Mongoose Distro

So Now I’m On Probation?
Except from Chapter 5 of Growing Up In Prison

I was worried actually. Anxiously I agonized away the long weekend, waiting for Monday to arrive. For what? Monday could not possibly be any different.

Monday could possibly be a bit different. The Counselor had come to see me, greeting me with a big smile. ” I wanted to speak with you about going to school ” she said sweetly. ” What about school? ” I asked suspiciously. I thought I already messed that up for the year.

The Counselor paused for a full second before answering, expression unreadable. ” How would you feel about starting today? ” she offered finally. I shrugged. “Why not? But what’s the point? Can I still graduate? ” The Counselor smiled wider. ” Of course you can, Seth! Oh, and one more thing, ” she added. ” You’ll have a meeting with your Probation Officer afterwards.

That caught me off guard. ” What? I’m on probation now? ” I asked stupidly. ” A. Meeting. With. Your. Probation Officer.” the Counselor repeated herself deliberately, through gritted teeth. She must have thought I was pretty slow. I resisted the urge to repeat myself through her own method, mocking her. After all, unlike some people, I was working on not being a sarcastic jerk. So instead I acknowledged what she said. ” Oh… A. Meeting. With. My. Probation Officer. I guess I’m on probation now! ” The Counselor scowled and stormed away. Oh, well. At least I tried.

I was collected for school, which turned out to be nothing like the real thing. Part of a class, our place was to sit still and face forward in neat little rows and listen while the Teacher read from a textbook or presented things on a projector, and then passed out worksheets for us to fill out with information regurgitated from memory. Actually, at is pretty much exactly like the real thing. It was different only in that our class consisted of twelve boys and we were prevented in asking any questions unless prompted by the Teacher to do so.

Prevented by the Officer posted in the classroom with us, who also stopped us for socializing or working on personal projects even once our work was complete. Which was most of the time, actually, as the work appeared to be about a third grade level and everyone was several years beyond that, at least. Instead, when we finished one worksheet we were just given another, then another. Even real school wasn’t this bad.

I spent the day being shuffled from one class to another. When it was all finally over I was approached by an older woman outside my pod. ” Hi Seth! I’m your a Probation Officer! ” She mentioned something like a name, which was misleading. Only people had names. A Probation Officer is still an Officer. ” Hello. Am I on probation now? ” I asked bluntly, wondering what the hell she wanted.

The Probation Officer wanted me to answer a handful of questions about myself. She would be crosschecking my answers with my mom. That last was said with an accusing look in her eyes. Also, the Probation Officer would be coming back with a at certification test.

The following day I went to school again. It was hard to believe that I was expected to learn anything at all. It was like they were just going through the motions so that some agency could file some paperwork proving that we were being educated. For whatever reason.

I was becoming frustrated with how easy the curriculum completing one worksheet after another for hours on end. My peers must have felt it too, because periodically they would act out and be punished with a Behavioural Time Out, or BTO, facing the wall with their hands behind their back. Or else they would just shut down entirely and would be escorted away to a 23:59, or a day in the cell. Failure to complete work wasn’t ” Refusing “, which was a formal term for resisting an escort. Wish someone could have told me that.

When it was finally over the Probation Officer met up with me again, intercepting me outside the Pod. She had gotten my mother’s permission for me to take the certification test, the results of which would determine whether or not I would be tried as an adult. It was ironic that while I couldn’t consent to the test that would determine my level of maturity, I would nevertheless be bound by the results.

The Probation Officer kept telling me how I would probably pass and how great that would be for me. Since I assumed that whatever the Officers thought was good for me was probably horrible for me, I resolved to fail on purpose. I either chose the most immature sounding answers or else answered at random. A lot of the questions seemed political in nature, so I split my answers with progressive and conservative causes at about equal rates. I was hoping to throw off the results. It didn’t work.

” Congratulations! You’re so mature! ” the Probation Officer enthused, having returned after dashing off to consult with her answer key. I couldn’t see why. Probably, the answer key was just a prop and she was operating on pure discretion. ” Why is that a good thing? ” I asked glumly. ” Well, now you will probably go to County Jail, and be around people your own level, ” she offered. I wasn’t buying it.

