A South Carolina Anarchist and Musician was recently subpoena'd to appear in front of a federal grand jury. She asked that others widely share this statement in order to bring awareness to her ordeal.

"My name is Cyprus Hartford. I’m a 20-year-old musician, trans woman, and anarchist. On June 5, 2024, I was stopped on the highway by federal agents and served a subpoena to testify before a Federal Grand Jury in Charleston, South Carolina on August 13, 2024. After consulting with friends, family, and attorneys, I’ve made the decision to challenge this subpoena, and if necessary, to refuse to give testimony before the grand jury. I will not allow the state to intimidate me. I will not put my community at risk by giving the state information that has nothing to do with harmful behavior, but discloses private information about our first amendment-protected beliefs, activities, and associations.

Grand juries are an archaic and secretive process by which the state secures indictments. They have been abolished everywhere they were ever implemented, except for the USA and Liberia. As an anarchist, I don’t believe that any court should have the power to condemn human beings to imprisonment, but this is especially true for grand juries. Grand juries undermine witness's rights to protect against self incrimination by forcing them to testify under threat of indefinite federal imprisonment via Civil contempt of court. This is what I will be facing for refusing to cooperate. Grand Juries nearly always vote to indict, with one exception. Grand juries almost never indict white police officers who shoot and kill Black people. This legal process is essentially a kangaroo court. It has no place in a supposedly free country. I refuse to participate in the process of rubber stamping an indictment. Unlike every other legal process in the U.S., federal grand juries happen behind closed doors. There is no defense attorney, no judge, and no press or public. Secret proceedings are inherently undemocratic, and susceptible to politically motivated abuse.

Although I don't think this subpoena is justified, I wasn't surprised to receive it because of similar repression happening in the Charleston area. In March, the same ATF agent who served me the subpoena left a card at the door to my family's house. During the spring of this year, several others in the Charleston, South Carolina area were subpoenaed and did give testimony. State and federal repression is ramping up all around the country. After years of successive mass protest movements, the state is cracking down even further on dissent. We have the tools to be able to fight against this in court. When I was served this subpoena, I called movement attorneys associated with the National Lawyers Guild. They connected me with people who had been in the position I’m in. I was assured that I am not alone. People have been in my position before and made the decisions I am making. The state seeks to isolate and atomize us from each other, but we are stronger when we stand together.

At the present time, I’m currently attempting to find a lawyer to represent me in court. This is a somewhat expensive and difficult process. A gofundme link to support me with this, as well as living expenses in the meantime and potential funding in the event that I am incarcerated for my refusal to cooperate, can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-cyprus-against-state-repression . Any money left over after all this is done will go to others facing state repression.

With Love and Rage,
Cyprus Hartford

It/they/she"

Comments

anon (not verified) Tue, 07/02/2024 - 10:04

Jerry Koch refused to testify in front of a grand jury in Lenapehoking. An interview with Jerry is in Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners, available here: https://annas-archive.gs/md5/2a2257e932b52569ced484419c21be9d

Another important statement about this case is "THERE’S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JERRY: or, ON NUANCE", available here: https://redblankets.tumblr.com/post/59523772582/an-open-letter-by-frien… / https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9e177fd0c50feb65ebdb4dccd54c3a7/tumblr_ms4…

Several people refused to testify in front of a grand jury in u.s.-occupied Coast Salish territories. The zine For the Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resisters covers the experience, available here: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/legal/pacific-northwest-gran…

The Infoshop.org Guide to Federal Grand Jury Investigations is available here: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/legal/infoshop-org-guide-to-…

The compilation Grand Jury Investigations, FBI Harassment, and Your Rights comes out of animal liberationist experiences, available here: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/legal/grand-jury-investigati…

Grand Juries: Tools of Political Repression by former ALF/ELF spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh is available here: https://www.sproutdistro.com/catalog/zines/legal/grand-juries-tools-of-…

Freedom Archives has a collection of "materials pertaining to the use of grand juries to repress political movements" available here: https://search.freedomarchives.org/search.php?view_collection=167

Grand juries were used to suppress the Black Liberation Army (BLA), the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), & related organizations. A flyer for a support event is available here (PDF): https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/FBI_Grand_Jur…

Freedom Archives also has a collection from the Coalition to Defend the October 20th Freedom Fighters, which "was formed to support those captured or charged in the revolutionary Brink's expropriation in Nyack, NY and those resisting the RICO Grand Jury as well as those under indictment." It includes statements connecting the New Afrikan Independence Movement, Puerto Rican independence movement, and Chicano movements to the u.s. regime's attempt to use RICO to jail revolutionaries for life after they were captured thanks to a failed expropriation. They also show the use of RICO charges for political repression precedes Stop Cop City & predates the Green Scare by decades. The documents are available here: https://search.freedomarchives.org/search.php?view_collection=44

'Firmes en la no colaboración' fue publicado durante los 80s en san juan. Disponible aquí (PDF): https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC510_scans/FBI_Grand…

anon (not verified) Tue, 07/02/2024 - 11:17

Anarchists who are also lawyers need to step the fuck up and do more pro-bono work.
Shit is about to get even more real in these United Snakes of AmeriKKKa.
Strength to you, Cyprus.

Luke from DC (not verified) Tue, 07/02/2024 - 19:12

Kudos from one grand jury resistor to another!

I had to deal with this myself back in 2018. Video below shows what happened when they tried to subpeona me to reveal camera footage to a grand jury. It's what worked for me.

https://kolektiva.social/system/media_attachments/files/112/720/049/110…

You may find a completely different approach works best for you. There are many right ways to resist grand juries, the only wrong way is not to resist at all. However you choose to fight them, you have my support-we are all in this together. Mess with one of us, answer to all of us!

Anon (not verified) Wed, 07/03/2024 - 07:04

In reply to by Luke from DC (not verified)

Couldn't get your video link to load. Idk if it's a problem on my end or bad link, but just so ya know. Am interested in how you handled their subpoena attempt

anon (not verified) Tue, 07/02/2024 - 19:23

Anyone know where to find this comrade's music?

Luke from DC (not verified) Wed, 07/03/2024 - 11:39

Pull it from the overall story, seems to be a recent issue with serving the video file from Mastodon
https://kolektiva.social/@LukefromDC/112720109909366670

What I did was to publicly refuse to show up, have an attorney get a delay, then when the grand jury met without me at the original time burn the subpeona in front of the courthouse with 20 supporters standing beside me. This killed their appetite for a fight, and I got a phone call from my attorney announcing it had been dropped within 5 minutes.

Dragyn (not verified) Sun, 07/07/2024 - 10:08

AN posts these things with no background. Why was this person being served? What was the "crime?" No info. We are just supposed to respond with rabid rage? But why? I am not a cyborg. Or a lab dog. I do not reflexively respond with anger. The exhausted left thinks if you put the words/phrases "fascist" and "grand jury" and "trans" we will bark like beasts. I do not respond to dog whistles. I am a thinking being, an anarchist with high IQ, not some domestic animal on a leash. Sheesh

anon (not verified) Fri, 07/12/2024 - 12:48

In reply to by Dragyn (not verified)

How about you take that "high IQ" (lol) and go learn something about federal grand juries. You aren't as smart as you think you are, bud. But you can be. Acquire knowledge, expand your compassion, and gain some diverse life experience. You can be a force for good, but right now you just sound like a edgy kid without any real friends. Best of luck, I hope you can grow. We'll need your final form in the fight to come.

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