A History of Illegal State Intimidation

On December 25, 1996 I was placed on Administration Segregation (Ad Seg) and eventually given an Intensive Management Status (IMS) program that lasted thirty months. During this program I was extracted from my cell by Washington Correction Center's (WCC) Emergency Response Team; this extraction resulted in my being charged in Mason County superior Court for 2nd degree assault on one of the Team's members (Mr. Kinder). Case No. 98-1-00282-4

My defense was one of Diminished Capacity. I was evaluated by the renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Terry Kupers, and eventually diagnosed as having the "Security Housing Unit" (SHU) syndrome at the time of the assault. I eventually wrote up a News Release and Mr. Kisinger, investigative reporter and editor of the "Some of The Above News" newsletter, disseminated it to media and to prison reform organizations. This News Release, which explained my charges, my defense and Dr. Kupers' preliminary perspective on the matter, generated a lot of activity with the media, as the SHU Syndrome was of much concern throughout the country.

In 2003 Ms. Kennedy not only interviewed Mr. Kisinger extensively, but she actually toured the WCC Intensive Management Unit (IMU) - the scene of the assault and the place where I developed the SHU syndrome. Her tour through the IMU was led by WCC's Chief Investigator Mr. George Gilbert. After this tour, Ms. Kennedy disappeared without a word. I believe that it's highly possible that Ms. Kennedy, who is an African American, was falsely and maliciously convinced by Mr. Gilbert and/or others that I was a white racist, and thus turned away. She should be able and willing to confirm or deny this possibility.

I was eventually released from IMU and sent to the Washington State Penitentiary (WSP) in 1999, where I was baited and provoked into a physical altercation with Correctional Officer (CO) Gary Hilliard, Jr., A ROGUE OFFICER WHO WAS EVENTUALLY FIRED AND CHARGED WITH FELONY ASSAULT IN WALLA WALLA SUPERIOR COURT FOR PHYSICALLY ACCACKING A FEMALE CORRECTIONAL OFFICER INSIDE THE PRISON. (CO Hilliard reportedly believed the female CO was consorting with an inmate.) The physical altercation between CO Hilliard and myself resulted in, inter alia, 1) Hilliard beating me with my hands cuffed behind my back, and 2) my being maliciously prosecuted in Walla Walla Superior Court for Custodial Assault on CO Hilliard and two other COs, all of whom falsified reports and manufactured false evidence against me in order to cover up my beating.

In short, their cover-up consisted of this story: I punched Hilliard in the face, headbutted CO Adams in the nose and was in the process of choking CO Galloway when CO Hilliard intervened and employed defensive tactics by punching me in the face several times in order to get me to release my choke-hold on CO Galloway. The truth: I was lying flat on the floor with my hands cuffed behind my back when CO Hilliard punched me in the face several times.

The court appointed me a Public Defender by the name of John P Junke Sr., WSBA#10743, who first met with me in January of 2000 at the WSP. At this meeting, I asked Mr. Junke to provide me copies of everything he received from the prosecuting Attorney, Mr. James Nagle. Mr. Junke told me that he was prevented by a discovery rule ( (CrR) 4.7 (h) 3) from providing me the requested materials. Having heard that the court had discretion in the matter, I then asked Mr. Junke if he would go to the court and get permission to give me the requested materials; he said that he couldn't.

I researched the matter and found that Mr. Junke was being untruthful with me: that he could in fact go to the court and seek an order allowing him the permission to provide me with the discovery materials. I wrote Mr. Junke and informed him of my discovery and I, citing the Court Rule mentioned in paragraph above, asked him to go to the court and get permission to provide me the materials. Mr. Junke proceeded to draft the order, which specifically stated that I was NOT to get the videotape or pictures related to my case. When asked why he drafted the language in the order to PREVENT me from obtaining the videotape and pictures, he said he didn't think I could have them because of the metal and plastic in the videotape.

In March of 2000 I received, while confined in the IMU at WCC, a letter dated March 7, 2000 from Mr. Junke. In this letter Mr. Junke stated that the Order allowing him to give me the requested materials had been signed by the judge (the order was signed on 2/16/00), but he did not send them, despite my repeated calls to to his office requesting them. Furthermore, Mr. Junke stated in this letter that he may be getting involved in a contract that will have him working as an attorney at WSP.

On March 16, 2000, while in the IMU at WSP my yard period was terminated and my phone privileges were restricted for allegedly calling an off-duty CO. But the only person I attempted to call that day (while in the yard) in the Walla Walla area was Mr. Junke. I called Mr. Junke, a male answered the phone and hung up without accepting the collect call, and about twenty minutes later I was pulled from the yard and placed on phone restriction.

