Category Archives: Prisons

Arizona, Border, Colonialism, Environment, Forest Defense, Frontera, Immigration, Indigenous, Mexico, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Prisons, Racism, repression, U.S. South, United States

Healing the Border’s Scar + Updates on Khalif Miller

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TFSR 10-1-26 | Healing the Borders Open Scar + Updates on Khalif MIller" featuring a photo of Khalif smiling at the camera wiht a tshirt from the cartoon Rugrats imposed on a larger backround pic showing the back of a person in a jagaur costume alongside a half-built portion of the border doublewall in Lochiel showing worker vehicles and a muddy road in the background
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In this midweek special, we’re sharing a recent chat with Juan of Casa Carmelita to talk about Camp O:Shad about the tree sit and defense of the landscape around Tohono O’odham land around Lochiel Arizona against a double border wall being constructed and in the run-up to the October 4th day of action that organizers are hoping to invite people to at the US-Mexico border. Alongside this, you’ll hear Jackson, an organizer with the Human Rights Coalition talking about the situation of 2020 Uprising prisoner Khalif Miller.

We hope you enjoy the interviews! This episode will also be this Sunday’s podcast, so expect to hear back from us October 11th.

Camp O:Shad Links:

Write to Khalif here:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Khalif Miller #QQ9287
SCI Forest
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

Khalif Links:

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activism, Antifa, Bristol, CopWatch, Palestine, Police, Prisons, Protest, repression, SpyCops, Transcribed, UK, Uncategorized, zine

Anti-Repression Updates from the UK (with NetPol)

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a photo of a line of riot police with their backs to right wing demostrators, defending them and facing possible counter-protestors in Manchester, plus "TFSR 9-13-26 | Anti-Repression Updates from the UK with Network for Police Monitoring"
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This week, we’re sharing a conversation with two anti-repression organizers in the UK who are both associated with NetPol, or the Network for Police Monitoring as well as other defendant support projects. For the chat we speak about the sort of work their orgs are involved in, changes in sentencing amongst protestors, increasingly violent police suppression of antifascists counter-demonstrating (and greatly outnumbering) anti-immigrant crowds, the Filton Palestine Action cases and more. We hope you enjoy and you can find some links in the show notes on where to find more of Maya and Andy’s work.

We recorded this interview several weeks ago, before Palestine Action was proscribed by the US as a Specially Designated Terrorist Entity and has had sanctions applied to it by the US State Department, so it’s notable that we can legally not suggest anyone offer material support to Palestine Action thanks to the Anti-Antifascist US government as they could be punished under US law.

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activism, Anarchist, Autonomy, California, Drug War, Environment, Immigration, June 11, Mexico, Political Prisoner, Prisons, repression, Transcribed, United States, zine

Bridging The Rift Through Kumeyaay Territory + 2026 June 11th Call

photo of three children in dresses walking along the Tijuana side of the beach border wall next to graffiti and wheat pasted posters, plus "TFSR 6-7-26 | Bridging The Rift Through Kumeyaay Territory (Tijuana & San Diego)"
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This week, you’ll hear two segments

First up, a long sharing of perspectives from occupied Kumeyaay [Kum-ee-aih] land, the Mexico-US border. Devi Machete from Contra Viento Y Marea in Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California about the history and activity of that project and journalist and activist James Stout speaks from San Diego in the US state of California about desert conditions north of the border wall. For this chat, you’ll hear third-hand accounts of border crossings, imprisonment, and deaths in border regions but also about solidarity, organizing, and resistance among those on the move as well as the communities they encounter.

After that, at roughly one hour and forty six minutes in, you’ll hear this year’s statement for the June 11th  Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and long term anarchist prisoners which will include perspectives of organizers, updates in folks struggles and conditions of confinement and reflections on solidarity and insurrection. Check the show notes for a few links and the time stamps of where this section begins. [ 1:46:45 ]

Past Interviews

Contra Viento Y Marea Links

Other Links

Announcements

Shine White Hunger Strike Continues

Many of you have been asking for an update, so here’s where things stand.

