Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the International People鈥檚 Democratic Uhuru Movement, addresses the recent killings of Black males and police on July 8, 2016, in Dallas.聽 聽
ST. LOUIS 鈥 Omali Yeshitela came of age in Florida when Emmett Till was killed. He found his own path forward as an activist while Malcolm X captured the nation鈥檚 attention.
At 81, he鈥檚 still at it. He鈥檚 physically fit and speaks fiercely about the death grip of American colonialism on Black people. To empower them, he founded the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party and the Uhuru movement.
Yeshitela and his team set up shop in 最新杏吧原创 as the intense protests that followed the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 started calming. They acquired dilapidated property in north 最新杏吧原创, fixed some of it up and hoisted an enormous red, black and green African national flag.
They also handed out free copies of their broadsheet newspaper, 鈥淭he Burning Spear,鈥 and fielded two candidates who ran for the Board of Aldermen, demanding reparations now. They opened a storefront on Gravois Avenue as an easier access point for white people to get involved and make donations.
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Fringe groups have operated in 最新杏吧原创 for a long time, but this one stands out. One year ago, federal agents raided several of their locations. In April, Yeshitela and two associates also living in 最新杏吧原创 鈥 Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel 鈥 were indicted on an 鈥渆spionage light鈥 charge accusing them of working with Russian foreign agents to sow discord inside the United States.
Yeshitela, who did prison time in the 1960s for tearing down a racially offensive painting in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida, is calling for the indictment of the 鈥淯huru 3鈥 to be dropped based on First Amendment grounds. Yes, he says, he鈥檚 rooted for Russia in Ukraine but insists it shouldn鈥檛 matter who his friends are or who financially supports his organizations.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be filing briefs in the courts to fight this on every front,鈥 Yeshitela said in a recent interview.
He said it鈥檚 the latest example of the federal government using its domination to attack Black activism, such as when J. Edgar Hoover went after Black nationalist Marcus Garvey 100 years ago.
Asked if he felt exploited by the Russians, given his long history in activism and calls for reparations, he said: 鈥淚 feel exploited by the U.S. government 鈥 and white people.鈥
Asked if the Russians ever wanted him to do anything he wouldn鈥檛 do, Yeshitela didn鈥檛 answer and soon ended the interview.
A few days later, the Uhuru 3 broadcasted a public rebuttal on their own terms.
鈥淲e have to be careful what we say because the colonizers control the courtroom,鈥 Yeshitela says in the video. 鈥淭he colonizers control the police. The colonizers control the jobs.鈥
Accusations
Omali Yeshitela, center, speaks in front of his home in the 4400 block of Red Bud Avenue in north 最新杏吧原创 on Friday, July 29, 2022, with his supporters, following a federal raid of the property.
Yeshitela and his colleagues are charged under , a law that grew out of Germany鈥檚 attempts to influence American thought leading up to World War I. Three Russians, including Aleksandr 鈥淪asha鈥 Ionov, are also accused.
The indictment says Ionov was the founder and president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, or AGMR. From at least 2013, Ionov allegedly worked with officers of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the main successor agency of the KGB, to 鈥渦se members of various U.S. political groups as foreign agents of Russia within the United States, without notification of the Attorney General.鈥 Ionov allegedly 鈥渆xercised direction and control over these groups.鈥
, the U.S. government says it鈥檚 offering a reward of up to $10 million for information 鈥渓eading to the identification or location of any foreign person, including a foreign entity, who knowingly engaged or is engaging in interference in U.S. elections.鈥
Ionov, 33, told Reuters in Moscow that he鈥檚 no puppeteer.
鈥淭hese charges are complete nonsense,鈥 he told the news service. 鈥淲hen I read the charges against me, I felt that I was reading some sort of artistic story.鈥
鈥淚 did not pay any money to anyone,鈥 he added. 鈥淭he decision to open a criminal case against me is a political decision.鈥
Yeshitela, as chairman of the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party, is accused of going on paid trips to Russia, where he allegedly entered into 鈥減artnership鈥 with Ionov and the AGMR, knowing that they were 鈥渁gents of the Russian government.鈥 Hess is accused of facilitating communications between Ionov and Yeshitela. Nevel, who ran for local office in St. Petersburg, Florida, was also accused of conspiring with the Russians.
