In Contempt #54: Oakland Abolition & Solidarity on Hunger Strike in California, June 11th, Mahmoud Khalil Freed

In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Interview with Oakland Abolition & Solidarity on California Hunger Strike 

A major hunger strike recently took place within the California prison system, after prison officials implemented a harsh lock-down. You can read the full hunger strike statement and demands here.

Commenting on the strike, Oakland Abolition & Solidarity wrote:

Two yards of the four at SVSP are participating in this strike so far – B yard, C-lower and some of C-upper. We don’t have a firm number of strikers but can estimate just from the size of the facility that 500-800 people could be on hunger strike so far.

• Once the pending lockdown was announced inside Wed. 6/11, talk of planning a hungerstrike started circulating. Admin got word of it and expedited shutting down phone calls and tablet communications.
• This is significant and a major event. Hunger strikes happen here and there but usually are undertaken by individuals or small adhoc groups. This is happening on high level GP yards in a mass fashion so that means the inside structures are involved, not just adhoc or desperate groupings.
• This is organized and their statement is clear, targeted and powerful. It is up to people on the outside to meet the moment and organize along with them.

We will be doing what we can to support the hunger strike. Expect calls to action and support requests through our networks, socials and this email list. If you are seeing this and aren’t subscribed our email updates, you can do that HERE.

They also recommend a youtube video from Homie Hangout for further coverage of the strike.

SoCal FTP have re-shared a statement from a prisoner at CSP-Lancaster, which was written in response to a previous statewide lockdown, as well as a kite for the SVSP strike leadership. You can read a detailed account from an earlier California work strike here. Wanting to learn more about what happened, we reached out to Oakland Abolition & Solidarity to get a better understanding about the scope of the strike.

In Contempt (IC): So what happened last week in several dozen prisons in California and why?

Oakland Abolition and Solidarity (OAS): So on June 11th, Wednesday, it was announced by CDCR, the state prison system, that a statewide lock-down would be implemented on all level 3 and level 4 yards. Those are the higher-security yards. They didn’t use the word lock-down, in the typical DOC garbage speak and semantic warfare, they call it “modified program” now, because lock-down has certain associations. But it amounts to no visitation, no programming, that’s no education or movement, no phone calls, no e-messaging on tablets – essentially no packages, no nothing. Being escorted to showers and, at level 4s, you’re escorted in shackles. That’s if you get showers. So it’s a lock-down.

This, in our system, being as big as it is, amounts to at least 34,000 people, which is the size of a fair-sized town, statewide, all restricted to their cells. Like, locked up with their cellie, or by yourself if you’re single-cell. So, in immediate response to this, well let’s first say, CDCR’s claim, again in their DOC garbage speak, they claimed it was due to an “uptick,” quote-unquote of killings, violence, contraband. But of course, when not lying by direct statement, they’re lying by omission – attempting to figure out why they’re doing this is always a task of analysis, and experience with the system, knowing what’s going on in the yards, and a fair amount of speculation and guessing.

One thing that is different, there has been an “uptick,” I don’t want to use their language, but there has been a good number of killings inside, but also, notably, of direct attacks on guards. So, our suspicion is that, in addition to whatever other motives they have, in the perpetual antagonism and warfare against the inmate population that CDCR’s engaged in, that this was also a gesture of not only regaining control, but of essentially making overtures to the guard union, and of trying to re-establish a line, of non-hostility towards the guards. But again, it’s mostly speculation, when you have the state and all its agencies never really engaged in candor or explanation, but instead in deception and obscuring what’s going on, or even worse in re-encoding whatever is going on, into their own idiom and language. It’s still kind of up in the air what exactly triggered this.

PROTIP: Best innoculation against flipping out : Putting in work, levelling up

— Oakland Abolition & Solidarity (@oaklandabosol.bsky.social) 2025-07-04T01:52:25.736Z

IC: Prison officials have stated this is in response to rising violence and contraband, what’s the reality?

