Free Brittany Martin @FreeBMartin

🚨 We are calling for the release of Brittany Martin now! 🚨 We cannot stand by as law enforcement officials use force to silence anyone that speaks against them. @BlackVotersMtr chng.it/4DKLcLww via @Change

Thank you to the 11,000+ supporters who have signed the petition to #FreeBrittanyMartin! As we await the court hearing next week, stay updated on the work we will be doing on the ground to support local organizers in South Carolina. Text JUSTICE to 25225! change.org/p/free-brittan…

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Senior Producer: Kareem Yasin Photos: Free Brittany Martin, Change

A judge is set to hear arguments for reducing Brittany Martin’s sentence the week of September 12. "We never thought an activist would receive 4 years in prison for protesting police violence," Brewer says. "We're hoping and praying she does not give birth in prison."

In prison, advocates say Martin has been harassed, denied medical care and put in solitary for not cutting her locs. She has only recently been allowed to see external OB-GYNs, Brewer told AJ+: "She needs medical care, she's been bleeding for the last couple weeks."

Prosecutors and police claimed Brittany Martin disturbed the peace by using her words to protest police violence. In 2020, police: ▪️ shot at least 115 people in the head/neck with "less lethal" weapons at protests across the U.S. ▪️ arrested 10,000+ protesters within days.

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Martin has been protesting police violence for years and her brother-in-law was shot and killed by police in 2016, says Brewer. In 2020, she led protests over the police killings of #GeorgeFloyd and #BreonnaTaylor, and co-founded a group that gives meals to unhoused people.

Martin was already known by Sumter police for her activism and leading protests, Dr. Candace Brewer, national president of the Racial Justice Network, told AJ+. "I guess they thought this was one way to get rid of Brittany... 'Maybe if we cut off the head, the body will fall.'"

The GOP is pushing new anti-protest laws, like one passed in Florida. "These are the same people who call Jan. 6 rioters 'patriots,'" @cliff_notes told AJ+. "If we even gather, no flagpoles, no guns. Just our presence and audacity to use our 1st Amendment right is made a crime."

"None of this is new," @BlackVotersMtr co-founder and executive director @cliff_notes told AJ+. Breach of peace laws have targeted Black activists since before the civil rights movement, traced to Jim Crow. "They would create certain crimes that only apply to Black people."

Brittany Martin was sentenced to 4 years after telling police: "You better be ready to die for the blue. I'm ready to die for the Black." January 6 Capitol rioters got less harsh sentences: ▪️Median sentence: 45 days ▪️As of January: 1 in 3 took plea deals for 1 year or less

Breaching the peace is usually punished by up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. But prosecutors in Sumter claimed Brittany Martin's comments were "high and aggravated" — punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Her attorney says the distinction was not made clear to the jury.

A pregnant Black woman in South Carolina is serving 4 years in prison for chanting at police at 2020 protests — convicted of "breaching of the peace." Brittany Martin has lost 12 lbs in prison and was hospitalized twice for pregnancy complications in July, family says. 🧵