Credit: Jim Leatherman

In news that no one with any stake at all in Orlando arts and music wanted to hear, Cleon “Uncle Lou” Williams will be deported to Jamaica.

An update posted to the “Rally for Uncle Lou’s Legal Support” GoFundMe Tuesday broke the heartbreaking news.

“After months of hearings, legal filings, and uncertainty, Williams has made the difficult decision to stop fighting his immigration case and accept deportation to Jamaica. We have been informed that he does not qualify for an immigration bond, and his legal options have become extremely limited,” the update reads.

Williams was taken into custody the weekend of May 9 by Orlando Police Department and agents with the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for allegedly serving undercover agents shots of liquor. He was then kept in jail on a federal immigration hold.

After being in Orange County jail for nearly 10 days, he was ultimately only charged with a misdemeanor for alcohol ordinance violations. On May 19, Williams was released into ICE custody and transferred to a Baker County facility. After the rejection of his habeas petition and bond was denied in immigration court, Williams chose to deport to Jamaica.

“This is not the outcome we hoped for, but it is the reality we are facing. After spending decades building a life, community, and family here, Lou will soon be returning to Jamaica with very little in place. He will need assistance obtaining identification documents, securing housing, meeting basic needs, and rebuilding his life from the ground up,” continued the post.

“As Lou prepares for this next chapter, we are continuing this fundraiser to help ease his transition and provide him with the resources he’ll need upon arrival in Jamaica. Any support, whether through donations or sharing this fundraiser, is greatly appreciated.”

Rep. Anna V. Eskamani took to social media Tuesday evening to provide more information after speaking to Williams’ legal team at the Arroyo Law Firm. And there appears to be no path forward in terms of appeals.

“Uncle Lou does not qualify for an immigration bond and has decided not to fight his case any longer and has agreed to deportation to Jamaica,” Eskamani wrote. “Under a new federal administration he may have a viable pathway to return in the future. This is not the news we wanted, and I’m grateful to everyone who has rallied around Uncle Lou.”

As of this writing, two scheduled benefit shows on June 6 (Future Bartenderz, S.M.O.P., M.A.C.E. and Toxic Cats) at Will’s Pub and June 10 (Dial Drive, 0 Miles Per Hour, Debt Neglector, Sally Wants, Miracle, Control This!) at the Abbey are still going forward. The immediate future of the Uncle Lou’s Entertainment Hall bar and venue space is unclear at the moment. It was open briefly last weekend for the Free Uncle Lou benefit show,

Uncle Lou’s place in Orlando’s cultural life

And once again, for the bots in the back of the room who pretend not to know what the big deal is: Uncle Lou and his Entertainment Hall served as a unique and crucial incubator and proving ground for all types of music in Orlando going back two decades.

“This whole situation has saddened me for sure. I think this is definitely going to change the landscape of the local music scene,” says Will Bess of Warm Frames, a band that quite literally grew up playing Uncle Lou’s. “Playing there is one of the places bands like Warm Frames had total freedom to experiment and morph our creative vision freely and without judgment. Something like that is irreplaceable and essential and Lou will be more than missed and will always be loved and cherished.”

Uncle Lou’s was a place where locals young and old could get their live sea-legs in front of an audience, or a touring band could let rip with no pay-to-play or venue expenses. The intimate and stripped-down room was a home to metal, punk, hardcore, noise, hip-hop, vaporwave, rockabilly, folk, antifolk, goth, post-rock, techno, performance-art, country, synth-punk and pretty much anything in between. “I wanted to provide a place for people to do positive things,” he told us back in 2019.

“Uncle Lou is loved, the racists behind his deportation are not and never will be. They give nothing, they take. They wallow in hate. Uncle Lou radiated the opposite, some see that as dangerous and, yeah, punk rock should be a jolt to the system,” Nadeem Khan, a fellow Orlando underground mainstay, tells OW. “Celebrate that we had Uncle Lou’s LMGA, and keep hope alive that we will again.”

“Long live the L.M.G.A!” concludes local musician with Free Fall and longtime Lou associate Robie Robie.

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