OAS: Well, on the 26th, CDCR put out another press release, where they actually, inside of calling it a system-wide shakedown and searches, they call it a “proactive public safety sweep.” A new level of newspeak. And their claims about the violence, there have been a number of fatalities inside, all of it lateral, but I’ll just make a few points about what’s going on, with not only their press release, but these claims.

So, their claims that they make in this press release remain un-interrogated. By any media or any outside body. Except perhaps us, or of course prisoners and prisoners’ families. The number of killings and contraband seized in their sweep, where they’re shaking down cells on lockdown, are un-compared to any kind of baseline or normal level of contraband and violence in the system, which is pretty constant.

All the instances that they claim or point to, are un-moored from any kind of particularity or context, and also are completely disassociated from CDCR’s own decision-making, that helped actually contribute to many of these incidents popping off. Their decisions essentially placed incompatible people in the same cells, or in other particulars, they essentially contributed to many of these other incidents that happened, but that’s kind of normal practice, in a massive bureaucratic prison system.

And also, we have to point to, essentially the CDCR controls nearly all of the variables and all the facets of the inside environment, and essentially engage in all the things that contribute to violence, like isolation, hopelessness, brutality, trauma, neglect, hierarchy, disciplining by violence contributes to responsive violence. They control all that. So in a general sense, when not directly instigating violence, they set the stage for it. So all of this has been un-interrogated by outside media sources, there have been half-hearted attempts by a couple of news platforms that have at least included voices that were supportive of prisoners, or question their narrative, but that’s about it.

IC: How have prisoners in Salinas, CA responded?

OAS: Well, once word got inside that this mass lock-down was taking place across the state, which is particularly notable, these things don’t happen that often, they’ve happened before, but this is by far the most restrictive and widespread restriction or disciplinary action we’ve seen. It’s basically the most restrictive policy instituted since COVID.

But once we learned in Salinas Valley, on a couple yards, they immediately started talking about organizing a hunger strike or response on the yard. They were all about to get lock-down, with no end in sight, and once CDCR, the jailers, essentially heard about this talk, because of 1) surveillance, and 2) probably people telling – snitches, they immediately expedited shutting off all the tablets and phone calls, which was kind of slowly being implemented. But when administration and guards heard that something was cooking, they immediately clamped down.

On the 13th, it was broadcast that half of C Yard and B Yard at Salinas Valley had declared a hunger strike and had gotten a statement out that very clearly and powerfully argued, on primarily legal and constitutional grounds, arguing their case and declaring an indefinite hunger strike. This, by our estimates, considering the population of those yards, would be about 500 people. You know, but it’s just guessing.

We don’t actually know how many people are on hunger strike, because CDCR have so far not admitted that anyone has been put on hunger strike protocol, which happens once you’ve refused 9 meals, and 2 or more people are acting in concert, that’s when you’re put on a hunger strike protocol. Which entails medical supervision and watching, etc. And so we’ve received no other updates through any kind of channels from the inside hunger strikers, largely due to, you know, all phone calls and e-messaging being cut off, but also probably because of the increased surveillance and shakedowns going on right now, that people inside are basically laying low, and not trying to get word out through any other channels.

So as to what’s going on right now, we don’t know. We can only guess.

IC: Do you see these actions spreading to other facilities?

OAS: Um, I don’t know. Again, more speculation. I don’t think so, at this point, at level threes, it’s been over two weeks since the initiation of the lock-down, all the lower-security yards are level threes, have been put back onto normal program, after having all their cells flipped and the searches sweeped through their yards. So they’re being put back on normal program. All level fours are still locked down.

But for these things to spread, then other people have to hear about them, and also organize. And yards and inside structures have their own organizational methods, and kind of mini-society inside. Without comms or ability to circulate or talk to each other, or at least having those means severely restricted, really impedes the ability for other people to organize hunger strikes, or to give the green light for everyone to get to participate.

There have been rumors of small groups here and there in another facility also joining the hunger strike, but those aren’t confirmed.

IC: Are prisoners making any specific demands for support, or do you have any suggestions for how people can add to the pressure on CDCr?