The indictment says Yeshitela went on two paid trips to Russia. The first was in late May 2015. Less than two months later, Ionov allegedly 鈥渃aused electronic messages to be sent鈥 to Hess, directing her to draft a petition on the 鈥淕enocide of African people in the U.S.鈥 so that AGMR could 鈥渟tart pushing it on media everywhere.鈥
Hess allegedly responded by sending a working draft of the petition back to Ionov, who communicated that she should send it to the United Nations mission in the U.S., 鈥渟igned by many organizations,鈥 including AGMR. Before she did that, Nevel allegedly responded Aug. 17, 2015, asking when Ionov would 鈥渄onate another $500鈥 to a component of the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party.
On Aug. 26, 2015, apparently after the donation was made, prosecutors say Hess posted the petition 鈥渙n a petition website鈥 and on the website of the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party. Soon, Ionov apparently passed word that the petition was translated into Russian and 鈥渨ould spread over Russian media outlets.鈥 About a week later, Hess allegedly confirmed that the petition had been sent to the United Nations.
By then, the indictment says, Yeshitela was already gearing up to go back to Russia, this time for the 鈥淒ialogue of Nations,鈥 a conference hosted by Ionov and funded by the Russian government that was attended by 鈥渟eparatist movements from different parts of the world,鈥 including the Russian-backed breakaway state in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Around that time, Yeshitela allegedly stated that it did not 鈥渄isturb us鈥 that AGMR was an 鈥渋nstrument of Russian government.鈥
Moving on to early 2016, Hess allegedly wrote a letter asking Ionov to have the AGMR send $12,000 to support a 鈥渇our-city tour,鈥 and thanking him at the same time for his 鈥渓eadership envisioning such actions.鈥 Ionov apparently wanted the tour to support reparations and to get as many people as possible to oppose the 鈥淯S colonial government.鈥 The indictment mentions two related wire transfers at that time totaling about $7,000.
Later, requests allegedly came in from Ionov to:
鈥 Publicly support Russian competition in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro; the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party ultimately published an article on its news website titled: 鈥淚mperialists ban Russia from 2016 Olympic Games! APSP says 鈥榣et Russia play.鈥欌
鈥 Visit with Nevel about reparations and financial support for his plans to run for local office in St. Petersburg, Florida.
鈥 Make a video of congratulations for the 鈥6th anniversary of the Donetsk People鈥檚 Republic,鈥 an internationally unrecognized republic of Russia in the occupied region of eastern Ukraine. Yeshitela allegedly did so, and his 鈥渟peech鈥 was broadcast 鈥渙n outdoor screens in the center鈥 of the region.
Later on, in 2020, Ionov allegedly wrote that he鈥檇 contributed $1,200 toward a protest conducted by Yeshitela in Washington, D.C. And in 2022, Ionov allegedly spoke by video at an African People鈥檚 Socialist Party conference, saying that the Nazis were in power in Ukraine, killing innocent people. Yeshitela, around that time, was allegedly making a public call for 鈥渦nity with Russia in its defensive war in Ukraine against the world colonial powers.鈥
Motion to dismiss
A motion filed on behalf of Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, calls on the case to be dismissed because it 鈥渟trikes at the heart of the First Amendment.鈥
鈥淭his case is about pure political speech and the right to advocate dissenting views,鈥 they argue.
What鈥檚 more, they say that the indictment doesn鈥檛 accuse them of agreeing to advocate for positions outside of their own ideology.
They said Yeshitela, and other members of the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party, regularly travel to foreign countries to participate in conferences. For instance, Yeshitela attended the Managua Conference in Solidarity with the Sandinista government of Nicaragua in 1981. He spoke in Northern Ireland in 1983. He was the keynote speaker in 2002 at the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, in South Africa. In 2004, he spoke at the Global African Conference in Suriname 鈥渢hat resolved to demand reparations.鈥 In 2007, he was a keynote speaker at a conference sponsored by a Spanish nongovernmental organization, and in 2012, he spoke across Europe about the legacy of Marcus Garvey.
The trips in question to Russia, they argue in court records, weren鈥檛 concealed but publicized in the 鈥淭he Burning Spear.鈥
They argue that the indictment 鈥渕erely alleges鈥 that Ionov 鈥減aid attention to Nevel鈥檚 campaign鈥 for local office in Florida and 鈥渨as favorably disposed to it.鈥 But that the indictment doesn鈥檛 allege that Nevel or the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party 鈥渆ver received or accepted鈥 money from Russians for Nevel鈥檚 campaign.
