a guide to political prisoners
a growing list highlighting a few of the many political prisoners who have been incarcerated in the u.s. and many still fighting for liberation.
more prison abolition study materials:
Ruchell “Cinque” Magee
Ruchell Magee is the longest held political prisoner in the U.S., having been locked up since 1963. Politicized in prison, he later participated in the Marin County Courthouse Rebellion, the attempted liberation of political prisoner George Jackson.
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The Pendleton 2
John C. “Balagoon” Cole (left) and Christopher “Naeem” Trotter (right), who led a politicized group of fellow inmates called the Black Dragons, were wrongfully convicted in a 1987 trial.
Balagoon was given the harshest possible sentence, the maximum term of eighty-four years—twenty years for each count of criminal confinement and four years for rioting with the sentences running consecutive to one another.
Naeem was found guilty on seven separate felonies and Judge Newman also sentenced him to the maximum possible term of 142 years—the maximum for each sentence with the sentences running consecutively to one another.
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Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald
Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, born and raised in Compton, California, joined the Southern California Chapter of the Black Panther Party in early 1969 as a teenager who had just been released from the California Youth Authority. After 51 long years persisting in the corrupt California prison system, former Black Panther Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald passed away on March 29 at the age of 71.
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Fred “Muhammad” Burton
Fred Burton is one of the Philly 5; held as political prisoner since 1970. Prior to his incarceration, Fred worked for a phone company and his wife was preparing to have twins, his third and fourth child.
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Edward Poindexter
Edward Poindexter has been held as prisoner since 1971. Poindexter and the late Wopashite Mondo Eyen we Langa are referred to by some supporters as the "Omaha 2."
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Kamau Sadiki
Kamau Sadiki is a former member of the Black Panther Party. At the age of 17 he dedicated his life to the service of his people. He worked out of the Jamaica, Queens office of the Black Panther Party.
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Herman Bell
Herman Bell was a member of the Black Panther Party held as prisoner from 1973-2018.“So my dear brothers and sisters, if we accept that ours is a protracted struggle, let us not lose sight of that, then and now. Let us ask ourselves: are our demands and goals the same as they were back then? Several generations have been born since the Party's demise. Time brings change."
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Assata Shakur
“I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government's policy towards people of color. I am an ex political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984. I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. “
assata was held as prisoner from 1973 until her escape in 1979.
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Sundiata Acoli
Sundiata Acoli was born in 1937 in Vernon, Texas, a small town below the Panhandle, where he grew up. He has been held as prisoner since 1973. Finally granted parole in 2022.
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Russel Maroon-Shoatz
Russell Maroon Shoatz is a dedicated community activist, founding member of the Black Unity Council, former member of the Black Panther Party and soldier in the Black Liberation Army. He is serving multiple life sentences as a US-held political prisoner/prisoner of war. Held as prisoner from 1973 to 2021 -- when he was granted passionate release. he passed away 52 days later, on Dec 17th 2021.
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Veronza Bowers
Veronza Bowers Jr. is a former Black Panther Party member. He has been held as prisoner since 1973.
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Kojo Bomani Sababu
Kojo Bomani Sababu is a New Afrikan Prisoner of War. He has been held as prisoner since 1975.
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Jalil Muntaqim
A former member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) held as prisoner from 1975 - 2020. After 49 years of incarceration, he was finally released on parole in October 2020—less than two weeks before his 69th birthday.
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Leonard Peltier
A leader and activist in the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 45 years as of 2022. Peltier participated in the AIM encampments on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He has been held as prisoner since 1977.
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The MOVE 9
The MOVE Organization is a family of strong, serious, deeply committed revolutionaries founded in Philadelphia. 9 members of MOVE were held as prisoners from 1978 until around 2018/2019. Some members had passed away before and/or after their release including Chuck, Delbert, and Phil.
The MOVE 9 included
Merle Austin Africa
Charles "Chuck" Sims Africa
Debbie Sims Africa
Edward Goodman Africa
Janet Holloway Africa
Janine Phillips Africa
Delbert Orr Africa
Michael Davis Africa
Phil Africa
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Mumia Abu-Jamal
A journalist and political activist in 1968 he became one of the founding members of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party, committed to African American empowerment and self-defense. He has been held as prisoner since 1981.
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David Gilbert
American radical organizer, author and prisoner David Gilbert was a founding member of Columbia University Students for a Democratic Society and member of The Weather Underground organization. Held as prisoner from 1981 and released Nov. 2021.
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Mutulu Shakur
Mutulu Shakur was born on August 8, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland as Jeral Wayne Williams. At age seven he moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York City with his mother and younger sister. Shakur’s political and social consciousness began to develop early in his life. He has been held as prisoner since 1986.
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Xinachtli Luna Hernandez
Alvaro Luna Hernandez (born May 12, 1952) is a Chicano liberation and prison abolition activist from Alpine, Texas. He has been held as prisoner since 1997.
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Oso Blanco (Byron Chubbuck)
While his Cherokee name is Yona Unega (White Bear), from growing up in New Mexico he is used to being called Oso Blanco (White Bear in Spanish). He has been held as prisoner since 1999.
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Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (born Hubert Gerold Brown; October 4, 1943), formerly known as H. Rap Brown, was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and during a short-lived (six months) alliance between SNCC and the Black Panther Party, he served as their minister of justice. He has been held as prisoner since 2000.
