FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Sassa Rivera - ​occupyicelou@gmail.com

Jefferson County Attorney Press Charges Against “Heyburn Nine”

LOUISVILLE, KY - Tuesday, July 31, 2018​: This morning, nine occupiers were arraigned in state court
with charges of criminal trespassing in the second degree. The arraignment follows a demonstration and
subsequent arrests that occured last Thursday, July 26th in which these nine allies of the Occupy ICE
Louisville movement locked themselves together and used their bodies to block access of the Heyburn
building elevators. Their stated goal was to disrupt immigration court proceedings being held on the 11th
floor of the Heyburn Building on 4th and Broadway. Their courageous action carried on for five hours;
halting the morning immigration court docket.

The successful demonstration was in response to the federal administration deadline to reunite unlawfully
detained children with their parents. However, we know hundreds of families have no hope of being
reunited, as the government has been wildly irresponsible in tracking individuals swept up in this massive
net of abuse. Fear of Immigration Enforcement keeps immigrant families from leaving their homes,
sending their children to school, or even seeking a health professional during a medical emergency. Our
humanity is usurped in favor of corporate governmental control and outrageous, organized theft of our air,
our water, and our very lives. Money flows to the exploiters who create and enforce laws, while children
are traded among the rich for profit, and packaged as adoptions.

The Heyburn Nine put their bodies on the line to defend Black and Brown communities from this abusive
deportation machine. Their actions were guided by the vision and leadership of Mijente Louisville and
Black Lives Matter Louisville, and were part of a bigger, nationwide movement led by Black and Brown
organizers. This is what true allyship looks like.

To stand in solidarity with the Heyburn Nine, we call on County Attorney Mike O’Connell, to prove he
stands on the right side of history by exercising his prosecutorial discretion and drop all charges against
the Heyburn Nine. We continue to call on Mayor Fischer and Metro Council to support their claims of
Louisville being a “Compassionate City,” by publicly condemning the actions of ICE and calling for its
immediate abolishment. We demand that the city break all contracts and information sharing with ICE
(including the use of administrative detainers), and establish a legal defense fund for those whose lives
have been harmed by ICE detention or deportation.

-Occupy ICE Louisville

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