The United States’ anti-Russia campaign took a new twist on September 2, when the leader of a Florida-based Black socialist and pan-Africanist group and three activists were put on trial, accused of being Russian agents and conspiring against the US government.
A few days later, Washington announced it would launch a campaign to push back on Russian influence in the lead up to November’s Presidential election.
Ten days later, a 12-person jury found the “Tampa Bay 4” not guilty of the charge of "failure to register as a foreign agent" — in other words, working as agents of Russia. However, it found the defendants guilty of conspiring against the US government.
The trial began a little more than two years after FBI agents executed a predawn raid on the African People’s Socialist Party’s (APSP) St Petersburg, Florida, headquarters, known as Uhuru House.
Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel (the “Uhuru 3”) were indicted last year for allegedly working on behalf of Russia in a years-long “malign influence campaign” in the US.
The fourth defendant, Gazi Kodzo, founded the Black Hammer Party in Atlanta, Georgia, after leaving the Uhuru group in 2018.
The attack on the APSP — also known as the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement — began long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Responding to the verdict, Yeshitela, longtime chair of the APSP, told a media conference he was "really impressed” that the jury affirmed that “Black people have agency”.
Trumped up charges
"[A]ll this stuff they showed where we're supposed to be working for the Russians — and they brought in what was supposed to be evidence of that — it didn't work.
"The most important thing is that they were unable to convict us for working for anybody except black people.”
The Hands Off Uhuru campaign said: “The government presented 14 witnesses, 12 of them FBI agents, while the defense needed to present no witnesses to prove that the government's accusation of being Russian agents was fabricated.”
A sentencing date has not yet been announced. Lawyers for the Uhuru 3 told the media that their clients face a possible five-year federal prison sentence. (The foreign agent charge carries a 10-year maximum sentence.) They are preparing to appeal the verdict.
Uhuru and the APSP have long opposed US foreign policy. They support popular struggles in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
They oppose the government’s attacks on Russia and previously the Soviet Union. They also oppose US policy toward Ukraine and US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
According to the Tampa Bay Times (TBT), the group was targeted after Yeshitela sent an email to fellow leaders in the APSP about a Russian organisation that had hosted him at a conference in Moscow.
Yeshitela told them the so-called “Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia”, founded and led by Russian businessperson Alexander Ionov, and funded by the Russian government, was most likely using “forces inside” the US “to sow discord”.
“It is clear that it is an instrument of the Russian government,” Yeshitela wrote. “That does not disturb us."
Foreign Agent Registration Act
The case was particularly disturbing for those who do solidarity work with countries the US considers to be its enemies. Under the Foreign Agent Registration Act, individuals or entities engaged in domestic lobbying or advocacy for foreign governments, organisations, or persons ("foreign principals") are required to register with the Department of Justice and disclose their relationship, activities and related financial compensation.
The TBT reported that while prosecutor Menno Goedman told the jury the defendants were not being prosecuted for their political beliefs, the defence argued that they were.
Yeshitela’s defense lawyer Ade Griffin said during the trial: “The evidence will show that this case is a direct attempt by the United States of America to censor the views of the [African People’s Socialist Party].”
The Uhuru Movement operates as the activist arm of the APSP. Yeshitela, 82, has led the group since the 1970s, advocating for freedom and reparations for African people worldwide. Nevel, 34 and Hess, 78, lead branches of the group’s white allies.
DOJ’s ‘evidence’
Goedman, who is from the Department of Justice’s counter-intelligence section, told the jury that in May 2015, Ionov invited Yeshitela on an all-expenses-paid trip to Russia to “communicate on future cooperation”.
The DOJ prosecutor alleged that Ionov offered to pay the Uhurus in return for a series of actions and events and later that year Yeshitela attended a “Dialogue of Nations” conference hosted by Ionov’s organisation.
Goedman quoted Yeshitela in an email saying he “assumed the meeting was being convened by forces of the Kremlin”. He said their discussion centered on the shared interests of their respective groups, and that Ionov’s organisation meant to sow division in the US.
Goedman listed several things the DOJ alleges — without proof — which Ionov directed the Uhurus to do, such as preparing a petition to the United Nations accusing the US of committing genocide against African Americans.
Goedman alleged that Ionov directed the group to publish pro-Russian articles in their community newspaper, Burning Spear, including one in support of Russia’s Olympic team after a doping scandal.
Ionov is alleged to have given the Uhurus $12,000 in 2017, for a four-city protest tour focused on the genocide of African Americans. He is also alleged to have meddled in local elections, including Nevel’s 2017 run for St Petersburg mayor.
The prosecutor told the jury that Romain communicated with Ionov after starting the Black Hammer and the Russian paid for Romain’s group to visit California for a protest at Facebook’s headquarters. The prosecutor told the jury that Ionov even helped design some of the signs they carried.
Video of a protest at the Georgia state Capitol allegedly showed Romain’s group waving Russian flags.
“I’m not ashamed to say that the Black Hammer Party has relationships with the Kremlin,” Goedman quoted Romain saying in the video.
The DOJ alleged that, all the while, Ionov reported regularly to intelligence officers in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) about his work with the Uhurus and efforts to interfere in US elections.
Defence responds
The Uhurus didn‘t deny that they have spoken favourably of Russia. But they rejected the notion of being controlled by any foreign entity.
Their lawyers argued that the group has been consistent since the 1970s in their calls for reparations and freedom from colonialism.
Yeshitela’s lawyer told the jury he “has dedicated his life to the liberation of all Black people”, but “has not and never will work at the direction of anyone other than himself”.
Hess’ lawyer told the jury: “The government’s position is somewhat puzzling ... Even though this group has been saying the same thing for 50 years, after 2015 they’re saying it for Russia?”
Their real crime, he explained, was holding positive views of Russia at a time when the US government was telling people to “hate and fear” the nation.
Nevel’s lawyer said the freedom to speak on issues that might not be popular is at the heart of the case.
“Freedom,” he said. “That’s what this case is about.”
The US ruling class — which has gone after Black militants historically — plays by its own rules and bypasses the UN and international laws when they get in its way.
The Uhuru’s Not Guilty verdict is a significant, if partial victory. It is a blow to the US government’s anti-Russia attacks and allegations against journalists working or contributing to media outlets such as RT News, and against those challenging US foreign policy.