Four More Bravely Stare Down State’s Fixation On Retribution For 2017 Smyrna Prison Uprising

  • January 20, 2019 8:58 pm

from Support the Vaughn 17

Wilmington, DE

“Prison is not somewhere people aspire to spend their lives,” Delaware assistant attorney general Nichole Warner told us as she opened the state’s case against Kevin Berry, John Bramble, Abednego Baynes and Obadiah Miller. These four individuals, like those who were tried before them, know this fact all too well given the repression they have faced before and after the events of February 2017. And so, once again we bear witness and offer support however we can- by writing letters, by showing up in court, by raising money, by making time to listen, by lifting up voices for human dignity!

Speaking about February 1, 2017- AG Warner described “a day unlike any other, that not all would live to regret,” when prisoners seized control of C building at James T. Vaughn Correctional Facility, and held it for nearly a day. She spoke of the uprising in terms of terror and criminal responsibility, underscoring the state’s method of dealing with issues by making people pay, instead of taking even modest steps to correct dire problems. It was evident from the previous trial, where no service was given to the vicious, coordinated and planned machinations of prison (and the devastating impacts this causes to people and families), but rather, a singular desire on the part of the state to identify, isolate, and punish several individuals for the collective failure of a brutal, racist system to protect even its own enforcers, such as the late Sergeant Steven Floyd.

Cautions came in opening arguments from defense attorneys for each of the comrades currently facing trial, focusing on Delaware’s accomplice liability statutes and the state’s emphasis on circumstantial evidence. Cleon Cauley for Abednego Baynes noted that “everything the state said earlier was not evidence” and advanced his notion that “it will become evident that the state made a snap judgment” about his client. It is hard to disagree with Mr. Cauley’s claim that “constant questioning is the only way we can reach the truth.” Andrew Witherell, representing Kevin Berry, emphasized the need for presumption of innocence despite, in his words, the stigma of incarceration and the understanding of an inmate’s condition as being unpopular. Speaking to the jury, he said “you can see and hear [collaborating] witnesses, make conclusions about what they say and how they say it, how they act, their demeanor.. you can listen and make judgment as to their bias, their concerns. Is there trickery? What do they expect to get out of this trial?” Tom Pedersen, representing John Bramble, asked the jury “would you be satisfied with what you hear if Mr. Bramble was the valedictorian of the charter school?” He then warned the jury that they would hear a “dizzying array of contradictions,” asking them to consider whether they would “allow these contradictions to return a verdict of guilty.” He also correctly identified a “lack of dignity” in the state’s approach, extending this to Sergeant Floyd and making clear that this is “about finding truth, not about throwing it up against the wall and hoping something sticks.” He promised a “vigorous and zealous” defense of John Bramble moving forward. Obadiah Miller, who was anticipating release in October 2019 prior to being targeted by this- as the judge explicitly stated during court- ongoing investigation, is being represented by Tony Figliola. Mr. Figliola instilled the notion that his client was “a friend of some of the organizers, and he was dragged into this because of that association.”

A sobering reminder that in its relentless quest to retaliate against those who dare to assert their humanity, the state will also seek to criminalize us based on who our friends are.

Following a once more tedious and plotless offering and review of the state’s direct evidence- photographs and envelopes out of context while interviewing the state’s crime scene experts and evidence collection and processing teams- it was apparent that the approach of wearing out the jury by showing item after item would be used again, in addition to heavy reliance on collaborating witness testimony for the state. The state appears to be counting on the jury- and thusly on each of us- to accept its deadly assertions through trading on what Jarreau Ayers called “the illusion of prestige” during his own self-mounted defense in the fall’s first round of trials. Jarreau Ayers’ diligent and courageous pro se efforts resulted in his acquittal by jury on the murder charges and conviction on kidnapping, riot and conspiracy, but it was clear that this illusion of prestige he so perfectly identified was going to be strong again in the opening week here.

Details of what was described- as it had been in the last trial- as the biggest crime scene in Delaware history were reviewed, but the state continued to fail in accounting for why well under 10 percent of the items presented as evidence were in turn analysed by forensic experts despite this investigation being characterized as a “spare no expense” situation. The death of a law enforcement officer (as correctional officers are classified in Delaware) was one of the outcomes of the uprising- this carries its own separate murder charge in Delaware, so each defendant indicted for murder has two murder charges despite there being one death discovered in the end. The state demonstrated in its witnesses’ testimony once more that no outside consultation was made by the state’s investigators with professionals who had engaged with similar situations at any time. It was, as it had been before, abundantly clear early this week that the strength of the bamboozle would again be key to the state’s pursuit of retaliation, retribution and fear-mongering in a desperate attempt to persist in their agenda of domination over each and all of us.

Court support is always welcome- though discretion, composure and situational awareness all remain paramount as there is and has been constant media, state and law enforcement presence (all with smartphones) in the courtroom, hallways and surrounding areas in Wilmington. It remains advisable to note for care of self and others that this will be a long haul, with record of a 5 week trial completed thus far and reasonable belief that this second round of four planned trials will last at least that long as well. Stay tuned for regular updates as to the evolving cases both for and against the defendants of Smyrna.

vaughn17support.org

Second ‘Vaughn Uprising’ Prison Revolt Trial Underway in Delaware

  • January 18, 2019 5:17 pm

from Unicorn Riot

By Chris Schiano, Unicorn Riot January 17, 2019

Wilmington, DE – On Monday January 14, opening arguments took place in the second trial of prisoners accused of involvement in a prisoner revolt at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center on February 1, 2017. During the events that were quickly labeled the ‘Vaughn Uprising’, prisoners at Building C at the prison facility in Smyrna, Delaware took over the building and held several guards and a prison counselor hostage while demanding improvements to poor living conditions. The uprising ended the next day with police forcibly retaking the building and with corrections officer Sergeant Steven Floyd found dead in his office.

Prisoners have also filed a lawsuit claiming prison guards systematically tortured and abused them in indiscriminate collective punishment since the uprising took place. In the months after the uprising, 18 prisoners from Vaughn would be indicted on felony charges of murder, assault, kidnapping, riot, and conspiracy.

The first trial of three prisoners accused of involvement in the Uprising concluded late last year. Dwayne Staats and Jarreau Ayers, both prisoners serving life sentences at Vaughn who represented themselves at trial and freely admitted their involvement in events during the uprising, were both convicted on some of the charges brought by the state. Derric Forney, a younger prisoner scheduled to be released in a few years, was found not guilty on all charges despite prosecutors’ insistence that he acted as a “soldier” working under alleged planners of the building takeover.

Letters sent by Staats described how the intention behind the building takeover was to create awareness about abuse and poor conditions at Vaughn. In this respect he wrote, “the trial is an extension of the uprising.” Similar themes appear poised to define the second Vaughn Uprising trial as well.

Opening arguments in the second trial from the State of Delaware, given by Deputy Attorney General Nichole Warner, were nearly identical to those made in the first trial last year. Little evidence was mentioned that pertained to the specific defendants, with the prosecution instead giving a general overview of events on February 1, 2017 and making an emotional appeal over the death of corrections officer Steven Floyd.

The four defendants currently on trial are Abednego Baynes, Kevin Barry, John Bramble, and Obadaiah Miller.

  • Baynes is alleged to have been seen participating in the attacks on each of the 3 corrections officers taken hostage that day.
  • Barry is accused of being seen “in the group huddled up in the yard” before the uprising took place, and prisoner witnesses for the state reportedly claim he was seen assaulting two corrections officers and had blood on his clothes.
  • Bramble is accused of being seen wearing a mask, assaulting one of the COs, and having blood on his hands and clothing.
  • Miller is accused of being seen by prisoners with Sergeant Floyd after he was taken hostage, is accused of being seen with a knife, allegedly had blood on his clothes, and prosecutors claim his DNA was found in the mop closet where Sergeant Floyd was kept after he was taken hostage (Floyd was later moved to the Sergeant’s office where his dead body would later be recovered. According to the autopsy by the medical examiner, Floyd did not die from a specific wound and likely would have survived if police had rescued him sooner.)