” So I get to be around grown men? ” I countered. ” Right! ” the Probation Officer exclaimed, glad I was seeing her side of things. ” But that sounds awful. What if I get hurt? ” She paused. ” Well… ” I wasn’t done. ” Plus, I was capped at 40 years before. Now I can get a whole life sentence. How is that better? ” The Probation Officer snapped, ” Well, just accept it! You are getting certified! ” I snapped back ” That’s stupid! I lied on you stupid test anyway, marking random answers! “

“ Now she was mad, her face bright red. ” Stay in your place! You’re a child, I’m an adult! So respect me! I’m your Probation Officer! ” Clearly, she was upset, so I tried to diffuse the situation. ” Apparently I’m an adult now, too, so you respect me now. Anyway, I’m not on probation, so go harass someone who gives a fuck. The Probation Officer quivered with rage, then snarled. ” You’re such a little smart-ass! ” and stomped away. Whatever, she was going to fuck me regardless. At least it couldn’t get any worse.

It got worse.

Meeting Mother Rosa
Another Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Growing Up In Prison

A very small, brown and decrepit looking creature came to see me. Shuffling slowly into my cell, she instinctively positioned herself squarely in the doorway, dashing any hope of a quick escape. I estimated her age in the centennial range. This was going to be painful. I braced myself for impact.

Mother Rosa came in swinging. ” You’re so beautiful! ” she drawled. Then, without missing a beat, gasped ” Hail the holy mother! ” I was at a loss for words.

” Umm… yeah? ” I offered weakly, as Mother Rosa sized me up, obviously expecting an answer of some sort. Apparently satisfied, she spewed forth a sermon of epic proportions on the holy mother mary, jesus, the saints and the rest of the squad. Slipping from parable to parable, past to present, and sprinkled with undeveloped references to past experiences, her message lacked focus or cohesion.

Occasionally pausing with expectation in her eyes, I’d utter ” Umm… yeah ” often enough to keep her Eminence sated. All eternity manifested in those ten minutes of agony – pure psychological torture. My mind turned itself off in an act of calculated triage, leaving only my auditory system under assault. Perhaps sensing that my conscious mind was escaping her grasp, Mother Rosa compensated by increasing the sound volume of her speech and gesticulating wildly with her hands. Soon my eyes fuzzed out and I had a rather surreal, out of body experience, as though I were watching the two of us from above.

Mother Rosa began to creep closer, and I had the irrational fear that she would attempt to hug me. Please, no! My limbic system went into overload as my fight or flight instincts kicked in. Fortunately, she just wanted to fob off a handful of pamphlets and a postcard sized icon of the virgin mary, signaling the end of our session. Every time I accepted one and smiled, hoping to placate her, it only renewed her vigor, leading to ever more pamphlets and materials. Eventually I must have accepted one or three of every item she had in that bottomless pit of a purse, because she sighed that she hadn’t brought such and such items. I sighed, too. With relief.

” My name is Miss Rosaline, ” she scoffed sternly, eyeing the slump in my shoulders that accompanied my sigh. ” Thank you, Miss Rosaline. ” I offered up meekly. ” They call me Mother Rosa! ” she insisted in an admonishing tone. ” Yes, Mother Rosa. Thank you. ” I corrected. ” Bless you child, ” Mother Rosa whimpered, placing a withered, clawed hand on my forehead before beginning to chant fervently in what I hoped was Latin. Her eyes slid in and out of focus as she fingered the beads of her rosary. Finally, she turned and shuffled slowly away, to press her case the next cell over. Poor bastard. I melted into the concrete of my bed. Mother Rosa was an experience I wasn’t keen to repeat.

Tony waited a while before collecting me for our first chess match of the day, perhaps sensing that I needed time to recover my senses. He was rather excited that things had gone so well. Apparently not every teenager was so patient with the old priestess as I had been. Shocking, I know. I wish I had crass insensitivity to use as a shield against Mother Rosa’s senile onslaught. How much easier would things have been if I just told her to fuck off? Of course, I would have felt guilty afterwards, and then Tony probably would be disappointed in me, too.

