The following is a statement from an anarchist in South Carolina facing a federal subpoena. For more information on state repression and grand juries, see these articles by Crimeth Inc. and the Civil Liberties Defense Center.

In Charleston, South Carolina, an anarchist and musician was recently subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury and asked that this statement be widely distributed to raise awareness of her ordeal:

My name is Cyprus Hartford. I am a 20-year-old musician, trans woman, and anarchist. On June 5, 2024, I was stopped on the highway by federal agents and served with a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in Charleston, South Carolina on August 13, 2024. After consulting with friends, family, and attorneys, I have made the decision to contest this subpoena and, if necessary, refuse to testify before the grand jury. I will not allow the state to intimidate me. I will not endanger my community by giving the state information that has nothing to do with harmful behavior, but rather revealing private information about our First Amendment-protected beliefs, activities, and affiliations.

Grand juries are an archaic and secret process by which the state obtains indictments. They have been abolished everywhere they have ever been implemented except the United States and Liberia. As an anarchist, I do not believe a court should have the power to sentence people to prison, but this is especially true of grand juries. Grand juries undermine the right of witnesses to protect themselves from self-incrimination by forcing them to testify under threat of indefinite federal imprisonment for civil contempt of court. This is what I face if I refuse to cooperate. Grand juries almost always vote to indict, with one exception. Grand juries almost never indict white police officers who shoot and kill black people. This legal process is essentially a sham court. It has no place in a supposedly free country. I refuse to participate in the process of rubber-stamping an indictment. Unlike any other legal process in the United States, federal grand juries take place behind closed doors. There is no defense attorney, no judge, and no press or public. Secret trials are inherently undemocratic and vulnerable to politically motivated abuse.

Although I do not believe this subpoena is justified, I was not surprised to receive it, as there are similar repressions in the Charleston area. In March, the same ATF agent who served me the subpoena left a card on the door of my family's home. This spring, several other people in the Charleston, South Carolina area were subpoenaed and actually testified. State and federal repression is increasing across the country. After years of successive mass protest movements, the state is now cracking down even harder on dissent. We have the tools to fight it in court. When I received this subpoena, I called lawyers from the movement who are members of the National Lawyers Guild. They put me in touch with people who have been in the same situation as me. I was assured that I am not alone. There have been people who have been in my position before and have made the decisions I am making now. The state is trying to isolate and atomize us from each other, but together we are stronger.

I am currently trying to find a lawyer to represent me in court. This is quite an expensive and difficult process. A GoFundMe link to support me in this, as well as to cover my living expenses in the meantime and to find possible funding in the event that I am imprisoned for my refusal to cooperate, can be found here: . Any money left over after all this will go to others facing state repression.

With love and anger,
Cyprus Hartford

It/she/they

To support Cyprus and share their fundraiser, click here. From the campaign:

Cyprus is a trans woman, folk punk musician and activist.

Now Cyprus has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury. Federal grand juries are supposed to investigate federal crimes, but there is a long and well-documented history of politically motivated federal grand juries used to target dissident communities and collect private information that would otherwise be protected by the First Amendment. Grand juries are notoriously secretive and play by very different rules than normal court proceedings. Jurors are hand-selected by the prosecution with no bias screening, and no judge, defense attorney, or members of the public are allowed to be present at the proceedings. They are a powerful tool of state repression because they are so secret and therefore not subject to the requirements of transparency, rules of evidence, and opportunities for each party to be heard that apply to all other proceedings in the U.S. legal system. They also allow the state to access information about beliefs, activities, and relationships that is entirely legal and even constitutionally protected, which can help infiltrate and disrupt the organization.

Cyprus plans to challenge the legality of this subpoena, which will require her to retain an attorney. Her principled resistance to this subpoena may also subject her to consequences, including jail time. Cyprus is an essential part of our community. She means so much to so many people. Her life has been destroyed by government repression. She was pursued by federal agents who stopped her duties to serve her this subpoena. Cyprus is working to protect our community from government surveillance and interference, and we must support her. Now she needs our help to stand up to government repression. Together, we are a community. We must support her during the grand jury resistance process.

Help her pay for legal fees and living expenses while she goes through this process.

Check out Cyprus linktree here.