Defense attorneys for all four prisoners on trial aggressively contested the evidence against their clients in their opening arguments, insisting that the state would not meet its burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Andrew Witherell, representing Kevin Barry, told jurors that “simply because [Barry] is a sentenced inmate…that doesn’t lower his standards” of rights to due process: “the fact that he’s a prisoner does not imply any additional bad will.”

Witherell told jurors that “little, if any” of the evidence they would hear at trial would have anything to do with his client. He also cast doubt on the integrity of investigations by the prosecution, which he said was largely based on incomplete police work done in haste in the immediate aftermath of the prison revolt: “Police wrote a report, rubber stamped [it], and here we are.”

Anthony Figliola, representing Obadaiah Miller, also took shots at Delaware prosecutor’s assertions about his client’s guilt. Figliola told jurors “this whole prosecution is selective” because out of “126 inmates in the C Building…only 18 were charged.” Miller was due to be released in October 2019, Figliola told the courtroom, which cast doubt on his motive to attack prison guards because he “was not one of the guys that had nothing to lose“.

Figliola asserted that the only “direct evidence” against Miller, who is accused of participating in the attack that led to Floyd’s eventual death, is from other prisoners, “individuals who weren’t charged” and therefore have a clear motive to curry favor from prosecutors and prison officials through testimony favorable to the state’s case. He also told jurors about how many of the inmate witnesses had been housed together in the months leading up to trial, creating a scenario where “some of them go back, and they talk to the other inmates, and a plan is formulated” to change their stories.

“Maybe 8 people…had access to that mop room at all times…whose DNA did they look for? One person. That’s what I mean when I talk about selective prosecution.” – Anthony Figliola, defense counsel for Obadaiah Miller

Miller’s lawyer further attacked the assertions that he stabbed Sergeant Floyd, saying that investigators “didn’t find any shank on Mr. Miller“, “didn’t find his fingerprints or DNA on any shanks“, and didn’t find any blood on his clothes. Miller is also accused of being seen wearing a mask during the uprising, which Figliola said doesn’t mean he is guilty since many prisoners were covering their faces to avoid breathing in smoke from fires that had been set inside the building. Figliola also told jurors that Miller’s DNA being found in the mop closet where Floyd was held hostage didn’t mean he was guilty either, since Miller was a “tier man” who was entrusted with a job cleaning the prison facility, meaning that he had regular access to the mop closet, meaning that his DNA could have ended up there as the result of his normal cleaning duties.

Thomas Peterson, defense counsel for John Bramble, began his opening argument with a folk tale about a farmer who finds a snake freezing to death and puts it in his pocket, only to be bitten and poisoned by the snake. He told jurors that the fable illustrated why they shouldn’t trust the inmate witnesses central to the prosecution’s case: “really what this case is going to boil down to…[is] the testimony of snakes from James T. Vaughn…this case is predicated upon the testimony of those inmates.”

Peterson went on to tell the court that “there is not one iota of objective, scientific evidence that points to the guilt of John Bramble” and promised that “you are going to hear a dizzying array of contradictions” in the evidence provided by the state.  Bramble’s lawyer also challenged jurors to reflect on whether it was truly possible for them to give a fair trial with the presumption of innocence “to someone who’s already in jail”, asking them “Would you be satisfied with this same quality of prosecution…if Mr. Bramble were the valedictorian of the charter school?”

Peterson said that Bramble deserved “to be prosecuted based on quality evidence” and denounced the prosecution’s evidence as having “no dignity” and providing “a lack of dignity to Sergeant Floyd” by not adequately investigating the circumstances surrounding his death. Characterizing the Delaware Attorney General’s work on the Vaughn Uprising case as a “throw everything up against the wall and hope something sticks approach“, Peterson told the jury that “an inmate doesn’t come to court and testify unless he wants something in return.”

After the first three defendants made opening arguments, Judge William Carpenter told the state to call their first witness, and had to be reminded that he had forgotten entirely about Abednego Baynes, the fourth defendant on trial in his court. Baynes is represented by attorneys Saagar Shah and Cleon Cauley, whose opening argument alleged that the state made a “snap judgement” after the uprising and that the case against their client is based on that snap judgement rather than proper evidence. “My client was put on a list early in this process,” Cauley told the court, asking jurors to “question everything” and to look out for missing or contradictory evidence in the state’s case. Like other defense counsel, Cauley insisted that “little, if any” of the evidence to be presented at trial would implicate Abednego Baynes.

The case brought by the Delaware Attorney General, like their case in the first trial, depends on accounts by cooperating inmate witnesses, many of whom have given contradictory statements and live at the mercy of prison officials who will be watching their testimony with interest.

Testimony by inmate witnesses is also expected to be used as evidence in a lawsuit on behalf of prisoners housed at Vaughn. The lawsuit, which is being brought by Delaware attorney Stephen Hampton, alleges a deliberate policy of “ongoing abuse” and “ubiquitous torture” of prisoners. Hampton also noted that three suspicious deaths of Vaughn prisoners since the February 2017 uprising have been dismissed by state officials as unrelated to any foul play by prison staff. In the first Vaughn trial last year, several inmate witnesses for the state testified about being violently abused by prison guards and police in the immediate aftermath of the uprising.

The second Vaughn Uprising trial, like the first, is scheduled to last over a month, with weeks of witness testimony from corrections officers and inmate witnesses. 11 other prisoners indicted for their alleged role in the uprising are scheduled to go to trial later in 2019.

 

Title photo credit: Tomasz Kuran aka Meteor2017, via Wikimedia Commons

Unicorn Riot’s Coverage of the Vaughn Uprising trials:

Philly Turns Up the Heat for Mumia Abu-Jamal

  • January 8, 2019 5:52 pm

from It’s Going Down

The following press release about continued action in support of Black Liberation prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was sent to It’s Going Down, which we reprint below.

A community delegation delivered thousands of petitions to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on January 7th, asking him to not stand in the way of justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal and to not appeal a December 27, 2018 court decision by Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker.

Wayne Alexander Cook (nephew of Mumia Abu-Jamal) handed the 4,227 signed petitions to Krasner’s assistant as they entered the DA’s lobby. The thick manila envelope also contained letters from Tadashi Seto (Doro-Chiba, Japanese rail workers’ union), Edwin R Ferris (International Secretary-Treasurer of International Longshore & Warehouse Union) and other labor statements in support of Abu-Jamal’s quest for freedom after 37 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

The DA refused to talk with the group that included Michael Africa, Jr (MOVE Organization), Sandy Joy (Rowen University professor) and other members of the umbrella group Mobilization4Mumia. The DA’s Director of Communications Ben Waxman did meet soon after, but revealed no new information when asked whether or not Krasner will appeal. “That’s above my paygrade,” he said.

The online petitions were gathered in ten days from thousands of people in the US and from around the world by Roots Action and Mobilization4Mumia.

The petitions are part of an effort to persuade Philadelphia DA Krasner to refuse an appeal of Tucker’s ruling. Such an appeal would lead to years of court proceedings and further postpone Abu-Jamal’s chance to prove his innocence. After almost four decades in prison and suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and related ailments, years of court delays will be nothing less than a death sentence and a denial of justice.

