This week, we’re sharing a recent interview we conducted with Champagne Song, who received a 100 year sentence in federal prison as a part of the Prairieland Antifa case, stemming from a July 4th, 2025 noise demonstration outside of an ICE immigrant prison outside Alvarado, Texas. We don’t speak about the details of the case as Champagne is filling appeals in the federal case and still facing a state case, alongside many of their co-defendants, but you can find details on the case at PrairielandDefendants.Com or in our prior interviews covering the case, linked in our show notes.
In the federal trial, Champagne was given the maximum sentence available to the court, a move one judge declared was meant to send a message to people of similar ideology. Champagne was convicted of the following charges:
- Attempted murder of two correctional officers and Alvarado Police Officer
- Discharging a firearm during and in furtherance of a crime
- Riot, with the intent to commit an act of violence
- Providing support to terrorists, a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2339A
- Conspiracy to use and carry explosives
You can find writings by, updates about, and Champagne at the PrairielandDefendants.com website, and also recordings of essays and poems by Champagne via PrisonRadio.org. A story that Champagne suggested people check out, detailing issues around ballistics in their case by The Intercept can be found here. They can also currently be reached by the site or app GettingOut.com, and you can write them at the following address (using Champagne or B inside the correspondence, and with the note that they’ve been getting a lot of correspondence and so may not be able to respond):
Johnson County Jail, TX
Benjamin Hanil Song, 202502108
P.O. Box 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
. … . ..
Transcription
Champagne: Hey, this is Champagne Song, any/all. I’m in solitary in Johnson County Jail in Texas. I was charged as part of the Prairieland Defendants, and recently I was sentenced to a hundred years in prison in federal court for being the “embodiment of Antifa,” according to the government.
TFSR: Champagne, thanks for taking the time to have this conversation. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind telling us a bit about your life and how you developed your politics. Maybe there are interactions or moments that shaped who you are that you can speak about.
Champagne: Absolutely, I’ve had a long political journey. I grew up in a very divided family. My mom’s side is Japanese by way of Hawai’i, and my dad’s side is Korean. Besides that contradiction, my dad’s side is very Democrat and Catholic. My mom’s side is very Republican and Baptist, so I grew up exposed to a lot of different ideas. I grew up mainly with my mom’s family. I grew up more evangelical and pretty far-right Republican. In college, I was president of my college Republicans chapter. But even at that time, I was more of a classical liberal. In the U.S., we would say “left on social issues,” which I don’t necessarily agree with. But I was with the Republican Party, inside the Republican Party, meeting politicians. I met Tony Tinderholt, our state rep. I met John Cornyn once, the senator from Texas. Up until 2016, I didn’t really see a strong shift in the Republican Party towards this MAGA nativist protectionist new Republican Party.
Around 2016, I was feeling disillusioned, and I was recruited to come over and be in leadership in the Libertarian Party of Texas, which is the third largest party in Texas. It’s a right-wing Libertarian Party. But I met really cool people there. The Libertarian Party itself has a left wing and a right wing. And the more free-spirited left wing of the Libertarian Party was just really incredible people who introduced me to a lot of interesting ideas.
I was also involved in activism from a young age. My family is a military family. My grandfather was in the 10th Mountain Division. One of my uncles was Army Intelligence, and another uncle was a Navy Chief Petty Officer. He was deployed as part of the Global War on Terror. He went to Iraq twice, to Afghanistan once, and he was off of Somalia for a while. I had strong, I would say, pro-military feelings, and I ended up organizing a group of Vietnam veterans, which is strange. I was about 14 at the time, but I got involved with their online forums, and I organized Vietnam veterans to go defend the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington. It was a proto-street group of the right-wing groups we would see later, called the Gathering of Eagles. That was my first experience as an organizer.
I was doing all these things in 2019. I got involved with the protests in Hong Kong, and it attracted me for a number of reasons. It was such a powerful movement that was seeking freedom and self-determination, and I think it’s heavily misunderstood here. But I went over there. I met a lot of people my age, older people, younger people. Basically, the government in Hong Kong is still the structure of the British colonial government. The corporations basically rule the city. They choose half of the legislature. It’s a unique situation. Not only was I introduced to a lot of interesting ideas that stuck with me there, but the spirit of the movement really captured my imagination. There were over a million people in the streets on several of the days I was protesting there. That’s incredible. I’ve never seen that before or since.
