In December 1971 at Ann Arbor, Michigan, 15,000 people attended the "John Sinclair Freedom Rally", a protest and benefit concert with contributions from Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, and others.
Po selitvi v New York avgusta tega leta sta se spoprijateljila s članoma skupine Chicago Seven in mirovniškima aktivistoma, Jerryjem Rubinom in Abbiejem Hoffmanom.