On January 5th, 2019 almost 200 people marched in the rain with signs and banners in front of the DA’s office with demands of: “Justice Now! Krasner: Don’t Appeal! Free Mumia! ”

Mumia Abu-Jamal won the significant victory before Judge Leon Tucker in a decision granting Abu-Jamal new rights to re-open appeals. The ruling could impact other prisoners whose appeals were similarly denied by biased judges.

Tucker ruled that former PA Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille denied Abu-Jamal fair and impartial hearings by not recusing himself from the defendant’s appeals between 1998 and 2012.  The ruling referenced Castille’s public statements of being a “law and order” prosecutor, responsible for 45 men on death row, the support of the Fraternal Order of Police, and new evidence supporting the claim that Castille singled out men convicted as “police killers.” Tucker cited all the above because they created the appearance of bias and impropriety in the appeal process.

Abu-Jamal has always maintained his innocence in the fatal shooting of police officer Daniel Faulkner. Judge Tucker’s ruling means that Abu-Jamal’s appeals of his 1982 convictions are restored. Abu-Jamal has argued through his past appeals that he was framed by police and that the prosecution manufactured evidence of guilt and suppressed the proof of his innocence, in addition to other violations of his due process rights.

After decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Abu-Jamal’s supporters are demanding that the charges should be dismissed and he should be freed.

Support The Vaughn 17!

  • January 7, 2019 5:34 pm

from Go Fund Me

Support defendants in the Vaughn uprising trial as they face immense repression!

______________________________________________________________________________

After a series of peaceful protests yielded few results, incarcerated
comrades took over a building at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in
Delaware on February 1st, 2017. Citing the election of Donald Trump and
worsening prison conditions as reasons for the uprising, prisoners took
control of their unit for over 18 hours until the state used a backhoe
to demolish a prison wall. One of the correctional officers, Steven
Floyd, was found dead following the uprising.

The state of Delaware has since accused 17 prisoners of outrageous
offenses, including three counts of murder for each of 16 of those
inmates. Desperate to assign blame instead of acknowledging the
notoriously abusive conditions at Vaughn that led to the uprising, the
state has been doing whatever it can to put these people away for life,
despite having no hard evidence against any of them. Its case relies
entirely on contradictory witness testimony from prisoners who stand to
gain from testifying.

In spite of this, one prisoner has already been found guilty of all but
one murder charge, and another of kidnapping and assault. Since then,
one of the 17 defendants was tragically found dead in his cell; another
potential witness had died under mysterious circumstances the week
before.

The trial for the next four defendants will begin in mid-January, and
the defendants, their loved ones, and their other supporters expect a
long and difficult road ahead. We are raising money to distribute directly
among the 16 remaining defendants’ commissaries, as well as to put towards
purchasing clothes and legal supplies, so that those of them still facing trial
can be as prepared as possible.

Thank you!!!

On Flexing and Cyberspace: Brief Thoughts on the NYE Noise Demo

  • January 2, 2019 11:38 pm

Submission

Happy Twenty-Nine Guillotine! As many huddle around the television, all dressed up in their most glitzy and glamorous attire in anticipation of the clock tick tocking to midnight, those rowdy neighborhood anarchists have taken to their own NYE ritual. Instead of popping bottles of champagne, we pop bottle rockets at prisons. This year was no different. A rowdy noise demonstration took place in center city on NYE, full of noisemakers, fireworks and spraypaint. It was quick, well executed, and everyone got away ok! I sincerely hope that those inside were able to hear/see a bit of the show before Philly’s Swinest had to show up and ruin our fun :(. It was a well executed demonstration from rushed start to the final dumpster dive. Some cute tags went up, the demo at the FDC started with a very large fireworks display, followed by many bottle rockets, and once too many cops showed up we made a timely exit. I would like to touch on two observations though and pose some questions pertaining to them.

Firstly, I’m not one to try and tell people what to chant. In my personal opinion, however, the amount of flexing that goes on in Philly’s chant game is pretty corny. There were many “aggressive” chants pertaining to cops. They reminded me of middle school and listening to Leftover Crack. Love the sentiment and if people feel empowered by these chants that’s fantastic, but the degree of flexing in these statements is so extreme. Out in the streets we are most certainly not in a place to be performing these actions, nor are we even armed. Empty threats and talking too much potentially puts you and others around you in danger. Security culture is important, even in our chants. Essentially don’t talk about shit you are gunna do in public and don’t talk about shit you’re not gunna do in public. Sure these chant’s are cute and fun, but are they entirely realistic both in expressing ones desires and current possibilities? Furthermore, are they smart chants to be saying, or could these messages be conveyed in a more secure fashion?

Secondly, I would like to touch on the ever present monster in our modern lives that is the smartphone. Scouring the interwebs I saw photos that were taken at the demonstration last night. None of them were of people doing anything, however, does insta really have to know about this tonight? One can’t come back tomorrow or another time to catch a shot of the tags? Taking your smart phone to the demo and taking photographs at the thing poses a risk for yourself and other individuals. It can definitively place you at the demo via location data and track the march route. If police were to get a hold of someones phone, they could find cameras on the march route and the footage on those may potentially catch people a case. Furthermore, your microphone is always on, recording everything that you say and that is said around you…see the previous paragraph. Another thing with taking photographs, the image files have data encoded into them when you take them. This data includes the time, date, and location the photograph was taken and data pertaining to what phone took the image. These images can then potentially be synced with icloud or google photos where these companies now presumably have some sort of record of the photographs. I guess what I am trying to say is that a lot can go wrong with bringing your phone to the demo and using it. It’s typically a better idea to leave it at home, or if you must bring it, password protect everything, encrypt your SD card, uninstall any apps that have a profile linked to you, turn off location data, and turn it off. Your friends don’t need to know what you’re up to for social media clout, it’s actually better if they don’t.

None of these ideas are meant to be proposed in a fashion asserting that anyone did anything “wrong”. These are just a few points that I think could be beneficial for people to think about and talk with their respective affinity groups about. Stay safe and stay smart so we can continue to be dangerous in the streets together.

Love and Solidarity to those locked up for daring to take on law and order!
Till all prisoners are free and all prisons are ash!
Go Birds!
Be Crime Do Gay (Come up with a fresh catch phrase 2k19)

Statement on Mumia Abu-Jamal

  • January 1, 2019 8:49 pm

from Philly IWW2

Mumia Abu-Jamal has always maintained his innocence in the 1981 fatal shooting of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. His prosecution was politically-motivated because of his Black Panther Party membership, his support of the MOVE organization and as a radical journalist. His 1982 trial and subsequent 1995 PCRA appeals were racially biased: the prosecution excluded African Americans from the jury; and PCRA trial Judge Albert Sabo, the same judge in Abu-Jamal’s initial trial, declared, “I’m gonna help them fry the n—-r.”  Abu-Jamal’s frame-up stands out as the city’s most notorious wrongful conviction.

On Dec. 27, Mumia Abu-Jamal won a significant case before Judge Leon Tucker in a decision granting him new rights of appeal.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner: The Philadelphia Chapter of the IWW  calls on you to do the right thing.  Do not stand in the way of justice.  Do not appeal Judge Tucker’s decision.

Cease defending former Philadelphia DA and later PA Supreme Court Judge Ron Castille’s now-discredited claim of impartiality.  Justice must extend to controversial cases your predecessors held untouchable.  Allow Abu-Jamal to go forward with re-arguing his appeals, which Judge Tucker states “would best serve the appearance of justice.