I ended up being banned from Hong Kong. I came back and in 2020, some of my friends invited me to some of the George Floyd protests, and at the first or second one I went to Mark Cuban was there and he was speaking. It was a giant thing. As soon as Mark Cuban left, the police started attacking us with tear gas and rubber bullets. There was a bystander, a young woman carrying groceries home, and she was shot in the head, and her head was bleeding. That was very eye-opening for me. I had seen that thing in Hong Kong, but I didn’t realize some of the problems we had at home.
I became very involved with the Black Lives Matter protests, and from there I got involved with mutual aid for our large unhoused community in Dallas. I got involved with other protest movements, and that led me to go to a protest against ICE on July 4, 2025, which was the fateful day that led to my incarceration.
TFSR: Thank you for sharing all that. That’s really interesting. The Hong Kong protests felt really complicated in terms of…a lot of people, I’m sure, who were just defending the possibility of democracy that they could find in a capitalist colonial holdout against the CCP. But then you had so many complicated viewpoints about it. And, as you said, the corporations run the elections- maybe not so much these days- but it’s really fascinating that you were able to be there.
Champagne: Yeah, it was amazing to be there. It was very complicated, and the issues really struck home for me. One of the main issues was housing. Young people couldn’t find anywhere to live. They couldn’t move out of their parents’ places. Wages weren’t rising, the land was being gobbled up by very wealthy, politically connected developers. There was no sense of being represented. Fundamentally, I think it was a struggle for freedom and self-determination, and it wasn’t as simple as western-cultured people or western-looking people struggling against the Communist Party. There were many, many issues at play. There were the factions that waved American flags and some British flags, but in my experience, those were rather small. Actually, as it developed, the overwhelming spirit was to protect each other from the excesses of the government and police. As soon as young people started getting injured, it became more of an anti-police brutality protest than anything else.
TFSR: One part of your bio is that you were a Marine Corps reservist, right?
Champagne: Yes.
TFSR: I wonder if you could, in the time remaining, talk a little bit- One thing that also struck me was listening through the prison radio segments you recorded, entitled “Searching for Antifa in San Francisco.” I wonder about that turning point that you came through. You mentioned being from a generational military family, and according to folks who have had that experience that I’ve talked to, it’s an overwhelming pull to follow in that legacy, plus whatever values you share, plus maybe economic possibility or educational money, all that stuff. It could be a mixed bag as to why people get involved in that. But I wonder if you could talk about that shift from an earlier shift before 2020, where you had seen the culture war on display in front of you, and that maybe made you rethink your relationship to the movements that were presented to you.
Champagne: Right. I joined the military to follow the family legacy, but also because of my personal beliefs. At that time, I strongly believed that the United States and the United States military were a force for good in the world. Joining the military actually was the first thing that probably strongly disillusioned me to those ideas. Inside the military, I heard firsthand about how the war on terror had been fought. Some of my combat instructors had been in the initial invasion of Iraq and had been in the occupation. They were very blunt about what we could expect.
I recall an older corporal; he had joined later in life as part of the 9/11 wave. He would say with a kind of jaded humor, “We would shoot up the whole apartment complex, and I had a Mark 19 grenade launcher. Shooting it into apartment windows, I probably killed a family of five. I don’t know, but I’m sure I did.” He would talk about how he kicked in a door, and it thumped against something. He looked in, and there was an old grandmother on the floor having a seizure. She’d been smashed in the head with the door, and he said, “I thought, oh, crap, and left.” Hearing about that obviously made me reassess the facts of the world.
I had really changed my opinion of what the U.S. military was doing in the world as a consequence of joining it. Once I got to San Francisco, I was still in the right-wing media sphere. I had been in it for practically my whole life at that point. Obviously, I was watching a lot of the “antifa is burning down cities and attacking the Proud Boys” and all these things, which were being pushed very heavily on YouTube at the time. When the right-wing media- Fox News, Breitbart, and all of these outlets that I consumed- started ringing the alarm bell about an ‘Antifa revolution,’ I didn’t really know what that meant but I wanted to go check it out. That led me to travel to San Francisco. If you haven’t listened to my piece “Searching for Antifa,” it’s on prisonradio.org, and it really lays out my experience there. It was incredibly eye-opening, and I realized that first of all, the right-wing media sphere was lying to me, and second of all, that I really didn’t understand the world I thought I did. That led me down a path of exploring a lot of ideas and reassessing what I was doing in the world. Because I always wanted to do the right thing, and that has stayed important to me across political evolutions.
