Demand Anthony Gay’s Communication Access Be Immediately Restored!
The National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression calls on all of our branches and affiliates to stand with Anthony Gay against the brutal repression he’s currently facing. Anthony is presently being denied access to communication with his family and supporters and needs our urgent action to demand that access be restored.
Anthony Gay is a political prisoner and freedom fighter. He spent 22 years in solitary confinement in Illinois prisons, fought to free himself and won, and went on to become an advocate of ending the unfettered use of solitary confinement in Illinois prisons, a tool of racist and political repression against the incarcerated. In response to his advocacy, he was targeted by the police in Rock Island, Illinois, and reincarcerated on a false gun charge. Due to the claim that the weapon Anthony was falsely charged with possessing crossed state lines, the charges he faced were federal. Despite achieving a hung jury in his first federal trial while representing himself, Anthony faced an all-white jury at his second trial and was convicted of these false charges and sentenced to 7 years in the federal prison system (Bureau of Prisons).
Anthony’s family and supporters have not heard from him since October 2023, and recently learned that he had been transferred from Terre Haute federal prison in Indiana to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP) without their knowledge. Due to Anthony’s past experience with extended isolation, denying him access to communication with the outside world is particularly detrimental to his health. But more than that, it is a violation of his rights, and we must stand with Anthony in demanding his access to communication be restored.
At our 2023 National Conference, the National Alliance agreed to take this case up as a national priority, fighting for Anthony’s freedom and to end the conditions he struggles against within the racist criminal legal system. We call on all our branches and affiliate organizations, and all those who care about justice, to mobilize pressure against the Bureau of Prisons by contacting the Warden of U.S. MCFP, Eric Williams, and the office of the North Central Region of BOP, to demand Anthony’s communication be restored immediately. Let’s make our message known that we will not stand by while Anthony is subjected to the continuous torture of isolation! All out for Anthony Gay! All Power to the People!
Frank Chapman
Executive Director, National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression