Peoria, IL – Sunday, June 15, more than 150 residents of Central Illinois took to the intersection of North University and West Main Street, occupying all four corners.

The protest was organized by River City Rainbow Collective and Peoria No Ban No Wall, with attendance from Peoria for Palestine, Workers Strike Back, and 50501. Most attendees were locals, though a few had driven from nearby Bloomington for the demonstration.

They protested ICE and rallied in solidarity against Trump’s attacks on the people of Los Angeles, who are defending their neighborhoods from ICE abductions and government repression.

“No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state!” shouted protesters, as cars drove by honking in support, some yelling encouragement from their windows.

Protesters waved Mexican flags and signs calling for the welcoming of immigrants and refugees, and opposing the Trump administration's racist targeting of immigrants. Alongside slogans against Trump and ICE, protesters shouted “Free, free Palestine!” and “Trans rights are human rights!”

“ICE does not play in Peoria. And we don’t want it here. That’s the message I want to convey – no ICE,” said Terri Brink, a longtime local activist.

Organizers handed out flyers for Peoria Rapid Response Network, which is part of a country-wide grassroots activist movement responding to ICE sightings and assisting families with resources in cases of abductions.

Organizers were well prepared, and provided water bottles, sign-making materials, and a first aid station.

The people of Peoria are standing up against Trump's attacks on immigrants and demanding ICE stay well away from their communities. Peoria stands in solidarity with the people of Los Angeles working tirelessly to defend their homes from ICE kidnappings.

Look for future actions on Facebook on pages for River City Rainbow Collective, Peoria No Ban No Wall, and The Peoria Rapid Response Network.

#PeoriaIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #PRRN #ICE

Peoria, IL – Activists, family members and supporters of Anthony Gay rallied outside the U.S. Central District Court in Peoria, Tuesday morning, May 23. Members of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression led the group in chanting, “Free, free Anthony Gay” and “The people united will never be defeated” before entering the courthouse for Anthony’s sentencing hearing.

Anthony Gay is a political prisoner. He was incarcerated at 21 years old for a minor offense and held in solitary confinement for 22 years in Illinois prisons. Much of that time was spent in Tamms Correctional Center, a torture chamber designed for solitary confinement and sensory deprivation that was closed down in 2013 after years of pressure.

Gay fought to get himself free in 2018 alongside his lawyer, Jennifer Soble from the Illinois Prison Project. After his release, he became an advocate against solitary confinement and fought to pass the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act to limit the use of solitary confinement to ten days in a 180-day period, bringing the law in line with the United Nations definition of torture. The bill passed the Illinois House but is stalled in the Senate. During this legislative battle in 2020 Gay was arrested in a frame-up by the Rock Island Police Department for possession of a firearm and ammunition, which he was barred from because of a felony on his record. He represented himself in federal court and achieved a hung jury. At his second trial, he was convicted by an all-white jury.

Since this conviction in the spring of 2022, Gay was transferred to Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) – Butner, North Carolina, where he was meant to undergo psychological evaluation. The forensic psychologist evaluating Anthony, Dr. Heather Ross, was the sole witness called by the prosecution in the sentencing hearing. Ross opened her remarks explaining that she was not an MD, and that her role was to evaluate and not to treat Gay. Ross then claimed in her testimony that Anthony did not have PTSD, that his borderline personality disorder could not be considered a serious mental illness, that he engaged in self-harm in order to manipulate people and his conditions, and that he refused to take medication. She explained her treatment plan for Anthony, which involved denying him social interaction after he had engaged in self-harm.

Anthony’s defense lawyer, Jennifer Soble, later noted that in his five months at FCC-Butner, Gay spent 90 days on suicide watch, engaged in self-harm 20 times, and underwent 12 surgeries. Soble explained that despite Anthony informing staff at FCC-Butner that isolation would exacerbate his mental health symptoms, he never left suicide watch or lived with others.

At one point, Gay was transferred to the medical side of the complex, FMC-Butner, where his treatment plan included being denied soap and boxers when he exhibited symptoms of his mental illness, and where he continued to be placed on suicide watch. Suicide watch in federal prisons involved being placed in an empty cell with a mattress and a smock and watched by an “inmate companion.” An “inmate companion” is another incarcerated person with four hours of training.

