Bulldoze SCI Rockview: Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Resistance to Genocide in PA-DOC

  • April 10, 2024 1:43 am

from The Final Straw Radio Podcast

Black and white cartoon of a grill with prison bars at bent and torn
Download This Episode

SCI Rockview is a prison in central Pennsylvania where incarcerated comrades have been facing repression for demanding justice in the face of impunity by racist COs and following a year of prisoner deaths due to institutional toxicity and guard violence. We speak to an outside supporter about the situation at Rockview, the reactions of administration, inside / outside relationships and solidarity that have flared up. We hope that this conversation contributes to increased and thickened ties between folks on both sides of the walls.

You can read some recent posts about this situation at AbolitionistStudy.com and PHLAntiCap.NoBlogs.org and you can find audio from the wives of prisoners at SCI Rockview on In The Mix Prisoner Podcast. A few other sites of interest include StudyAndStruggle.com, DC IWOC on instagram, and In The Belly Journal.

This conversation was conducted via encrypted messages and recorded by a comrade Golem and Ash from the the MolotovNow! Podcast, so a big thanks is due to them.

Announcement

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel

Jorge has now been held in prison for over a year without a trial, and urgently needs funds to cover legal fees and prison costs (food, water, phone calls, visits, administration fees, service costs, etc).

Jorge “Yorch” Esquivel is a beloved compañero of the punk community, and a long-time participant of the Okupa Che. He was arrested on December 8, 2022 by plainclothes police as he was leaving the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (of the UNAM university) in Mexico City as part of a campaign of criminalization against the Okupa  or squat.

BACKGROUND

On February 24, 2016, an operative was carried out in which plainclothes policemen detained him, “planting” drugs on him in order to fabricate crimes, and accusing him of drug trafficking, as part of a campaign of repression on the squatted auditorium Okupa Che in UNAM (still existing). The whole case was plagued with irregularities. He was transferred to Oaxaca and then to a maximum-security prison in Hermosillo as a strategy to hinder his legal defense by taking him far away from his support networks. Thanks to the solidarity and legal work, he was reclassified from the crime of drug dealing to simple possession of narcotics, and was released on bail in March 2016.

Even though he was no longer in prison, he was not out of danger. Constant threats and journalistic reports did not cease; the press even reported his death and accused him of participating in organized crime. Meanwhile, steps were being taken to frame him once again and re-arrest him for the same fabricated crime.

On December 8, 2022 he was arrested in exactly the same place – a few steps outside Ciudad Universitaria, where the Okupa is located, once again by plainclothes police – with the grounds for this illegal
detention being that the Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision to reclassify the crime.

The compañero’s health is fragile due to an extended hospitalization a couple years back and the toll the prison conditions have taken on him.

CURRENT SITUATION

Jorge is currently incarcerated in the Reclusorio Oriente prison in Mexico City. The legal process is still in the evidence stage. Several hearings have been postponed and Jorge’s process is being delayed and prolonged to keep him in what is called “preventative imprisonment” with no sentence, which is common for cases of political prisoners in Mexico.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence to keep him in prison, the strategy of the State is clearly to drag it out as long as possible, which is a tortuous level of uncertainty for all of us close to Jorge.

Thanks to the solidarity of individuals, collectives and networks, it has been possible to cover Jorge’s expenses inside the prison, which have been very high due to the corruption that reigns in Mexican prisons. We are raising funds to support his legal costs and basic needs to be able to survive in this unjust incarceration, and to re-join the community on the outside as soon as possible. We call upon the solidarity of our friends and compañerxs around the world to help us in supporting our compañero Yorch.

For updates and news:

. … . ..

Featured Track:

  • Ba Teaches Yoga by Four Tet from Beautiful Rewind

 

. … . ..

Rockview Erupts!

  • April 8, 2024 1:08 am

from Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition

Listen to the new episode of In the Mix: prisoner podcast

4/6/24 | Rockview Erupts!

https://inthemixprisonerpodcast.libsyn.com/rockview-erupts

 

“In this episode, we speak with the Spouses of incarcerated organizers who exposed SCI Rockview’s attempts to cover up anti-Black racism in their prison. In November 2023, guards hung two nooses in the bubble in view of incarcerated people. Listen to how incarcerated people and their accomplices have been demanding accountability from the prison.”

In Contempt #39: Jack Out on Bond, Resistance at Tacoma Detention Center Continues

  • April 3, 2024 1:02 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Political Prisoner News

The call for support to get adequate healthcare for longterm Black Liberation prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal continues, with a request to keep the pressure up on the Pennsylvania prison system. You can read a report from a recent visit with Mumia here. A new fundraiser has been set up to help the fight for Mumia’s medical treatment.