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Simon Trinidad
Simón Trinidad was a banker and a college professor from a prominent family in the department of Cesar, Colombia. He has been held as prisoner since 2004.
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Abdelhaleem Ashqar
A Palestinian who advocated for the liberation both in Palestine and in the US. He was held as prisoner from 2007, and is believed to be released between 2017-2018.
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Reverend Joy Powell
As a pastor and a consistent activist against police brutality, violence and oppression in her community in New York. She has been held as prisoner since 2007.
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Marius Mason
Marius Mason (formerly Marie Mason) is a transgender, environmental and animal rights activist. They have been held as prisoner since 2008.
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Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. These leaks included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video, the Afghanistan war logs, the Iraq war logs , and Cablegate. After the 2010 leaks, the United States government launched a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks.
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Edward Snowden
Edward Joseph Snowden is an American former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and subcontractor. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments, and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy.
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Josh Williams
Josh Williams is the only remaining political prisoner from the Ferguson/St. Louis uprisings. He was an on-the-ground activist and protester that helped lead one of the largest movements against police violence in modern history. A few months after his 19th birthday, he was convicted and sentenced to a crime with almost no evidence. His unjust and harsh sentence was an attempt to intimidate the movement and make an example out of him. Josh has continued to speak truth to power and use his voice to unify communities against oppression.
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Josh’s statement in June 2020 (Hamtonthink.org)
‘God Let Me See Another Day’ Interview (St.Louis NPR)
‘Ferguson protestor wants to be free’ (GQ Interview, 2020)
Petition to free Josh (MoveOn.org)
Letter Writing Support Q&A (youtube)
Daniel Baker
a Florida judge sentenced Daniel Baker, an anti-fascist activist, to 44 months in federal prison for social media posts that called for armed defense against possible far-right attacks on the state’s Capitol in the wake of the January 6 riots.
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Ana Belén Montes
Ana Belén Montes born February 28, 1957) is a former American senior analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency in the United States who spied on behalf of the Cuban government for 17 years.
On September 21, 2001, Montes was arrested and subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit espionage for the government of Cuba. Montes pleaded guilty to spying and in October 2002, was sentenced to a 25-year prison term followed by five years' probation.
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Aafia Siddiqui
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was a Pakistani neuroscientist with degrees from MIT and Brandeis University.
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affia siddiqui deserves a fair trial (amnesty)
tale of affia sadiqui (guardian)
The Holy Land 5
The charity was founded in California in 1989 and provided aid to a number of Palestinian causes. It also offered help to refugee communities in Jordan, Lebanon and other needy people across the Middle East and the rest of the world.
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Bill Dunne
Bill Dunne is an anti-authoritarian sentenced to 90 years for the attempted liberation of an anarchist prisoner in 1979.
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Michael “Rattler” Markus
Oglala Lakota tribal member Michael Markus (Rattler) was charged alongside 5 indigenous water protectors that aided others in the resistance camps engaging in nonviolent direct action to stop the desecration and construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) near the Standing Rock reservation in the years 2016-2017.
To learn more about Rattler and how to support him, please visit his Support Committee website here. Supporters can make a financial contribution directly to Rattler here. You can also make a financial contribution to the legal defense for Rattler and the other Water Protectors facing federal charges here.
Jeremy Hammond
Jeremy Hammond is an anarchist computer engineer from Chicago. He is the founder of the computer security training website HackThisSite, created in 2003 following his graduation from Glenbard East High School.
In November 2013, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for leaking the personal information of 860,000 customers of private intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) through the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. This information revealed that Stratfor spies on activists, among others, at the behest of corporations and the U.S. government.
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Ramsey Muñiz
Ramiro "Ramsey" Muñiz, a former athlete, graduate of Baylor Law School, and attorney, defended civil and human rights during the Civil Rights Movement. He ran for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974, and his political efforts brought positive advancements for Mexican Americans, Chicanos, and Hispanics. He suffered for it. He is serving a sentence of life without parole.
***Update: Released December 2018***
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The NATO 3
Church, Chase, and Betterly, are the so-called "NATO 3." According to prosecutors, the three are self-proclaimed anarchists and members of "Black Bloc," a band of protesters who typically mask their faces to avoid identification. They were arrested prior to the start of the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago.
Eric King
Eric King is a vegan anarchist political prisoner who has been imprisoned since 2016. Eric is also a dad, a poet, and a committed activist who has faced state violence for his stances.
On March 3, 2016, Eric accepted a non-cooperating plea agreement to one count of using “explosive materials to commit arson” and on June 28, 2016 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His estimated release date is December 27, 2023.
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Matthew DeHart
Matt is a former US Air National Guard drone team member and alleged WikiLeaks courier who worked with the hactivist group Anonymous.
Jaan Laaman
Jaan Karl Laaman (born 1948) is an American political activist convicted of various charges, including a 1982 attempted murder of a police officer. He was a member of the United Freedom Front. Laaman has been locked in Federal prisons since 1986.
Red Fawn
Red Fawn Fallis was sentenced to 57 months in prison on charges stemming from her arrest while opposing the Dakota Access pipeline.
“Red Fawn was singled out by law enforcement at Standing Rock — and, sadly, she wound up bearing the brunt of police and state anger over our resistance. Of course, we know the real criminals are the oil companies and those in government and law enforcement who aid and abet their destruction of Mother Earth,” Chase Iron Eyes from the Lakota Law Project said.'
***Update: released September 2020***