They described as 鈥渋mmaterial鈥 allegations of 鈥渢rivial sums鈥 of money being paid to the African People鈥檚 Socialist Party by Ionov for 鈥渟peaking tours鈥 and 鈥減ublic advocacy.鈥 They argued that they don鈥檛 need a 鈥渓icense in order to speak鈥 and that the government is using Section 951 鈥渋n a discriminatory manner to target a particular group that merits its displeasure.鈥
Guy Burns, an attorney in Florida who鈥檚 known Yeshitela over 30 years, said by telephone that Yeshitela lives a moderate life, driven by activism for decades. Burns said 鈥渋t could be very appropriate for the public to know鈥 if Yeshitela was paid by the Russians but that a federal indictment seemed an overreach.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with a good bit of what he says, but I fully endorse his right to say it no matter what it is, as long as it鈥檚 not shouting fire, causing a stampede,鈥 he said.
He brought up 鈥淗anoi Jane鈥 protesting the Vietnam War.
鈥淭ell me the difference between Omali Yeshitela and Jane Fonda, other than one of them is a high-notoriety white woman and the other is a Black guy,鈥 he added. 鈥淚s there any other difference?鈥
Lowering the flag
In 2016, a few months before the presidential election, a U.S. government probe of its national security system concluded that authorities should 鈥渂e more proactive鈥 about going after foreign agents trying to fly under the radar without registration.
Section 951 seeks to reveal and squash overt propaganda operations that threaten security and democracy.
鈥淚f you are a free agent out there saying what you want to say, that鈥檚 one thing,鈥 Michael Atkinson, a former federal prosecutor and inspector general of the intelligence community in Washington, D.C, said by telephone. 鈥淚f you are saying the same thing at the direction or control of a government, without the proper disclosures, then you are potentially going to run afoul of that criminal statute.鈥
That Yeshitela was allegedly asked to champion causes like reparations that he鈥檇 supported for years may be a moot point.
鈥淔or all we know, the Russian government could be secretly funding people against reparations,鈥 Atkinson said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 really care about the outcome; ultimately what they want is chaos and disorder.鈥
Prosecutors say in court records that the 鈥渧oluminous鈥 case materials include about 20 terabytes of electronically stored information. The indictment signals that Ionov may also have been a 鈥減atron鈥 of Mariia Butina, the young Russian gun enthusiast who pleaded guilty in 2018 to a charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent. She infiltrated conservative groups like the National Rifle Association to pursue unofficial lines of communication with politically connected people ahead of Donald Trump鈥檚 election in 2016.
Last week, near Yeshitela鈥檚 office at the Uhuru House in north 最新杏吧原创, the enormous African national flag wasn鈥檛 flying. A random sampling of neighbors found no one who鈥檇 heard of the alleged Russian conspiracy.
Told of the saga, Frankie Williams, 70, watching over her grandchildren, asked: 鈥淲hy would he ever deal with the Russians in the first place?鈥
Jackie Joyner-Kersee joins Omali Yeshitela, center right, in a ribbon-cutting for the new Black Power Vanguard Basketball Court in north 最新杏吧原创 on Saturday, June 17, 2023.聽
Told that Yeshitela has been calling for reparations for a long time, she said she wasn鈥檛 sure where she stood on the topic. Nor was her 12-year-old grandson, Cayden Phillips, but he highly approved of a new basketball court that Yeshitela and his affiliates opened to fanfare this summer in the neighborhood.
More projects continue to be promised while others remain unfinished.
鈥淓conomic Power is Black Power,鈥 reads one of their large signs on West Florissant Avenue.
鈥淭hey help people,鈥 said Andrew Smith, 49, gathered with friends, near a bunch of weathered Teddy bears piled up around the base of a tree. 鈥淎 lot of stuff they are trying to do independently, without government funding, I give them a solid.鈥
Smith didn鈥檛 seem to care about Yeshitela鈥檚 indictment.
鈥淚 just follow what he does in the African community,鈥 he said. 鈥淲hatever else he has going on, it鈥檚 something he has to deal with. If you talk to the federal government, tell them I want 40 acres and a mule.鈥
A group of about 45 people, most of them white, marched Saturday morning up South Grand Boulevard and held a rally at the northeast corner of Tower Grove Park as part of the March for Reparations, which took place in five cities across the country.