Report from New Year’s Eve Noise Demo

  • January 1, 2019 8:41 pm

Submission

A call was made for an anti-prison solidarity noise demo on NYE. When we arrived to the meetup there were scattered crews huddled in the rain, around 20 or 30 people in all. A short announcement was made explaining the route and dispersal for the march, supplies to share, and the legal number.
The march began by taking the street. There was a banner that read “Total Freedom Against All Authority”, drums, black flags, fireworks, leaflets, shakers, graffiti, and rowdy voices showing disdain for prison and police.
Once at the prison more fireworks were shot and we made a bunch of noise. Cops showed up surprisingly fast compared to other years. But the march left the prison as the plan was to leave once police presence was significant. We marched against traffic until we turned into an alley, where a dumpster was thrown to block the way. Everyone dispersed.

What we liked
We liked keeping this New Year’s Eve anti-prison tradition alive. We were happy with the turnout despite the weather. People came prepared with their own objectives and the tools to carry them out. We liked that the bloc stayed together and kept it tight once the cops arrived. We liked that we didn’t wait around to get fucked up by the police. We’re glad that the planning and promotion were kept offline. We thought overall that the demo went smooth. This demo opened our eyes to the potential of short flash mob type actions and left us wondering what something like this would look like with a different intensity.

What we didn’t like
Because of its shortness we regret not seeing the prisoners. That was our biggest disappointment because the intention behind the demo was to have an interaction with the prisoners. It’s difficult to navigate how long to stick around while maintaining an intensity that feels honest and defiant without making it easier for the cops to arrest us. Two more take aways were: we could have done more to make our banner less flimsy, and that we wonder if this particular demo is becoming predictable to the police. Lastly the unfortunate timing of a park ranger meant we couldn’t have more time for discussion before the march began.

We hope that other people at the march share their reports, thoughts, criticisms, and feelings and we can create an open dialogue around actions.

For the blackest December
No prisons
No borders
Fuck law and order
Happy New Year!

Jan 7th: Letter-writing to Eric King and Kevin “Rashid” Johnson

  • January 1, 2019 12:55 pm

from Philly ABC

The new year has arrived! As we kick off 2019, let’s not forget about the struggles of our incarcerated comrades– those who did not get to celebrate, but instead faced increased scrutiny from the state and continue to be retaliated against for their political beliefs. Such retaliation often comes in the form of transfers to other prisons, providing correctional officials an opportunity to say ‘oops, we lost your property,’ in addition to an already torturous process of readjustment. In some cases, a transfer is just part of a three-pronged attack. This is where a prisoner has first been brutally beaten by guards, then gets transferred to special prison that will facilitate the next stages of retaliation, long-term isolation and restricted communication.

On Monday January 7th, 6:30pm at A-Space, join us in sending some extra love and support to Kevin “Rashid” Johnson and Eric King, whom are currently facing the hell described above. We’re going to let them know ‘We got your back!’

Kevin “Rashid” Johnson is a politicized prisoner, co-founder of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter (NABPP-PC), and prolific artist. In his own words, “Because I struggle to give a voice and human face to and to publicize abuses suffered by my imprisoned peers, help them challenge their mistreatment and work to educate them on their human rights and true role within Amerika’s overall exploitative, oppressive and racist political-economic system, officials have always aimed to isolate me from them.” On top of 18 years of solitary confinement, Rashid has also been subjected to several retaliatory transfers since 2012, each time meticulously documenting prison abuses so that outside supporters can better hold prison officials accountable for their actions against prisoners. On November 3, 2018 he was transferred yet again to Indiana where he now is. Let’s send him some love and show Pendelton CI how much outside support he has.

Eric King is a vegan anarchist who was arrested and charged with an attempted firebombing of a government official’s office in Kansas City, MO. Eric allegedly threw a hammer through a window of the building and then threw two lit bottles inside, though both failed to ignite. He was identified as a suspect by local police because he had previously come under suspicion for anti-government and anti-police graffiti, and is allegedly involved with the Kansas City Fight Back insurrectionist collective. Eric accepted a non-cooperating plea agreement to a federal felony charge that carries a sentence of 10 years in prison. He has since been attacked for his politics, taken from his family, and sent to Leavenworth. He has been in total isolation for months now without any disciplinary charges filed. The BOP wasn’t successful at trying to build a new case against him so they are enacting revenge trying to send him to a Special Management Unit (SMU) one of the most horrible programs in the BOP. Eric and his family can use all the love and support we can offer right now.

Please note: If you are writing from home, neither Rashid or Eric can receive letters on colored paper or in colored envelopes. We will also be sending birthday greetings to prisoners with birthdays in January: Fran Thompson (the 4th), Jeremy Hammond (the 8th), Abdul Azeez (the 9th), Sundiata Acoli (the 14th), Joe-Joe Bowen (the 15th), and Marius Mason (the 26th).

Call for Court Support for Second Trial of Vaughn 17

  • December 20, 2018 10:43 am

from It’s Going Down

Call for Court Support as jury selection begins on Jan. 7, 2019 for second trial of Vaughn 17.

Calling for abolitionists and activists to show up in the courtroom as the second trial of the Vaughn 17 gears up. Jury selection is slated to start on January 7th, 2019. This trial group includes Kevin Berry, Abednego Baynes, Obadiah Miller and John Bramble. The trial will take place at New Castle County Courthouse, 500 N. King St., Wilmington, DE.

Background

On February 1, 2017, inmates incarcerated at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center took control of C-building in a prison uprising, and for a moment were liberated from the carceral state. In the course of the uprising, they released a set of modest demands to improve their living conditions. One prison guard was killed. The state responded with intense repression. The Vaughn 17 were subsequently indicted on blanket charges of riot, conspiracy to riot, kidnapping, assault on an officer, and murder. The state’s case against those charged has no basis in reality and relies heavily on the testimony of a prison snitch. Check out Live from the Trenches: The Vaughn 17 Speak for in-depth background.

The first trial concluded in early November. Of the three on trial, Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats went pro se, or represented themselves. The biggest victory came when Deric Forney was found not guilty of all charges. Ayers was acquitted of the 3 counts of murder but found guilty of the other charges, and Staats was convicted on all but one count of murder. Shortly after the trial, one of the inmates, Kelly Gibbs, was found dead in his cell. Attention on this case is crucial to check the Delaware D.O.C. on the rampant violence committed against inmates.

Dwayne Staats and Jarreau Ayers both wrote about the importance of court support in the fight for liberation:

“‘Actions’ speak louder than words and I heard you loud and clear. Y’all definitely was a source of strength that was heavily relied upon… So your collective spirits are harmoniously in accord with the synergism that enables us to purify our conscious and strengthen our beings with every inhale.” -Dwayne Staats

https://www.instagram.com/p/BriPf-SBrOP/

“Every day the energy y’all provided through your support and letting your presence be known is as much a part of what took place in that courtroom as me and my comrade Staats were!!! The fight behind these walls is often lonely and thankless even by other oppressed prisoners whose minds haven’t yet opened up to their reality!!… The fact that y’all stood in solidarity with us speaks to the truth comrade George Jackson spoke to when he explained the need for (us) those of us behind the wall and those of y’all on the outside to stand in unity! I’m a firm believer in the saying that steel sharpens steel and that the origin of that steel is forged and molded through/in fire! I force that mind frame on my comrades every day and I want y’all to know that we acknowledge that y’all stood in that fire with us! That steel that was forged in those moments helped keep us sharp at every turn!… I ask that y’all stay strong with each other on hard times and continue to force integrity on each other, on us, and most importantly on this system!” -Jarreau Ayers

Vaughn 17 Need our Support!

Court support is meaningful in and out of the courtroom as we show strength in solidarity against state oppression! Organize a crew to hold a banner outside the courthouse. Bring food or hot drinks with information about the case to share on the street outside. Share updates on facebook, instagram, twitter, or other social media. Write letters to those on trial. Inside the courtroom, demonstrate positive energy and strength for the defendants. Connect with friends and families of the defendants and offer support. Let them know they are not alone in the struggle! Raise a fist in solidarity!