As though in sync with my thoughts, whatever kid Mother Rosa was currently pestering exploded in a stream of expletives, screaming the wannabe Mother Teresa figure out of his cell. Brave fellow. Protective of his spiritual advisor, Tony rushed to her defense. ” I kept asking her to leave! ” he shouted at Tony. ” But you didn’t have to cuss her out! ” Tony shouted back. Their shouting match centered around variations of those two themes.

Eventually things would down, with Tony writing a case on Mother Rosa’s victim as she settled on some poor soul yet another cell over…

Seth Yates 1776898
Ferguson Unit
12120 Savage Dr.
Midway, TX 75852

June 9, 2023

Dear Friends,

In less than a month I’ll be released – to homelessness. I’m writing to thank you for all your help, and to beg for your continued aid. My defense committee has been unable to find me housing due to the strain of survival and the trauma of Tortuguita’s assassination.

My requests, for release to halfway house and/or transfer to my partner’s address outside Florida, have been denied. I’m held in isolation with no access to email or regular phone calls. I’ll be in danger on the street in Tallahassee and I could be attacked or sent back to prison just for sleeping outside.

Please help me find a place to live before I’m released on 7/5/23. I need a room, efficiency, or trailer, with sober people, who don’t have large dogs, or a criminal record, to comply with the probation officer’s requirements. The homeless shelter in Tallahassee is always full, and the college town economy sees mass unemployment and homelessness every summer and winter break.

Please help me stay out of prison. Please help me find housing and work in Tallahassee. I’m cut off from my defense committee and can only reach my lawyer, Lizzie Valejo, in rare scheduled legal calls, which are often cancelled arbitrarily. Here’s how you can help:

-share this message

-fundraise/send money

-send housing options and job offers

-secure housing for me (we have a little over $3000 raised for my release)

-connect with movement groups in Tallahassee and raise awareness of my situation

-contact my defense committee and help them search for work and housing

-contact anyone you know in Tallahassee who can provide housing or work and advocate for me, ideally ideologically sympathetic friends, and send me an address

-contact my lawyer, Lizzie Valejo, at 850-942-8818, to contact me, ask how to send money, or offer housing and work

Thanks for all you’ve done so far, and thank you for helping me so I can help others!

Until all are free,

Dan

Contact Dan’s support crew on Instagram at @freedanbaker

Greetings of Love and Solidarity,

Alot has taken place in my life in the last year. I got married to a beautiful and smart trans woman. In March I had surgery for a hernia repair, which I had been trying to do for the past three years. I’m still experiencing complications from the surgery.

I started a project that bought up the debts that queer prisoners had accrued for the purchase of drugs and food products. This was somewhat controversial on the inside and outside. We are all responsible for our own lives, but no human or anarchist principle dictates that we refuse to help others whose own decisions have brought trouble upon their heads, unless we believe that in trying to help them, we are perpetrating greater harm. Denying queer prisoners who are drug abusers humane aid multiplies their miseries without bringing them one inch closer to recovery and safety. The more we dehumanize and vilify drug abusers, the more it is impossible to put in place the kind of interventions that will help them.

Also, I hired one attorney, fired him and hired a new one. Hopefully I’ll be out there with you all this year. I’ve been taking part in the Solitary Gardens Project, which grows plenty of food. This world wants to crush those of us that desire a different way of life into oblivion. Their surveillance technology, jails, prisons and war machines are all to cause despair. We must not let despair gain a hold on our psyche or we lose.

I’m finding inspiration in the Atlanta forest defenders. The actions in Atlanta of the police are to bring about our despair. The Atlanta forest defenders have shown us the way forward.

Despair paralyzes us into inaction. Prisons are the site of chattel slavery in this day and age in the U.S. So, I take inspiration from the work and actions of those of you out there fighting, refusing to let despair paralyze them into inaction. I’m trying to live anarchy as best I can, even in this hellhole. If not now, when? If not here, where?

The war goes on wherever we find ourselves on bourgeois dominated soul.