OAS: Well, in the text of their hunger strike, they made kind of a general request for support, in that, quote:

Journalists, prison rights organizations, and the concerned public,… Members of the California legislature… Oversight entities, Legal advocates and civil rights attorneys etc… We urge these bodies to intervene, investigate CDCR’s repeated failure to follow its own regulations and constitutional obligations, and support the restoration of humane and lawful conditions within the California prison system.

So there aren’t specific requests for support at this point, largely because of lack of communication and updates. There’s been a petition circulated by family groups, other groups have called for certain things to be instituted, but we do not organize or speak for prisoners. At Oakland Abolition & Solidarity, we collaborate with people inside, so we’re not gonna pull the trigger except on the most basic support and media work, until we actually speak to folk inside.

So I would stay tuned to our newsletter and our channels to see if there are any calls for support, but I would suspect that the thing to get ready for at this point is for anti-repression work against retaliation for participating in the hunger strike. Because I suspect SVSP, in response to their declaring a hunger strike and getting word out to the outside, are going to face increased repression and retaliation. So I suspect, once other level 4s are coming off lockdown, Salinas Valley will stay on, or people will be transferred, and we need to stay prepared in order to fight back.

In a separate story from the California system, hundreds of parole denials are being reviewed after it was found that almost 6,000 California prisoners were wrongly tested positive for opiates as a result of defective tests.

IC: How can people follow your work?

OAS: The best way to follow our work is to subscribe to our monthly newsletter. But you can also follow us on BlueSky and Instagram, and you can also shoot us an email, and all those details are in our newsletter.

After this interview was completed, the CDCR announced that prison facilities would “resume normal operations and programming at 21 institutions.” 

Stop Cop City Trials Begin

On July 7th, the first of the Stop Cop City trials begins in Atlanta, GA, as Ayla King goes to court. A support rally is being planned on July 7th and the day before, a movement defense assembly has been called. From ATL Jail Support:

Ayla King & legal team are the first to face trial in the Stop Cop City RICO case against 61 people. The outcome of this trial will impact the entire RICO case. Ayla & codefendants need your support for the upcoming weeks of trial!

Are you in Atlanta? Don't miss the free punk show at the Fulton County Courthouse at 8 am on July 7—part of a rally supporting Ayla King at their first day of trial.On Ayla's first visit to Atlanta, police randomly arrested them at a music festival and charged them with violating the RICO act.

— CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective (@crimethinc.com) 2025-07-06T22:16:07.692Z

For more updates, be sure to follow Fire Ant Movement Defense and ATL Jail Support. As this column was being put together, CrimethInc. also published a call to support Ayla King. From the report:

The prosecution is terrorizing these defendants in order to enable police departments to preserve their stranglehold on public funds. This is a classic example of judicial persecution.

The RICO cases will be tried in groups of five, which means that twelve more trials are scheduled to follow. The outcome of these cases will contribute to shaping the prospects for protest of all kinds in the second Trump era.

Wherever you are, you can act in solidarity with Ayla King and the other 60 RICO defendants. Drop a banner; put up posters; host a fundraiser. Circulate information about the RICO case.

You can donate to Ayla’s trial fund here and to the Stop Cop City RICO defendants as a whole here.

For more background on the Stop Cop City RICO cases, start here. For updates, follow Fire Ant Movement Defense.

You could also call the office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr at (404) 458-3600 and let them know what you think about their behavior.

Read the full article here.

June 11th: International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners

The annual day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners was observed on June 11th. Statements for the day were shared by Marius Mason, Michael Kimble, Ryan Roberts, and Sean Swain, along with some art from Malik Muhammad. You can find a zine collecting all of them here.

Reportbacks have been shared from Cincinatti, Ohio, and Eugene, Oregon, and internationally from Toulouse, France, Semarang, Central, West, and East Java in Indonesia, along with an animal liberation action from the Midlands in the UK.

