Apple Hope

5/22/21

The other day for lunch, I was given an apple. This in itself is not interesting since Warden Williams came on, we have had apples exclusively for breakfast lunch and dinner every single day even when we plead for no more apples, the guards will lay them on our bars or push them in our cells. These apples are not necessarily impressive, unless you’re impressed by tiny, mushy or way too large and bruised apples…if so you are in for a treat. A mushy bruised treat! Yum!

So a few days ago, as the guards were dumping their apple quota down our throats, a tiny thing was placed on my bars. This fella looked sickly; a dull red like it had been ran through the wash too many times, a miniature wax duplicate of an actual apple. Typically an apple of this quality would be launched down the tier towards the guard station, but I grasped it. I noticed something peculiar…this wee creature wasn’t a typical Williams Apple this one had a leaf STILL ATTACHED!!

Imagine my surprise and delight! How did I get so lucky to witness this sigil of determination and survival? After sharing my joy with the tear and being rebuffed as an Eco-jackass I sat down to meditate on this apple leaf combo…please share my Wonder for one moment.. this apple was picked up in Washington (according to the sticker) along with hundreds or thousands of its siblings, rivals, comrades. After being pulled from mother tree with rough yet affectionate hands, our ap(PAL)lol was tossed in a box or a bucket, driven to a processing plant, hosed down, ran through a conveyor belt, and then finally packaged up to be sent into the world to be devoured by convicts. Once packaged, our PAL would be bussed to a storage facility, then bussed again to this old decrepit (sic) prison. After arriving here, the apple crates would be brought to the kitchen, emptied in a big metal bowl for washing, then put into crates to be carried to SHU to be passed out by busy officers.

Throughout all of that action, our little leaf clung to its Apple companion, it’s stuck together even though countless circumstances conspired to separate them. I may sound #soft but the beauty of this made me emotional, we don’t have to let outside forces break us, separate us from our goals. I wanted to mail the PAL to my wife and kiddos, share my inspiration but PAL is bureau “property” and I would have been giving a disciplinary write up (shot) for both, stealing government property, using the mail for criminal activity, and trying to inspire joy and others…very serious accusations.

Although this may sound audacious, the theme is very real. Prison serve uninspiring, dangerously unhealthy and starchy foods, to promote laziness and apathy. Prisons lock down joy and anything that’s remotely inspiring. With inspiration comes the knowledge that 1) you do not deserve this and 2) you don’t have to stand for it. Prisons expressly punish and try to tear apart families…being moved across the country, having very limited and expensive phone calls, making visiting as audaciously expensive and frustrating as possible…the goal is to make loving you way too much of an inconvenience for your family and supporters. To make yourself worth plummet to where you sink into prison life, feeling undeserving of Love friendship or a future…prisons exist to break families, shatter spirit, destroy hope…they’ve got centuries of experience and their agents are well trained in psychologically dismantling un-sturdy foundations…they will find loose bricks.

Apple showed me what I know and that prison tries to blind us to…. That we can survive intact. They can ship us far away from our families, handle us roughly, send us through the bureau conveyor belt, pack us in like beasts…but they underestimate our will. They’ve never known revolutionary strength and solidarity in their hearts…they’ve never known what it is like to truly feel loved not just by family (who are stronger and more loving than prisons could ever dream) but by friends and even comrades who are strangers our enemies will never experience what you and I have known all along…. They can hurt us, but they will never lay a finger on our love, hope and joy we are stronger than any prison torture -EK

“Zombie Regrets”

I’m sorry, I ruined the party  

caused a big mess in the lobby 

I’m sorry I killed your best friend 

had to eat your intestines  

I’m sorry I broke your hot plate 

feel bad, for eating your hot face  

I’m sorry, that you weren’t ready 

treated guts like they were spaghetti  

I’m sorry I caused that car crash 

licked your brains off the dash  

I’m sorry I picked up your scent  

You should have been faster,  

I left your fingerprints  

I’m sorry I caused such a big wreck  

That my teeth ripped out your neck  

I’m sorry you tripped while running  

I drove straight in your tummy  

I’m sorry I ate your grandparents 

while you, we’re out running errands. 