Stop Cop City!

Michael Kimble 138017
William Donaldson Correctional
100 Warrior Lane
Bessemer, AL 35023

All Power To The People

My intentions aren’t to give a dialectical and historical context of the relationship between today’s “Gangs” (street formations) and past revolutionary movements, although there is an inextricable link between the two.

The origins of today’s street formations were strongly influenced by the original Black Panther Party and other similar organizations. They were formed to uplift and protect their communities from outside threats, threats that were typically imposed by law enforcement and the US government.

With destruction of the Black Panther Party, combined with the influx of drugs and firearms within their already oppressed communities, members of these formations were lured into “gang-bangin” against each other and a fratricidal and suicidal, criminal lifestyle that resulted in the abandonment of the ideals and principles that were brought forth and established by the formation’s founders. Ideals and principles that mirrored those of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.

Today there are a limited few who diligently impress upon their “homies” the importance of espousing the formations’ founding ideals and principles. Nevertheless, majority have been derailed from their initial revolutionary path, which has had a grave impact on the youth who romanticize today’s “gang” culture and their communities. Moreover, the absence of these ideals and principles has engendered a culture of disunity, violent competition and the romanticizing of the “gang-banging” mentality, which renders us incapable of redressing the conditions we found ourselves subjected to within these razor-wire plantations.

There is no silver bullet or magic wand that can be used to magically expedite the transformation that must be made: Transforming the criminal mentality into a revolutionary mentality is a protracted process that demands accountability and rigorous educating.

I am dedicated to assisting with this transformation any way that I can. One way is to shed some light on the draconian policies and procedures that governs those of us who have been labeled “gang-members”, labels known as Security Risk Group (SRG) or Security Threat Groups (STG), so we can begin to seek redress for these policies & procedures.

Gang Validation Process

Prisoners who have been labelled as “gang members” often suffer significant unfair prejudice. Due to the officers who are responsible for the validation process opinions being often based on sweeping generalizations and stereotypes about “gang members” generally, unreliable methodology, and/or the officer’s racial bias.

Here in North Carolina the Department of Adult Corrections (DAC) has “certified” twenty-one alleged prison gangs as Security Risk Groups (SRG). Prisoners are validated as SRG members by Prison Intelligence Officers (PIO) who are white, whose discretion reigns supreme in determining who is validated as a SRG member. These subjective decisions lead to disproportionate validation of prisoners of color, particularly Black prisoners.

A stark example of the racially uneven application of SRG validations is evident in the percentage of white prisoners who have been validated compared to Black prisoners. White prisoners make up 2% of the prisoners validated in NC prisoners.

Around the world, gangs are studied by those with specialized training in areas as ethnography, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. In these fields, researchers are often subject to ethical standards that warn against manipulating data to advance their personal objectives and required to employ social science field research best practices in relation to data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The officers responsible for validating prisoners are not held to any such ethical standards and lack the foundational knowledge to determine if a prisoner is actually a SRG member or not.

The qualification, the degree, of specialized knowledge for these officers to be qualified as “gang experts” is particularly lacking. An officer can be qualified as a “gang expert” after having only a couple months on the job as long as they have some formalized training. You would think these “gang officers” would be required to demonstrate a basic understanding of the complicated dynamics at issue where gang membership and behavior are concerned beyond stereotypes and prototypes. Being that these validations subject prisoners to indefinite sanctions and restrictions that not only impedes rehabilitation but affects the validated prisoners’ family as well.

These “gang officers” employ a worksheet which lists seventeen criteria for determining gang involvement, each of which is assigned a point value. Prisoners may be labeled as “suspects/associates” or “members”.

A qualifying score is not difficult to achieve Prisoners bearing tattoos “thought” to signify gang affiliation and who socialize with “confirmed” gang members may be regarded as members themselves.

False positives are likely to arise under these criteria because, while they may indicate a correlation with gang membership, they do not establish causation. Because gang membership cannot be reliably inferred from the factors aforementioned these “gang officers” should not be allowed to opine about gang membership based on these factors.