ABC Belarus marked the day with a reminder about the number of long-term anarchist prisoners in Belarus. The occasion was also marked by the Final Straw Radio putting out an episode about the history of anarchist prisoner support and a new issue of the Fire Ant anarchist prisoner journal.

The next big date in the prisoner support calendar is the day of solidarity with antifascist prisoners on July 25, and you can learn more about that in this interview on the Beautiful Idea.

Political Prisoner News

Little Beirut Prisoner Support have produced a new zine on writing to political prisoners.

New Political Prisoner recognized by the ABCFHridindu is on a 7 year sentence for taking a non cooperating plea that is now on pause as he is being held in contempt for resisting a federal grand jury. Write him at:Hridindu RoychowdhuryColumbia County Jail403 Jackson StreetPortage, WI 53901

— Lowell/Lawrence ABC (@llabc24.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T22:48:56.933Z

The ABC Federation have published a new profile of Hridindu Roychowdhury. They write:

Hridindu Roychowdhury is an anarchist from Madison, Wisconsin who was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for attacking a building with a Molotov cocktail in the wake of the leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overruling Roe v. Wade.

He targeted the building because it was occupied by an anti-choice organization (Wisconsin Family Action). Roychowdhury acknowledged spray-painting the message “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” on the outside of the building. No one was in the office at the time. Roychowdhury pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2023. He was was ordered to pay nearly $32,000 in restitution and was serving his sentence at FCI Marion. He received a 7.5 year sentence.

In May 2025, he was shipped to Wisconsin to go before a grand jury. Hridindu is currently being held in federal civil contempt of court for refusing to cooperate/snitch at a federal grand jury proceeding. After the judge recently found him in contempt for refusing to answer questions within the grand jury room, he sits in this county jail without earning any good time—in essence his federal time is frozen until contempt is purged.

He is currently housed in a county jail in Wisconsin after being transferred there from the federal prison he was assigned after he took a non-cooperation plea deal and was sentenced. Hridindu is currently being held in federal civil contempt of court for refusing to cooperate/snitch at a federal grand jury proceeding. After the judge recently found him in contempt for refusing to answer questions within the grand jury room, he sits in this county jail without earning any good time—in essence his federal time is frozen until contempt is purged.

For more info on how to support and instructions for writing to Hridindu, go here. Write to Hridindu here:

Hridindu Roychowdhury
Columbia County Jail
403 Jackson Street
Portage, WI 53901

Eric King recently appeared on the This Is Actually Happening podcast to discuss his experiences in the Federal Supermax, and he is also due to appear in Chicago on July 10th to give a talk at Pilsen Community Books and in Lake Station, IN on July 11th.

Former political prisoner Eric King speaks on 'This is Actually Happening,' about his experiences on survival "in the Federal Supermax prison…confronted with unimaginable and dehumanizing conditions of cruelty." www.thisisactuallyhappening.com/podcast/epis…

— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-06-22T19:16:11.900Z

A call-in campaign was recently organized for Chicano anarchist prisoner Xinachtli, resulting in him being able to access much-needed medical care, and a letter-writing and discussion event was held in Houston, Texas, to mark his recent birthday.

Rolling Stone recently interviewed long-term Black Liberation prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The Free Peppy and Krystal site has now moved over to noblogs, and has shared a new poem from Peppy, along with reflections on reaching the two-year mark in Peppy’s incarceration and updated info on how to write to Peppy. Send letters to Peppy at:

Brian DiPippa #66590-510
FCI Elkton
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O Box 10
Lisbon, OH 44432

From their site:

Much has happened in the last two years, locally and globally. The journey toward freedom can be marked by great acts of solidarity, grief, defiance, and rebellion. Encouraged by our community’s commitment to care and the radical legacies we walk in, we have come this far because we never walked alone.

Your collective efforts and generosity have given us the ability to pay off our restitution. And your widespread and consistent letter writing has meant that Pep has not gone a day without company. We offer our deepest gratitude and reflect back the strength of your collective power, Thank You!