To write to the Vaughn 17, check out the addresses listed here.

New Year’s Card Party: Monday Dec. 3rd 6:30pm

  • November 26, 2018 7:09 pm

from Philly ABC

The December letter-writing event will be a New Year’s card-writing party for all US-held political prisoners. Rather than focusing on a specific set of prisoners, we will send a card to each of the nearly 60 US-held political prisoners sending them season’s greetings. This is a time we set aside annually to send short messages of solidarity to everyone recognized as being held in prison for their political beliefs or actions. This enables us to drop a line each year to prisoners that we have either already featured more in depth at letter-writing events throughout the year or those we will be doing events for in the future. We will also send birthday greetings to those with birthdays in December: Muhammad Burton (the 15th), Connor Stevens (the 17th) and Casey Brezik (the 30th).

While the circumstances of our comrades’ incarceration and the current political climate leave a lot to be desired, much good has also come out of 2018 including the freedom of Debbie and Mike Africa. Long-term prisoners Herman Bell and Seth Hayes were also release on parole this year to return to their families bringing the US-held political prisoner count to below 60. This event is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to free the remainder, stay strong and stay in the struggle.

Light refreshments will be provided. Please come join in the festivities!

[LAVA 4134 Lancaster Ave]

Mixed Guilty Verdict Against First Vaughn 17 Trial Group

  • November 22, 2018 10:41 pm

from Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement

Mixed Guilty Verdict Against First Vaughn 17 Trial Group
“Dwayne Staats testimony reiterates the painstaking process of attempting to be heard in a society that consistently renders black voices, and especially black incarcerated voices, silent.”

The Delaware courts have issued guilty verdicts for two of the defendants of the first trial group for the Vaughn 17. Only one person, Dwayne Staats, was found guilty of murder, Jarreau Ayers was found found guilty of kidnapping and assault, and Deric Forney was found not guilty of all charges.

Dwayne and Jarreau were forced to represent themselves due to insufficient legal representation. Despite having no physical evidence connecting Dwayne to the murder he was still convicted, based solely on the word of a cooperator.

In the midst of a trial, particularly one of this magnitude, it is easy to get lost in legal arguments, the moralizing, and the grand sweeping statements from the press, prosecutors and politicians. But as the smoke clears and the dust settles, this trial, and the uprising in general is about the inhumane and barbaric conditions inmates in the US are forced to suffer.

The Vaughn 17 were protesting for very basic improvements, which are routinely ignored. Dwayne Staats’ testimony reiterates the painstaking process of attempting to be heard in a society that consistently renders black voices, and especially black incarcerated voices, silent; a society that deems it acceptable to coldly and in a calculated way, rip the humanity the away from those it incarcerates. The Vaughn 17, and many others who were incarcerated at Smyrna prior to the uprising, had protested, cried, and plead to be treated humanely. The uprising was a last resort to ask for better treatment, but the judgement confirmed that those incarcerated should have no voice and should accept this treatment.

While this outcome is a hardly surprising result from white supremacist America, we would like to celebrate the principled stance of the Vaughn 17. They stood strong in their solidarity and did not implicate each other and have successfully politicized their trial. In light of the prisoner led anti-slavery campaign, the Vaughn 17 is proudly poised as an important voice and example in this movement. We will continue amplifying their voices, making their case known and struggle along side them as these trials continue, and they face their sentences.

Dare to struggle! Dare to win!

Delaware Vaughn Prison Revolt Trial Ends In Mixed Verdict

  • November 21, 2018 11:20 am

from Unicorn Riot

By Chris Schiano, Unicorn Riot November 20, 2018

Wilmington, DE – The trial of three prisoners accused of involvement in a February 1, 2017 prisoner uprising at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center finished testimony and closing arguments last week. After a trial lasting about a month, jurors began deliberations on Friday, November 16, and reached a verdict Tuesday afternoon.

In what has become known as the Vaughn Uprising, prisoners took over Building C at the Vaughn prison in Smyrna, Delaware, and took three prison guards and one prison counselor hostage. Demands issued during the hostage standoff included that Delaware Governor John Carney investigate poor living conditions at the facility. One correctional officer who was taken hostage, Steven Floyd, would later be found dead after police re-entered the facility.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, November 20, jurors in the case returned a verdict, according to the Delaware News-Journal:

After a nearly four-week trial, a New Castle County jury found Dwayne Staats guilty of first-degree felony murder, first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, kidnapping, assault and conspiracy. 

Staats was found not guilty of intentional murder in the first degree.

Jarreau Ayers was found not guilty of any of the three murder charges but guilty of kidnapping, assault and conspiracy. 

Deric Forney was found not guilty of all charges against him and is set to go free. – Delaware News Journal, November 20, 2018

Below is Unicorn Riot’s full report on the evidence and testimony made in the first Vaughn Uprising case.

Read our first report from the trial, covering opening arguments, here. 

The three defendants in the first trial group were charged with riot, three counts of murder in the first degree (Delaware law allows to charge multiple counts based on the same murder), two counts of assault, four counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit riot. 13 other defendants from the uprising are also slated to face trial throughout 2019.

A cooperating defendant, Royal Downs, was also indicted on lesser charges and still awaits trial and sentencing, with results presumably depending on how pleased prosecutors are with his performances at trial.

Defendants Derric Forney, Dwayne Staats, and Jarreau Ayers (left to right). Composite image via WDEL News

Judge William Carpenter’s courtroom held a tense, electric energy at times as two of the defendants – Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats, both of whom represented themselves in court and are already serving life sentences for previous murder cases – each took the stand to testify on their own behalf. Both men denounced the conditions in Vaughn, mocked the contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence, and refused to implicate other prisoners they knew to be involved in the takeover.

It is unclear what punishments the court could impose against the two men, since they both already are sentenced to life without the chance of parole. Conservative Delaware lawmakers recently failed to reinstate the death penalty, which the state’s Supreme Court effectively abolished in 2016. Jarreau Ayers told jurors that the Department of Corrections could still retaliate against them by essentially keeping them in solitary confinement, or “the hole“, for the rest of their lives.

The two men representing themselves added an explicitly political element to the case, allowing details and opinions about prison life to come up in court that probably wouldn’t have been mentioned otherwise. In his closing argument, Jarreau Ayers thanked Judge William Carpenter, saying that Carpenter had been highly conscientious in allowing himself and Dwayne Staats a wide latitude to defend themselves in court. Both men were provided with standby counsel, lawyers who did not represent them but directly assisted them in matters such as evidence and motions.

The third defendant, Derric Forney, serving an 11-year robbery sentence, was barely mentioned at all by the prosecution. A few inmate witnesses claimed to have seen Forney attack and handcuff corrections officer Joshua Wilkinson, although other state’s witnesses testified that they saw the entire attack and Forney was not involved. Forney was represented by defense lawyer Ben Gifford. Forney himself took the stand to say that he was not involved in the uprising. He also shared his trauma of being brutalized by officers who he said went cell to cell violently beating and pepper-spraying inmates after police retook Building C. In closing arguments, Assistant Attorney General John Downs seemed to gloss over the lack of evidence against Forney by calling him a “soldier” in contrast to Ayers and Staats, whom he cast as “leaders“.

A fourth defendant, Roman Shankaras, who prosecutors had accused of being the “mastermind” behind the uprising, had been a part of this first trial group but was later severed from the case. He is expected to face trial sometime in 2019.

While the state showed jurors mountains of evidence, very little of it was tied directly to the defendants. Among primary pieces of evidence against both Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats were radio recordings from the hostage negotiations, in which both men’s voices can be heard. Prosecutors have also used a letter from Dwayne Staats to another inmate, seized during a cell search, in which he appeared to take responsibility for organizing the revolt. Another letter from Roman Shankaras to Royal Downs, an influential prisoner involved in the uprising who later flipped and became a state’s witness, was cited as evidence of a conspiracy.

