Matthew was released to a halfway house in June 2025! There is a fundraiser to help him prepare for release.

Please read this inspiring March 2025 update from Matthew White about his imminent release!

What’s up Midwest Books to Prisoners?

Greetings to all my comrades over there and among your readers. I just wanted to let you all know that I’m approaching my release/halfway house date after serving an unjust sentence for my role in the uprising in St. Paul after the murder of George Floyd.

I hope all of you out there know that I’m grateful for the support I received from all of you there during my imprisonment. Your inclusion of my name/ information in subsequent installments of your newsletter has been greatly appreciated. In a carceral setting, just knowing that you aren’t being forgotten, that the people who share your values, your dreams, and your belief in a better world still think of you and say your name – it means the world. Inside I’m surrounded by people who have become so desensitized to cruelty and injustice, or even more incomprehensibly, support the neo-fascism infecting our world at every level. After years of this, it’s hard to keep hope and to maintain my resolve. Being reminded why I started to get involved in the first place – by seeing your regular updates of activism and direct action across the country — has helped me to not forget who I am or what is important to me. I might have lost some years, but George Floyd lost his life. That truth, that perspective, grounds me.

Apart from the mental and emotional strain of this experience, unfortunately a lot of other things have to be dealt with. When this all started I had a good job, years in recovery, and a stable, full, rich life like I’d never known before. I’m leaving federal prison with nothing. I have only a little family left in this world, and a whole list of things to overcome when I touch down.

With that in mind, I have two things to ask of you brothers & sisters. One, for all the political prisoners locked away in this system, I would ask that you continue to share the mailing/email addresses of the activists who sent you their info. That support is vital. My other request is that you update our community of my upcoming release, and let everyone know that any help when I’m touching down would be appreciated, My sister’s CashApp is SJessicaBail and anyone who can aid in smoothing this transition is welcome to send what they can and drop a note for me. I’m grateful.

Keep fighting,
Matthew White

From the Minnesota Uprising Arrestee Support site: “My name is Matthew White, I am 32 years old and a father of 4 boys. I am an enrolled member of a MN Chippewa tribe and was born and raised in the St. Paul Midway. I am not an out of town white man who come to destroy ethnic neighborhoods as the media has portrayed me to be. I headed out that day with the intention of adding my voice to hundreds of others to call for change and spread a little loving artwork for George and now I am facing up to 20 years in federal prison and because of my past record I will realistically be sentenced to 10 years. My oldest children most likely will be adults or pretty near by the time I am released. Any support and correspondence is much loved and appreciated.”

Matthew White has been released to a halfway house!