I’m sorry I tracked in all that mud. 

Had a, fresh glass of your blood 

I’m sorry I smashed the movie 

And I jut caught Suzy 

I’m sorry that I looked so ghastly 

That I had to eat you last night…. 

“I need to be around bees”

I need to be around bees

catching shade underneath tall trees.

I need to feel their fuzzy feet

walking all over my hands and knees

I need to melt in the Sun

feel it’s rays all day or even just once

I need to make spider friends

listen real close as it’s web spins

I need some woods to get lost in

have thorns and beetles all over my skin

I need a fresh inhale of life

to bask in the full moon’s light

I need some roadside poke or some fresh cantaloupe

I need to just be let be,

nothing is good that isn’t wild and Free

FDC Englewood

Current segregated housing unit commissary ordering form

When someone is indicted federally, they are sent to either a private facility, or a Federal detention center (or held in county jail through US Marshal contracts). People indicted in Florence get sent to the Englewood FDC. Right now there are abortion bombers, people called killers, people called gang leaders, but not me. For the last 19 months, the admin or US Marshals (or both) have kept me in SHU (segregated housing unit) with no reason given.

At the FDC pretrial folks get to prepare for trial. They can call their lawyers daily and have in-person visits to review all evidence against them. At the fdc, prisoners have daily access to the law library and can print anything off pertinent to their case. In the SHU I am allowed 1 15 minute phone call per week with my attorney, we’ve never had an in-person visit, over a year and a half after being indicted, still haven’t been able to review our full discovery of evidence. There is a law library here and if you don’t mind filling a written request the guards will get you in there…. HOWEVER printing out documents can take weeks to retrieve, if ever. You will be charged for the paper and then told you never printed anything, maybe try again next week?

Being in the FDC is having a normalized pre-trial experience. You were able to make friends and enemies, use select fitness equipment and shower daily. You get to feel fresh air outside playing basketball or just walking the track. You can call or email your family as much as you like, you have a cell door so you can take a s*** without a guard monitoring your status. Real canteen is available to make your meals or buy songs for your mp3. You get to build bonds with the people around you, hear their stories and share yours. If you get a disciplinary write up you go to SHU you do your time (sanctions, it designated amount of time you will spend in segregation) then you come back, business as usual.

Since I’ve been back here I’ve seen the entire SHU get turned over except my neighbor Smiles and I, who has 8 months clear conduct and is spun constantly over his eligibility…. Days ago someone who had masturbated in front of multiple staff members was allowed back for the second time, Smiles and I still wait…

The admin lies over and over, it’s a mind game “if you do this, we will reward you” then some other excuse arises. The main excuse is I am a “threat to security” no one cannot explain what this means, this is not a designation. There is no manual I can read to further understand as a threat to security what I’m entitled. Meanwhile we’ll continue to wait, fighting a serious legal case while trying to maintain our sanity. The judges and prosecutors will say everything’s fine, but I haven’t seen the stars in two and a half years.

The system is rigged

This is why we fight

Words from Eric

Hello friends, comrades & government voyeur (sic) creeps! 

Recently the fucking pukes at the bureau decided it’d be best to cut off my mail again…. this along with the telephone ban, essentially strangling my contact with the outside world… all this while pre-trial… ugh. Really its fucking exhausting and it gets really old, This is systematic and intentional and a vindication of both my revolutionary spirit/actions inside, and the AMAZING Support from our community. 

It was really amazing throughout December, getting to reconnect with dear friends…. And getting to meet so many great new people. Truly I felt so loved and supported coming off the first mail ban, It blew me away to have so much solidarity and support. Unreal love. 

I’m hoping to have the mail shit overturned before six months, in the meantime. We have trial in early October. I’m asking everyone to keep me in mind, to encourage trial attendance, to call out the BOP (at every level), to pls keep in touch with the site-either checking for updates or dropping a line. 

To all the folks that have sent magazines and books holy fuck thank you! You’ve spoiled me endlessly. To everyone who came out on New Year’s eve to make some noise. Job well done we have got to be vocal and visible and put a spotlight on the Bureau. 