Completed validation worksheets are forwarded to the DAC’s chief of special operations, Daryll Vann, who reviews the worksheets, confirms that “relevant” documentation is attached, and validates the identification. Prisoners who wish to contest the validation is not afforded the opportunity to do so. Prisoners receive no notice of their validation, no procedural due process, nor a periodic review that would enable the prisoner to have the validation removed. Therefore, prisoners who have been validated remain validated for the duration of their incarceration and irrevocably subject to SRG policy deprivations.

There are only two ways to have the SRG validation removed. There is a SRG program that’s provided to a limited number of prisoners. It is a 9-month program at Foothills Correctional, a prison located in the rural mountains region of Western North Carolina. The staff employed there are exclusively white who live in race-segregated communities who are out of touch with the cultures of the prisoners they oversee. When these “gang officers” walk through the doors of the prison, many of them, knowingly or unknowingly, hold negative biases toward those who have been validated and those of color.

The media perpetuates inaccurate narratives of violence, criminality, and dishonesty among racial minorities that many of these “gang officers” unknowingly internalize. It shows in how they interact and deal with the prisoners.

The DAC describes this program as being a program that “targets those beliefs (cognitions) that support criminal behavior…” and seeks to shift the thinking that supports these believes. Prisoners who complete this program must undergo a debriefing and renounce their affiliation, if any, before the validation is removed. This program is not available to prisoners who have been labeled problematic. The other way to have the validation removed is to complete your prison sentence and be discharged from DAC custody. Of the 1343 prisoners released from DAC’s custody last year, at least 572 were alleged SRG members.

Draconian Gang Policies & Procedures

The ostensible purpose of the DAC SRG policies and procedures is to avoid prison disturbances supposedly fomented by gangs. It is nonetheless clear that these policies and procedures has the effect of incapacitating significant numbers of prisoners and has cultivated an environment opposite from what prisoner officials claim to be “safer”.

Those who have been validated find themselves subjected to draconian sanctions and restrictions. Validated prisoners are prohibited from receiving visits from anyone beyond immediate family. This excludes aunts, uncles, cousins and the mother of your child(ren) if you have no immediate family member to accompany your child to visitation you are unable to visit with them. Our children’s interests are not, as a matter of right, factored into SRG validation determinations. The fact that parent-child visitation can help children overcome the challenges of parental separation and reduce recidivism rates is well-documented. But yet, prison officials find it plausible to implement such a policy that prevents parent-child visits.

As with the prisoners who have been validated, Black and Hispanic children are the ones greatly affected by this policy. DAC has imposed this policy without any cognizance that such a restriction might implicate the parent-child relationship, which is typically subject to extraordinary protection by the courts. But yet this policy goes unchecked.

Throughout the duration of my incarceration I’ve been unable to visit with my daughter, because I have no immediate family to accompany here, this has prevented she and I from developing a meaningful relationship. This is something that majority of us are experiencing.

Moreover, this policy has an outsized impact on Black families and other members of marginalized communities who bear the brunt of mass incarceration. Limiting a prisoner’s visitors to immediate family only effectively cuts a prisoner off from family members who may have raised him. As we know in marginalized communities there are an overwhelming amount of fractured families. Grandparents and others play the mother-father role.

Then there are the prisoners who were raised in foster care, who have never been blessed with the opportunity to meet their immediate family. There is no exceptions for foster care parents.

Although these restrictions are sometimes justified, they are being used indiscriminately without individual analysis.

On February 19, 2019 a policy was implemented that prohibited validated prisoners from receiving financial support from anyone who wasn’t an approve visitor. Prison officials claim that this was done to curtail “black market” activities and strong-arming. It’s not difficult to see how such a policy would increase these activities, moreover create an environment where those who do have means of receiving financial support become targets of strong-arming and other acts of violence.

This policy was implemented 8 months before now retired director of prisons, Kenneth Lassiter, requested more funding for security and control weapons. During the 8 months to when he requested this additional funding, violence amongst prisoners drastically increased. I know because majority of these close-custody facilities were placed on lockdown due to the increase of violence.