One defining element of the case is a total lack of any video evidence from inside Building C; no surveillance cameras existed inside Vaughn’s Building C at the time of the uprising when the building was taken over. Some video of inmates and hostages being released from inside the building were filmed by a state police bomb squad robot in the yard outside the building, but no defendants could be seen in the video. Another video the state played for the jury showed police in SWAT gear entering the building during their operation to retake Building C. However, none of this footage showed any of the defendants and offered little insight as to what exactly happened inside Building C.

Some physical evidence was introduced by the state, such as various shanks, fire extinguishers, and mop wringers allegedly used as weapons to subdue prison guards who were taken hostage. However, Delaware State Police Sergeant Andrew Weaver, the main investigator in the Vaughn case, would admit under cross-examination that only some items were sent for forensic DNA testing. Weaver appeared unable to give an explanation for this inconsistent testing of evidence, with untested items including several shanks as well as blood-soaked gloves. Weaver repeatedly denied responsibility for deciding which items were tested, instead referring to the “collaborative effort” by the prosecution team of which he is part.

Sergeant Weaver also told the defense that he only sent in for DNA testing items which he believed to have been used in the attack on Sergeant Floyd. Weaver was unable to offer an explanation as to how he could determine, before testing, which items had or had not been used in the attack. Assistant Attorney General John Downs suggested that some items had not been sent for forensic testing due to concerns about high cost, but multiple state forensic technicians who later testified denied that cost was a consideration in testing evidence for the case. Jarreau Ayers asked Weaver if it was true that “you just left five shanks and a pair of bloody gloves off the list” of evidence to be tested in a case involving the murder of a corrections officer. Weaver did not deny that he left those items off of his list of what was sent for testing.

Other issues with evidence used by the prosecution included a map that jurors were told represented the layout of Building C and showed where pieces of evidence, such as shanks, were recovered. However, upon cross-examination, a state investigator admitted that the map, which he had claimed was simply “not to scale“, in fact left out an entire portion of the building. The defense also pointed out how many evidence items were misrepresented on the map, being shown as found in locations other than where they were actually recovered. Prosecutors quietly dropped any further use of the map from the rest of their case, although Ben Gifford, defense counsel for Derric Forney, referenced it in his closing arguments, calling it a “gem” and reminding jurors that the state had made a false representation of the evidence.

With a total lack of video evidence from inside the prison, and inconsistent testing for DNA and fingerprints, the prosecution’s case relies almost entirely on cooperating inmate witnesses. The state’s primary cooperating witness, Royal Downs, is alleged by the defense to have been an influential gang leader within the prison. At one time, Royal Downs was romantically involved with a female correctional officer who was working at Vaughn, who was eventually fired over her relationship with Downs. Opening arguments by Jason Antoine, defense counsel for Roman Shankaras (who ended up getting severed from the first trial group) alleged that Downs himself could have been the one to order the killing of Sergeant Stephen Floyd.

Several inmate witnesses for the state, including Royal Downs and Walter Smith (aka Abdul-Hafid Al-Salafi), gave the prosecution the kind of evidence they sought, namely claiming that all three defendants were involved in one way or another in the actual assaults on correctional officers. However, other inmate witnesses for the state contradicted much of this testimony.

For instance, Al-Salafi claimed that he saw one of the defendants assault a correctional officer because he was on the phone in the prison’s barber shop at the time, where he was able to see the incident through a window. Other state’s witnesses, such as prisoner Anthony Morrow, testified that they were in the barber shop using the phones at that same time and that Al-Salafi was not there. Notably, no phone records were produced by the state to prove that Al-Salafi even made a call from that phone at that time. State police detective David Weaver admitted under cross-examination that his investigation had pulled records of thousands of prison phone calls from Vaughn, and that he was not aware of any instance of DOC phone records going “missing“.

The defense claims that Al-Salafi, like other cooperating witnesses, is fabricating his testimony in order to curry favor with the Department of Corrections. While prosecutors claimed they had promised inmate witnesses no favors, defense counsel Ben Gifford pointed out the constant courtroom presence of several Delaware DOC officials, who he said easily had the means to reward prisoner witnesses with better living conditions in return for helping them “get justice for their brother” Steven Floyd, the guard hostage who died.

Delaware DOC Commissioner Perry Phelps, Deputy Commissioner Alan Grinstead, Bureau of Prison Chief Steven Wesley, and other state prison officials have been a constant presence at the trial, often taking up an entire row. Many of them were seen actively texting on their phones while inmate witnesses were testifying. Daniel Masi from the Criminal Intelligence section of the Delaware Department of Justice has also been seen in attendance.

The James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, Delaware. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

During his closing arguments, Assistant Attorney General Downs admitted that Building C after the uprising was “a large, contaminated crime scene” and tried to downplay the significance of the inconsistent DNA testing done by investigators in the case. Downs instead asked jurors to rely on eyewitness testimony, saying “this case is about what the witnesses said“, apparently ignoring the blatant contradictions in different versions of events that had been offered by state’s witnesses.

According to the prosecution’s summary of their case in closing arguments, Ayers is guilty because he knew about “the plan“, he told inmates to remove locker boxes from their cells to be used to barricade doors, he “was a shotcaller” among prisoners, and allegedly had keys he was using to let prisoners out of their cells.

The case against Dwayne Staats largely relied on Staats’ own testimony in which he admitted to planning the uprising and taking Counselor Patricia May hostage. Assistant Attorney General Downs also claimed that cooperating witnesses saw Staats with a shank. One inmate witness claims he saw Staats attack Sergeant Floyd, although other state’s witnesses’ testimony contradicted this claim.

After the state rested its case, defendants Jarreau Ayers and Dwayne Staats both took the stand to testify on their own behalf. Ayers shared his version of event surrounding the uprising, saying that he had been involved in planning a peaceful protest over living conditions at Vaughn.

Ayers told the jury that eventually he was cut out of the planning and that those involved in the uprising didn’t inform him of their plans. He said he called his sister shortly before February 1, 2017 and asked her to put money on his commissary because he knew some sort of protest might happen at the facility, and he wanted to have food and supplies stocked in his cell ahead of a potential lockdown. The state has argued that the prison phone call to Ayers’ sister represents his participation in the conspiracy.

Ayers also stated that his only real active role in the uprising was to find inmates with medical conditions and make sure they were released from Building C earlier on in the takeover. He described opening the door to first try to let the inmates out (“nobody wanted to open that door“, he said) only to see a SWAT team charging towards him, leading him to quickly close the door again. He says at that moment, frustrated with the police seeming to break their word, he grabbed a walkie-talkie from Royal Downs. The police outside reportedly told him their attempted charge was a “misunderstanding” and he then re-opened the door to release the rest of the inmates with medical needs.

When Dwayne Staats took the stand, he began by reading jurors portions of a letter he wrote another inmate that had been seized as evidence. Staats told jurors that he planned the uprising as a building takeover well ahead of time, because he decided that something had to be done to bring state officials and the public to pay attention to poor conditions at Vaughn. Staats had previously surprised courtroom observers by admitting during his cross-examination of prison counselor Patricia May that he was the inmate who took her hostage.

Staats spoke about how he saw everyone at Vaughn, not just prisoners in Building C, as “victims” and described inmates, guards, and staff all being subject to a culture of “physical abuse, mental abuse…” and said he saw prison staff routinely “bullied or looked down upon by their own coworkers.”

