On Monday January 18th, 2021, The Free Maroon Now Committee will be gathering at 11 am on the capitol steps in Harrisburg, PA. demanding the immediate release of PA political prison Russell Maroon Shoatz. On this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, we remind the community that Martin Luther King, Jr. was also unpopular with the u.s. government during his time and that he was a political prisoner incarcerated for standing up for Black Lives.
Russell Maroon Shoatz is a 77 year old grandfather who has spent over 50 years in prison for standing up for Black Lives. Twenty-two of those years were spent in solitary confinement. Maroon was diagnosed with stage 4 colo-rectal cancer in 2019 and has undergone chemo over the last year. He is an elder who poses no threat to anyone. Maroon is one of 1,300 people over the age of 60 sentenced to die in PA Prisons. We must change the practice of excessive sentencing and the mass incarceration of elders.
Maroon was diagnosed with Covid in December where he experienced "refugee like" circumstances with 30 ailing men living in a gym with only one bathroom. There are 145 organizations from across the country signed onto a letter demanding his immediate release.
Join us as we call for "Mercy for Maroon".
Join us as we demand Amnesty of all political prisoners.
Join us as we invoke the call for Reparations. Reparations means to also grant compassionate release for people defending Black lives.
Join us as we mourn the death of justice in the United States. For as long as people continue to be incarcerated for defending Black Lives there can be no justice. There will be a funeral procession to an undisclosed location following the gathering at the Harrisburg Capitol Steps.
Please sign up here: www.bit.ly/freemaroon so we can get an idea of how many people are planning to attend.
#freemaroon!
#freethemall!!!