We would like to encourage all our readers to donate to one or both of these brave individuals who were imprisoned for taking a stand against Racism and Fascism.
Cece McDonald is a trans woman who was attacked in 2011, along with several friends, by a group of Transphobic Racists. In the ensuing melee, one of the attackers was stabbed and killed. Cece is scheduled to be released this month and her supporters are fundraising to give her some help when she get out. Click here to donate to Cece McDonald.
John Tucker is one of the Tinley Park 5, 5 Antifascists imprisoned on trumped-up charges stemming from a disruption of a meeting of representatives of several Neo-Nazi/White Power groups. John is also slated for release this month. His supporters have also started a prison release fund. Click here to donate to John Tucker.
Please give all you can to support these two Antifascists.
Sorry it’s taken me so long to put this out. I’ve been working on my transition back in to the world and so far everyone has been great with helping me out with everything. I kinda feel like a new born, HA. Anyway, I just wanted to write something and post it up for everyone to see that I’m out now and am doing ok. Most of all I want to say thank you to everyone for helping me with everything during my incarceration. It’s still so very surreal. Prison was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but people like all of you who exist with your endless love: I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I would also like to thank you for all the help you’ve been giving my four friends during their stint in Dante’s Inferno. It’s really hard to put into words how much all of you mean to me. Because of you I’ve been able to survive and stay strong. Your solidarity continues to leave me speechless. I want to thank you for all the books and amazing letters that I received. I hope my letters made it to you. I did my best to personally write everyone back and if you didn’t here back from me it’s prolly because the gestopo was withholding my mail. I want to personally thank the whole A.R.A. network, Denver, New York, and south side ABC, and every other chapter in between; Kieran (your mom’s books are great), Philly antifa, Kat from Oak Roots Press, all the kids in Germany, Allina Dollot in France, and especially my home crew in Lafayette and Bloomington (you guys are the best!), my big brothers NOMAD and TELLY; oh and my homie Petey from Sacramento Prisoner Support. Last but not least I wanna thank two very special people that I hold very dear to my heart: Stephanie from the Bloomington ABC and Sara Garber, my amazing lawyer. If I believed in guardian angels I would be convinced that you two were the real deal… I love you both soooooo fucking much! Thank you to anyone who wrote a letter; went to a fundraiser; made a visit; told some one about our case; and kept me, John, Jason, Cody, and Dylan in your hearts. All of you mean so much to me; without you all of this would have been a nightmare. Thank you so, so much!
H.A.R.M. SKIN for life!
ANTIFA FOREVER! FOREVER ANTIFA! FREEDOM NOW FOR THE TINLEY PARK 4!!!!!!
Love and Rage, Alex Stuck
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Welcome home Alex. Everyone is so happy you are free.
Kyle Powell (l) and Josh Steever (r) of Aryan Terror Brigade
Part One: Background
The past 6-8 weeks has seen an unusually large amount of police attention on White Power boneheads in the Garden State, and the boneheads are starting to ask questions as to why.
One People’s Project reports that Josh Steever (75A Kuhl Road, Flemington NJ) and Kyle Powell, the numbers one and two in Aryan Terror Brigade (ATB) are both facing legal troubles. Steever is (or was) being held in Middlesex County jail on charge of terroristic threats (more on that later). Powell has already plead guilty to his role in a hate crime committed on New Year’s eve 2011 in New Jersey that may spell the end of ATB, who may also be trying to take another older, more established NJ bonehead crew with them.
It is not known when exactly Powell was arrested for his role in the attack, but the fact that he has already pled guilty makes it very likely that he was arrested before any of the other boneheads discussed in this article.
Then, in mid-December, a member of the Atlantic City Skins (AC Skins) Chris Ising and a member of ATB Michael Gunar were arrested on federal hate crimes charges stemming from their alleged involvement in the same attack that Powell just pled guilty to.
Chris Ising, member of ACS
According to the cops, all of these boys were in attendance at a “White Power Meet-and-Greet” held at Ising’s former home in East Brunswick. Following the event, several boneheads went out and randomly attacked a group of residents of a nearby housing development for being Arab, injuring them.
Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are commonplace when boneheads congregate together and present a sobering reminder as to why ALL attempts to organize by Neo-Nazi and far-right groups need to be opposed, even their “social events.”
