Prison aint for sensitive boys
I still think about every fight
every scraping – making of knives
wondering what happened to those lives
they were sharpened for?
I still feel every spray
every breath it stole away
wondering what violence will come today
W/the squad at your door
I still hear every screaming voice
every life isolation destroyed
prison ain’t the place for a sensitive boy
I don’t want this no more
Ways ADX is different from SHU:
1. 2 doors
2. No cell-to-cell contact
3. TV
4. Books
5. You ‘program’ in your cell
6. Rec is totally by yourself—indoor and outdoor
7. Bunk is made of concrete
Recently, at the end of Eric’s time at USP Lee, he experienced brutal deprivation, threats and retaliation. So much that while he was there, he didn’t speak on it for safety concerns. Right before he left, the Bureau of Prison’s Southeast Regional office outside of USP Lee jurisdiction held his disciplinary hearing, allegedly to be “impartial”. The lieutenants let him know that Regional instructed them to find Eric guilty in case his ADX transfer didn’t go through so they could try forcing the ADX transfer again later on if needed. The BOP found him guilty of “rioting” because of a global noise demo that happened outside prisons on New Year’s Eve 2020, and a joke he made in legal mail about how they could have brought cocktails. This noise demo had nothing to do with Eric, he had no knowledge of it until well after it occurred, yet here we are 2 years later, and he just lost one year of phone and email, as well as 6 months of visits. His out date is no longer in December 2023, but in February of 2024. They found him guilty from a disciplinary shot involving an officer who took Eric into the showers in his underwear, and broke Eric’s head open while handcuffed.
Eric was told he was not scheduled to be on the bus the week that he was shipped out of USP Lee, but a lieutenant recently accused him of planning to participate in a “week of action“ he again had no knowledge of. Eric was picked up and transferred to ADX Florence, the supermax. He was held incommunicado in transit and arrived in administrative maximum security two weeks ago.
Eric’s eligible for a halfway house in 7 months, yet the Bureau of Prison says that he must be held in maximum custody in the prison that is built to add extra “security”, AKA consequences, for people with life sentences. Eric has not had phone privileges since January of 2019. He does not get a monthly phone call, which is legally the bare minimum that the Bureau has to provide to inmates. During the initial outbreak of COVID he wasn’t allowed to carry his visitations out over the phone like the Cares Act allowed. And now on the four-year anniversary of his attack and torture at Florence in 2018 when he was attacked in a broom closet by guards and abused for days in segregation, the Bureau have placed him as a ward under the very same officers that gave him this “attitude adjustment” in 2018, the same officers who testified in court showing they had no proper knowledge of BOP protocols regarding use of force or use of restraints.
We do not know how he was received at Florence. Until he has a legal call or someone gets a letter, we do not know what restrictions he’s under. At Englewood, his last communication restriction paperwork blatantly informed him “if he continued to be an inspiration” his communication would continue to be restricted. The Bureau started his transfer to maximum security ADX before his alleged guilt from his acts of self defense at Florence in 2018 was ever determined. His recent acquittal/not guilty for those acts of self defense are seemingly meaningless regarding his security designation at a supermax prison. We hope that this is the first step towards the end of his journey… yet we remain trepidatious. His family misses him, his friends miss him. We hope the BOP has compassion. At the very least, that he is entitled to basic Bureau guidelines when it comes to his treatment.
We do not know how many books he has in his property from the years of transfer he’s endured. He has not been out of segregation, so he has not seen his property in 4 years. We don’t know if he’s under any communication restrictions, but this is the address to write him.
Eric King 27090045
USP Florence ADMAX
PO Box 8500
Florence, CO 81226
Within days of winning a federal court case in Colorado against his treatment at the hands of the Federal Bureau of Prisons staff, Eric is in the process of being transferred to USP Lee, a high security prison across the country in Virginia. Eric, who is eligible for placement at a medium security facility, reasonably fears that this move to Lee is punitive and that once he’s at Lee, he will lose all ability to communicate with loved ones and acess to reading materials.
Eric King needs our help!
Elements in the BOP have already shown their petty desire for vengeance against Eric through multiple instances of him being moved across the country, pitting him against racist white supremacist prisoners, being beaten by guards and suffering years of bans on mail, phone, visitation and books. During the trial, Eric’s safety and health were disrupted, and property for his case destroyed by BOP staff so blatantly that Judge Martinez noted how it would be far reaching to say the disruptiveness wasn’t intentional on the part of the BOP. The judge also noted that the BOP was “setting itself up for a civil suit”, which is currently underway by the CLDC.