Government psychologist complicit in torture

After Ross left the stand, the defense called Dr. Terry Allen Kupers, a psychiatrist and forensic psychiatrist who has been studying the effects of solitary confinement for many years.

Dr. Kupers stated clearly that he recognized suicide watch as a form of solitary confinement. He also confirmed that Anthony does have PTSD, which the defense pointed out every doctor who has examined Anthony has determined besides Dr. Ross. And he clarified that borderline personality disorder is categorized as a Serious Mental Illness under the official definition when its effects are disabling and prolonged. He described his visit to Tamms during Gay’s time there, where the floors of the cells were built slanted to make it easier to wash out blood and other bodily fluids.

Kupers recounted his interviews with those who had been held in prolonged solitary confinement and explained that 50% of suicides in prison occur in solitary confinement, and self-harm is common.

He testified that the treatment Anthony received at FCC and FMC Butner was in violation of the American Psychological Association’s standards for correctional mental health care and the United Nations’ Mandela Rules, which state that more than 15 days in solitary confinement is considered torture, and that those with serious mental illness should not be held in solitary confinement.

Dr. Kupers also explained that Anthony’s self-harm is largely motivated by a need for relief from psychological pain, and that subjecting Anthony to solitary confinement is what is causing his psychological pain, making it impossible for Anthony to receive effective treatment while held in isolation.

On the second day of the hearing, the prosecution claimed that Gay’s mental illness should be taken as an “aggravating factor” in the sentencing, meaning a reason to lengthen his sentence. They claimed that Gay is a danger to the community based on his history of criminal charges. The defense pointed out that the majority of these charges were aggravated battery charges brought against Anthony during his incarceration, when Gay was frequently punished for exhibiting symptoms of his mental illness.

Specifically, attorney Soble explained, a large number of these charges were brought against Anthony while at Pontiac prison in Livingston County, Illinois during a time when Livingston County was bringing so many charges against people incarcerated in Pontiac that it led to a class action lawsuit. In one year, of the 300 prosecutions brought against incarcerated people in the state of Illinois for aggravated battery, Livingston County accounted for 70% of them.

The defense further explained that these sentences were being dealt with consecutively instead of concurrently, leading to a stacking effect where extended sentences were brought against those charged. Soble explained when she met Gay, his seven-year sentence had been stacked to an over 100-year sentence. Challenging this illegal stacking is how Anthony was able to fight to get himself free in 2018. But despite the judge in that case agreeing to make Anthony’s sentence concurrent, those charges are still included in the calculation of Gay’s criminal history, which was the basis of the prosecution’s arguments. According to the calculations, Gay could be sentenced to anywhere from 84 to 105 months. The prosecution asked the judge for 105 months or more.

Soble reminded the judge of torture Anthony has undergone in prison. She cited experts in solitary confinement, official policies on the treatment of the mentally ill, doctors who had treated Gay previously, none of whom shared Dr. Ross’s conclusions. She gave a powerful example of the failures of the “treatment” provided Anthony while on suicide watch. She cited records of an incident where Anthony’s “inmate companion” asked for psychological and medical assistance multiple times throughout the day and no one came, despite Gay’s serious injuries.

Ultimately, Soble asked the judge to sentence Anthony to 12 months, which he had already served plus probation. She made the argument that the federal Bureau of Prisons is not fit to house or treat Gay, based on their track record of subjecting him to isolation. She pointed out the role Gay was able to play in his community while on supervised release, and the support he has on the outside. She argued that Gay’s mental illness should be taken as a mitigating and not an aggravating factor, and that using his illness to justify a lengthier sentence may be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities act.

Sentence shows judge’s cruelty

After a brief recess, Judge James Shadid returned to the bench, and opened his remarks saying that Anthony’s mental illness is “both an aggravating and a mitigating factor,” but that he agrees with the prosecution that Gay is a danger to his community. He stated that admitting Anthony cannot be safely incarcerated would give him a blank pass, and said this hearing was “not a popularity contest.” He issued Gay a sentence of 84 months, with three years of supervised release after the fact.

In response to this sentencing, Gay said, “My conviction and sentence is unjust. The fight for justice continues. I will be filing an appeal and request the appellate court reverse and remand my case for a new trial and a fair opportunity to put this case in the litigation dock.”

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stated, “This sentence is a grave injustice, but Anthony is a courageous freedom fighter. The National Alliance will continue to stand united with Anthony every step of the way.”