TFSR: I gotta say that listening to that segment, I was surprised at your reflection of being- it’s very difficult to be staunchly of an opinion in order to put yourself in a dangerous situation by flying multiple states away to see what the Antifa revolution was going to be like. And then to be open to having a conversation with someone or even just be prompted with questions that would be challenging some of your viewpoints at the time. I hope that I can be willing to, in the face of challenging information, be open enough to consider that I’ve made some mistakes and that I maybe need to reassess even such big things as you express having to reassess in that piece.
Champagne: I think it’s easy when there’s a breaking point. Because the breaking point with reality was 200 or 300 older white hippies. Obviously, my understanding of the situation was shattered at that point. I was like, “What is going on?” It was because of that that I was more open to learning something. I will say that, especially in 2020, when there were huge protests, there were a lot of counter-protesters here in Texas. Oftentimes we would be facing off, lots of us armed, and it was pretty tense. But there would be interesting conversations where we could agree on a lot of things. I remember one thing: Epstein was a big topic at that time. It still is. These right-wing counter-protesters and I and my other Black Lives Matter protesters, we were all on the same page about Epstein. No one is in favor of tolerating billionaires molesting children, and it was very upsetting to all of us. We could get on the same page about things like that. But what I found is that a lot of those folks were just pretty poisoned by various conspiracy theories that blocked solidarity.
TFSR: Yeah, and I guess that’s a key thing. There are cultic studies on a thing that people approach, or will do a lot of organizing around, how to “deprogram” people, which even that, in and of itself, is problematic terminology. We’ve all got development to do, but fewer people are willing to do that. I am switching topics a little bit, unless there’s anything more about your political development that you want to talk about?
Champagne: That’s a good overview. I’ve had all kinds of nitty-gritty experiences that have been really important to me. For example, working with unhoused camps and seeing the conditions that people are under and hearing their stories. Really, I could go on and on, but I think that is a good summary.
TFSR: Cool. Because you did mention that Christianity was a big part of your upbringing and something that was influential. Two different variants of it. Is that still a part of what motivates you?
Champagne: Weirdly, yes and no. I would say yes because my family, particularly my grandfather, who quit a high-paying IBM job to help set up 100 churches, instilled in me a very strong sense of faith and responsibility. I describe myself as still having unshakable faith, although I’m not entirely sure what I could put that faith on. It’s not religious. I questioned Christian doctrine since I was very young. I recall arguing with pastors about various things from the Bible. I was not happy about being told I couldn’t say, “Oh my God” or things like that. I was very interested in all kinds of history even at that time, and I knew that God was a German word. It was not the name of God. That’s not what the 10 Commandments are actually talking about. I was arguing with pastors when I was eight or nine years old about the tetragrammaton, the YHWH. I’d never gotten satisfying answers. I felt intellectual curiosity was not encouraged. I kept poking holes, and really, nothing could fill those holes in. That’s the evolution I’ve gone through.
TFSR: Myself, I’m a former Catholic, and a lot of my political development came through engagement with progressive church organizations. Although I’m not a person of faith, I still am culturally Catholic. I still have moments where values that I grew up with around my interpretation of what good action was and what having a good life would be are still framed around a lot of the values that I picked up growing up in the church. I’ve got the baggage, in some ways, of Catholicism, maybe some of what I think are better parts.
Champagne: Absolutely. It really sticks with you. I try to be self-conscious of that because I’ve had a lot of conversations about the concept of sin. The concept of sin is very dominant among the American left, even though it’s largely not practicing Christians. The elevation of people who are sinless above people who have done work to be better is a constant problem. It leads to people misrepresenting themselves and deflecting blame rather than trying to learn from mistakes.
TFSR: If, theologically, the idea of sin is something that separates you from God, and judgment anyway is in the hands of God, the all-knowing, then it’s not really the place of a person to apply that to other people. We can judge on different things about their personal safety or whatever. But whether someone is sinless or not doesn’t seem like something that would fall under our purview. I say as an ex-Catholic.
Champagne: Yeah.