Prisoners who are validated have no access to any educational or vocational programming, forced to serve idle prison sentences. They are locked in their cells virtually all of the time and otherwise maintained in extremely harsh conditions. Unable to have their custody level reduced to medium or minimum security and job opportunities are non-existent. Common sense would tell prison officials that there are abundant reasons to believe that these policies and restrictions will produce unfortunate results both inside and outside of prison.

The Ramifications of these Policies

Motivated by an inaccurate perception of gangs and how they operate, the DAC has adopted policies that have enhanced group cohesiveness and the identities of gang-affiliated prisoners. These policies have promoted new gang connections for prisoners who, due to the difficulties inherent in gang identification, inadequate procedures and racial stereotyping, are misidentified. The validated prisoner tells himself “they think I’m a gang member = I might as well be one”.

Of course these policies raise obvious moral and ethical questions. However, I would like to focus on how these policies make no sense from a correctional perspective. Even if these “gang officers” are creating or enhancing gang identities, why does it matter? Validated prisoners maintained in these locked down blocks, after all, are effectively disabled from committing acts of misconduct when locked in their cells.

Validated prisoners are denied access to visitation, financial support, transfers to medium or minimum custody, as well as parole.  They have nothing more to lose so they are not deterred by any threat of punishment, what else can be taken from them? They have no incentive to refrain from gang involvement.

Aside from prison concerns, the impact of these policy’s ramifications will be felt most profoundly on the streets and communities to which these prisoners will return. As I pointed out 571 of the 1343 prisoners released from NC prisons last year, were alleged gang members. In general, ninety-six percent of all prisoners return to society. To my knowledge, there are recidivism studies focusing or gang affiliated prison releases, there is evidence that gang members may retain their gang identify upon release (see: eg CAMP & CAMP, supra note 70, at viii, ix; Salvador Buentello eta l, Prison Gang Development: A Theoretical Model, Prison J., Fall-Winter 1991, at 3, 8.). Thus these policies not only fail to enhance prison security, it also undermines public safety.

We Have A Responsibility

Prisoners nationwide find themselves subject to similar sanctions and restrictions under the guise of enhancing prison security. I’ve revealed how these policies target prisoners of color and how they affect not only us but our families and communities as well. We have the numbers, we have the capability and we have the know how to bring about change. But as Komrade George Jackson expressed; “We all seem to be in the grip of some terrible quandary. Our enemies have so confused us that we seem to have been rendered incapable of the smallest responsibility. I see this same irresponsibility in every exchange with my kinsmen here, irresponsibility, or mediocrity at best disloyalty, self-hatred, cowardice, competition between themselves, resentment of any who may have excelled in anything…”

Because of the inexorable nature of any an overseas, nationwide demonstrations on the outside and within these walls is presently necessary if we are to connect the connectors. Prison Lives Matter has made it possible for us to address such conditions because PLM has formed a united front for political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized individuals behind the walls of these razor-wire plantations and their organizations, as well as any outside formations in union with the struggles of prisoners. It’s on us to initiate the process, it’s on us to network with one another to get on the same page, so we can write a page in the history books!

Dare to Struggle
Dare to Win
Joseph “Shine White” Stewart

Greetings comrades. Let me tell you about this prison, the federal supermax ADX [in Florence, Colorado]. In this joint there are different levels and units with varying levels of physical isolation and communication, but there are things we all experience. Everyone is locked down at least 21 hours a day, at max 24. When you have inside rec you are by yourself in a room without a pull up bar. Outside rec cages are 8 x 10 foot dog kennels surrounded by concrete walls and a chain link roof — a cage within a cage. Unless you are in the pre-release unit (K-A) or long-term elder unit (K-B), you will never be in the same room as another person. And even in those units you only come around your ‘group’ — which is one to four other people — for inside rec. The other 22 ½ hours are in your cell by yourself. I have been in C-unit, the discipline unit and K-A; there is one other person in my group.