General Prison News and Abolitionist Media

The Pennsylvania network of abolition study groups have organized a campaign in solidarity with prisoners at SCI Rockview, a prison where guards hung nooses up and prisoners who complained were sent to solidarity. You can read the original call for a phone zap here, along with an update for the second week of the campaign here. They also have documentation of the mass grievance letter-writing campaign that was launched by comrades inside the prison, and a set of broader reflections on abolitionist strategy.

Uprising Defendants

See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:

David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701

Anthony Smith
14813-509
FCI Fort Dix
Federal Correctional Institution
Satellite Camp
P.O. Box 2000
Joint Base MDL, NJ 08640

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia is an award winning journalist and was one of the founders of the Black Panther Party chapter in Philadelphia, PA. He has struggled for justice and human rights for people of color since he was at least 14 years old; the age when he joined the Party. In December of 1982, Mumia, who moonlighted by driving a taxi, happened upon police who were beating his brother. During the melee, a police officer was shot and killed. Despite the fact that many people saw someone else shoot and then runaway from the scene, Mumia, in what could only be called a kangaroo court, was convicted and sentenced to death. During the summer of 1995, a death warrant was signed by Governor Tom Ridge, which sparked one of the most effective organizing efforts in defense of a political prisoner ever. Since that time, Mumia has had his death sentence overturned, but still has a life sentence with no opportunity for parole.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility,” choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” going into the “messaging” service, and then adding Mumia as a contact by searching his name or “AM8335.”

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal
SCI Mahanoy
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida 33733

Janiis Mathis

A former Vaughn 17 defendant.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility,” choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections,” going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0423.”

Birthday: April 24

Address:

Janiis Mathis
SBI# 00492275
Sussex Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 500
Georgetown DE 19947

Timeline of the autonomous struggle to fire guards at SCI Rockview

  • April 1, 2024 1:14 am

Submission

Timeline of the last *two weeks* alone, in the autonomous struggle to fire guards for nooses at SCI Rockview:

 

March 13 Press Release :

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/13/correctional-officers-hang-nooses-and-sci-rockview-does-nothing/

March 13 we learn about letter campaign:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/23/inside-letter-campaign-as-tactic/

March 14 Centre Daily article drops

https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/community/article286651355.html

March 18-22 Phone Zap:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/18/phone-zap-in-solidarity-with-comrades-at-sci-rockview/

March 21: Notes on Insurgency

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/21/notes-on-abolitionist-insurgency-prisoner-support-in-pennsylvania/

March 25-29 Phone Zap:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/25/rock-zap-2nd-week-ftp/

 

March 26 Press Release:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/26/impunity-and-cover-up-correctional-officers-hang-nooses-in-sci-rockview-prisoners-speak-out/

 

March 26: Security Van Tires Slashed

 

March 27: Public Call for Autonomous Campaign drops

https://phlanticap.noblogs.org/sci-rockview-autonomous-campaign/

https://scenes.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/29/sci-rockview-autonomous-campaign/

March 28: First audio clip of Charles G’s wife leaks

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5GbzSZOQy_/?igsh=b

March 28: Nicki Paul phone call audio leak:

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/28/conversations-with-grievance-coordinator/

March 29 Phone Zap update (updated again Mrch 31):

https://abolitioniststudy.com/2024/03/29/3-29-phone-zap-persists-update-rockview/

Impunity and Cover-up: Correctional Officers Hang Nooses in SCI Rockview, Prisoners Speak Out!

  • March 27, 2024 1:49 am

from Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition

March 26, 2024

For Immediate Release

Benner Township, PA.- On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke. By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates” and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance over two months later by February 5, 2024 under the guise that it was “being investigated.” However, the sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions for this racist act.

As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison. Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility’s virulent institutional racism.

In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent’s assistant and “grievance coordinator” informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong. When family and friends of prisoners in the facility called en mass between March 18th and 25th to voice their concern, Paul was flippant, dishonest, and dismissive to nearly every caller. Several family members of prisoners felt incredibly disrespected by the behavior of Paul and other staff who answered their calls. In the process of calling in, it also became known that Paul holds several other titles within the prison, including “staff officer,” “lieutenant’s assistant,” and “community liaison.” Samuel Condo, a PA-DOC official responsible for overseeing SCI Rockview, was called over a dozen of times to no avail. When contact was finally made with Condo, he simply would redirect calls back to Nicki Paul whose multiple roles on the prison staff create severe conflicts of interest.

