|
“The
Manufacturing of Fear”
By
Anthony Ross
In the wake of allegations concerning illegal kidnappings by the C.I.A.,
the California Department of Corrections has engaged in its own in-house
abduction. During the month of December
2005, in
more that a dozen
California
prisons, an untold number of prisoners were summarily gathered up,
stripped of their property, removed from general population, and ushered
to the hole – administered segregation. They now sit in limbo awaiting
the results of an investigation that will be dubious at best.
Like so-called “enemy combatants” these prisoners – all male,
black – have been charged with neither crime or violation of rule. In
fact, most of these men have had no disciplinary infractions
for over a decade. They are being detained because they fit a
certain “profile”; they have been associated with the Crips. Once a
gang member, always a gang member, CDC believes.
Months before the U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal of Stanley Tookie
Williams, the stage for these men’s kidnapping was being set. Rumors
began to circulate within the CDC that Crips – both former and current
– were going to retaliate in the event of Tookie’s execution. Like
tiny knots of electrical current, ebbing and flowing, these rumors
created a paranoid environment. Guards were visibly on edge. At San
Quentin many found reasons not to come to work.
The use of bogus rumors by CDC guards is wide spread. In nearly every
case, rumors that prisoners are planning to attack guards have been
found untrue. But like jailhouse snitches, this kind of rumor serves a
strategic: one – it justifies a continual pattern of violence and
abuse against prisoners; two – it fosters and perpetuates an “us
against them” mentality between prisoners and guards. And three – it
gives credence to CDC’s request for more control units.
The rumor that guards might be assaulted in the aftermath of Tookie’s
execution was the final piece of propaganda aimed at him by the CDC. I
watched on the news San Quentin spokesperson Vernell Crittendon say he
suspected that Tookie was orchestrating gangland crimes from his cell. I
saw how his baseless remarks we regurgitated on the yard and became
nasty germs of information to be incubated and used by jailhouse
snitches. They would soon have a juicy story to tell. It was only a
matter of time.
At San Quentin prison that time came on December 9th, four
days before Tookie’s murder. A dozen death row prisoners, my
co-defendant, Steve Champion and I among them, were abducted from
Eastblock condemned unit II and hustled to the
Adjustment
Center
. Due to our close and long relationship with Tookie – which was well
known by San Quentin staff – Steve Champion and I expected to be
singled out for harassment, but several of the men hardly knew Tookie.
San Quentin’s administration claims it received information from a
“confidential source” who reported that we “might” be planning
to revenge Tookie’s death. On this flimsiest of allegation, we, like
so-called terrorism suspects, languish in San Quentin’s equivalent of
Guantanamo
Bay
. No evidence is required. And in a self-policing system where ‘gray
areas’ are the norm, contesting the legality of our detention is going
to be an uphill battle.
All of us adamantly deny the allegation against us and are willing to
submit to a polygraph to prove it is false. We believe our present
circumstance is designed to remove valuable voices, mentors, thinkers
and writers from the midst of prisoners inspired by Tookie’s example
– men who also seek to infuse their lives with a sense of purpose and
mission.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote: Free will can exist within a
state of imprisonment.
Tookie exemplified this belief. We choose to do the same. We are
prepared for battle, not with violence and revenge, but with our minds
and free will. We seek an end to our persecution. We seek an end to our
detention. We seek justice.
There is a case of fear here, but it comes not from us, yet from those
who desperately need a boogeyman.
Visit Anthony's profile
/ writings
Back
to Home
|