A few weeks later I was transferred back to WCC. I continued to make calls to Mr. Junke's office requesting the discovery materials but Mr. Junke would not send them. On April 5, 2000 I wrote Mr. Junke a letter expressing my fears of being beaten again or possibly murdered once I was taken back to WSP IMU. Approximately forty days later I received a letter, dated May 15, 2000, from Mr. Junke in response to my letter of April 5, 2000. Mr. Junke did not acknowledge my concerns of being beaten or possibly murdered by WSP staff, nor did he send me the discovery materials. Rather, he suggested that we put things on hold with the Walla Walla case - until my Mason County case was adjudicated.

It is around this time that I decided to write up an article exposing my beating and malicious prosecution and disseminate it to the media and various prison reform organizations. In this article I appealed for moral and legal support and an investigation into the assault upon my person and the on-going cover-up. I stated that my court appointed attorney, Mr. Junke, was in possession of the investigative materials and I provided his contact information.

Two media people responded to my article: a Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter, Ms. Mellissa Ho, and Mr. Kelly Gunther, an investigations producer at KING 5 TV in Seattle. Ms Ho sent Mr. Kisinger an email stating that she was going to look into my claim, but she was not heard from again. I suspect that she contacted Mr. Junke and he turned her away. Mr. Junke denies ever being contacted by her. Mr. Gunther communicated with both Mr. Junke and Mr.Kisinger in a sincere attempt at investigating my claim.

On May 28, 2000 I wrote Mr. Junke a letter in response to his letter of May 15, 2000. In this letter I reminded him of the,WSP contract he mentioned in his letter of March 7, 2000 and then asked him if it was why he was refusing to protect my interests and adequately defend me against those who assaulted me and then conspired to cover it up. I also asked him why he was continuously and repeatedly denying my requests for the discovery materials, which he was authorized to send me on 2/16/00. I also beseeched him to give me the representation I deserved and then asked him to do, among other things, the following: seek an order allowing him to provide me with the videotape of my beating and the pictures of my injuries, and of the officers doctored "injuries": and send me the copies of all the reports and documents I had been requesting since January 2000.

Mr. Junke did not respond to my letter of May 28, 2000. So I added it all up: one: Mr. Junke started our attorney-client relationship off on a lie; two: he was never available to speak with me when I called; three: he never once addressed my concerns of being beaten again or possibly murdered by WSP officials; four: he still hadn't sent me the discovery materials; and five: he was, according to his letter of March 7, 2000, negotiating a contract with WSP for a much coveted lucrative sinecure - which he did finalize on July 1, 2000.

On or around June 20, 2000 Mr. Kisinger notified Mr. Gunther that I decided to file a motion to proceed pro se. Mr. Gunther responded via email on June 23, 2000: "Hold James' Horses! Talked to Junke yesterday. James is up for a possible third strike on 2nd degree assault in Mason County according to Mr. Junke. He told me he's being careful because if James does go to the media with this, his life could be real rough in Walla Walla. And if that charge in Mason County sticks and it is considered a third strike, James may not get out of Walla Walla.

On or around June 30, 2000 I received a letter from Mr. John Connelly, Jr. a civil rights attorney I wrote seeking legal support in the Walla Walla matter. Mr. Connelly said that he sent an email on 6/13/2000 to Mr. Junke informing him that he would be willing to view the videotape of the incident but had not heard back from Mr. Junke as of 6/28/2000. Mr. Connelly's email to Mr. Junke reads as follows: "I have been contacted by James E. Curtis, whom I believe you have been representing in some hearings at Walla Walla. Mr. Curtis has asked us to review a potential claim he has for being beaten while a prisoner.

Mr.Junke did not respond to Mr. Connelly's email. On or around July 10, 2000 I received a letter from Mr. Junke (dated July 6, 2000) explaining why he did not respond to Mr. Connelly's email: "As you might understand (and, I hope, - APPRECIATE), I will not discuss anything about you or your case with anyone else, no matter who they are or say they are, unless and until I am able to speak with you. I call that respect for the attorney-client relationship. I hope that means something to you...I wanted to get in touch with you first.

This was just an excuse by Mr. Junke, for he was already engaged in communications with Mr. Gunther despite his failure to speak with me first about such communications. Moreover, Mr. Junke states in paragraph 5 of his "Motion to Allow Withdrawal of Attorney" filed in Walla Walla County (Case No. 99-1-00410.5) that he was dealing with "a legal clinic in Spokane" about me (through Gonzaga University): although he never contacted me first to see if it was okay. So much for his respect for the client-attorney relationship excuse for not reponding to Mr. Connelly's email.