Paul admits that SCI Rockview does indeed have video footage, yet the reasons why they refuse to make this footage public has not been given any reasonable justification. As of the week of March 18th, SCI Rockview has closed the internal investigation, choosing to protect the guards who did this hateful and racist act over the safety and well-being of the prisoners. In the meantime, the administration removed two prisoners from general population who brought the situation to public light. One was transferred out of the prison, and the other one is still in administrative custody, aka “the hole” under  accusations of “encouraging group activity.”

This incident is coming after a year that saw 11 prisoners die in custody. Seven people died amidst an outbreak of legionnaires disease, and four people died while in administrative custody (punitive solitary units with very little public oversight and severely limited communication access). Unfortunately, there is a well-known pattern of premature death and racist discriminatory practices (including beatings and verbal harassment) at SCI Rockview.

There is a resistance campaign that has emerged from the persistent actions of prisoners and outside supporters, who together are demanding an external investigation of the facility & its staff for the cover-up of hanging the nooses. The severity of retaliation for speaking out must also be considered a central object of investigation. We believe the inaction of officials at this facility is symptomatic of a deeper condition of antiBlackness, white supremacy, and class warfare that PA-DOC legally sanctions and politically condones. On both sides of the wall, people most impacted by the racism of SCI Rockview continue to uplift the demands of prisoners to investigate the noose incident as a hate crime, to terminate Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard, and to require mandatory therapy for CO Kirchner. While a grassroots campaign is indeed growing, and as PA-DOC slides further into dissonant inaction, the call for popular resistance to SCI Rockview’s lethal conditions rings louder by the day.

Contact: abolitionist-study@protonmail.com

SCI Rockview Autonomous Campaign

  • March 27, 2024 1:24 am

Submission

What is happening right now at SCI Rockview is an autonomous campaign to get two guards fired and for one to received mandated therapy as an act of “mercy.” An autonomous campaign means that it is open to all for participation, using tactics according to their own abilities and needs. It means it is decentralized and not led by a single party, non-profit, or institutionalized entity. It is a type of campaign that anyone who is impacted by the violence of PA-DOC  can join in, anonymously or as their full legal selves. It means a diversity of tactics and direct action are on the table always. It is a type of campaign that has no registration form or membership fees. It simply means that if you are moved by or can relate to the unfolding struggle of prisoners at Rockview, then you are qualified to participate. The situation is becoming more dire by the day in this facility, with the staff initiating a backlash that has put multiple people in the hole (solitary) and even transferred one prisoner out of state.

Press release:

Impunity and Cover-up: Correctional Officers Hang Nooses in SCI Rockview, Prisoners Speak Out!

Phone zap:

PA-DOC Phone Zap (2nd Week – updates + New Script)

One specific need that potentially can be fulfilled is further research into specific highly responsible prison officials, which is information available in the phone zap scripts and press releases. This information can be circulated somewhere where people familiar with this kind of research can encounter it, like Scenes from the Atlanta Forest or Philadelphia Anti-Capitalist.

Scenes:

https://scenes.noblogs.org/submissions/

Philly Anti-Capitalist:

Contact & Submissions

Here is an example of this type of call for research, offered by imprisoned anarchist Sean Swain back in 2018:

On Slavery, Nat Turner, John Brown, and Drones: A Statement from Sean Swain

1312/ FTP

Security Van Tires Slashed

  • March 26, 2024 1:29 am

Submission

“Are people within prisons/jail/detention the only ones who are expected to engage in material disruption? To take risks? Are we just vessels of emotional solidarity?”

“Where are the vulnerabilities to prison management’s morale and how does one remove the will of guards to endure?”

Security guards protect property. They help the police put people in prisons, they are part of the prison industrial complex. As people attack property private security acts as the auxiliary of the prison and police state. With this in mind as well as reading about the conditions at SCI Rockview we slashed the tires of a Securitas van. This was a small, easy, and replicate-able action that you can do with a friend. We agree with the comrade at SCI Rockview that “an assault on both fronts” is necessary, targets are everywhere. In the amerikkkan hellscape our lives are deeply embedded in the infrastructure of confinement. This is why we chose to attack the security van. Small actions like these can build capacity to be able to break down the prison walls.

Destroy PA-DOC
Fuck security guards
Fire to the prisons

-some anarchists

Notes on abolitionist insurgency & prisoner support in Pennsylvania

  • March 22, 2024 1:34 am

Submission

[PDF]

There are some dire questions that non-imprisoned abolitionists keep asking, of what solidarity with collective action inside entails. Central among them is: How do we embolden our comrades in prison or jail to feel protected enough, seen enough, and empowered enough to take action when they desire to?