#PeoriaIL #PoliceBrutality #AnthonyGay

Peoria, IL – The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) brought a dozen activists from Chicago to Peoria, Illinois May 16 for the opening of the federal trial of Anthony Gay. Gay had previously defeated the charges when, in an historic trial, he won a hung jury representing himself. He is facing the same assistant U.S. attorneys and federal judge.

The charge against Gay is that he is a felon and had a firearm.

During the proceedings, Gay pointed out that there is no physical evidence of him having a firearm. There was a pistol found by the Rock Island police in the vicinity where they arrested him, but it has no fingerprints or DNA; there are no photos or witnesses of Gay with the pistol; and the testimony by a police officer rests on a claim that Gay fell flat in the spot where the pistol was located. Again, there is no photographic evidence of Gay falling there, and the location was a white gravel-covered alleyway. When Gay was photographed following the alleged fall, there was no gravel dust on his clothes.

Frank Chapman, field organizer of CAARPR and executive director of the National Alliance, remarked about the day in court. “The prosecution’s case was weak, and a classic example of how frame-ups work. They don't have evidence. They concoct evidence. And the evidence that they concoct is based on lies.”

Speaking about Gay’s performance in court, Chapman continued, “Anthony was consistently showing that they didn't even have a good theory of the case because they didn't feel like they needed one. He tore the prosecution up by just sticking to a few simple facts. Did you find me with a gun?”

Going on, Chapman said, “They showed us about an hour of videos altogether. Not one video that shows him stumbling and falling on his face. He has organized his defense around disputing and exposing all the concocted evidence that the U.S. attorney's office put together.”

Nina Johnson-Horton of the organization To Seek and To Save (TSTS), dedicated to exposing wrongful convictions, was also among the activists from Chicago in the courtroom. “Anthony Gay has the ability to demonstrate to the jury – although it is not of his peers – that the government has not proven their case beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had a gun or any ammunition.” Johnson-Horton referenced here the all-white jury in Peoria, a city that is 27% Black and 6% Latino. Reverend Eugene Horton of TSTS said, “I saw certain practices that lead to wrongful convictions. An all-white jury for a Black man? I think it’s a kangaroo court.” Mrs. Johnson-Horton said, “Put this trial in the context that Anthony was imprisoned for 24 years – 22 in solitary confinement – for the theft of $1.”

In 2018, Gay was able to win his freedom from the Illinois Department of Corrections by arguing successfully that the multiple additions to his original sentence should have been served concurrently, not consecutively. Also, in those proceedings, he represented himself.

#PeoriaIL #WrongfulConviction #CAARPR

The Members for CHANGE! candidates elected were George Cornwell, the first shift Grievance Committeeman in building KK; Brian Kerr, the Chairman of the KK Grievance Committee; Rob Wilson, a delegate to the General Council and Alternate Grievance Committeeman; James B. O’Connor, a retiree and former president of UAW Local 974; and Sharon Clarkson, a retiree and longtime UAW activist.

James B. O’Connor, former president of UAW Local 974 stated, “This election is historically a precursor to the general election for executive offices; normally whoever takes these delegate positions are the ones going in next election.”

The Members for CHANGE! team demonstrated a renewed commitment to rank-and-file workers, who turned out in astonishing numbers for the election. The Members for CHANGE team also vowed to build intergenerational solidarity between retirees and the next generation of UAW men and women.

Rob Wilson emphasizes, “Power at the bargaining table comes from an involved, informed, empowered and mobilized membership and community support. Rank-and-file active workers and retirees have made a definite statement, ‘We believe it’s time for change.’”

Local 974 represents approximately 5800 UAW members who are employed by Caterpillar Inc. and workers at amalgamated units Norforge, PMP, Tazewell Machine, and LTD Industries. Local 974 is also the lead bargaining local during negotiations with Caterpillar.

“This is a victory for the membership – active and retired. They won one for themselves, and they deserve and will get all the credit,” said Wilson.

The UAW Constitutional Convention, held every four years, is the highest policy-making body of the union. The Constitutional Convention delegates have the sole authority to amend the UAW constitution, debate and adopt resolutions and define the powers of the International officers.

The Convention comes at a critical time for UAW members. The auto corporations and other employers have lunched big attacks on wages and benefits. Delegates who want to resist these attacks have a vital role to play.

