*This page is outdated and we will be updating it to reflect what has happened since trial has ended very soon, but for those who would like a backstory, continue to read.*
13 members of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation are being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of racketeering.
We are working with 4 of the 13 indicted, and we are doing direct support for those 4. Our coalition is comprised of anarchists, reverends and church members from the Beloved Community Center, the Pulpit Forum, the Community Justice Fund, and other social justice advocates in the greater Greensboro community.We’ve formed direct relationships with these men, we’ve stuck closely by them in various community struggles for social justice, and they’ve also earned our trust and respect through the independent organizing and activism they are involved with independently of our group.
The 4 are:
Jorge Cornell (King J, Inca of North Carolina)
Russell Kilfoil (King Peaceful)
Samuel Velasquez (King Hype)
Randolph Kilfoil (King Paul)
We aren’t in direct contact with the other 9—some of them we’ve never met because they have been incarcerated, some have been kicked out of the nation, some have taken plea deals in this case.
The 4 brothers are political prisoners who have been wrongfully accused of racketeering. The NC ALKQN is a street organization dedicated to community & self-determination and defense, the continuation of liberation struggles in the US and in occupied Puerto Rico, black & brown unity and alliance with white anti-racist organizations, as well as relentlessly fighting to stop cops and prisons from destroying their families and communities.
The indictment denies the validity of the organization and unjustly equates association with the ALKQN as criminal activity. As a result of the supposed immanent threat to society posed by the brothers, their bail was denied, and they will remain in prison until the trial date, which is projected to occur in late winter of 2013, although it may be delayed or continued. We are working to ensure the brothers are treated fairly, humanely, and legally while incarcerated.
The indictment is an aspect of the “Prison-Industrial Complex,” a term describing the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to social, economic, and political “problems.” This is a racist, classist system whose purposes are to generate money by encouraging recidivism and falsely criminalizing people of color in order to create and maintain jobs.
THE INDICTMENT
The indictment, which falls under the purview of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) alleges that the ALKQN is “a criminal organization,” a “violent street gang,” and an “enterprise” whose activities affected and engaged in illegal interstate and foreign commerce. It further alleges that the men indicted have committed specific crimes (including murder, arson, drug trafficking, assault, and weapons charges) or conspired to commit crimes whose express purpose was to maintain and further the goals of the ALKQN as a criminal enterprise. The full indictment can be read here.
The Greensboro Legal Defense Coalition, the Greensboro ALKQN, the Beloved Community Center, and other community leaders and social justice advocates in the area wish to deny these allegations. There is substantial evidence in our possession that is available to the federal prosecutors and the public at large that invalidate and disprove the allegations made against the 4 brothers we are supporting. For more specifics on this evidence, visit the media page.
THE RAID
On Tuesday, December 6th at about 8:00 am, our neighbors’ and comrades’ house was raided by the “Safe Streets Task Force,” a coordinated effort between the FBI, ATF, The U.S. Marshalls, the Greensboro Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies. More than 30 law enforcement officers were on the scene.
The task force detonated a flashbang grenade, surrounded the house, came in both front and back doors with assault rifles, and conducted a search and and made arrests pusuant to an indictment signed by judge P. Trevor Sharp. Almighty Latin Kings Jorge Cornell (Inca of North Carolina, King J.) and Charles Moore (King Toasty) were arrested and taken from the home.
A 15-year-old girl was cooking breakfast for her mother when the first bang came from the back door. She was quickly surrounded and forced onto the ground. She was photographed and handcuffed during her detainment in the house. A mother of twins and wife of a (now former) Latin King was forced out of the shower and detained outside with only a blanket covering her, all the while separated from her twin two-year old boys.
The warrant sought the forfeiture of shotguns, revolvers, pistols, an AK-47, and three machetes. They found no weapons, drugs, illegal materials, or contraband of any sort in the course of the raid. They did, however, find and confiscate a great deal of personal belongings that were allegedly gang-related—including Cornell’s wallet, a laptop, a flag, phones, pictures of lions, shoes, clothes, jewelry, and other items bearing the ALKQN’s black and gold colors.
The direct support done so far has included regular visits to Alamance, Forsyth, and Piedmont Regional Jail, where the brothers are being held, speaking on the phone with them, writing letters, and adding money to their commissaries. Indirect support has included fund raising, coalition building, information sharing, childcare, and spending time with the brothers’ friends and family.