Staats said that “I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t even assault anybody” but that he accepted responsibility for anything other than those acts. Previously during his cross-examination of Counselor Patricia May, the prison counselor who was taken hostage during the uprising, Staats surprised many observers in the court by telling Ms. May he “owed” it to her to tell her that he was the one who took her hostage that day.

Staats told jurors that “my goal was to do something to expose this place” so that the public and Governor Carney would pay attention: “It was mainly about the Governor at least acknowledging what as going on.”

Staats told the jury that after his 14 years at Vaughn, “these petitions, lawsuits, peaceful protests…in my eyes, that stuff’s run it’s course.” He also said that he felt the need to create a situation that would get the attention of Delaware’s Governor, because current DOC Commissioner Perry Phelps had previously been the warden at Vaughn for 10 years “So I had to go over their head.”

Staats said his plan to take over Building C to draw attention to conditions at Vaughn was “no rash decision” but rather the result of months of “deep contemplation“.

Staats claimed that his plan for the building takeover only extended so far as getting on the radio with state authorities to express prisoners’ demands. He said he was aware that Correctional Officers might be attacked as part of the takeover, but denied any knowledge of Sergeant Floyd’s death until after the uprising had ended. He claimed to be unaware of several other aspects of events, noting that he was surprised when he heard that some inmates and CO hostages had been released from Building C during the negotiations.

While Assistant Attorney General John Downs seemed on his cross-examination to try to cast Staats as the mastermind of the uprising, Staats downplayed this notion, claiming responsibility while also highlighting what he claimed was the disorganized nature of what took place. “All it took was a little push,” Staats said, adding that it wasn’t “a plot to break out of jail.”

Staats said that state negotiators on the radio promised him a letter of intent from the Governor to look into the demands made by prisoners in the uprising. That letter never came, although Staats hinted that if he had received it, Sergeant Floyd could have been released. (The medical examiner who did Floyd’s autopsy said the CO likely would have survived with his wounds if he had gotten to a hospital earlier, as his wounds weren’t inherently fatal.)

Staats told jurors that while he never received that letter of intent, the same conditions at Vaughn addressed in the uprising’s demands came out in a report on the state’s investigation into Vaughn after the uprising. Staats also seemed to feel somewhat successful in regards to the plan he had executed, saying “a lot of people’s families didn’t know what was going on until the prison got lifted from obscurity.”

Assistant Attorney Generals John Downs and Brian Robertson both both quite agitated during their cross-examinations of both Ayers and Staats, going red in the face with veins visibly pulsing, raising their voices and slamming fists on tables, although these behaviors may have been a deliberate emotional appeal to the jury. With Staats having taken responsibility for a fair amount of the conspiracy alleged by the prosecution, much of the prosecution’s cross-examination of him consisted of Assistant Attorney General Downs angrily repeating his own testimony to him, which he would usually nonchalantly answer in one-word responses like “yeah“.

Staats told jurors that six inmates were involved with him in the plan to take over Building C. But when he was cross-examined by Assistant Attorney Downs, he refused to identify them, answering “I can’t recall” in an ironic quotation of many of the state’s own witnesses. When AAG Downs continued to press the matter, Staats chuckled slightly and told him, “You know, I think me and Mr. Weaver have the same condition.” (Sergeant Andrew Weaver, the Delaware state police investigator assisting prosecutors with the case, had extensive testimony to offer the state but when questioned by the defense claimed to “not recall” or have forgotten many of the details he was asked about.)

Staats also told the Assistant Attorney General that he believed Lieutenant Charles Sennett, one of the first DOC officers to enter Building C, could have freed Ms. May as a hostage and ended the standoff hours earlier, but he chose not to. “The officers left her, the governor didn’t show his face to come get her, but I bet you didn’t care about that.”

In closing arguments by the defense, Ben Gifford, representing Derric Forney, lambasted the state’s “poor, shoddy investigative work” in the Vaughn Uprising case. He told jurors that the lack of proper police work in the case was something Sergeant Floyd “didn’t deserve“:

“What happened to Sergeant Floyd was a tragedy…so was this investigation.” – Ben Gifford, defense counsel for Derric Forney

Staats had previously written in a letter published by supporters of the Vaughn 17 that “the trial is an extension of the uprising.” Building on this theme, he closed out his testimony by telling jurors “I guess y’all witnessing the conclusion. Y’all gon’ put the exclamation mark on the whole thing.”

On the Importance of the Smyrna 17 Case

  • November 13, 2018 4:24 pm

from It’s Going Down

Ma’Salaam Fariha reports from the trial of the continuing Vaughn (Smyrna) 17 case.

Welcome to James T. Vaughn State Prison, its physical address is on Paddock Road, for those unfamiliar with the word Paddock here is an introduction: as noun its used as a small field or enclosure where horses are kept or exercised, and as a verb it is used to keep or enclose a horse in paddock.

I been part of a small support group for the inmates from Washington D.C., we try to drive up there at least twice a week, we usually take notes, and think of creative ways to bring attention to the case. I am going to refrain from reporting too much about what was said and focus on the most important facts.

“For nearly 18 hours on Feb. 1, 2017, inmates seized the building, taking hostages and demanding better programming, education, and treatment from prison staff,” a Delaware news outlet recently reported, they continued by stating that Forty-five years ago, in what is now Building C at Vaughn, a group of young, black men was part of a similar occurrence with the acceptation that this time one CO was killed.

What every article, or report about this case failed to report is that there is no evidence tying the defendants to the murder of this CO, as a matter of fact, the governments star witness is a former co-defendant by the name of Royal Diamond Downs aka Master Splinter (former BGF member and Baltimore native. About 14 years ago he was transferred from Maryland to Delaware in a state agreement for snitching on people in Baltimore in another riot case, as a matter of fact one time throughout trial one radio communication piece that was played, as the negotiator was a witness called in by the government. Identified Downs’s voice clearly saying, “this is not a game, if you do not bring me the media and the governor your staff is going down.”

I had the honor to meet two of the former Smyrna 5, and had a conversation with another elder black Muslim brother, the topic was Delaware, specifically Wilmington, I mean why was this little city hauling around with a nickname such as “murder town USA.” According to the census bureau Wilmington Delaware Wilmington, DE has a population of 71,502 people, the is 56.6% Black, 27.6% White, and 12.2% Hispanic. 12.3% of the people in Wilmington, DE speak a non-English language. It is also the corporation capital, which means most corporations have either an address there or their headquarters, but they do NOT hire, and I quote “any of the young folks here, and people got to eat” (as stated by the elder). I am not sure where the so-called white population lives, because I have not seen them driving or walking through Wilmington, as communicated to me, they live in the outskirts, and most of them seem to have been relocated from somewhere by these corporations.

I want to take the attention back to the case of the Vaughn 17 aka Smyrna 17, being regularly present throughout the trial days, left me multiple times, shocked and confused, for example finding out that one lead investigator being present testifying for the government, being able to answer all questions without hesitation but not presenting answers to questions asked by defendants lawyer or by the defendants who go per SE.

At one point I remember very well, the investigator was asked if he was aware that the governments star witnesses Al Salafi and R. Diamond Dawns were indeed named as lead suspects by another detective and he responded that he was not even aware that this report existed.

Speaking of confusions, one of the inmates kite’s was brought up as so-called evidence, this kite as stated by the investigator was given to R.Diamond’s sister by Dawns himself, at one visit ( so far so good ), but how was this inmate able to transfer this kite to his sister as he claimed? Royal Diamond was at the time of alleged visit located in the SHU [Special Housing Unite – a ‘prison within a prison], inmates who are placed in the SHU, are not allowed to have visitation, and as asked about this visit and how this was possible, the investigator had no response.

So far the Government has not presented any DNA evidence, as claimed the scene was too tainted, and sending in for DNA would have corrupted the Investigation, so the government decided to start interviewing the inmates.

