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Months After FBI Raid, Uhuru Leaders Call Church Fire an ‘Assault’ | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

January 16, 2023

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click to enlarge Monica Obradovic African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela says his organization tried to turn a former north city church into a community center before it “suspiciously” caught fire this month.

Members of a Black liberation group under investigation by the FBI called on the federal government today to answer for a church fire they described as a “direct assault” against its movement.

Leaders of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement and African People’s Socialist Party say a “very suspicious” fire at a north city church was the most recent attack on their movement. The fire occurred months after the FBI raided its leaders’ homes last summer over allegations that the Uhuru Movement colluded with a Russian national to spread Russian propaganda and infiltrate local elections.

The cause of the fire at the former Sanctuary church (4443 Red Bud Avenue) was unknown the day of the fire and Uhuru members say they haven’t heard any updates since. A public information officer for the St. Louis Fire Department did not immediately respond to questions from the RFT on Monday.

The Uhuru Movement was under contract to purchase the church until it was severely damaged by a two-alarm fire on January 7, members say. It planned to renovate the building and turn it into a community center with offices.

Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party likened this month’s fire to attacks against civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. The Uhuru Movement is a U.S.-based socialist group founded in 1972 under the African People’s Socialist Party.

“They’re attacking us because we’re living like [King],” Yeshitela said at a press conference in front of The Sanctuary on Monday.

Yeshitela said the church fire was a direct attack on “Black self-reliance.”

“This church, this magnificent institution we were bringing all kinds of programs to, they burn it down,” Yeshitela said. “The objective is to make sure that African people stay in a constant state of dependency; that we cannot feed, clothe and house ourselves so that we have to rely on the Good White Man.”

click to enlarge Monica Obradovic A two-alarm fire torched much of The Sanctuary church in north city on January 7.

Yeshitela was joined by Ward 18 Alderman Jesse Todd, who said he’s been a lifelong member of the Uhuru Movement.

“This church was burned because it was making a positive contribution to Black people,” Todd says. “They don’t want us to have facilities to meet in.”

A house of Yeshitela and his wife, Ona Zené Yeshitela, was one of several buildings related to Uhuru that were raided by the FBI on July 29. The church is on the same street.

Federal authorities also searched the Uhuru Solidarity Center in south city; the home of Penny Hess, chairperson of the African People’s Solidarity Committee; and Uhuru properties in St. Petersburg, Florida, where the movement is based.

The raids were connected to the indictment of Aleksandr Ionov, a Russian nationalist who founded the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia. Authorities charged Ionov with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States after he allegedly recruited people in the United States and Ukraine to spread pro-Russia propaganda and other information designed to sow division in their countries.

Themba Tshibanda, a member of the Uhuru Movement, tells the RFT he was arrested in October for making terrorist threats against St. Louis Public Schools. He says he lost his job in the district recently and got into a “heated exchange” when he asked for a reason for his termination. He says he made no threats against the school district but was detained at the St. Louis City Justice Center for two weeks and interrogated by the FBI several times about the Uhuru Movement.

Tshibanda says the FBI asked him how many people were involved in the Uhuru Movement. He was also shown photos of different people in Russia and asked to identify them.

“They grabbed me, pointed two guns at my face and put me in handcuffs really tight,” Tshibanda says of his arrest. “Me being an activist, all I thought about was what happened to Darren Seals and all these different types of mysterious disappearances and deaths.”

Seals was an activist from Ferguson who was found shot and killed in his car in 2016. A recently obtained FBI file showed Seals was under surveillance by the FBI shortly before his death.

Tshibanda says his terrorism charge was dropped soon after his release from jail.

On Monday, Yeshitela called the accusations against him and those involved with Uhuru “bogus” and “racist.”

Yeshitela founded the Uhuru Movement and moved to north St. Louis in 2017. Uhuru and its several affiliate groups buy dilapidated properties in St. Louis and fix them, train Black women to become doulas and build community gardens in food deserts, among other initiatives. The group recently built a basketball court in the O’Fallon neighborhood.

Yeshitela says they will not try to buy The Sanctuary again.

“It’s no use to us now,” he says.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

9 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

9 months ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

9 months ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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