While at Scotland Correctional Institution, Shine was helping organize political education among prisoners and speaking out about conditions and serious medical concerns inside the facility. As many already know, he had a contraband cell phone. According to Shine, that phone contained recordings and information documenting conditions inside Scotland, including prisoners begging for medical attention. Not long after, Shine and others around him were transferred and separated across different facilities.

In mid-April, Shine was transferred overnight from Scotland to Granville Correctional Institution in what he described as one of the fastest transfers he had seen in 17 years of incarceration. Upon arrival, he was immediately placed on HCON (High Security Maximum Control). Shine maintains the placement was arbitrary, requested a grievance regarding that placement, and to our knowledge has yet to receive a meaningful opportunity to challenge it. He has been on hunger strike ever since.

Over the past few weeks, many of you participated in Calls to Action, making phone calls and sending emails seeking answers about his health, communication, property, grievances, and HCON status. Those efforts led to direct conversations with Assistant Regional Director Timothy Jones, who assured us that concerns were being reviewed and investigated.

Here’s the problem.

We have now confirmed through official records that Shine was already housed at Central Prison on the same date we were being given information that appeared to place him at Granville. We still don’t know whether that means the Regional Office had outdated information, didn’t know where he was, or something else entirely. What we do know is that the answers we were given don’t line up with the timeline we can now verify.

At this point, we have no direct communication with Shine. Updates are coming through fellow comrades who have been able to get word out through prison channels.

What we know right now:

  • Shine remains on HCON.
  • Shine remains on hunger strike.
  • Shine is housed in Central Prison’s medical unit.
  • Communication remains extremely limited.
  • Questions about his mail, property, grievances, and classification remain unanswered.

The transfer changed the address. It did not answer the questions.

This week we are launching another Call to Action. Supporters will once again be contacting Central Prison, the Regional Office, and NC DAC leadership seeking answers and accountability.

If Shine’s status remains unchanged and these concerns continue to be ignored, we are preparing for an in-person demonstration later this week.

If the goal was to make people stop paying attention, it didn’t work.

For updates and ways to get involved, follow the Instagram or other links at https://linktr.ee/shinewhitesupport

You can hear a prior interview we did with Shine White here: https://thefinalstrawradio.mayfirst.info/post/2021/01/17/shinewhite-on-turning-razor-wire-plantations-into-schools-of-liberation/

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abolition, Author, Capitalism, Colonialism, General, History, NYU Press, Philosophy, Police, Prisons, Race, Racism, Religion, Sexism, Transcribed, United States, zine

The Religious Function of Whiteness and Mass Criminalization in the US (with Andrew Krinks)

the book cover for "White Property, Black Trespass" with a blue police offier head, plus "TFSR 5-10-26 | The Religious Function of Whiteness and Mass Criminalization in the US (with Andrew Krinks)"
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This week, we’re sharing an interview with Andrew Krinks, author of White Property, Black Trespass: Racial Capitalism and the Religious Function of Mass Criminalization from NYU Press, 2024. For the chat, we speak about taking a theological lens to the question of what ties exclusive private property, white masculinity, police impunity and mass incarceration in the US. We discuss aspects of Christian thought, employ concepts borrowed from the Black Radical tradition and try to get closer to the root of the sickness in our culture that flourishes from others pain.

To check out a Firestorm book event with the author and others about the book and related topics, check out this video!

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Author, General, History, Law, Police, Prisons, Racism, Transcribed, United States, zine

Dr. Terence Keel on U.S. Deaths in Custody and Public Accountability

book cover of The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence, plus "TFSR 4-26-26 | Dr. terrence Keel on U.S. Deaths in Custody and Public Accountability"
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This week, we’re sharing this interview with Dr. Terence Keel, author of The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence (Beacon Press, 2025). We speak about the book, the BioCritical Studies Lab that Dr. Keel founded, what public records exist of deaths at the hands of police, jails and prisons and some efforts to record names and circumstances in hopes of accountability and closure. You can find Dr. Keel at TerenceKeel.com

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abolition, activism, Asheville, Bail Funds, Law, North Carolina, Police, Prisons, Racism, Transcribed, United States, zine

Why Is Asheville’s Buncombe County Jail Full of People?

