Free Chris Trotter

Support page for Christopher Naeem Trotter, a political prisoner in Indiana. Page run by outside supporters.

[Free Chris Trotter @Freedom4Chris]

In 1985, with 3 months left on his sentence for petty theft, Christopher Trotter was involved in a prison uprising. The uprising was sparked by the beating of a handcuffed and shackled prisoner by racist guards who were members of a KKK splinter group, the Sons of Light. 1/3

[Fayette Speaks @FayetteSpeaks]

Please boost!
@alleghenyJOB @BookshopMassive @ALCCourtWatch @rustbeltradio @OaklandAboSol @FightXPrisons @IDOCWatch @ThePendleton2 @TOO_BLACK_ @abolitionstudy @jaybeware @MAKCapitalism @StrawFinal @kitelineradio @PugetSupport

[Fayette Speaks @FayetteSpeaks]

Help an incarcerated comrade out with legal fees! Small donations welcome, every dollar helps. We will update this fundraiser and close it when the goal is met. CashApp $FayetteSpeaks

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

⚡️Phone Zap!⚡️
Balagoon is experiencing difficulty breathing but prison staff are ignoring his urgent need. Call now and demand he is given medical attention immediately!

[BreakThrough News @BTnewsroom]

Christopher 'Naeem' Trotter speaks about standing up to KKK-linked prison guards in Indiana, an act which earned him a 142 year sentence. "The Pendelton 2: They Stood Up" tells the story of that resistance.

Watch the full documentary here: https://t.co/EPTSYO6UAe

[TOO BLACK @TOO_BLACK_]

BOOST

[Millennials Are Killing Capitalism @MAKCapitalism]

For folks who enjoyed this episode make sure to check out the debut of The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up on @BTnewsroom tonight at 7 PM ET: https://t.co/9pzglsS6qR

And if you missed our episode with @TOO_BLACK_, Big R and @THEKINGTRILL100 check the link below:

[Millennials Are Killing Capitalism @MAKCapitalism]

Also afterward make sure you check out the post-premiere show which will be hosted by @IMIXWHATILIKE and @EugenePuryear over on @BlackPowerMedi1 https://t.co/e2wjE3YCNv

[TOO BLACK @TOO_BLACK_]

Today is the day. "The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up" debuts virtually at 7pm on @btnewsroom. We will have an after show discussing the film on @btnewsroom and @blackpower_media.

[Millennials Are Killing Capitalism @MAKCapitalism]

NEW EPISODE: "This Found Us" - Free The Pendleton 2 (@ThePendleton2)
https://t.co/MiYBUqqP6S

[Down with US Empire... Yankee Go Home @jaybeware]

Also there's a discussion of what does it mean to concretely organize around abolition and how we think about political prisoners when it's struggle behind the walls that politicizes them and/or leads to their political repression https://t.co/gJ14FnA8gq

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

Prisons don't rehabilitate people but connections made in the belly of the beast with people like Lincoln "Lokmar" Love have an extraordinary impact. As Balagoon wrote in his memorial for Lokmar, "In terms of his character, personality, and mental makeup; Lokmar loved people."🧵

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

The legacy of white supremacist guard terror at Pendleton led directly to the '85 Uprising. 2 years before the beating that sparked the Uprising, an anonymous whistleblower tried to call out Klan activity among guards. Sanctioned from the top, the Sons of Light grew in secrecy 🧵

[Down with US Empire... Yankee Go Home @jaybeware]

I hope folks are following the work people are doing to Free @ThePendleton2. A lot of great grassroots abolitionist work being done to develop political education around these two political prisoners who've been locked up for several decades in Indiana

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

The beating of Lokmar wasn't the first instance of guards brutalizing handcuffed prisoners at Pendleton. Naeem & Balagoon had full knowledge of the guards’ terrorism, so when they heard “They’re killing Lokmar” cried out, they responded with the force needed to save his life.

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

However, testimonies from prisoners beaten by the Sons of Light were excluded as hearsay from the Pendleton 2's trial. One prisoner, William Ralston, testified that “he was beaten, kicked, and had his head rammed into the wall” by some of the same guards involved in the uprising.

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

But these stories weren't "hearsay." They were truths that shaped Naeem and Balagoon's mindsets as they fought their way through Pendleton, looking for their comrade, Lokmar. Without them, they were railroaded by the prosecution and painted as reckless and dangerous aggressors.

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

These were the conditions prisoners protested on Feb 1, 1985 when guards attacked Lokmar, sparking the Pendleton Uprising. IDOC demonized the Black Dragons, blaming them for the events that day.
But the Dragons were not the cause of the violence: they were the the answer to it.

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

Their courage made them targets for violence, but at Pendleton organization was needed to fight for even the most basic needs. A US District Court ruled in an 1982 class action lawsuit that the overcrowded & filthy conditions at Pendleton constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

[Free the Pendleton 2 @ThePendleton2]

The Black Dragons were a self-defense organization of Black prisoners at Pendleton Correctional Facility, which included Balagoon, Naeem, & Lokmar. The Dragons provided political education and defended prisoners from brutal KKK-affiliated guards. 🧵