January Prisoner Letter Writing Night

Right now there are people sitting in federal prisons, caged, for their efforts to liberate animals, defend ecosystems and sabotage life-destroying infrastructure. Right now there are people facing life sentences for resisting the designs of the Trump Administration and Energy Transfer Partners. We as activists who still benefit from and enjoy relative freedom owe these people our emotional and financial support for the sacrifices they’ve made. One key form this can take is letter-writing, something which is easy and doable for almost everyone and which can oftentimes mean a whole world to the recipient.

Monday, January 15th, Animal Liberation Prisoner Support Toronto will hold a letter writing night at Ryerson University’s Student Learning Center for animal/ earth liberation prisoners Walter Bond, Marius Mason, Joseph Buddenberg, Nicole Kissane and Brian Vaillancourt.

For this event all you need to bring is yourself, or yourself and a few friends. Letter-writing materials, information on prisoners’ individual cases, and a brief tutorial regarding the dos-and-don’ts of sending letters into the prison system will all be provided. The idea is that we come together to compose thoughtful dispatches to Walter, Marius, Joseph, Nicole and Brian which, when received, will help keep them connected to the outside world from behind bars. Articles formatted as internet print offs (provided they’re not stapled) can also be mailed into prisons, as can cards, postcards, and some artwork*.

*[For a comprehensive breakdown of the minutiae of what will and won’t be accepted as prisoner mail by US federal prison please consult Anarchist Black Cross Federation’s excellent resource online resource “Write A Prisoner”, linked at the bottom of this event description.]

______________________________________________________

Some introductory background information on our friends:

Walter Bond is an imprisoned Animal Liberation Front activist who was arrested in the summer of 2010 for the “ALF Lone Wolf” arsons of a sheepskin factory in Denver, Colorado, a leather factory in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Tiburon restaurant in Sandy, Utah which sold the incredibly cruel product foie gras. He pled guilty to all three arsons as well as one count of AETA (the infamous Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act). Walter received a total prison sentence of 12 years and 3 months and is scheduled for release on April 14, 2021.

Walter Bond #37096-013
FCI Greenville
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 5000
Greenville, IL 62246
USA

—-

Marius Jacob Mason (Marie Mason*) is a long-time environmental and social justice activist and loving parent of two. He was arrested on charges related to Earth Liberation Front actions that occurred in Michigan in 1999 and 2000; no one was injured in the actions. In February 2009, Marius received a 262 month sentence (a little under 22 years).

*In July 2014, Marius announced that he would no longer be using the name Marie, and will be using male pronouns. Until his name is legally changed, mail sent to Marius in prison will need to be addressed to “Marie Mason.”

—-
On July 24th, 2015, Nicole Kissane and Joseph Buddenberg were arrested and federally indicted for alleged Conspiracy to Violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act—Title 18, U.S.C., Section 43 (a) (1), (2) (c) and (b) (3) (A). A federal grand jury indictment alleges that Nicole and Joseph conspired to “travel in interstate and foreign commerce for the purpose of causing physical disruption to the functioning of animal enterprises, to intentionally damage and cause the loss of real and personal property, including, but not limited to, animals and records used by the animal enterprises, and caused economic damage in an amount exceeding $100, 000″ by allegedly releasing thousands of animals from fur farms and destroying breeding records in Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. The indictment also alleges that they caused economic damage to various retail and distribution businesses and individuals associated with the fur industry.

In early 2016, Nicole and Joseph both signed non-cooperating plea agreements in which they pled guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. On May 2nd, Joseph was sentenced to two years in prison, two years of supervised release, and about $400,000 in restitution. Nicole’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June of 2016.

Joseph Buddenberg #12746-111
FCI Coleman Low
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 1031
Coleman, FL 33521
USA

Nicole Kissane #20651-111
FCI Dublin
Federal Correctional Institution
5701 8th Street – Camp Parks
Dublin, CA 94568
USA
—-

In February 2014, Brian was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading to an arson charge related to a fire that damaged a Chicago-area McDonald’s in January 2013.

Brian Vaillancourt #M42889
Robinson Correctional Center
13423 East 1150th Avenue
Robinson, IL 62454
USA

______________________________________________________

“If they haven’t got prisoners, we have stopped fighting. If our prisoners are forgotten about, they have beaten us.”
— Keith Mann, ALF activist and former prisoner

—-

Resources: 

https://www.facebook.com/SupportWalter/
https://www.facebook.com/supportmariusmason/
https://www.facebook.com/supportnicoleandjoseph/

https://nycabc.wordpress.com/write-a-letter/
http://directaction.info/prisoners.htm