"TFSR 3-8-26 | Why Is Asheville's Buncombe County Jail Full of People?" featuring a photo from the New Years Eve 2021 Noise Demonstration at the jail with the words "Empty The Cages Free The People" projected on the outer walls of one wing
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This week, we’re sharing an interview with Julie and Jeremy, two anarchists and participants in the Asheville Community Bail Fund. We speak about the US system of pre-trial incarceration aka bail and bond, the work of the bail fund locally, the overcrowding of the Buncombe County Jail here in Asheville, the ICE holds happening in the local jail, and how local policy choices regarding criminalization are being compounded by recent and new North Carolina legislation. Even if you aren’t in Asheville or North Carolina, it’s likely that much of this conversation will be pertinent to goings-ons in your neck of the woods (though hopefully not).

If you’re a regular listener to The Final Straw Radio, have a passion for enriching the anarchist media environment, feel like your values align with what you’ve heard on the show and want a chance to help out and hone your skills, we’re always looking for help. If you’ve thought of getting a podcast or other media project going but aren’t sure how to start, we can be a good jumping off point. Feel free to reach out via our emails

Links

North Carolina Laws discussed

Iryna’s Law (HB-307)

Related Past interviews

Asheville politics and police repression

Public surveillance by ALPR systems like Flock

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Anarchist, Autonomy, community, CounterInsurgency, Immigration, Police, Prisons, repression, Transcribed, United States, zine

Immigration Detention, Low Intensity Warfare and Popular Resistance to the Ubiquitous Border

“TFSR 3-1-26 | Immigration Detention, Low Intensity Warfare and Popular Resistance to the Ubiquitous Border” plus a photo from the El Paso / Juarez border showing walles, fences, barbed wire, border agents, a passing rainshower and rainbow
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This week, you’ll hear from Juan and Fatima, two people who’ve been organizing and thinking about the southern US border for a long time to speak about the escalations in border force violence and kidnappings by ICE and CBP around the US (including Minneapolis where Fatima resides), an explosion in proposed immigration detention (including near El Paso where Juan resides), the expansion of low intensity conflict and counter-insurgency in the southwest since the mixing in of language of the War on Crime, War on Drugs and the Global War on Terror and how autonomous mutual aid provides opportunities for scaling up community defense and prefiguring the world we want to see.

Links

El Paso Groups

Related Past Interviews

Articles Of Note

Announcements

Peppy Moved to Halfway House

We are happy to announce that Peppy has entered a halfway house where he will finish out his remaining incarceration. You can learn more about writing to him and what he likes to talk about at his support website. His crew is still fundraising for a post-release fund there as well found at FreePeppyAndKrystal.NoBlogs.Org

Casey Goonan Moved

Palestine solidarist Casey Goonan has been transferred from Mendota in California to what is likely to be their home for the foreseeable future, FCI Allenwood – Medium. You can learn more about getting into contact, updates on their case and how to support their commissary at FreeCaseyNow.NoBlogs.Org

Hrdindu Roychowdhrury Moved

Alleged Janes Revenge prisoner and Grand Jury Resister Hrdindu Roychowdhrury has been moved to FCI Thomson in Illinois. He just had a birthday and could use some sweet words. More on the move and how to write him at ABCF.Net

Prairieland Case Updates

The Prairieland Case was declared a mistrial and has been restructured in an audacious move by the Trump appointed judge Pitman. Restrictions applied to the case will could greatly limit the ability of the 9 defendants to make their cases where decades of their lives behind bars are at stake. You can learn more, including detailed notes from each day of trial, by visiting PrairielandDefendants.Com, find the defendants new updated Tarrant County mailing addresses and followcalls for support by finding their social media.

