Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Update on Charges Against the Venezuela Embassy Protectors
Ajamu Baraka and Bahman Azad
17 Jun 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Update on Charges Against the Venezuela Embassy Protectors
Update on Charges Against the Venezuela Embassy Protectors

It was agreed that dropping the federal charges and seeking no jail time in return for pleading to a very low-level DC Code charge was an important victory.

“Judge Howell did all she could to create an unfair trial.”

The defense of the four embassy protectors who were facing federal charges has finally come to a conclusion with the defenders avoiding any serious retributions from the state. The support of this committee was absolutely critical to this outcome. The resources raised and support given by this committee allowed the defenders to mount a credible defense against the state that was intent on making them an example.

After the first trial ended in a mistrial because the jurors refused to convict the protectors, the government offered to drop the federal charge and not seek any jail time for the defenders. In return, they wanted the defenders to plead guilty to a local DC charge of incommoding. 

After discussing this offer with members of this committee, other members of the Embassy Protection Collective and other allies, they decided to accept this plea agreement. Everyone they talked to agreed that dropping the federal charges and seeking no jail time in return for pleading to a very low-level DC Code charge was an important victory.

On June 3, a court hearing was held on video which people could listen to by a conference call. The court accepted the plea agreement and sentenced each of the four defenders to six-month probation and a fine of $500 and a $250 fee to the Victim Assistance fund. Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell sentenced the defenders to 30 days in jail but suspended the sentence and placed them on six-month probation.

“The jurors refused to convict the protectors.”

At the hearing, Judge Howell continued to show her bias against the defenders and her total lack of understanding about the case. That court hearing is described in the article by Anya Parampil of the Grayzone Project, linked below. From the first day of the federal prosecution to its final moments, Judge Howell showed her anger at the protectors and did all she could to create an unfair trial where they would be convicted, imprisoned and heavily fined. It is because members of this committee helped to raise funds and awareness about the case that we achieved this positive result. 

We will keep the Defense Committee website active for at least the next six months while they are on probation as Judge Howell remains a danger to their freedom.

Thank you all very much for your active participation in the defense of the embassy protectors. We believe this case, which was followed closely in Venezuela and other countries as well as among the movement in the United States, represents a successful historic challenge to US imperialism that will be talked about and chronicled as one of the most magnificent displays of international solidarity over the past several decades.

Thank you again for participating on the committee and thanks to the dozens of embassy protectors. It was an honor to work with and support all of you.

Ajamu Baraka and Bahman Azad are co-chairs, Embassy Protectors Defense Committee
Below are links to articles on the resolution of the case:

  • Embassy Protection Collective, Federal Charges Against Four Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Dropped
  • Anya Parampil, Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective wins legal victory in face of hostile Obama-appointed judge & govt prosecution.
  • Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy declare victory after federal charges are dropped

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

U.S. Imperialism

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

U.S.-led Imperialism is the World’s Leading Purveyor of Chaos
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
U.S.-led Imperialism is the World’s Leading Purveyor of Chaos
13 July 2022
The western capitalist axis of domination is responsible for most of the world's crises.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
“Our democracy:” Dictatorship of death merchants in bipartisan Brooks Brothers suits…
06 October 2021
20 Years of Post-9/11 Amnesia
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
20 Years of Post-9/11 Amnesia
15 September 2021
Memories of the last 20 years are rarely focused on increased state violence and repression in the post-9/11 world.
The Hypocrisy of “American Democracy”
Wilmer J. Leon III
The Hypocrisy of “American Democracy”
15 April 2021
The US is the anti-democratic force undermining the will of Venezuelans as the US steals their resources and money.
Freedom Rider: The U.S. Can’t Control the World
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Freedom Rider: The U.S. Can’t Control the World
07 April 2021
Slow-witted Joe Biden appears to think that we’re still in the age of the sole superpower, when in fact that era has come and gone.
Biden-Harris Look Ready to Keep U.S. In Afghanistan—Say No!
Black Alliance For Peace
Biden-Harris Look Ready to Keep U.S. In Afghanistan—Say No!
07 April 2021
The new Democratic administration seems determined to sabotage an agreement to end the “longest war.”
Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Reject the Innocence and Siege Politics of the U.S. Empire
31 March 2021
The U.S.
New Global Alliance Defends UN Charter in Clear Rebuke of U.S. Imperialism
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
New Global Alliance Defends UN Charter in Clear Rebuke of U.S. Imperialism
24 March 2021
The United States has long positioned its imperial ambitions as the definition of international law and rejected entirely the spirit and authority
Freedom Rider: Trump/Biden Foreign Policy
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Freedom Rider: Trump/Biden Foreign Policy
10 March 2021
Biden rules like Trump regarding Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Haiti, because the two imperial parties serve the same masters.
Conspiracy theory 47
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Conspiracy theory 47
03 February 2021
It wasn’t led by lineage of Robert E. Lee— it was nuts demanding healthcare for free! It wasn’t a lynch mob, a putsch, or a coup—

More Stories


  • An Open Letter to the People of the United States
    Nicolás Maduro
    An Open Letter to the People of the United States
    13 Feb 2019
    We demand the cessation of the aggression that seeks to suffocate our economy and socially suffocate our people.
  • In Venezuela, White Supremacy Is a Key Driver of the Coup
    Greg Palast
    In Venezuela, White Supremacy Is a Key Driver of the Coup
    13 Feb 2019
    The coup is, at it heart, a furious backlash of whiter and wealthier Venezuelans against the mixed race and Black majority.
  • Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 11, 2019
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of February 11, 2019
    12 Feb 2019
    Democrats are neither socialist nor even serious says Dr.
  • The Political Geography of Feminism
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    The Political Geography of Feminism
    11 Feb 2019
    “African feminism searches for solutions “that are not rooted in colonial structures,” said Dr Alicia Decker, of Penn State University, co-director of the African Feminist Initiati
  • Never Trust an Oligarch
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Never Trust an Oligarch
    11 Feb 2019
    Super-rich people’s “charitable” contributions “haven’t done anything to halt inequality,” said Dr Carl Rhodes, of the University of Technology, in Sydney, Australia.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us