#PeoriaIL #News #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #AutoworkersFightBack #MembersForCHANGE #UAWLocal974 #UAWConstitutionalConvention

The contract creates what amounts to a four-tier wage system: Full wage employees (pre-1998), ‘New Hires’ (with a 35% reduction in wages), ‘Competitive Wage’ (at the Morton parts division) and the nationwide ‘supplemental’ employees (who get wages only – no health care benefits, paid holidays, vacation or sick days etc.).

The contract also forces workers and post-1992 retirees to pay premiums for health care coverage, as well as deductibles and co-pays beginning in 2006, ranging from $1000 to $3000. The premiums in the last three years of the contract are said to be fluid, with rates to be a percentage based upon the corporate cost of the premium which could be anything, considering it is the company’s plan.

Making matters worse for unionism, the ratified agreement included UAW-endorsed concessions which sacrificed the union members’ incentive compensation pay (a benefit worth far in excess of an estimated $20 million per year) in exchange for marginally reduced premiums and co-pays.

Union members resoundingly rejected – by over 90% – a similar company proposal in April 2004. In August 2004 union members again rejected what the company referred to as its, “last, best and final offer.”

During negotiations, CAT CEO Jim Owens was quoted as saying we need to eliminate the, “us – theyisms within Caterpillar.” The company is plugging a ‘one team’ culture ideology, and according to them we are embarking on a ‘cultural journey.’ They have spread the Team Leader (Junior Foreman) concept to more business units, heavily recruiting from the underpaid UAW new hire ranks.

In dealing with workers the company uses the ‘my way or the highway’ and ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ approaches to disciplinary action. At times the company abandoned all forms of progressive discipline (like verbal or written warnings) and put workers on the street for the first offense and sometimes for minor infractions, especially for union reps.

Another slap in the face: The corporate propaganda technique of taking workers out of the shop on company time for reward lunches when a division meets sales goal. On Sundays in the Peoria area, the company has taken workers on chartered buses to Chicago for an all expense paid, all you can eat, day at the ball game. These are just examples of the corporation throwing crumbs to working people while shareholders rake in the billions and managers get record-breaking profit sharing checks at the expense of working people.

Meanwhile many of us, particularly New Hires, with wages reduced by 35%, merely wish we could afford to take our wives and children out to dinner in a local area restaurant. Many of the UAW members in all the locals from Decatur, Peoria, Aurora and nationwide drive distances of 60 miles (or more) to go to work at Caterpillar – yet with fuel prices ranging over $2 per gallon the company has done nothing to help us. That does not begin to touch on the pain felt by the Morton parts division employees, referred to as Competitive Wage, who make far less than the manufacturing New Hire rate.

The company justification for the wage concessions was that they wanted to pay the average national manufacturing wage. The national average is arrived at by taking the highest known wage and the lowest and calculating the middle. Traditionally, major corporations like Caterpillar have made up the high end of the wage spectrum, which helps hold the average up. When enormous transnational corporations begin making average wages their goal, the average just keeps getting lower and lower.

Members want change!

There is growing support and interest in the Members for CHANGE team of UAW activists founded in the UAW Local 974. A young up-and-coming union activist, Rob Wilson, and a 30-plus year seasoned veteran, George Cornwell, joined forces in early 2005 to make bids for president and bargaining chairman of the local. While the bid was unsuccessful, they utilized it as a launch platform for local union-wide and community-wide activism.

Wilson, uses his veteran planning and strategic skills to the advantage of unionism, while working to build community support – frequently writing in local area newspapers challenging the corporate propaganda and writing for the Local union paper on shop floor issues. George Cornwell combines the visionary leadership style with a worker rights agenda and an in-depth knowledge of arbitration precedence that wins shop floor grievances.

Caterpillar struck back at the growing rank-and-file movement by discharging George Cornwell in March, within days of his nomination for the Local-wide bargaining chairman position. CAT claimed ‘inappropriate behavior,’ stemming from a verbal altercation with management during a grievance procedure. Cornwell was performing his duties as Grievance Committee Chairman (a federally protected status) when the episode took place. He was reinstated to work on Sept. 19 and the group celebrated with the first of many Solidarity Day rallies on Sept. 24.

#PeoriaIL #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #Statement #AutoworkersFightBack #Caterpillar #UAW