TFSR: Would you talk a little bit about the conditions of confinement that he’s experienced during the trial and since at Johnson County Jail?
Champagne: Absolutely. I’ve actually been in three different jails. It’s been interesting to compare and contrast them. I was initially in Johnson County Jail, and I’ve been in solitary confinement the whole time that I’ve been here. But after a few months, I was transferred to the Federal Medical Facility Fort Worth, which is a federal prison that has a jail pod. That was very different. I was with a hundred different people in general population there in a two-story unit that was open. I could interact with other people. Then I was put in the SHU, the special housing unit in the FMC prison. That was maybe the worst place I’ve been. It wasn’t solitary anymore, I believe, because of the hunger strike in 2012. They now have to give you roommates. I usually had a cellmate in the SHU, although sometimes I was alone. I actually liked it better. But the communication was basically cut off. There was one phone call a month, and I couldn’t receive books anymore. That was pretty terrible.
During trial, we were in Lawn Evans Jail in downtown Fort Worth. It’s a Tarrant County Jail, and that was also maybe the worst. The food was terrible. It was in the depths of a giant monolithic square building, and you could just feel that you were in the heart of a dungeon. The air was stale, it was incredibly dry, and a lot of people have died there. Six people have died there this year, so that can tell you something about the conditions. But I was in solitary there for three weeks, and then back to the FMC, and then back now to Johnson County.
So I’m in solitary in Johnson County, and it’s a middle ground in terms of conditions. The food is actually pretty decent. I have access to communication. I can receive books that people send to me, and I’m feeling pretty good with how productive I’m able to be. I’m writing a lot of essays and poetry and talking to people. I am not too distraught about the conditions. There is a lot of violence at Johnson County Jail; the use of force is pretty casual. I’ve seen people shot in the head with a pepper ball gun and electrocuted with stun gloves and shock shields. It was pretty bad for about three weeks, when there was a group of prisoners trying to resist. They were under heavy restrictions, so they didn’t really have any privileges left to lose. But they separated them, and the violence has calmed down since then.
TFSR: When you were at the FMC, was that a way of segregating you based on the charges? Was that based on your gender identity? Was that based on a health concern?
Champagne: I don’t know exactly why we were at the FMC, but it could have just been that they wanted to transfer us to federal custody, to a federal facility for some reason. We were all placed together; all of the AMAB people were in the same unit, and we could talk to each other. That was nice.
TFSR: What stuff are you reading?
Champagne: I’ve been reading really incredible books. Both books that I’ve always wanted to read but never had time for, and books that people sent me that I would not have discovered any other way. Recently, I read Rattling the Cages and Beneath the Mountain, which are the words and writings of political prisoners, and they’re both some of the most important books that I think I’ll ever read. Not just that I’ve read so far, but even with the other incredible stuff I’m reading. This year, I’ve read Assata, The Black Jacobins. I’m reading The Darker Nations by Vijay Prashad right now. A lot of great novels too. Some letter-writing group in California told me I had to read Dungeon Crawler Carl, and it’s actually been very fun and smart and funny. I also like science fiction in general, so I’ve been reading R.F. Kuang, Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin.
TFSR: Cool. The Dungeon Crawler one I had not heard of. I really enjoyed Rattling the Cages. I keep seeing Beneath the Mountain; is that right?
Champagne: Yes, it’s edited by Mumia Abu Jamal and Dr. Jennifer Black. It includes writings from John Brown, Malcolm X, MLK, George Jackson. A lot of incredible stuff packed in.
TFSR: That makes sense that I would have seen that now that I’m thinking about it, because Prison Radio has it up on their website as one of the books that you can order. They have done such a long-standing project with Mumia. And Mumia’s voice shows up at the end of all the segments anyway. But I heard really good things about it.
All right, so this case took a while to get more mainstream alarm in the U.S., but I feel people internationally have been shocked at the case and the implications in light of the fascistic expressions of the U.S. state and federal administrations for a bit. Could you talk about the Prairieland case in regard to NSPM-7 and alongside the policies of the administration towards immigrants and other targeted populations domestically, and contextualize it for, in particular, listeners in the U.S. who maybe don’t really realize what happened here?