The cells are sparse. Concrete walls and double doors make any communication between convicts very difficult. Cells feature a low concrete beed, an oddly shitty mattress, a concrete desk, concrete stool, and in some units, a shelf above the desk. You never have solo interactions with staff — you are always double-manned with one of them carrying a steel baton, and you’re always cuffed behind your back. Depending on the unit, you can get 4–10 calls per month. I’ve made two ‘live-monitored’ calls in the past 10 months, but I’m being told that by participating in psychology programs I’ll earn a few calls per month. Time will tell. We’re allowed five visits per month, all non-contact in a concrete booth over the phone. All visits have to be scheduled in advance, which can be difficult with such restricted communication. I’m the only Anarchist here, but I’m definitely not the only political prisoner. Within this prison there is a group of prisoners the US government has attempted to bury. The general abolitionist community has consented to this, and it’s devastating.

The most restrictive unit in the most restrictive prison in America is H-Unit, which is for people on SAMS (Special Administrative Measures). These restrictions are placed by the Attorney General, and they are sickening. SAMS vary per captive, but all entail only being allowed to write to direct blood family and your lawyer. The FBI must read and approve all letters, magazines, and books. Calls are severely limited, live-monitored by the FBI, and reviewed by magistrate judges. These convicts get three showers per week. The vast majority of people on SAMS are Muslim and foreign born. Because their families are in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, or in Africa, it is nearly impossible to get visits, calls, or mail. These people will never see their families or home countries again. Their children will get married, have kids, grow old, and they will never know it. If that doesn’t make you sick, I don’t even know what we’re doing here.

Most of these people have never been to America or speak English. They had war brought to them. They were farmers, bakers, engineers, fathers, and husbands, and then US and Western imperialists arrived on their land. Many of these people never harmed anyone, but were entrapped by rivals and US bootlickers. Some were fighting their own governments, some donated money to local charity groups that were later deemed terrorist organizations. Others did attack US “interests,” or attempted to. Some of these actions make me really uncomfortable — just like some of the IRA’s, Kurd’s, and Palestinian actions make me uncomfortable. Just like US drone strikes, missile attacks, and invasions make me uncomfortable. It’s only from a place of privilege that I can tell an occupied people how they should fight. The goal is freedom, not being palatable to Western sensibilities. We took to the streets with rage and sorrow when the pigs killed Tortuguita (Rest in Power). How would our hearts burn if they’d wiped out the entire encampment? If they killed 100,000 little Tortuguitas? It’s hard and painful to even fathom.

Sometimes, after 10 or 15 years, via lawsuits or legal pressure, people can be released from their SAMS. These people end up in other ADX units or the CMU. The heartbreaking thing about this is that almost all of these fighters get off SAMS and find themselves supportless, friendless. Imagine you go 15 years of being banned from contact and reading material and when you finally are allowed access there is no one there for you to talk to. How heartbreaking that must feel. Think of someone like Richard Reed (Raheem). He did 7 years on SAMS then forced his way to the Life/Elder unit. He will never leave this prison, he will never touch or talk to his loved ones again. No one is standing by him. Everyone has bought into the government’s version of events and the idea that if you fight back you no longer deserve love and support, or to feel human. I vehemently reject this idea. No one should ever have to suffer this level of total isolation alone. The government doesn’t get to tell me, an Anarchist, who is a good fighter and who is bad. I think we should all keep an open heart to those who resisted the US military machine and shed light on this blindspot in the abolitionist movement. What did Assata say? “It is our duty to fight for our freedom / It is our duty to win / WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER / We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

Lastly, I’d like to give love and solidarity to everyone resisting Cop City in any capacity. It’s beautiful to see. Every prison is a cop city. Every prison was once a patch of land with flowers and bugs and wild life. Evil people turned that nature into militarized torture camps. Trees replaced by bars and barbed wire, wild flowers replaced by poisonous gasses. We need to shut down every cop city, past and present. I commend those who dedicate themselves to the liberation struggle.

I’ll end with this: Certain Days quoted Kathy Boudin (Rest in Power) in its May calendar page, and I feel it captures our sentiment perfectly. “The meaning of my life has come from being part of a world wide tradition of fighting for a more just and humane world. My ideals give me strength today as well as yesterday and tomorrow.” We can all gain so much from our elders. All love and respect to all my Anarchist comrades, state and federal, everyone who has supported any of us in any way. Free Joe-Joe Bowen, Free Kamau Sadiki, Free Oso Blanco, Free Kojo Bomani Sababu!