In the meantime, Eric needs our help. As Eric isn’t set for release until December of 2023, we need to keep the light on him to avoid Eric being isolated and further harmed. Below you’ll find a script and contact information for public officials in the Federal system who must be pressed to check in Eric’s well being and demand to know:
CONTACT INFORMATION
DSCC Office
Designation & Sentence Computation Center
U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex
346 Marine Forces Dr.
Grand Prairie, TX 75051
Email: GRA-DSC/[email protected]
Phone: 972-352-4400
Fax: 972-352-4395
Mid-Atlantic BOP Regional Office
302 Sentinel Dr,
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 301-317-3100
Fax: 301-317-3119
BOP National Office
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 202-307-3198
BOP Director Michael Carvajal
Michael Carvajal
Director
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St. NW
Washington, DC 20534
Email: [email protected]
USP Lee
Main public contact: [email protected]
Warden Breckon: [email protected]
Assistant Warden Streeval: [email protected]
Phone: 276-546-0150
Fax: 276-546-9115
Mailing address:
LEE COUNTY INDUSTRIAL PARK
HICKORY FLATS ROAD
PENNINGTON GAP, VA 24277
BOP Mid-Atlantic Regional Director James Petrucci
Virginia Senators to Contact (USP Lee Jurisdiction)
Tim Kaine
Email: https://www.kaine.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
Twitter: @TimKaine
231 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
PHONE: (202) 224-4024
Mark. R Warner
Email: https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactPage
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRWarner
Twitter: @MarkWarner
IG: https://www.instagram.com/senatorwarner/
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2023
VA Congress
Morgan Griffith
https://morgangriffith.house.gov/contact/contactform.htm
Twitter: @RepMGriffithAbingdon
Phone: (276) 525-1405
540-381-5671
(202) 225-3861
Missouri Senators (Eric’s original sentencing district)
Josh Hawley
https://www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley
Office: 202-224-6154
Twitter: @HawleyMO
Roy Blunt
https://www.blunt.senate.gov/contact/contact-roy
Phone: (202) 224-5721
Twitter: @RoyBlunt
Missouri Congress and Members of House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security; Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Cori Bush
Phone: (314) 955-9980
Phone: (202) 225-2406
Twitter: @coribush
Links to find your State’s Representatives:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Judiciary subcomittee that oversees the Bureau of Prisons and sentencing:
https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee/?SubcommitteeID=14927
DRAFT MESSAGES / TEMPLATES
To whom it may concern,
I am writing about my friend who is a prisoner in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His name is Eric King, inmate number 27090-045. He was recently found not guilty on all counts at a trial in the U.S. District of Colorado. Eric was moved from FCI Englewood and has been told he is en route to USP Lee, a maximum security prison in Virginia.
I am writing because I believe Eric should not be sent to USP Lee, and would be in danger if he were sent there. He is scheduled to be released from prison in December 2023, and wants to avoid anything that would infringe on this release date.
There is an active threat against his life. A few years ago, before being sent to Colorado, Eric was held in the Segregation Unit at USP Lee for approximately two weeks. Before that, at USP Atlanta, a white supremacist gang member told him he would be killed at USP Lee if he was released into general population. This was documented at USP Lee. Eric was originally transferred to USP Lee under the US Marshalls after he was attacked by white supremacist gangs at USP McCreary.
It is imperative that Eric not be put in harm’s way. I am asking that you not send him into a situation that is so dangerous. The Bureau of Prisons knows this and there is established case law regarding the BOP sending someone into dangerous and life threatening scenarios. See Fitzharris v. Wolf, 702 F.2d 836, 839 (9th Cir. 1983); Gullatte v. Potts, 654 F.2d 1007, 1012-13 (5th Cir. 1981); Roba v. U.S., 604 F.2d 215, 218-19 (2d Cir. 1979).
Additionally, Eric is in this situation because of a bogus maximum management variable on his security profile. This has him erroneously being sent to a facility beyond his actual security level. He has no pending charges and no incident reports. He intends to be released to Colorado to live with his wife and his two children in just over a year. I ask that this management variable be removed so that he can be sent to a medium- or low-custody prison close to home and begin preparing for release.
I am afraid for my friend Eric’s life, and I am asking that you intervene with the Bureau of Prisons and ask them not to send Eric King into harm’s way by sending him to USP Lee.
Please help my friend.
Sincerely,
_____
If additional info helps you with conversations or if you would like some responses to BOP pushback here is some additional info
Talking points in response to questions or pushback
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) may give a response saying that Eric is a maximum custody prisoner with a vast disciplinary record, and therefore needs to be designated for imprisonment at a maximum facility to be held in segregation with his communication strictly limited.
3/21/22 ERIC KING FOUND NOT GUILTY; ACQUITTED
More on the disciplinary infraction history:
Eric’s (ignored) words to the court about the abuse he was suffering:
Eric has been under communication restrictions since May of 2020. Englewood decided that the best thing to do, as soon as the pandemic hit, was cut off Eric’s phone calls, his visits and his mail. Up to his most recent communication restriction, the reasoning has been incredibly vague. We learned a lot more with the most recent one; if he’s such an “inspiring figure”, the BOP has a prison built specifically for people who they need to limit and monitor communication for: the CMU.
That is not where they are sending Eric; that is NOT what USP Lee is.
Its not that complicated
This is a storage closet
This is not a Lieutenants office
This was not a legitimate interview
This was the room that changed Eric King’s life
This was the corner he was backed into
This is the Stryker chair he was transported in
This was the bed that BOP (Bureau of Prisons) officers chained a compliant prisoner to
This was the position Eric was restrained in for 6 hours
This was the shirt that was cut off him with a grappling hook
No one has any idea where 3 hours of this video went
There was no water
No place to urinate but on himself
There was no restroom
There was no REASON
Restraints are used for out of control prisoners, to “help” prisoners maintain calm
These were the BOP Use of force policies that did not protect Eric King
This is Eric King in transit being transferred from a low security facility to a Max within 11 days of his victory. Eric knows what awaits him, as does the Bureau of Prisons….