As we recognize this marker in time, we ask that you show solidarity by extending our work and writing a letter to Jaia Cruz, the 24-year–old transgender woman convicted of first degree manslaughter after defending herself against a transphobic attack in a Harlem deli. She is currently serving a 15 year sentence in the New York State prison system.

As well as donating to Queer Fight Club PGH. The struggle for trans liberation and the celebration of trans lives continues.

Letters to Jaia Cruz can be sent to:

Jaia Cruz #3492500039
Rose M Singer Center
19-19 Hazen street
East Elmhurst, NY 11370

There’s still an ongoing need to organize support for Ferguson Rebellion prisoner Joshua Williams as he approaches his release date. Anyone who can help provide him with support is encouraged to reach out to:

Joshua Williams #1292002
C/O Digital Mail Center-Missouri DOC
PO Box 25678
Tampa, FL 33622-5678

Josh can also be reached via Securus.

Repression against Palestine Solidarity Movement

Mahmoud Khalil was finally released from immigration detention in late June. Check out this recent interview he did with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla on MSNBC.

The Trump administration has brought in new sanctions targeting the Palestinian prisoner solidarity group Addameer.

Three car marshals facing misdemeanor traffic charges for defending a Palestine solidarity protest in Minneapolis have now been acquitted in court.

Ward Sakeik has lived in the U.S. since she was eight. She has never failed to check-in, nor has she ever violated any immigration laws. Yet ICE jailed her for five months. I have no doubt that this is one among thousands of horror stories just like this. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

— Abbey Rhodes (@abbeyr28.bsky.social) 2025-07-04T19:54:46.884Z

Ward Sakeik has been released from an ICE prison. A recent report from the World Socialist Website writes:

Ward Sakeik, a 22-year-old stateless Palestinian newlywed, was released late Tuesday from the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas after enduring nearly five months in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

Sakeik, a stateless Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, had lived in the US since age eight after her family’s asylum claim was denied. Though she had a deportation order from 2011, she was allowed to stay in the US under supervision, regularly checking in with immigration authorities and fully complying with all requirements.

Despite her compliance and a pending green card application, Sakeik was detained and transferred to several ICE facilities, including Prairieland Detention Center in Texas. ICE then attempted to deport her twice without warning.

On June 12, ICE officers brought her onto the tarmac at Fort Worth Alliance Airport and told her they were deporting her to “the border of Israel,” despite the government’s knowledge that she is stateless and has no path to citizenship in Israel or in the West Bank.

Her deportation was only halted due to the launching of a war against Iran by Israel. Sakeik’s family has described her situation as a “procedural black hole,” with no bond eligibility and no clear path to legal status.

Sakeik’s husband, Taahir Shaikh, has been at the forefront of the campaign to secure her release, organizing public protests, media outreach, and petition drives. His tireless efforts kept her case in the public eye and mobilized support from immigrant rights groups and the broader community.

Ward Sakeik’s release is a victory for her family, her legal team, and all of those fighting for immigrant rights. But her case is also a warning: the Trump administration’s immigration apparatus is openly defying the courts and targeting and trampling on the rights of the most vulnerable. As long as this administration remains in place, and with the complicity of the Democratic Party, thousands remain at risk of indefinite detention, deportation, and family separation.

Read the full article here.

Immigration Raids and Detention News

The past month has been marked by mass resistance to ICE, most notably in Los Angeles, but also in Chicago, IL, Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR, Philadelphia, PA, and many more locations. In Newark, NJ, protests outside a detention center coincided with an uprising by inmates who were able to break out, with four people managing to escape.

Uprising and escape at GEO Group's Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey.Uprising reportedly sparked by inadequate food and inhumane conditions. All detainees being evacuated due to security concerns. gothamist.com/news/4-migra…

— Dave Id (@daveid.bsky.social) 2025-06-13T17:46:05.111Z

For more analysis from LA, check out Fire and Ice on Ill Will, as well as reports from Ediciones Ineditas, Anarchy in South-East LA, and Heatwave Magazine. The Final Straw, The Beautiful Idea, and The Dugout all have episodes discussing the ICE raids and resistance. It’s Going Down has also just published an interview with People’s City Council on organizing on the ground following the rebellion on June 6th, along with a call to stand in solidarity with those fighting back in Los Angeles. Black Rose Anarchist Federation have a statement on the need for organization in the fight against ICE, as well as a guide to anti-ICE organizing in the workplace.