Champagne: Absolutely. It’s been a weird contrast because it seems that the federal government really wanted to try to paint a narrative about the facts of our case and make it a big deal. The NSPM-7, the National Security Policy Memo, that specifically targeted us called Antifa a terrorist organization, directed federal law enforcement to direct resources to attacking Antifa. At the same time, the national media was very silent about our case until sentencing, essentially, almost a year later. The government really tried to paint this narrative not only about what happened but what it meant for the country as a whole. I think we really saw that extend to the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, where federal law enforcement announced immediately that both of those victims were so-called domestic terrorists. We’ve seen the impact across the country with some other malicious prosecutions of protesters. I think it has had a large impact on national policy, and the media, for reasons I don’t fully understand, I believe, was intentionally suppressing it. They were not talking about it until we got to the outrageous, very high sentencing in June of this year. The flood of attention really shocked people around the country and indeed around the world. We’ve heard a lot of shock and support from around the world.
TFSR: Can you talk a bit about the wider direction that you see the administration going? Clearly, if someone’s looking through the matter of the case, which I don’t want to get into in a lot of detail, because it’s still being brought up in court and everything, but the sentencing of 100 years is astounding. The focus specifically on people engaging in solidarity around immigration; there’s just been this whirlwind of different overlapping things with the fabrication of the Antifa organization and this conspiracy theory by the administration, the laying of that out across the country in all these different contexts, all these different at times radical, but often progressive, or social-justice, faith-based initiatives, acting in solidarity with immigrant neighbors. The country is in this escalated moment in terms of how we’re letting the government get away with ethnic cleansing. This is not the first time that it’s happened here. These are my words, but do you want to lay out your view of what’s happening in this country, and besides the tragedy of the convictions in this case, what people should see is going on? Does that make sense?
Champagne: Personally, I strongly see it through the lens of the imperial boomerang idea. I lay out in a poem I recorded for Prison Radio, 100,000 Kids Like Me. This is a reflection on the Iraq War, but all of these occupation techniques and technologies that were deployed in Iraq are really coming home to roost: from biometric tracking, cameras everywhere, facial recognition, fingerprinting, military presence patrols – those were all things that were being done to Iraqi civilians 20 years ago. When we see the large, heavily armed formations of paramilitary forces, namely ICE and Border Patrol, marching through cities with armored vehicles, this is something that you saw in Iraq for years and years with U.S. troops. With no particular mission, they would just do a military presence patrol, a show of force, and march around neighborhoods. All the way to the mass arrests, like you saw in my case, in the Prairieland case, they recall stories from Iraq where an entire cafe would be arrested to search for one guy. So I see what’s happening in this country with immigration enforcement really is the cover. Obviously, it is ethnic cleansing, but I also see it as a cover for establishing much stronger authoritarian control.
The outrageous sentences, in my case, 100 years, when an average sentence for murder in Texas is about 30 years. The 50 to 100 years that we saw were very transparently a show of force, trying to send a message. I believe Judge O’Connor actually explicitly said he’s trying to send a message to dissuade people from similar conduct. They are trying to break protesting civil disobedience, all kinds of resistance, because the policies of the administration, the policies of the ruling class, are becoming increasingly unpopular and indefensible. We can see with the grab for resources around data centers, the worsening climate crisis, and the installation of Flock cameras upsetting a very broad section of the population, that is probably not going to be placated, and therefore they’re turning to harder kinetic means of population control.
TFSR: The latest In Contempt (an online blog) column that covers prisoner issues, focused mainly on Turtle Island, mainly in the U.S. but also internationally, mentioned that you’ve been getting a lot of support mail, and so people shouldn’t necessarily expect a quick turnaround or response. You might not have a chance to respond. That’s a great sign. How have you experienced support and solidarity during the case and since, both from the U.S. and internationally?
Champagne: I’ve really experienced so much love and support. It’s been incredible. I have the people locally who’ve been supporting me. People all over the country. So many letters; I get maybe 200 letters a month, which is incredible and it’s heartwarming, and it’s a bit overwhelming. When I was at the FMC, I had a computer and a printer, so I could barely keep up. Now with just handwriting, I can’t possibly keep up. But I do try to respond to letters eventually. It’s really empowered me. I’m able to call people like you and get in touch with people. I have a group of people who I consider my research team. They’ll send me articles and information on whatever I ask them to look up, and that has really helped me with writing. I have opportunities to publish. The support has really been everything. That’s something that is reiterated by everyone in Rattling the Cages. For prisoners, you are so isolated and somewhat helpless without outside support. But with outside support, you can really continue to work and do a lot of good in the world.