The police have not released any information as to how they ascertained who was involved in the attack, which again had occurred almost a year earlier. Another interesting thing to note is that this event shows a relationship between ACS and ATB has been developing for some time. It is unknown whether or not Josh Steever was in attendance at the meet-and-greet or the attack afterwards.
As a side note, during this period two other boneheads from ACS were arrested for Domestic Violence and Assault charges, as of now there seems to be no connection the arrests of Gunar, Ising and Powell.
Part Two: Fallout
Gunar and Ising (who has a long criminal record) remain under indictment. Powell is out of jail pending sentencing, with a maximum possible sentence of 5 years.
Since the arrests of Steevers, Powell, Gunar and Ising, some of the (relatively) smarter boneheads in NJ have begun questioning who can be trusted in ATB.
A commenter on the One People’s Project article about Steever and Powell’s arrests claiming to be “Josh Long” of ATB alleges that Steever snitched on Powell, Ising and Gunar and claims that he is no longer a member of ATB, the group he founded.
While this is hardly proof-positive of Steever (and Powell) being a snitch, it does fit in with what Antifa in NJ and Philly have been suspecting ever since Josh Steever returned to NJ: that he is a police informant, and that Aryan Terror Brigade might have been created with the express purpose of attracting some of the more reckless and unstable elements of the White Power scene in the US.
Part Three: Filling in the Blanks
So what has led us to believe that Steever was a snitch since day one of ATB? The answer goes back several years.
Josh Steever is originally from the New Jersey, but first drew attention in Texas in 2005 for attacking someone with an axe handle, earning the nickname “Hatchet.” Steever managed to plead down from Felony to misdemeanor assault.
In 2008 Steever was arrested again, this time in California. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Steever “as arrested on June 12, 2006, four days after he accompanied his girlfriend to Newark Memorial High School to pick up her yearbook. At that time, Steever allegedly made racial slurs at two African American students waiting in line for their yearbooks and then pulled out a pocket knife and threatened to stab them…”
Despite being charged with several Felonies and hate crime enhancements, Steever suspiciously served only a year in California. This led to the first allegations that Steever had informed to the police in exchange for a reduced sentence and/or an early release. Allegations coming from fellow Neo-Nazis like this stormfront poster going by the name “SWAWILL.” SWA, or Supreme White Alliance, is a Neo-Nazi group that Steever was once an associate of:
When Steever got out of jail in California he returned to NJ where he reportedly must remain as a condition of his parole. Upon his return Steever started ATB, which has been almost universally dismissed as too juvenile/shocking by other Neo-Nazis to develop public relationships with. Steever did develop a knack for attracting young internet boneheads with outlandish rhetoric and a reputation for being unapologetically unreasonable about his bigotry. Around this time Steever also became associated with Blood and Honor USA, one of two competing Neo-Nazi groups of the same name.
In addition to the situation on New Jersey, many of you may recall the recent arrest of the entirety of Florida American Front following a police informant being “patched into” their group. Coincidentally (?) one of the people arrested was Ken McClellan, who was pled a federal weapons charge down to PROBATION, despite being an ex-convict.
According to Josh Steever himself, Ken McClellan is (or was) a member of Aryan Terror Brigade before and during the arrests.
It seems that wherever Aryan Terror Brigade is found, the police are not far behind.
Police informants and undercover agents are no new phenomenon in Neo-Nazi/Far Right circles. Powerhouses in their movement such as The Order, the World Church of the Creator and the certain incarnations of the KKK have been destroyed by state infiltration and snitches.
Compared to two recent cases in New Jersey and Illinois involving Antifascists, the Pemberton 2 and the Tinley Park 5. In both cases those arrested represented a small portion of those involved in the “crimes” they were charged with. In both cases, but especially for the TP5, giving up their comrades would have certainly meant lenient treatment, if not immunity from charge altogether. But unlike the boneheads, in both cases not a single Antifascist would give up their accomplices.
Right now the Tinley Park 5 sit in prison on trumped-up charges because they were unwilling to sacrifice fellow Antifascists to save themselves, and all evidence indicates that members of Aryan Terror Brigade and the Atlantic City Skins sit in prison because their “white brothers” did just that.
