An indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses leaders of a local Black liberation group of assisting a Russian nationalist in orchestrating a years-long campaign to sow discord in the United States and spread pro-Russian propaganda.
The indictment alleges St. Louis residents Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel of the African People’s Socialist Party conspired with Aleksandr Ionov. Ionov was accused of using various U.S. political groups as foreign agents of Russia without notification to the attorney general in an indictment last summer.
According to the indictment, Ionov recruited these political groups starting as early as October 2013 to attend conferences sponsored by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia and funded by the Russian government. At the conferences, the indictment alleges, Ionov entered into a partnership with certain U.S. separatist groups.
Yeshitela is the founder and chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement. The Uhuru Movement is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, but has several members and outposts throughout St. Louis.
Penny Hess serves as chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, part of the African People’s Socialist Party. Jesse Nevel chairs the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, which organizes white people to push for reparations across the U.S. and in Europe.
In 2015, the indictment alleges, Yeshitela traveled to Russia and entered the African People’s Socialist Party into a partnership with Ionov and the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, or AGMR, knowing that Ionov and AGMR were agents of the Russian government.
Yeshitela, Hess and Nevel subsequently engaged in a years-long relationship with Ionov. They’ve been charged for unlawfully advancing pro-Russia propaganda and false information about the conflict in Ukraine as part of Ionov's effort to reduce trust and confidence in the United States’ democratic processes.
Last summer, the FBI raided Uhuru properties in St. Louis and St. Petersburg as well as some of its members' homes, including Yeshitela’s.
The African People’s Socialist Party has since called the raids a “racist attack.” Members have also planned protests against Regions Bank and called on customers to close their accounts after the bank “abruptly” closed the African People’s Education and Defense Fund’s accounts.
At a press briefing after the raids, Yeshitela said he had never accepted money from the Russian government, but said he “apologizes for not receiving money from Russia.”
He said the African People’s Socialist Party is not composed of pacifists. They believe in “just wars” that are “fought by people who are trying to liberate themselves.
“We don’t just support Russia in this war against Ukraine, we support Palestine,” Yeshitela said.
He later added: “Don’t tell us that we can’t have friends that you don’t like.”
Organizations of the African People’s Socialist Party have led a number of initiatives in north St. Louis. The group has built a farmers’ market and basketball court. Black Power Blueprint, an initiative based in St. Louis, supports a doula training project and is working to open a bakery/cafe through its African Independence Workforce Program.
In a statement to St. Louis Public Radio, Yeshitela said he could not comment on the indictment. “However, I am looking forward to my day in court.”
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