Yet what is less discussed is the question posed in self-reflection: How can we embolden our comrades on the outside (who are willing to take physical risks) to provide forms solidarity that actually give inside demands a little more teeth?

  • What does autonomous direct action in solidarity with collective action inside look like for abolitionists on the outside, and where are the targets that would be most decisive for attack?
  • How can we better develop collective capacity for decisive attacks on PA-DOC from the outside, in conjunction with demands on the inside?
  • What targets can we choose on the outside that do not exacerbate repression for the comrades situated on the inside? Or is this simply part of the equation that we must equip and be prepared for?
  • How, then, can inside and outside move at once? And in this context, how do aboveground formations move horizontally with an underground to fill in the gaps in work that one another is unable to do?

These are questions that shift conversations about strategy from mere activism toward insurgency. As a comrade who was at SCI Rockview last summer writes:

“As prisoners, we can riot & take control of the prison at any time, but that won’t relieve us of this living death. We need our comrades in the world to take the fight out of the halls of legislation & to the prison walls themselves. Only then can we actually end this war. An assault on both fronts would make the difference between us banging on the walls & us breaking them down. When the world sees this, it will show that the facade of invincibility that the system has cultivated over generations of slavery is just that: an illusion.”

To compliment this ask from the inside, we believe it is equally important to attack & disrupt the everyday operations of structures and relations that compose PA-DOC’s instiutional form in ways that strategically compliment inside collective action.

For autonomous attack as abolitionist prisoner support to be decisive and effective, it first means decentering (not ignoring but thinking beyond) the “reified” site/scene of the prison facility itself in our ideas of the terrain of struggle and attack.  A prison facility, such as SCI Rockview, is one among many other sites and nodes in a web of structures and social relations that make up PA-DOC’s institutional form. The targets of insurgent outside solidarity through sabotage therefore consist of everything and anything that upholds the reproduction of the prison facility itself or a DOC system from without.

Some questions we may want to ask ourselves in outside support circles include:

  • What are the institutions, contractors, buildings, and other structures that enable PA-DOC to function in the first place?
  • If it is a prison “industrial complex” what is the constellation of sites that allow it to function, that give it coherence and life?

One way abolitionists can support people on the inside during a strike is to initiate (and sustain) conflict w/ the state & capital. To either disrupt its logistical operations and/or weaken the regime’s resolve.

One example that comes to mind is during the 2016 nationwide prison strike, which saw sporadic instances solidarity actions that did not abide by codes of non-conflictual demonstration.

For example, ABC Chicago in 2017 writes:

“In the context of prison struggle, a recent example of solid praxis that comes to mind was in Pittsburgh at Allegheny County Jail. About eighty prisoners began a work refusal and released a list of demands that included more case workers, better medical services, and a legitimate grievance procedure. After those on the outside heard of this sit-in, they took to the jail in masks, smashed windows of the jail, a security camera, and several police vehicles. Similar models of solidarity occurred around the September 9th prison strike where people all over the US and even other continents took action in solidarity with those on the inside rising up. This took the form of noise demos and marches, as well as direct attacks on prisons and those who profit off prison… This is a type of solidarity that can produce results.”

Some more questions to consider are as follows:

  • If the prison regime is upheld by numerous institutional connections & centers of gravity — that exist far beyond the “reified” site/scene of “the prison” itself — then where are the most impactful targets to attack in solidarity w/ prisoners taking collective action?
  • For abolitionists who are not inside the prison itself, what does disruption in solidarity with collective prisoner action look like beyond (only) non-conflictual protest?
  • Are people within prisons/jail/detention the only ones who are expected to engage in material disruption? To take risks? Are we just vessels of emotional solidarity?
  • Where then, would the targets be, for outside abolitionists to exert greater pressure? How might this change perspectives of strategy? How might thinking more expansively about the terrain of engagement illumine new tactical horizons?
  • Or maybe the objective of pressuring the state to meet a specific demand from inside is the wrong way to practice attack and direct action altogether?
  • Yet strikes typically have demands. So what then do we do with our bodies, our (relative) mobility and access to information/resources/tools that are foreclosed to people who take collection action for particular goals while locked up?
  • Where are the logistical chokepoints? What are targets of attack and sites of disruption that don’t result in severe backlash to comrades struggling on the inside?   Where are the vulnerabilities to prison management’s morale and how does one remove the will of guards to endure?
  • What is the relationship between a local-to-state government, the internal fiefdoms of prisons & jails, & the contractors whose fate is tethered to the regime’s institutional reproduction?  How can tensions or antagonisms between such entities be exacerbated by outside sabotage?