On January 4, 2013 all members of the Tinley Park Five accepted a non-cooperating plea bargain in which they each plead guilty to three felony counts of Armed Violence in exchange for “lenient” sentences and the guarantee of ‘day-for-day’ good behavior. Jason Sutherlin was sentenced to 6 years. Cody Lee Sutherlin and Dylan Sutherlin were sentenced to 5 years. Alex Stuck and John Tucker were sentenced to 3 1/2 years due to their youth and complete lack of criminal history. Each will be placed upon two years of supervised release upon release from prison.
Before the plea was accepted, the State offered the Tinley Park Five one last chance to betray their comrades in exchange for their freedom. What a waste of time! As anarchist and antifascists, the Tinley Park Five are no more capable of selling out the struggle than their broken system is capable of reforming itself! They laughed at the offer and bravely accepted their fate.
Credit was given for the 7 months already served in Cook County. They will receive ’day-for-day’ good time credit which effectively cuts the sentences in half. The state of Illinois also offers several programs and classes which can chip away at sentences. Optimistically, Alex and John could be out before Christmas 2013. Dylan and Cody could be out my Autumn 2014. Jason could be out by Christmas 2014. This is all hypothetical and highly speculative of course.
On Monday January 7th, the Tinley Park Five will be transferred to Stateville for between one and three weeks. There the Illinois Department of Corrections will decide where they will spend the duration of their sentences. Until this decision is reached PLEASE HOLD ALL MAIL. If you wish to donate to the Tinley Park Five at this time we ask that you use WePay rather than money orders at this time, as we’re concerned that they will get lost or delayed as the Tinley Park Five are being transferred between facilities. We’re working on trying to quickly raise as much money as possible to ease this transition.
Make no mistake, it is with great sorrow that we accept just how long we’ll be separated from our dear friends, but they will not be forgotten nor will their struggle cease in their absence. This support crew will continue to advocate for each of them in whatever they decide to do until every last one of them is free. Communiques from several members of the Tinley Park Five to their supporters are expected soon and will be posted on this website.
The Tinley Park Five as well as their supporters, comrades, family, and friends would like to thank Aaron Goldstein, Sara Garber, Brian Barrido, James Fennerty, Stuart Smith, Matthew Dodge, and everyone else who assisted in their legal defense. They would also like to thank the National Lawyer’s Guild for connecting these attorneys with the Tinley Park Five as well as the People’s Law Office for consulting with us in the initial stages of this ordeal.
The Tinley Park Five also wanted to thank Chicago Anarchist Black Cross as well as South Side for their help in bringing people out to their most recent court appearance. Seeing so many supporters meant more than you could know to them. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it. Thanks to everyone on the interwebz for helping to get the word out about it so well.
I was able to speak with Jason this morning and Alex last night and both of them asked that there be a public acknowledgement of all the groups who have humbled us with their support thus far. Thanks to Denver ABC, Salt Lake City ABC, New York City ABC, Rose City Antifa, Southside Chicago Anti-Racist Action, Philly ARA, Lafayette HARM, Circle City ARA, One People’s Project, Bursts-o-Goodness, Political Fail Blog, Sacramento Prisoner Support, M1AA, IWW, VICE, Worker’s World (especially NYC and Detroit affiliates), the Btown crew, as well as anyone who’s attended a letter-writing party, a court date, or came to visit. Thanks to the countless organizations that I apologize in advance for forgetting to mention.
Thanks to all of you Anonymous gangsters that had our backs with #opStormfrontRaid. Dirty South, whoever you are, you’re a life-saver, literally. Thanks to anyone who has stepped up in any way they could whether that be sharing a link or donating a couple dollars.
Thanks to everyone that has helped, but please don’t forget… the Tinley Park Five aren’t going to be in the news headlines as often but they are still going to need just as much support. We ask that you not forget about the Tinley Park Five! Please keep the benefit shows, letter-writing parties, and other acts of solidarity coming as they’re needed now as much as ever.
We’ll leave you with this quote, nearly a century old, which still rings just as true today:
“Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” – Eugene Debs 1918
Yours in Solidarity,
Tinley Park Five and Support Crew
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We at Philly Antifa have the utmost respect for the TP5 for standing strong and refusing to name their comrades-in-arms, as well as for participating in a successful action against a high-value fascist target.
It is heartbreaking to see our comrades remain imprisoned. We can’t help but wonder what else we could have done, or done differently, to aid them. But our hearts swell to be even considered allies with these heroes and their support team.
This has only motivated us to both continue supporting the TP5 and taking up the fight against Fascism while they are prisoners of war.
