Remember Political Prisoners This Holiday! (Kellie and Victor)

December 5th, 2011

Disclaimer: It is rare that I get the opportunity to update this site, but I hope to profile a couple of political prisoners this holiday who need help. The title is for “show,” people should remember ALL prisoners (human and other animal species) ALWAYS and also ask/pray/plot for the downfall of the prison industrial complex.

Kellie and Victor

Kellie Marshall, 21 and Victor VanOrden, 24 were arrested early Monday morning on, October 10th for allegedly attempting to release mink near State Stone Park. They have been out on bail since October 28th and Kellie and Victor both pleaded not guilty and have a trial date set for January 24th. This means they have less than two months to raise enough funds for a solid defense. With a combined lawyer cost of $250 an hour and only $900 in their fund, they are in desperate need of funds in order to have their lawyers working steadily on the best possible scenarios. More money = more lawyer time = better chances in court. It is that simple. Right now they are facing a maximum sentencing time of 13 years. They need your help. They also recently got married, so consider this a dual legal support/wedding present donation. Nothing is too small. Every little bit counts – even if all you can do is pass links for this article and the Kellie and Victor Support page.

There is also a really awesome Support Kellie and Victor shirts – which are set to print this week! Stay tuned for that.

The Kellie and Victor Support group is also urging people to considering organizing fundraisers (check back soon for something locally in Niagara), bake sales, garage sales, anything that will help spread the reach of the support group and also raise funds for Kellie and Victor. If you can do something, please get in touch with Adriana at adrianagiancarla@gmail.com!

For people in the Toronto area – there is a fundraiser event organized for Friday Dec 9th at Bike Pirates (Dufferin and Bloor) from 6-10 pm. They will be screening “If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” and writing prisoners. You can find more info here. Come out and hang out and say hi!

“If they haven’t got prisoners, we have stopped fighting. If our prisoners are forgotten about, they have beaten us.” -Keith Mann

In Solidarity,
Dylan

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2 Responses to “Remember Political Prisoners This Holiday! (Kellie and Victor)”

  1. Adriana Pope says:
    December 5, 2011 at 1:14 am

    Thank you Dylan for this post.

    The reason money is urgently needed is because Victor’s lawyer ran through the retainer already, and his lawyer needs to be paid in order to continue working on this case. Kellie’s lawyer has also ran through his retainer and needs to be paid as well. (Kellie’s lawyer is fortunately a little bit more generous right now since he is a vegetarian and took on this case with an invested interest in the cause). There is often a direct relationship between money raised and length of sentence, and so donating money is essentially “purchasing their freedom.”

    I should also add that the mink farmers in this particular town as well as throughout the state of Iowa have been calling the prosecutors and urging them to “throw the book at them.” So it is very important that we support these activists right now during this very pivotal time in which a plea agreement is being drafted up and can make a difference between 7 years and 1 year in prison.

    Victor and Kellie wanted me to tell everyone thank you very much for all the support you’ve given them!

  2. Adriana Pope says:
    December 8, 2011 at 4:33 am

    http://supportkellieandvictor.blogspot.com/2011/12/forever-free-benefit-t-shirts-now.html

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