On or around July 6, 2000 I reached Mr. Junke by phone for the first time in six months; he confronted me about the negative comments made about him in the June 18, 2000 email to the media and I confronted him about his stonewalling my quest for justice. I asked him why he still hadn't sent me the discovery materials the judge authorized him to provide me on 2/16/00; he responded by saying that we'd agreed to put everything on hold until I came back to WSP, but this was yet another one of Mr. Junke's lies: I never agreed to put anything on hold, and ALL my letters to him bear this fact out.

I also asked him if he told Mr. Gunther that if I went to the media with my case that my life could be real rough in Walla Walla, and he said that HE DID NOT. He finally agreed to send me the requested materials as well as seek an order allowing him to send me the videotape. On or around July 10, 2000 I received the requested materials from Mr. Junke as well as a follow-up letter to our phone call on July 6, '00. In this letter Mr. Junke switched positions and said that the words in the order allowing sharing of furnished materials were those which "Judge Zagelow" required.

On or around July 12, 2000 Mr. Junke and I spoke again on the phone. We briefly discussed Mr. Gunther's arrangement to view the videotape at Mr. Junke's office. I asked Mr. Junke if he was going to allow Mr. Gunther to view the color photos. He said that he did not have the color photos, that all he had was the black and white photocopies (paper) included in the investigative documents provided him by the prosecutor, Mr. Nagle. (It's important to note here that the "photos" in question are not only the pictures of my injuries, but the pictures of the officers alleged injuries, which were OBVIOUSLY doctored to coincide with the officers' falsified reports.)

I told Mr. Junke that we needed to get the color copies of the photos, since we would be taking all the necessary legal steps to prove that the photos were doctored. Mr. Junke told me that he couldn't get copies because the originals were polaroids, but that he could look at them. I told him that polaroids could easily be duplicated and he acted surprised, and then said that the Walla Walla Police Department wouldn't send the polaroids out to get copied because of the possibility that they would get lost. These were just excuses essential to serving WSP's interests: keeping the pictures out of my hands. This fact is further supported by the following fact: when I obtained my new attorney, Mr. James Barrett, I was provided the photos after just one request!

Still speaking with Mr. Junke on the phone, I expressed my fear of being sent back to WSP AFTER my Mason County case was adjudicated, and then I suggested the idea of my being taken to WSP to adjudicate my Walla Walla case first, by means of an "Alford Plea" to the charge of Custodial Assault on CO Hilliard (count 1). My reasoning: if I adjudicated the Walla Walla case first, I would have to be transferred back out of WSP to WCC for court in Mason County, and once back at WCC there would be no reason for me to be transferred back to WSP for court in Mason County, and once back at WCC there would be no reason for be to be transferred back to WSP. As I made perfectly clear to Mr. Junke, my decision on all this was not rooted in guilt or a belief that I would be found guilty, but in fear of WSP officials, who not only beat me while restrained, but also colluded to cover it up. Mr. Junke clearly understood the reasons for my consideration of the plea agreement, for I was only willing to do it if he could arrange it before my case in Mason County was adjudicated amd I was transferred back to WSP, as I made perfectly clear.

Mr. Junke also clearly understood that the proposed plea agreement would entail the following: my entering an Alford Plea to the charge of Custodial Assault on CO Hilliard (count 1), and the other two counts against CO Adams and CO Galloway would be dismissed. I knew this because we discussed it at length, and the reason being: I was concerned as to whether or not my pleading to Count 1 (Custodial Assault on CO Hilliard) would jeopardize my future civil suit, wherin I would be sueing Hilliard and the others involved in beating me while restrained. Mr. Junke specifically told me that my entering a plea to "Count 1" would not undermine my future suit.

Mr. Junke arranged this plea agreement with Mr. Nagle and everything was a go, until I backed out. On or around July 14, 2000 I called Mr. Junke and told him that if I had to go back to WSP it would be to defend myself against the charges. I then told him that I would proceed with the "plea agreement" as discussed, but only if he could arrange it so that we could do it over the phone so that I would not have to be transferred back to WSP at all. Mr. Junke told me he would check in to it, but expressed doubt about it happening.

The next time I talked to Mr. Junke (on the phone) he told me that both Judge Zagelow and Mr. Nagle agreed to transact the plea agreement over the phone. He also told me that he would have the necessary documents typed up and sent to me so that we could read them together, and so that I could sign them and send them back to him so that we could do everything over the phone.