I search to see anything, to see you
but to matter how wide, I open my eyes
all that I hold is the grey in my room
You can’t wish yourself out of a dungeon
A bear can’t roar its cage open
I can’t love the pain away
screaming so the echoes
offer protection from the ghost
praying someday, I’ll see you again
wrapping my calloused hands around
the throat of my insecurities
to watch their lifeless shape fall to the ground
protection from the anxiety blunders
which smother every inch of what’s left of me
Digging out of the rubble till I’m free
praying one day your lips won’t just
be a dream
11 days after Eric was acquitted by a federal trial, the BOP decided to move him from indefinite segregation in a low security prison,to indefinite segregation in a high security prison.
His security level is medium. However, the Bureau of Prisons gave him an internal write-up on the assault in the closet Eric was recently acquitted for, and gave him something called a management variable. This means BOP can place him in max custody no matter how low his actual designation level is.
Eric just went to federal trial; he was found innocent and to have been defending himself against lieutenant Wilcox. However, the BOP has decided to use their own discipline system to punish him for what happened in the closet.
Every facility Eric has been to the last 4 years have orchestrated or attempted to orchestrate an attack on him.
They repeatedly told him at Englewood where he ends up will be determined by the trial verdict.
This was Eric’s worst case scenario. Eric is terrified. He was told by staff at USP Lee he would be hurt in 2019. Now, he will be going straight to segregation in USP Lee. He will be getting virtually no mail. He is worried if something happens to him he won’t even be able to let people know. He will have no magazines, no books, no commissary, no calls, no mail.
If the bop thinks he is such a risk to security. They can send him to one of the prisons that is equipped to handle the problem they say he is.
Send him to the CMU send him to the ADX? Better yet let him just finish his time at a medium security prison as his points indicate. Without a management variable based on an incident he was acquitted for.
Let him finish his time and go home to his family.
This is what is happening to Eric after his victory.
He is currently held in a transfer facility awaiting pickup.
Right now emails to the support email with easily printable articles. World cup updates, boxing, Manchester United, space, science, animals politics, dad jokes and memes. Long things to read. PDFs, articles in an easy printing format preferably. These will give him something to read where they want him to go.
And PLEASE if you have a relationship with your senator (the BOP has to respond to senate inquiry) have a conversation with them. Ask them to step in and help get rid of this maximum management variable for a crime he was acquitted for. Dont let the BOP hurt him again.
What can we say besides how proud we are of him, and SO thankful to his legal team. And everyone who held him up, refused to look away.
Its heartbreaking to say that he still has a mail ban so unfortunately can not receive letters
We will be sharing various articles and beautiful shows of support in the coming weeks
THANK YOU <3
FREE ERIC KING
If you want to hold space for Eric and virtually attend trial the phone number 877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909#
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On Monday March 14th during jury selection the public may only attend virtually , call 877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909# this is expected to conclude around 10/11/12 and will be open to the public afterwards.
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This is such a big moment for Eric, he has been so cut off from the world for so long. Allowed no outside communication outside of family been in segregation for three and a half years 🖤 finally he gets to tell his story.
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Due to covid regulations physical access to the courtroom will be limited to 26 seats to be shared by defense and prosecution. Folks looking to attend have permission to respectfully sit in the hallway and wait for a seat as well as the lobby. If you are sitting in the hallway or lobby it is very important to stay quiet while court is on session. If the way you want to hold space for Eric is in person we have the decorum from the judge here. PLEASE read all of it if you are planning on attending in person.
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We want to support Eric in this really big moment ☀️ be with him in any way we can. Through the trial anyone can call in, call 877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909#.
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Because this is a federal jury trial in person attendance comes with the responsibility of respectful behavior. Including clothing. The courthouse has identification requirements. There’s a little bit of homework to do first. We want this trial to happen. This is a moment he has been waiting for for so long.
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So please please read the whole decorum if you are planning on attending in person there are VERY specific rules.
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Everyday the trial will be available for public observation via this phone line, call 877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909#.
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“There’s something happening here, something special for certain.
It begins with trees and bugs and grows into communities built on trust.
it revolves around the idea that we can cause their destruction with our growth.
it starts with love and grows with the flowers. Ands with the stars burning us all to dust
🖤
March 14th “
Eric is excited, nervous and just so ready. Eric has been silenced for years now with communication restrictions. (Which were reinstated days ago💔). Eric had something really terrible happened to him. And then for years he didn’t get to talk about it. This trial is Eric’s opportunity to finally speak 🖤 this is a *good* day. Even when the communication is dampened he can feel all the love and support. He is overwhelmed with the letters he was able to recieve and everyone just helping make him feel so not alone.
Eric has his preliminary hearing this morning please keep him in your thoughts 🖤
Unfortunately right now there is another communication restriction so mail won’t be making it through.