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activism, General, Hunger Strike, Israel, military, Palestine, Prisons, Protest, Transcribed, UK, war, zine

Palestine Action Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Elbit Systems and UK Complicity In Gaza (with Francesca)

"TFSR 11-30-25 | Palestine Action Prisoner Hunger Strikes, Elbit Systems and UK Complicity In Gaza (with Francesca)" featuring a picture of a hand slamming a Palestinian flag down, smashing a plate with the base of the flag pole
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This week, we’re joined by Francesca, a member of Prisoners For Palestine who is a former prisoner herself who speaks about Palestine Action, a group proscribed in the UK as a terrorist organization at the behest of the Israeli state and Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems for their successful direct actions against Elbits war profiteering and the UK’s role in assisting the genocide in Gaza. Currently, 6 incarcerated members of Prisoners For Palestine are on an open-ended hunger strike against their conditions and the continued operation of Elbit which has garnered support from around the world.

This last week, the UK government has begun it’s trial against the 29 Palestine Actionists, simultaneous to the legal challenge to the proscription being brought before the courts. You can keep up on the hunger strikers at PrisonersForPalestine.org and many of the other cases at FiltonActionists.com . Check our show notes for more links.

Then, you’ll hear a part of our interview with members of the DFW Support Committee that didn’t make the radio two weeks ago speaking about the application of terrorism charges to antifascists in the US, the wider repression of liberationist movements in the imperial core and the collaboration between far right governments paralleling this.

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  • Wein Al Malayeen by Deena Abdelwahed from Nisf Madeena
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activism, Anarchist, Asia, Bookfair, General, Nepal, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Prisons, Transcribed, United States, zine

The “Gen Z” Uprising That Rocked The Nepalese State + 1st PGH Anarchist Book Fair

This week, the show has two segments.

Pittsburgh Anarchist Book Fair

"TFSR 10-19-2025 | Anarcho of Movement in Nepal and The Gen Z Uprising That Rocked The State" and a photo of someone climbing the gilded gates of the Nepalese parliament building, hanging a flag with a skull and crossbones and wearing a straw hat, with the parliament burning in the background
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First up, you’ll hear a brief interview with M, an organizer of the first Pittsburgh anarchist book fair, happening October 24-26 across a few venues in the Steel City

As is anarchist book fair tradition, everything will be free.
We’re renting a few spaces, and expecting a few other costs. Sharing that info here so folks can get a sense of what that looks like. If you/others are inclined and able to support, would be grateful for that.
Attached is an image of the break down as of today, and below is a link we’ll update live time as to what costs look like.
https://pad.riseup.net/p/r.ca0a70f3bd595bb58b9daab4e6d9a576
You can buy a beautiful book fair shirt (design by the illustrious N.O. Bonzo), or simply donate. Venmo: @pghbookfair. (If you’d like a shirt, indicate size in the note – S-3XL; if yr just donating, any emoji or strange note is fine!) Feel free to message for other ways to donate.

“Gen Z” Uprising In Nepal

Then, an interview that I conducted with Anarcho, a member of the Black Book Distro collective out of Kathmandu, Nepal, about the protests and aftermath of the September 2025 “Gen Z” anti-corruption protests that ousted the prime minister, released prisoners and left the parliament in smoldering ruins.

Because we don’t follow a strict chronology of events, we’re including a few articles linked in our show notes for further study. We worked heavily off the interview with members of the Black Book Distro and CrimethInc, which is among those in our show notes.

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abolition, Anarchist, Belarus, Immigration, Political Prisoner, Politics, Prisons, repression, Russia, Transcribed, UK, United States, zine

Prisoner Support Panel Discussion

line drawing of prison overgrown by nature with the owrds "TFSR 8-24-25 | Prisoner Support Panel"
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As we enter into the 2025 Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners, we’re sharing a discussion with three anarchists doing prisoner support in different national contexts, prompted by topics brought by the guests. You’ll hear first from Moshe of ABC Belarus, then Nicole of the Solidarity Apothecary and finally from Anya of Solidarity Zone speak on topics such as service work in solidarity, gendered dynamics of care work, difficulties in organizing ongoing and longterm anti-repression work from within exile and diaspora communities, burnout and self-care.

ABC Belarus and Solidarity Apothecary are members of the new federation, Solifdarity.International that we spoke about in our August 10th, 2025 episode.

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  • The Sticks by The Budos Band from The Burnt Offering
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