Anarchy always,
↙↙↙ everywhere.
End the SAMS!
Fire Ant Collective forever!

Eric King 27090-045
USP Florence
PO Box 8500
Florence, CO 81226

Dear Mongoose (& readers)

As previously reported, numerous times, the Pocahontas State Corruption Center, one of the Virginia Department of Corrections’ most nefarious & dangerous prisons, has been openly targeting mail for tampering & interference (please see the enclosed form). The culprits, by name; Haggerty; Stacey; M’Call; Campbell & Smalling are politically motivated & using these acts as a means of harassment, as well as a means to isolate & cause harm. Here is yet another legitimate publication wrongly denied. 

These state employees, acting under the color of law, are in fact openly violating both state & federal laws. By doing so in a politically motivated attack with the intent to cause harm, they fall squarely within the definitions of “State Sponsored Domestic Terrorists” under both state & federal laws, as well as international standards. 

I urge everyone to contact the Tazewell County Commonwealth Attorney Office & demand to know why that office has thus far refused to investigate the criminal complaint filed. You should also demand to know why the office refuses to provide Equal Protections Under the Law as it is very much obligated to do. You should then share all of this & also harass by email & phone the Warden at PSCC, the Officials at VA DOC & every other state official whose apathetic depravity allows for this slave state to continue a level of harm only found worse in a very short list of other state DOCs.

As this country unravels faster & faster, someone must focus on the state of Virginia, a haven & and staging ground for fascist elements in the country.

Thank You

April 27 2023, Thursday

To Whom it May Concern,

In yet another disgusting display of Virginia Department of Corrections Corruption, by a staff whose criminality is obvious & well documented, Pocahontas State Corruption Center staff, including Counselor Slade (ALPHA Unit); Ms. Brittany Farmer Gross- Institutional Program Manager; Ms. C. Smalling- Grievance Coordinator; & the Regional Ombudsman have all willfully conspired to put false charges on my prison record. This is, of course, in keeping with those criminals who did viciously assault me in my own home, beat me & also falsely charge me, before falsely & unlawfully incarcerating me. 

All of this is proven by state documents in my possession, before the courts, in the file record held by three separate attorneys (& the corrupt prosecutor). 

In this instance, the falsification of DOC records by corrupt staff, all of it has been documented within the VA DOC: Grievance Number PSCC-23-INF-00346. This record includes evidence exonerating me of the initial claim, as the VA DOC basis for false items on my record. 

The VA DOC claims that on my first day, at a receiving unit, that I was drug tested & that the drug test came back “positive”. Nevermind that no substance abuse history exists. Nevermind that for 17 months in solitary & SHU at NRVRJ (Dublin, Virginia) not a single test was issued. & Nevermind that this supposed “positive” test was used as the basis to repeatedly test me, every one showing NEGATIVE (on a compound where staff mule in drugs regularly)….

Also, nevermind that I requested a lab report & the VA DOC staff refuse to provide proof of the charge … Because there was NO DRUG TEST. 

VA DOC staff are known to falsify records (Michael Murphy, Senior Psychologist PSCC, falsified my entire DOC psych. record & it is TOTALLY contrary to 30+ years of pre-existing records, contradicts a 20+ year neuro-psychologist & ASST PROF at UVA, as well as a 20+ year specialist in brain injuries), so it should come as NO SURPRISE that a false drug test charge exists & that these sad little people, when caught, refuse to admit their vileness.

Well, to the general public I go, because HOPEFULLY the citizens of this country are tired of backwards states (Virginia) where nazis have congregated ro corrupt everything in sight.

Aside from these names, & those previously exposed, I hope all of you reading this will expose & label the VA DOC staff as the right wing nazi fascists that they are.

Remember, Virginia is now & always has been a haven for slavers & white supremacist anti-semites…& the VA DOC is their state sponsor for terrorism.

@davznotheseyo