On December 16, 2024, Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel, and Penny Hess, known as the Uhuru 3, were sentenced to three years’ probation and three hundred hours of community service, as their crowd of supporters outside chanted: “Not one day [in jail]”. The trial of Uhuru 3 is one of the most important First Amendment cases in recent history.
The three had been convicted in September 2024 on fabricated, politically motivated charges of conspiracy after the jury found them innocent of the more serious and FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) related charges of supposedly conspiring with the Russian government to interfere in U.S. elections.
While we believe that there should have been no sentence handed down, indeed there should have been no prosecution on these baseless charges, the trial judge’s refusal to impose any prison time is a clear victory for the Uhuru Movement and for the fight against increased US repression.
The federal indictment had alleged that the Uhuru Movement worked on behalf of the Russian government to spread pro-Russian propaganda and influence local elections, without registering as a foreign agent under Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)-related statute, 18 USC 951.
From the start, this was clearly a political prosecution and a political trial. The State’s goal in charging the Uhuru 3 with being “foreign agents” was larger than convicting these three defendants. It was part of a larger political goal to discredit speech that the US government does not agree with, in particular, speech by Black people against U.S. foreign policy.
The not guilty verdict on the “Russian agents” charge means that the jurors found that the defendants’ advocacy for the liberation of Africa and African people and in opposition to NATO’s expansionism in Ukraine were legitimate First Amendment activities. The jury clearly rejected the absurd implication that Black people require leadership from Russia to define and lead the struggle to end domestic colonialism and US imperialism abroad.
Seeing the jury’s inconsistent and incomprehensible verdict finding Uhuru 3 guilty of conspiracy, i.e., of “planning to sow discord and inflame American political tensions at the behest of Russia,” yet not guilty of being Russian agents, the judge refused the government’s attempt to lock up an important part of the Black liberation movement. He went so far as to find that the actions of the Uhuru 3 were protected political speech that should not be chilled by the government.
The prosecution of the Uhuru 3 threatened all US anti-imperialist and internationalist individuals and movements. Their victory is a victory for all of us who speak out against our government’s racist and imperialist policies.
However, this is just one victory in a long ongoing battle. Similar false charges have already been levied to try and intimidate rising political dissent in the Palestinian solidarity and anti-cop city movements. Samidoun — The Palestine Prisoner Support Network — has recently been declared a terrorist organization by the Treasury Department, part of the latest iteration of a resurgent McCarthyism, with claims of terrorism being the new anti-communism. Sixty one Stop Cop City protesters are facing RICO charges in Atlanta.
We cannot be intimidated. We must continue to speak out, to organize, and to make alliances internationally as we resist racism, white supremacy, genocide, and imperialism. We must continue to exercise our rights as the State— whether Democratic or Republican— tries to deny them and to criminalize us.
Our movement will not be intimidated!