To bring this strategy to life we not only need comrades who are up for the task of directly attacking in solidarity with inside collective action, but we also need a range of people to take up this cause at the level of research, propagation, and expanding capacity for regional anti-repression work and community care.

We need people who can map the institutional form of PA-DOC. We need people to map the digital communications infrastructure. We need people that understand how the nodes of institutions that make up PA-DOC within Pennsylvania branch out to every corner of the US settler colonial territory, with offices, remote workers, contractors, etc… all within reach of someone who is willing to take action, yet simply needs a map to take part. We also need a more focused effort of people who are not involved in combative actions directly to participate in defending the fire of revolt as it spreads.  This can be done by simply organizing letter writing nights to support people in the case that they catch charges for the risks they take. This can also be done by focusing in on building or strengthening networks that provide care and mutual aid within your local spheres of movement and community.

Phone Zap in Solidarity with Comrades at SCI Rockview

  • March 19, 2024 1:08 am

from Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition

📞⚡ Monday 3/18 – Friday 3/22

Call anytime between:  9am – 5pm est / 6am – 2pm pst

Send reportbacks to: abolitionist-study@protonmail.com

or DM on twitter: @abolitionstudy 

Trigger warning: Mentions racist violence by guards at SCI Rockview

About

In November 2023, a group of guards hung two nooses in the office (bubble) at SCI Rockview – a location visible to roughly a hundred prisoners. Prisoners who witnessed the nooses have been outraged by this disturbing racist act, and have since demanded that these guards face consequences. In January we launched a two week phone zap campaign that forced PA-DOC main offices to contact the warden. While many Black prisoners remain tormented by this racist act, the guards responsible have enjoyed impunity, with officials in the facility even making attempts to silence anyone on the inside who speaks out. One captive comrade was actually transferred out of state because of their agitation around this issue, while another captive comrade’s grievances have been outright rejected by the administration.

We have little reason to believe an internal investigation will achieve what the prisoners have been demanding, which includes the following:

  • Investigate the hanging of nooses as a “hate crime” and take their impact seriously
  • Terminate Sgt. Mosser and c/o Richards
  • Mandatory therapy for c/o Kirchner

SCI Rockview has seen 11 deaths (that we know of) in 2023 and a severe pattern of racist discriminatory practices. Please join us in calling PA-DOC offices and officials, to further expose this incident and amplify the demands of our captive comrades.

Script for Calling

I am calling on behalf of a community of people who are distressed by a recent incident of antiBlack harassment by a group of CO’s at SCI Rockview, who have faced no consequences for their racist actions. On 11/24/23, prisoners at SCI Rockview found two nooses made from extension cords hung by guards in the office (bubble). Two internal grievances have been submitted by prisoners who witnessed the incident, and prison officials have rejected both. We would like to make you aware that the facility admin has rejected both internal grievances, submitted by prisoners through the proper channels. The guards have faced no consequences. We have little reason to believe an internal investigation will achieve what the prisoners have been demanding, which includes the following:

  • Investigate the hanging of nooses as a “hate crime” and take its impact seriously
  • Terminate Sgt. Mosser and c/o Richards
  • Mandatory therapy for c/o Kirchner

The hanging of two nooses is understood by many people imprisoned at SCI Rockview to be a hostile act and deeply offensive. Some are disclosing how these acts are part of a larger pattern of discriminatory practices used by correctional officers at this specific facility. If this was any other workplace, the act of hanging nooses would lead to severe consequences. The admin at SCi Rockview have not only displayed indifference to the racist act, but some even have made efforts to silence prisoners in distress by the incident. We urge PA-DOC officials to recognize the significance of the prisoner demands, which are derived from the exhausted grievances. 

Updates

Calls began this morning, reports include:

-called the pa doc for laurel harry and it went to voicemail, left a message with the script

-called a US attorney’s office #, but they said they’re federal and to instead call State attorney general 717-787-3391 (Harrisburg)

-“I called PA-DOC Eastern: Morris Houser, Acting Deputy Secretary Eastern Region 717.728.4122 – a secretary picked up. i left a message with her and she forwarded me to Samuel Condo, Staff Assistant 717.728.4747 of PADOC eastern? I left a message with reading the script”

-“Ppl have contacted all PA-DOC main offices this morning now. We could use a few more ppl tapping in. All of them went to voicemail or secretary seny us to Samuel Condo’s voicemail (who won’t pick up). Kept emphasizing how we have no faith in the internal investigation process.”