TFSR: Are there any notable instances of international solidarity that you want to mention that perked your interest or that felt especially warm?
Champagne: It’s been amazing to have people even hear about my case and my struggles from so many different places. I’ve gotten letters of support and have pen pals in Canada, France, Greece, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland – just to name a few off the top of my head. But it’s been really cool to feel that connection. Especially now that there are important protest movements growing in France and Spain, I’m able to feel more connected to them and hope that the people I’ve been talking to are safe and are supporting as much as they can, and just feel more connected than I was with the internet and nominal freedom and being outside.
TFSR: Since you mentioned those movements, how has it been trying to keep up with the goings-on in the wider world? I understand it can be quite difficult, especially if you’re getting limited access to curated news sources. Are there any sources that you want to talk about for information, or any movements that you’re particularly inspired by and want to inform the audience on?
Champagne: I would say for people that are behind bars, NPR is a really invaluable resource because pretty much wherever you are, you have access to radio, and pretty much wherever you are, there’s an NPR station. I depend very heavily on NPR for daily and general news, things that I’m not asking people to look up for me. If I ask them to check up on something, research something, then I can get more sources of information. But for me, to just hear about things in the first place is heavily NPR and BBC when it’s played on my local NPR station. The main other source of news for most prisoners, unfortunately, is conservative talk radio. You would be surprised by how influential conservative talk radio is for prisoners, because that’s one of two options, and it’s where they get a lot of their news.
TFSR: As to ongoing movements or struggles that you’re aware of, are there any that stand out? You mentioned the student movement in France, as well as the occupations in Spain.
Champagne: Absolutely, I would also add to that the CJP in India has been really inspiring. Young students are really reckoning with the dire future that we are presented with. And they have the most to lose or gain. I’m really inspired to see young students organizing and standing up and demanding change. And really powerful movements in India and France, where there are over a thousand schools protesting next week. A lot of the trade unions are going to increase their involvement and openly join the strikes and protests. It’s a really important time. Great crises lead to or can lead to great solutions. The heat wave and sitting in unair-conditioned classrooms, along with the degrading conditions and the teacher shortage, have really woken up students in France and also India, and the incredible solidarity in Spain. I know Spain is supposed to have national protests very soon. They stopped the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in downtown Madrid after her rent doubled. They’ve been camped out there continuously, and now the whole country is joining in that solidarity. That’s really incredible to see. The world is reckoning with the great failures and injustices that I pointed to in my pre-sentencing statement. This is a really important and exciting moment, as much as it is a scary and dangerous moment, it also unleashes a lot of possibilities.
TFSR: It’s interesting to see that, with a lot of those examples, even if the movements aren’t present where we’re on the ground, like the eviction struggle in Spain, it feels like it could have pretty easy analogs. Who doesn’t hate a landlord? Who’s not perpetually under threat of eviction? But tenants’ unions and the mass movement around defending the right for someone to live in safety…
Automated voice: You have one minute remaining.
TFSR: …feels pretty universal.
Champagne: That’s something that I tapped into in Hong Kong in 2019, and it’s continued to grow. There are global issues that demand real international solidarity, a global reckoning, whether that be housing, healthcare, or climate change. These are things that demand movement. They demand answers from all of us, and the time clocks we’re on are demanding change now. It’s an exciting time to be in.
TFSR: Would you talk a bit about how you’re spending your time in the project that you’re working on?
Champagne: Absolutely. It’s been really amazing to be able to read all these books and learn from them and sharpen my writing, which is something I’ve done since I was little. Recently, I have been writing a number of poems that often have political messages, but sometimes they’re also reflections of my childhood, reflections about food, and those I’ve been recording with PrisonRadio.org. They’ve been really amazing. I’ve also been working on short stories and essays. Besides recording them, I have one book that should be coming out, hopefully, at the end of this year. That’s going to be titled Poetry on the Wall: A Year of Writing Beneath the Mountain. Hopefully another book coming out maybe next year; that’s in development. I’ve also been trying to do more interviews this year, video interviews when possible. It’s been amazing to have people connecting on GTL, especially since I asked that that opportunity be added to my bio, so that I can call into different events, talk to different people from all over, and really fill up my time with rewarding, productive work.
