Political Prisoner Leah Lynn Plante Released!

Last week Leah Lynn Plante was arrested and placed in solitary confinement for remaining silent during a grand jury trial. Due to the secrecy of the proceedings, little information has come to light about her or her two friends, Katherine “Kteeo” Olejnik and Matthew Kyle Duran since the story went viral last week.

However, word was just sent out from Leah’s supporters that she had been released, although unfortunately her two friends still remain behind bars.

At this point it is unclear how this turn of events has transpired, but it is highly possible that the video that Leah made before she went to jail touched so many people that they felt compelled to write and flood the court with calls. When Leah made the viral video last week, her friends were already in jail and since they didn’t appear in the video people who didn’t pay close attention or dig deeper into the story may not have realized that she was one of three people caught up in the same mess.

Today on her Tumblr page supporters made a statement to clear the air, and assure everyone that she has still not cooperated with authorities. The statement read as follows:

First and foremost, do not panic. Leah wanted for us to express these points to you with this news:

• She is extremely traumatized and experienced a lot of very, very bad things, but she is alive. The state of her mental health is also very bad. 
• She asks that people do not jump to wild conclusions about her release because they do not apply. 
• She spent her whole time in SHU / Administrative Detention (solitary confinement) and was told that that is where she would stay for the duration of her incarceration, up to 18 months. She was classified as “different” from Matt and Kteeo. 
• She received probably near 200 pieces of mail, books, postcards in 4 days (mail was not delivered to her every day) and was glad for it, and knows probably a similar amount is being returned to sender right now. She urges people to step up support for Matt and Kteeo on all fronts. Books that didn’t get to her probably go into the prison library, which is still a good thing because from what we heard their selection is limited to romance novels and religious literature. 
• More information is going to be released. At this time, Leah needs space from media. She is overwhelmed by all the publicity. Regardless of who you are, if you have her personal information, PLEASE do not call her, email her, or try to locate her in order to question her. Give her space until she asks otherwise. 
• She was released the night of 10/17. She did not make it public immediately because she did not want the “media shitstorm” to jump down her throat yet. 
• She is very moved by the amount of support and solidarity there has been for her, she expressed concern that Matt and Kteeo were not getting as much publicity. Please write them, support them, send them books. 

In this world that we are living in, there is nothing scarier than a police attack, and according to Leah she has had to deal with far too many of them. You can run from a mugger, and you can even fight back, but against the police there is no defense, which can be an incredibly traumatizing thing to experience.

This most recent situation is probably incredibly difficult for her, and at this point people really do have the ability to help her, first and foremost by respecting her wishes in giving her peace and privacy in this difficult time, and continuing to pressure the court and the jail to release her fellow political prisoners. More on this story as details become available.

J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance and host of a show called Voluntary Hippie Radio. He is also an artist with an established record label and event promotion company that hosts politically charged electronic dance music events. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com .