Phone Contacts

Central Office Main Phone Line:
717.728.2573

Abuse Report 24/7 Voicemail Center:
1.800.677.0330

PA-DOC Admin:

Laurel Harry, Secretary of Corrections
717.728.4109

Randee Brant, Chief of Staff
717.728.4107

David Radziewicz, Special Assistant
717.728.4117

Deanna Washington, Executive Secretary,
Deputy Secretary’s Office
717.728.4122

Tim Holmes, Chief Counsel
717.728.7763

PA-DOC Eastern:

Morris Houser, Acting Deputy Secretary Eastern Region
717.728.4122 / 4123

Marilyn Richards, Staff Assistant
717.728.4114

Samuel Condo, Staff Assistant
717.728.4747

Capt. Bly, Inspection Captain
717.728.4126 (number was disconnected)

Emails can be sent to:

General inmate-related issues, send emails to:
ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

Email the DOC Secretary at
ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov

PA-DOC Contact Form:

https://py-forms-prod.powerappsportals.us/DOCContactUs/

 

 

 

Press Release – March 13, 2024

Re: Correctional Officers Hang Nooses and SCI Rockview Does Nothing

Bellefonte, Pa. – On November 24, 2023, prisoners at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hanging there, they were told it was a joke. By December 4, pris- oners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates” and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” (For perspective: Rockview’s pris- oner population is 45% black.) In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richards be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Cap- tain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance over two months later by February 5, 2024 under the guise that it was “being investigated”. However, the sergeant and Cos are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions except getting moved to another block.

As of March 10, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending copies of the grievance. Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, which continue to be dismissed by the administration at Rockview.

In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, the staff and administration at SCI Rockview continue to dodge public accountability. In fact, the prison has a history of fostering systemic racism, like in 2013 when admin blocked a Muslim prisoner from wearing religious garb. Kerry X. Marshall, then incarcerated at SCI Rockview, sued and six years later the courts determined that the prison had violated his religious freedom.

This incident is coming at a time when in 2023, 11 prisoners died in custody. Seven people died amid an outbreak of legionnaires disease, and four people died while in the RHU (punitive solitary units with very little public oversight). Unfortunately, there is a well-known pattern of premature death at SCI Rockview. Most well known is an incident in 2012, when COs killed the prisoner John Carter during a “cell extraction” while he was in the RHU, in what other prisoners described as “turning his cell into a gas chamber” using ‘non-lethal’ weapon OC pepper spray. Carter’s family never received justice for what the prison did to him, and PA DOC never acknowledged or reprimanded the guards who killed him.

In short, prisoner demands to investigate the hanging of nooses as a hate crime, terminate Sgt. Mosser and CO Richards, and mandatory therapy for CO Kirchner, need be taken seriously.

Letters to Forest Defenders

  • February 13, 2024 1:57 am

from Instagram

On Sunday, February 18 at 5pm we are hosting a letter writing event for Jack Mazurek, a forest defender from Atlanta who was recently incarcerated. Bring pens, paper, envelopes, and stamps if you have them!

In Contempt #37: Movement in Solidarity with Palestine Faces Repression; First Cop City Trial Stalls

  • February 3, 2024 1:25 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Uprising Defendants

See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:

David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701

Anthony Smith
14813-509
FCI Fort Dix
Federal Correctional Institution
Satellite Camp
P.O. Box 2000
Joint Base MDL, NJ 08640

Upcoming Birthdays

Luis Sierra (Abdul-Haqq El-Qadeer)

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Luis in relation to the uprising, Vaughn defendants continue to face retaliation. Luis is also a contributor to “Live from the Trenches,” the Vaughn 17 zine.

Delaware appears not to have an inmate email system.

Birthday: February 19

Address:

Luis Sierra
James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
1181 Paddock Rd
Smyrna, DE 19977

 

Khalif Milller Needs Your Court Support

  • January 25, 2024 1:21 am

from Mastodon

Khalif Miller needs your court support!! Khalif Miller was one of three co-defendants with Anthony Smith that was prosecuted federally for his actions during the uprising in 2020. He has been held in prison for more than 3 years and is also facing state charges. Please come support our comrade on Friday in court!

Friday 1/26/24, 9am
1301 Filbert St, Philadelphia, Room 707

Flyer with text included in post, and pictures of Khalif Miller

In Contempt #35: Repression Strikes Toronto Palestinian Solidarity Activists, Community Rallies for Victor Puertas

  • December 4, 2023 1:06 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]
In this column, we present our monthly roundup of political prisoner, prison rebel, and repression news, happenings, announcements, action and analysis. Packed in as always are updates, fundraisers, and birthdays.