TFSR: No, that’s great. I saw that you had kicked in some words about the Running Down the Wall that a bunch of different ABCs and adjacent prisoner support projects and solidarity projects are engaging in.
Champagne: It was really amazing to call into Running Down the Walls and read Rattling the Cages and Beneath the Mountain. It was incredible to see the long legacy of support for political prisoners and how important it was. The ABC has been supporting political prisoners for a very long time. As has the Partisan Defense Committee. I’m going to try to call into their event later this month. They have also supported many political prisoners throughout the years. I wasn’t able to participate in running for Running Down the Walls. We haven’t had very consistent outdoor recreation recently, and the yard I have is a pretty miserable little concrete cube. I’m not sure how I would be able to run 5K in an hour in the little cube. But it’s such a cool opportunity, and I love events that are so important. I love calling into events and talking to people, hearing from people.
TFSR: Could you tell listeners a bit about what you understand your next legal steps to be? When do you think you’ll be moved out of the state or out of the county jail that you’re in currently and into the Bureau of Prisons? What level are you expecting to land at?
Champagne: As far as that goes, it’s pretty up in the air and uncertain. We’re in state custody right now, waiting for the state cases. We don’t have any trial date. We don’t have any hearing date. I’ve heard some different scenarios for how long that may take and how long we may be here. I expect to be here for some months, possibly up to one to two years. We are working on our federal appeals as well. It’s been really cool to see, actually. A lot of big guns have come out of the woodwork as far as legal support, experts, and forensic work. So we’re going to have some very strong appeals. Those are going to be filed sometime in the coming months, and then we’ll see what happens with the state cases. One scenario that I’ve heard actually is we may wait to go to trial on the state cases until after the first round of appeals have been adjudicated. Again, that may take a year or two.
So a lot of things are in motion. At the same time, there’s really no deadline here for how long we’re going to be in county jail. If I end up in federal prison, and I say “if” because, by the time I’m out of county jail, that first round of appeals may have already been successful. In my mind, a number of other things could have happened. But if I end up in federal prison, it’s likely going to be the penitentiary level at least. That’s what it looks like to me.
TFSR: You’ve mentioned some of the stuff that you’re working on and some of the books that you’re reading beyond those things, and that legal workers have come out of the woodwork with their experience and the resources behind them. What support are you looking for at this time from folks in the audience, or any specialized tools that people could bring to that for helping you? My understanding is that there was a denial of a firearms expert or forensics expert around the bullet or the supposed injury to the cop. I wonder if there are specialists that you’re seeking help from that are maybe here in the audience, someone might know someone. Or is it just more talking about the case, you’re looking for more people writing letters or joining in reading groups. What are you thinking?
Champagne: There are all kinds of different avenues to support that are very important. Whatever people can do, of course, any additional case support is welcome, especially if it’s pro bono. Fundraising could definitely help with some of the legal support and some of the experts we have lined up. They’re going to be rather expensive, even though they’re trying as hard as they can to keep their own costs down. Public support will probably be the number one most important factor in this case. So, spreading the word, talking to people about it, sharing information. I thought The Intercept article that came out recently, called “The Ricochet Theory,” was a really good article that more people need to read and be aware of. Letter writing always helps for me. I’ve really enjoyed and gotten opportunities from people connecting on the GTL app, where you can text message me and we can video call. I like connecting with different letter writing events and other support events around the country, connecting with people directly. But spreading the word, fundraising – if you know any experts, especially if they want to help for free, that would be great. Connecting through letters, through GTL. Oh, and I love when people read and listen to my stuff. Please check out prisonradio.org. Some of my stuff is on PrairielandDefendants.com. There’s a number of zines out, especially several from Mongoose Distro in New York. All that stuff.
TFSR: Awesome. Champagne, do you have any other thoughts right now you want to close this conversation out with? Or are you good?
Champagne: The most encouraging letter I’ve got so far is from a student who talked about learning to be brave and realizing that struggle is important. I know it’s a scary time out there, and I wish I was out there. But there are some really important things that are happening and are likely about to happen in the next month or so. I just hope that people keep up hope; they’re brave and committed and principled. I’ll see you all on the outside.
TFSR: Yeah, thank you very much for taking the time.
Champagne: Thank you.