Support Cyprus Against State Repression

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

Now Cyprus has been subpoenaed to testify in front of 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 being used to target dissident communities and gather private information otherwise 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 without screening for biases, and no judge, defense attorney, or member of the public may be present for proceedings. They are an effective tool of state repression, because they are so secretive, and so they are not subject to the requirements of transparency, rules of evidence, and opportunity for each party to be heard that apply to all other proceedings in the U.S. legal system. They also enable the state to access information about beliefs, activities, and relationships that are totally legal and even constitutionally protected, which can help make it possible to infiltrate and disrupt organizing.

Cyprus plans to challenge the legal validity of this subpoena, which will require her to hire an attorney. She may also be subject to consequences, including incarceration, for her act of principled resistance to this subpoena. Cyprus is an essential part of our community. She means so much to so many

people. She has had her life uprooted by federal repression. She has been stalked by federal agents, who interrupted her tour to serve her this subpoena. Cyprus is working to keep our community free from state surveillance and intrusion and we must step up to support her. Now she needs our help to stand strong against state repression. Together we make a community. We need to support her through the grand jury resistance process.

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

process.

UPDATE:

We were able to find an aligned lawyer who is willing to work very inexpensively to represent Cyprus; however, we still need funds to cover living expenses and future legal and other costs if she is incarcerated. Any leftover funds will be donated to others facing repression.