And “coincidentally” all of the governments star witnesses have the exact stories, now this might not be too much of a surprise for anyone who has never been in a chaotic and tense situation, but trust me, it is very unlikely that stories have such exact much.

The human body does not operated like that, for example if you would ask a group of people living under war, each one most likely would tell you a different scenario of their realities, and usually our minds go into protection mode rather than ” let me hang out here and watch someone allegedly getting murdered”.

Mass incarnation has been a problem in the US for a very long time, no only does it the highest incarceration rate in the world, the laws made by corporations aka lobby groups have made it easy for white supremacist lawmakers to put people of color behind bars. The vast majority of incarcerated people are held in facilities controlled by state and local governments, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. The war on drugs, drug laws and extreme sentencing requirements have produced profoundly unequal outcomes for people of color. Although rates of drug use and sales are similar across racial and ethnic lines, black and Latino people are far more likely to be criminalized than white people. Research by the U.S. Census Bureau; Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence for black people as for white people charged with the same offense.

Reading through Annual Report of the DOC in Delaware, you will come across their in-depth praise of how well they take care of their inmates, and the importance of mental health, but that does not seem to reflect the reality. Talking to various previous Inmates and reading through the letters that the Inmates put together after the alleged Smyrna uprising in James T. Vaughn the understaffed facility has been known to have abusive Correctional Officers, programs for mental health is limited to certain offenders only. In 2015, the prison became a subject of an ACLU lawsuit, due to the use of solitary confinement for mentally ill inmates. “Further lawsuits have been filed due to the Delaware State Correction’s decision to feed some inmates “baked slop,” while other states have discontinued the use of such meals”.

Take Action! One former inmate of James T. Vaughn, an inmate who was part of the uprising in 1974 stated to me, “We had so much more support back in the day.” If you are reading I need you to understand that this was not a situation of a “bunch of offenders just trying to start violent useless acts of interruptions,” this goes much deeper.

Something that was a sore eye for me immediately after entering the court room, on day one of the trial, was the Swedish flag along side other colonizer flags, placed behind the judge.

If you call yourself an activist, if you do prison/ inmate work I need you to get connected with the case, even if you just start writing letters to the inmates, do it! Importantly show up to court, we are a small group, granted we kick ass and have the power of a million, we need you to show up, because this case and the political statements made by the inmates is for you and me. Show up to court, especially if you are of privilege, take notes, and join us in small actions if you need ideas and you have questions please feel free to email me.

Let the state of Delaware know that we will not allow them to falsely charge these brothers ! Most importantly let the Inmates know that we are supporting them!

Fuck the Police, Fuck Mass Incarnation, Decolonize!

Court Support Summary: Friday 11/09/2018

  • November 11, 2018 6:30 pm

from Support the Vaughn 17

“People’s mentality is they’re victims of circumstance. They fail to realize they were victims before C Building…Those who understand the uprising needed to happen […] started from one thought (amazing)…Now I truly know the concept of the tree inside the seed… If my number gets called I’m going pro se, fuck a suit, I’ll wear a T-shirt and DOC pants…It’s gonna be epic, especially when I cross-examine their witnesses. It wasn’t about violence, that part is easy…Expose this place so the public and the government will take notice… I’d say I got their attention… […] This shit was supposed to happen.
We’re stronger on the other side of adversity. […] I appreciate you keeping me aware of what’s going on on earth…Foolish humans. Staying aware is staying alive.”

– Dwayne Staats, from transcribed excerpts of an intercepted letter read out loud in court on Friday

Yesterday, court was well-attended with supporters, with media, and also with agents/affiliates of the state. Court began early with AG Downs, defense counsel for Deric Forney, B. Gifford and pro se/defendant J. Ayers finishing questioning of a state witness from yesterday who had custody of paper documents entered as evidence in the case before they were transferred for professional forensic handwriting analysis.

The rest of the morning saw testimony from Andrew Sulner, a career forensic analyst who is also an attorney. He explained how handwriting analysis works, what it can be certain of, what it is not certain of/what it can’t rule out and how the paper documents (both the letter alleged to have been written by R. Shankaras and the letter alleged to have been written by D. Staats, but NOT the list of demands in blue ink on yellow paper that we have seen entered in evidence) were analyzed and reported on.

There was discussion about state witness from the prior week, H.J. Anderson, and his process of review under the recently retooled habitual offender statute, including how that may or may not relate to his having assisted the state in this case. We were informed that “the law is nuanced,” which was of course a mesmerizing insight.

State witness Sergeant David Weaver started testifying before lunch break, being questioned by AG Downs. We will note that he has been sitting at the state’s table the entire trial. His testimony centered on the kites that were analyzed by state witness A. Sulner. I did my best to record what he was reading from these letters accurately, but it happened very quickly and there are some parts of these in my notes that are likely either truncated or missing. It wasn’t possible for me to read them from the screens in the court, as I was sitting too far away.

Sgt. Weaver testified about the workflow with regard to cooperating witness interviews and the custody of evidence. He testified about what was included and what was emphasized in these interviews as well as why/why not. The concept of “taint” (aka “fruit of the poisonous tree” in legal parlance) was once again brought up. Sgt. Weaver routinely answered questions that he wasn’t being asked/volunteered information, and that did not go well for him in several instances.

A recording of a phone call that was alleged to have taken place between pro se/defendant J. Ayers and his sister shortly before the uprising was played for the court and Sgt. Weaver was asked about this. B. Gifford questioned Sgt. Weaver in the afternoon; his cross-examination centered on times, timeline and overall assessing the precision of both the preparation and decision-making that came out of Sgt. Weaver’s work on this case, from start to finish. In my memory, this lasted almost two hours.

The day finished with J. Ayers questioning Sgt. Weaver. In the end, he made plain before the jury that Sgt. Weaver, and thusly his work on this case, should indeed be looked at closely. “Are you aware AG Downs asked you 20 questions, and you had an answer for every one, but none for questions I asked you?”

Court will NOT be in session on Monday 11/12/2018 as courts will be closed in observance of Veterans Day. The judge informs that we will begin again on the morning of Tuesday 11/13/2018 at 10am. He also tells us we appear to be back on track time-wise, so to the best of my observance, I suspect the state will likely rest either early Tuesday or shortly thereafter. It’s possible in my analysis that, depending on what the defense presents and how extensive that may be, that the case could go to the jury by the weekend.

As always more court support is appreciated. Correspondence we’ve received consistently emphasizes the importance to the S/V 17 of outside support/advancing the “No More Lies – Remove The Disguise,” “Department Of Corruption” and “Department Of In-Justice” slogans as well.

To get to Wilmington via train from Philadelphia, take the Wilmington/Newark regional rail line. It’s about a ten minute walk to the courthouse. It is Zone 4; fare each way is between $6 and $8, depending when you leave. See SEPTA schedules there and back.

Wilmington, DE: Banner Drop for the Vaughn 17

  • November 2, 2018 1:07 am

from It’s Going Down

A banner was dropped in Wilmington, DE in solidarity with the Vaughn 17 that read “Prisons don’t keep anyone safe (A) #Vaughn17.” The message was directed to the people of Wilmington, the family and friends of the defendants on trial, the elders of Smyrna 5, supporters, and the staff of the DOJ and DOC who may happen to have looked out the window by the elevators on the 8th floor of the courthouse at 500 N King St during lunch break on the sixth day of trial.

To the defendants, we see you, we love you, and we fight in solidarity with your struggle to overthrow the oppression of the modern day slave plantation that comes in the form of the prison industrial complex.

For more information about the case and ways to support, check out: https://vaughn17support.org

All power to the people!!! Fuck the pigs!!!

-some anarchists