The mass protests in LA responding to violent ICE raids + attacks by the LAPD have been followed by a wave of grassroots mobilization: from community defense hubs to mutual aid campaigns. We spoke with @pplscitycouncil.bsky.social about this groundswell of activity. itsgoingdown.org/interview-lo…

— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T20:01:25.879Z

In Atlanta, Mario Guevara was arrested while reporting on a demonstration, and is now held in ICE custody.

Immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick has a new interview published in Jacobin about the recent budget bill passed by Republicans that will give massive amounts of money to ICE and private prisons to build concentration camps. Aaron offers up some sobering analysis about the potential bottle necks that ICE will face in implementing this strategy. From Jacobin: 

Depending on how you count them, there are currently only around six thousand ICE officers. If you actually look at the deportation forces specifically, the staff is even smaller than that: more like three to four thousand officers. So if they were able to hire ten thousand new deportation officers, it really would be a major increase.

But I’m actually quite skeptical of their ability to hire that many, just because there is a law enforcement officer shortage everywhere. Every police department in the country is having trouble hiring right now, so it’s unclear how many people they could get through the federal hiring process in four years, especially because that process is quite slow. A lot of people who seek these law enforcement jobs have problems passing drug tests and clearing background checks, which are issues you’d be very wrong to think people who apply for these types of jobs don’t have.

So on the question of contractors, yes, the overwhelming majority of this funding would go to private contractors. ICE only directly operates a small handful of facilities, and the rest are either directly contracted with private prison operators or contracted with state and local governments that are likewise operating facilities through private prison contractors. So overall, over 90 percent of ICE detention centers right now are operated by private contractors.

And when you look at the actual transportation and removal side, nearly all of that is also done by private companies. ICE’s aircraft are not owned by ICE. They are owned by private charter services. (The biggest is Omni Air, a subsidiary of private prison company GEO Group.)

Nearly all of ICE’s transportation removal budget goes to contractors already, because ICE doesn’t want to have its own dedicated transportation staff. They’re happier spending their budget on private charter services, and there’s no reasons to think that would change.

So we can presume that the lion’s share of this more than $70 billion for ICE, with the exception of funding that goes directly toward its infrastructure improvements and hiring, will be going to private contractors.

Read the full interview here.

NOW: Disgraced Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio attempted a brief publicity stunt appearance at the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant concentration camp. Tarrio and his sad two person crew scurried away as they were confronted and pushed out by protesters. 1/

— Miami Against Fascism (@miaagainstfash.bsky.social) 2025-07-02T17:02:54.822Z

Local organizing continues against CoreCivic’s plan to re-open a closed prison as an ICE facility in San Diego, as well as the plan to build “Alligator Alcatraz” to hold detainees in the Everglades. Check out reports by Luke from DC on ongoing demonstrations against the facility and analysis from Anarchist Black Cross South Florida.

Arturo Gamboa Released Without Charge in Salt Lake City

NEW: A protester was shot and killed at the Salt Lake City 'No Kings' march. A man is in police custody, booked on suspicion of murder—but not the one who fired the gun. From video, witnesses and interviews, @schotthappens.com and I tried to piece together what really happened Saturday.Our report-

— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) 2025-06-18T13:22:31.326Z

In Utah, hired protest police “peacekeepers” at a No Kings rally in Salt Lake City shot and injured long-time racial justice organizer Arturo Gamboa, who was legally open-carrying at the demonstration, along with fatally shooting another demonstrator, Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, after opening fire on Gamboa.

Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Dept in Utah is railroading this man instead of arresting the actual shooter who actually murdered somebody.Please consider contributing to his legal fund if you can.givebutter.com/gamboafundra…

—