, a particularly slimy scumbag whose full time job it is to harass
environmental activists. Tiga is being held on $10,000 cash bond by the state
police on five charge: 2 counts of intimidation, 2 counts of conversion (all
misdemeanors) and 1 count of corrupt business influence (a class C felony). She
is currently being held in the Pike County jail (812-354-6024), though it’s
possible she’ll be moved around.

A couple hours after Tiga was accosted at the courthouse, Hugh was arrested in
northern Indiana by a US marshal driving an unmarked vehicle. Rather than
pulling over the vehicle Hugh was traveling in, the cop trailed the car for
some unknown duration waiting for it to stop, then arrested Hugh outside of a
gas station. He was then taken to join Tiga in the Pike County jail, where he
is being held on $20,000 cash bond. His charges are the same as Tiga's, though
many of the details of their warrants differ.

Clearly, lots of help is needed to come up with the $30,000 bond. Whether or
not we can get this figure lowered (included in the state's reasoning about
having such a high bond was the fact that Hugh was known to distribute
anarchist literature), much financial support will be needed for legal fees, as
the two fight charges carrying a maximum of eight years. You can donate online
at
mostlyeverything.net
, or via mail to The Future, PO Box 3133, Bloomington, IN, 47402. Emails can be
sent to freetigaandhugh@
mostlyeverything.net
These arrests are an obvious continuance and escalation of the harassment of
anti-I-69 activities in southern Indiana. People in both Evansville and
Bloomington have been systematically targeted by myriad law enforcement
agencies from throughout the state as well as by federal agencies. Nearly 20
folks are still held captive by the court system, facing both criminal and
civil legal pressures stemming from last summer. As the state tries to squash
its opposition by ensnaring individuals in isolating court cases, by monitoring
and threatening individuals to try to pinpoint ‘leaders’ or groups
responsible, it is important to recognize that every such instance of
individual repression is easily and effectively repression of all resistance.
To counter such repression with honest reflection on its functioning and on how
action might challenge rather than support this repression, is to stand in
solidarity with Tiga and Hugh, with the best things they or we might fight for.
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20090424221248188

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What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

What is the Prison Industrial Complex? The prison industrial complex (PIC) is a complicated system situated at the intersection of governmental and private interests that uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. The PIC depends upon the oppressive systems of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, industry and labor issues, policing, courts, media, community powerlessness, the imprisonment of political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.How the PIC WorksTo fully describe the PIC, we have to look at the big picture of how it functions. For example, the prison construction boom can be linked to, among other factors, the huge increase in the number of people sentenced to prison terms with the onset of the war on drugs, the repression of radical movements by people of color for self-determination, and the anti-imperialist struggles of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The "war on drugs" and the national and local efforts to destroy radical political movements led to increasing police presence in communities of color and poor communities, higher arrest rates, and longer prison sentences.This boom is also fueled by dramatic and racist reporting about "crime," "delinquency," and "rebellion," creating a culture of fear in which it continues to be acceptable and desirable to many people to lock people (primarily people of color, youth, and poor people) in cages for longer and longer in the interest of "public safety." The way the many parts of the PIC interact is exactly what makes it so powerful and destructive. In order to fight this system, we have to see it for all that it is and recognize what drives and shapes it.Fighting the PICFighting the PIC means fighting the mainstream ideas of public safety and challenging the idea that police, prisons, and the court system make people who are not in power safer. At the same time, we must create alternative ideas of security based on the safety of the people most affected by the PIC.The United States currently imprisons around 2 million people. About 6.5 million people are presently under some form of supervision within the criminal justice system. Women represent the fastest rising prison population. Since 1980, the number of women imprisoned in the U.S. has risen by almost 400 percent. Racism continues to be a major factor in the United States, illustrated by policies and programs that sustain white supremacy. Racism, as it is used through criminal laws that target people of color, is essential to the PIC, not accidental.Prisons Are Not an Answer to CrimeThe wrongdoings we call crime do not exist in the same ways everywhere and are not "human nature". What is considered a crime is determined by the societies we live in. Because we have seen over and over again that locking more people in cages does not reduce crime, we must understand the power relationships that lead society to lock up only certain people. Since prisons do not stop problems like poverty, racism, or drug addiction, we cannot expect them to stop crime. We need to understand that we have no option but to fight and continue to fight until all of the different parts of the PIC that continue to put our survival in danger are eliminated.The Movement Against the PICThe movement against the PIC runs the risk of being shaped by easy victories or simplified struggles that do not recognize and fight the whole system. We must go beyond false separations, such as "non-violent" versus "violent" that place prisoners in opposition to each other. One important place to begin to fight the PIC is by pushing the movement to a more complete race, class, and gender analysis. We cannot allow ourselves to do short-term work that undermines our long-term vision and goals, or rely on the same systems of oppression and domination that sustain and drive the PIC to influence "mainstream" voters and decision makers. In order to do this work, we must continue to create spaces for people with different points of view to have honest discussions and disagreements about directions the movement against the PIC should take.What We Are ForSince we are so frequently asked what we are "for" rather than "against," the struggle against prisons, police, repression, punishment, and the criminalization of entire communities must display a clear vision that a world without the PIC is possible. One way to define and shape what we are for is through creating a culture of resistance, or a culture and society that fill all the different parts of our lives with alternatives to the culture of imprisonment. A new culture must nurture and sustain our struggle and provide space for political education, conversation and debate about what we are doing and what we need to do in the future.In order to figure out why people get locked up and under what circumstances, we need to look at what are sometimes called "root causes." This strategy requires looking at the competing priorities of the systems in which we live and understanding why they work well for some and horribly for others. The systems of race, class, gender, and sexuality, for instance, are commonly understood as privileging some people's needs and ideals over others. By exploring why and how those systems work for some and not for others, we can begin to develop a better understanding of how to include concrete steps in our work that deal with the negative effects of these systems on the people who are most often put in cages.To oppose the PIC, activists must work on both theoretical and practical levels. We cannot only engage in single-issue struggles, because all the issues intersect. How can we best create social change in an era of globalization? The voices of today's radical activists, particularly activists of color, must be at the front of the fight against the PIC. Those who are most affected by the system must be the ones planning its end.Organizing against the PIC is as much about building something as it is about fighting what is destroying our communities. Our organizing is also an ongoing effort to create alternatives, not only to imprisonment, but to the culture of punishment we've become so used to.

Black Dove Support Network

Monday, May 11, 2009

Two I-69 Resisters Arrested

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What is the Prison Industrial Complex?

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