There’s a lot happening, so let’s dive right in!

Political Prisoner News

Philadelphia ABC have shared a reportback from their recent Running Down the Walls event.

Cop City, Uprising Defendants, and Other Ongoing Cases

Ant Smith, a George Floyd uprising defendant, was sentenced recently in Philadelphia to 1 year and 1 day. He has been out on bail so will probably have to go back in for about another 9 months.

Uprising Defendants

See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:

David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701

Upcoming Birthdays

Fred “Muhammad” Burton

Fred Burton is one of the Philly 5, a group of men accused of an alleged attack on a police station that left one officer killed. He was sentenced to a life term for murder. Burton has maintained his innocence since his arrest. His preferred name is Muhammad, but envelopes should be addressed to Fred Burton.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility,” choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “AF3896”.

Birthday: December 15

Address:

Smart Communications/PA DOC
Fred Burton
AF3896
SCI Somerset
Post Office Box 33028
St Petersburg, Florida
33733

Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Alejandro in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. Years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NW2883”.

Birthday: December 17

Address:

Smart Communications/PADOC
Alejandro Rodriguez-Ortiz, NW2883
SCI Rockview
PO Box 33028
St Petersburg, FL 33733

Jonathan Rodriguez

A former Vaughn 17 defendant. While the state has now dropped its attempts to criminalize Jonathan in relation to the uprising, all Vaughn-related prisoners continue to be targets for retaliation. Years later, these prisoners are still being abused for staying in solidarity with one another against the state.

Pennsylvania uses Connect Network/GTL, so you can contact him online by going to connectnetwork.com, selecting “Add a facility”, choosing “State: Pennsylvania, Facility: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections”, going into the “messaging” service, and then adding him as a contact by searching his name or “NU0434”.

Birthday: December 31

Address:

Smart Communications / PA DOC
Jonathan Rodriguez – NU0434
SCI Rockview
PO Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL, 33733

Monday December 4th: Reportback Mailing and Card-writing

  • December 2, 2023 1:57 am

from Philly ABC

rdtw-2022-reportback-zine.jpg

In lieu of our usual monthly letter-writing event, we will be mailing printed copies of our 2023 Running Down The Walls reportback to the political prisoners and prison rebels who participated from behind the walls, and to the 15 political prisoners supported by the ABCF Warchest.

Join us this Monday at 6:30pm, at Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St. ) as we package and mail the reportbacks. Snacks and supplies are provided. We encourage people who want to discuss ideas on how to support political prisoners and prisoners of war to come hang out, and sign cards for political prisoners with birthdays in December: Fred “Muhammad” Burton (December 15th) and Casey Brezik (December 30th).

Running Down The Walls 2023 Reportback

  • November 17, 2023 1:58 am

from Philly ABC

We’re pleased to report the success from the sixth annual Philadelphia Running Down The Walls in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war, and the movement to #StopCopCity.

Before we go any further, we’d like to give the biggest shout-out to the prisoners that participated from inside the walls. The joint inside-outside participation is one of the most important parts of this yearly event. Our inside participants this year included:

Jerome Coffey – SCI Pine Grove
Mumia Abu-Jamal – SCI Mahanoy
Paul Kali Hickman – Vaughn Correctional Center
John Bramble – Vaughn Correctional Center
Beans (Abednego Baynes) – SCI Mahanoy

With a light breeze, partial cloud coverage and temperatures staying around 75 degrees, the weather could not have been much more ideal for a 5k run/walk/roll/cheer. The first wave of what would end up being around 300 participants, began arriving around 10am in FDR park. After some time for checking in, setting up tables, and hanging banners, Sheena Sood kicked off another amazing yoga warm-up in the grassy area in front the Boathouse Pavilion.

The event was emceed by Gabe Bryant from the #FreeAnt Committee and the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. As the yoga concluded, Gabe amped up the crowd to start the 5K, but not before having a comrade read aloud a statement in solidarity with the Weelaunee forest defenders, including those facing repression and behind bars, in honor of Tortuguita, and calling for the release of Victor Puertas.

[L]ess than two weeks ago, Georgia’s Attorney General issued RICO indictments against over 60 people who they allege to be a part of a “criminal” conspiracy to stop Cop City. And yet, the struggle continues! … This is why it is of national importance to raise funds to support the defense of the Weelaunee forest [and] fortify the struggle.
…
We can take action by calling for the release of Victor Puertas, who is being held in ICE detention after his arrest at a music festival in the Weelaunee Forest.