Ok friends, I’ll update again soon. Thank you for everything  🙂

-EK

Legal Update

We wanted to let you know that Eric King’s trial has been pushed to October 12th in the U.S District Court of Colorado in Denver.  This was granted by the Judge because Eric’s lawyers requested a continuance, in part, based on gaps in the discovery (legal documents shared between both parties) and that FCI Florence is closed to legal visits (the site of the incident in question needs to be inspected). 


Eric continues to be held in segregation at FCI Englewood and has been held there a minimum of 23 hours a day for 551 days or over 1 year and 6 months. The United Nations  has stated that being held in solitary confinement/segregation over 15 days constitutes ‘torture’ and we fully agree. Eric has not only been held in segregation but has experienced near constant  harassment, many incident reports and is now not allowed to receive mail from outside (other than his immediate family) for the second time, for sketchy reasons. Eric wrote a pretty amazing description of life in segregation recently. Read it at https://solitarywatch.org/2020/09/30/voices-from-solitary-flipping-the-script/


While you cannot write Eric directly, you can still send him books and magazines. In fact, when Eric was last allowed to write, he expressed how much he appreciated the deluge of books he received from supporters. Please check out Eric’s list at tiny.cc/EK_Books  and order 1-2, or what you can! He is a voracious reader and helps him deal with the situation before him. 



Eric is facing up to 20 years for an incident in which he was actually assaulted. He needs your support. Please follow us on social media and continue to hold him in your hearts. We will let you know when there are more concrete requests. 

Read Eric’s latest poem 
https://supportericking.org/2021/03/02/can-you-feel-the-heat-rising/

Check out the Eric King playlist 2.0 at http://tiny.cc/hx3rtz
(Certain elements of Eric King’s support crew does not endorse this playlist. LOL)

Follow Eric on social media.
web: https://supportericking.org
fb: https://facebook.com/SupportEricKing/
twitter: https://twitter.com/SupportEricKing
instagram: https://instagram.com/supportericking/

“Can you feel the heat rising”

..

Can you feel the heat rising?  

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire 

Eyes in the scope 

Watching from the guard tower 

Taking back our lives 

Seems like the time is now 

Do you think they can feel the tides 

Shifting on the ground? 

Do you think they can hear 

As our voices got louder? 

Alarm bells sing 

We’re not ready to disperse 

Despite what they preach 

They’re not ready for the worst 

Hit em’ in the wallet  

Hit em’ where it hurts 

Hear the people chanting  

No justice in the courts 

We’re rocking in the streets 

On our way to the feast 

Time to hold steady 

Strapping on our cleats 

Policing is a disease 

And we are the vaccine 

They’ve got too much blood on their hands 

And they wont come clean 

Eric is given yet another 6 month correspondence restriction

On January 5th, 2021, Eric was once again placed on a 6- month communication restriction in response to a New Year’s Eve noise demo that was held outside of FCI Englewood by various groups in Denver, a demo that happens every single year at prisons worldwide. After being accused of organizing the demo, the BOP finally admitted that they are aware  that Eric had nothing to do with the noise demo. Despite this fact, the BOP North Central Regional office instructed  Englewood to restrict Eric’s communication.   

Apparently, in the BOP prisoners will be held responsible for anything anyone may do. It is interesting though that in 2017 when the right-wing Bundy family attempted to force their way into the prison to visit a prisoner they stood in solidarity with, driving around the parking lot, evading guards, blasting music… there were no disciplinary actions or restrictions enforced on the prisoner. This must be another special BOP rule that only applies to anti-fascists. 

Eric can no longer correspond with anyone outside his family and lawyer. He is again cut off from communication from anyone that might offer him support and strength and solidarity during a global pandemic. He is again isolated from all contact with friends that matter deeply to him.

If folks want to help, he can receive books. These can be a great distraction for him and all of the prisoners he passes them onto, especially during this next level federal lock-down.  

Donations to the bad ass lawfirm who has stepped up for him in a real way can be made, to help ensure they have the resources to continue to stand behind folks who are fighting oppression in real ways.