From city to city, and however long it takes, we will ensure that Cop City never gets built!

Sometime between 11:00 – 11:30am, the first contingent lined up and kicked off the run/walk/roll/cheer after a countdown. The second group doing a hybrid jog/walk took off ten minutes later, with the fastest pace group taking off ten minutes after that. Those who stayed behind cheered and handed out water as participants completed their laps. Upon the return of all three groups, we began reading aloud solidarity statements by political prisoners Eric King, and former political prisoners Jalil Muntaqim, and Ray Luc Levasseur.

In between statements we gathered for a group photo, and took time for speakers and performers. The first speaker was Russell Shoatz III–son of beloved ancestor, freedom fighter, and former political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz. Along with decades of work with different groups and committees in the movement to free political prisoners, he is one of the Maroon Legacy Keepers that organize the Annual Maroon Memorial and Prisoners’ Families Brunch, and the Homegrown Maroons Retreats. He spoke of his active support for Running Down The Walls since its inception, and brought forward examples of the liberation of his father and Sundiata Acoli, to demonstrate the importance of the many facets of solidarity propelled by this event.

It probably is a triple or quadruple edged sword in a lot of ways. Of course, there is the solidarity, which is probably at the top of the list. … Obviously, it is the workout and the conditioning and training. And even if we’re not conditioning training, if we just come out for one day and give ourselves some workout, the intersection with the self love there, with the workout, is heavily important there. Then the political work around the political prisoners and folks who are still incarcerated, and the fundraising that happens here, happens to support a lot of people who need the money.
…
[Y]esterday I was at Porchfest in New York and I was able to be chilling with Sundiata. And so that’s because of y’all. … He’s home because of this style of work. … You coming out and running brought people like Sundiata home. … I couldn’t have, my sisters couldn’t have, my family couldn’t have liberated my father without you. Without you doing this work, we could not have done it. So, again, keep coming out. Keep doing this work.

Next, we had some outstanding performances from Philly-based artist, YahNé Ndgo. YahNé is a longtime and respected organizer involved several campaigns to free political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kamau Sadiki, and Imam Jamil Al-Amin. She is also an organizer of the Annual Maroon Memorial Prisoners’ Families Brunch, Homegrown Maroons Retreats, Black Lives Matter Philly, and more. The second of two songs she performed was her incendiary single Philly Work: A Rally Cry.

The final speaker was a member of MXGM Philly, talking about the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement within the larger New Afrikan independence movement, the six principles of unity, and why MXGM supports the movement to Stop Cop City.

Following were more statements read aloud from current political prisoners Oso Blanco and Xinachtli Luna Hernandez, and former political prisoner Fidencio Aldama Perez (Español).

The event concluded with some final announcements from the #FreeAnt defense committee and organizers from #SaveTheMeadows. A huge thanks went out to all of Ant’s supporters for helping to spread the word via letters, social media posts, and rallies, and for the ongoing court support. The new sentencing date is currently November 28th. Please come out in numbers and pack the courtroom, the hallways, and streets outside! The Save the Meadows crew announced an upcoming Stop Cop City solidarity event–a festival of workshops, skill sharing, and presentations taking place the following weekend.

We give many thanks to MXGM Philly for organizing this epic and empowering event with us again, and the ~300 people who participated in person or remotely–inside or outside prison–from California, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, and internationally from Ontario and Japan.

We’d like to thank Unicorn Riot, Hate5six and Marcus Rivera for filming the event. We thank Food Not Bombs Solidarity for the snacks and refreshments, IWW, Socialist Rifle Association, Iffy Books, and Mobilization for Mumia for tabling, and to Latziyela and Come On Strong for their expert help printing the shirts. We thank the Save the Meadows crew and Free Ant defense committee for the announcements, Gabe Bryant for emceeing, and Sheena Sood for leading the yoga warm-up.

Together we raised $12,812 to be split between jail/legal support for folks facing repression from alleged connection to the #StopCopCity movement, and the ABCF Warchest that sends monthly stipends to 15 political prisoners and prisoners of war with little or no financial support. A full breakdown of Warchest funds in and out since 1994 is available here (updated July 2023). Funds available beyond the reserved amount needed for the monthly stipends will be disbursed as one-time donations to other political prisoners who demonstrate financial need, or to the release funds of the next comrades to come home.

We look forward to more successes in the next year as we further the struggle to free all political prisoners, and ensure that a Cop City is never built!