On July 19, 2000 I was notified by WCC staff that Mr. Junke called and wanted to speak with me. I hooked up with Mr. Junke on the phone, who told me that he didn't have anything important to say, that he just wanted to call and tell me Happy Birthday. During this call he asked me if I could receive books; I responded "Yes, why?" He said (in rough paraphrase): "Oh, I stumbled across Charles Dickens' A TALE OF TWO CITIES and I thought about getting it for you." (Remember that a main character in this novel is a prisoner who goes crazy in solitary confinement, for it will appear again up ahead.)

On or around July 20, 2000 I received by mail the following from Mr. Junke:
1) Waiver of Rights to Attend Proceedings for Change of Plea and Sentencing, and 2) Statement of Defendant on Plea of Guilty. After carefully reading the latter document I realized that Mr. Junke was, once again, drafting language to aid and serve the interests of WSP. Mr. Junke drafted the document so that I would be entering a plea not to Count 1 (CO Hilliard), but to Count 3 (CO Galloway), thus having me admit to the manufactured story/version of events by WSP officials, thus destroying my own civil suit!

On August 2, 2000 I called and talked to Mr. Junke. I told him that the plea agreement was off. He asked why. I told him about his INTENTIONAL switch of the counts and he responded: "We never discussed what count you would be pleading to so I just randomly picked one." Mr. Junke's so-called "mistake regarding the listing of counts" may seem but a minute error on its face, but consider this in light of all Mr. Junke's other lies and "mistakes": this so-called mistake just so happens to carry heavy consequences for me (Mr. Junke's client), while being immeasurably advantageous to both WSP and the officers who beat me while restrained and then conspired to cover it up. Should I have entered a plea to "Count 3" (i.e.: choking CO Galloway) everyone involved in my beating and its subsequent cover up would have been exonerated, my future suit would have been dismissed as frivolous and I would have been branded a liar - all at the expense of truth and
justice - with Mr. Junke at the helm.

I believe that Mr. Junke not only intended all the above with his switch of the counts, but that he also intended to use this convenient mistake to deflect Mr. Gunther's interest in investigating my claim. And that's exactly what happened. Mr. Junke infomed Mr. Gunther of my alleged decision to plead to Count 3, and Mr. Gunther dropped the investigation, never to be heard from again.

Mr. Junke, at my decision to proceed without him, filed a "Motion to Allow Withdrawal of Attorney" in order to cover his tracks - which I uncovered in my "Defendant's Reply to Counsel's Motion to Allow Withdrawal Attorney." Both these documents and the more detailed story they contain can be obtained through the public disclosure process by submitting a request to Walla Walla's County Clerk, Ms. Kathy Martin.

Around the same time I was dealing with Mr. Junke and all the above, I not only helped publish a "Join The Movement To Correct Washington's Department of Corrections" poster soliciting, among other things, inmate writers and stories of abuse and malfeasance, but I also wrote a scathing article entitled, "Formula for Suicide: DOC's Absolute Power and Public Betrayal." This article combined and exposed, inter alia, many of WSP's staff-on-inmate assaults. These assaults were on African Americans, Whites and Native Americans, the accounts of which were detailed on the "Simon The Cyrene" website that Mr. Kisinger maintained. This website, which was hosted by the Christian website service www.ourchurch.com was eventually shut down without prior notice by Ourchurch.com personnel because Mr. Kisinger's Christian beliefs did not coincide with their Christian beliefs. (It seems possible that they might also have been urged to do this by WDOC.) This being
the case, my writings and the testimonies of the other abused prisoners have been lost so far as I can determine.

While in IMU and under investigation on this matter I was called out for an interview by who I did not know. Upon learning that the interviewer was CBCC investigator Mr. Terry Benda, I declined to be interviewed. Mr. Benda, obviously displeased with my decision, responded thus: "Alright Caveman!" - emphasizing my nickname as if to say, "I'm coming after you now!" I was later released from Ad Seg and housed back in GP.

On 10/13/02 another inmate and I were confined in CBCC IMU for allegedly assaulting IM Wilkenson with homemade weapons. This alleged assault was characterized as Secureity Threat Group (STG) activity on my Ad Seg authorization form, which also referred to IM Wilkenson as an STG member. However, on my Ad Seg Referral IM Wilkenson's gang affiliation was conveniently omitted while I was spuriously labeled as a White Supremacist who attacked an African American for allegedly snitching on another White Supremacist. The alleged assault was also characterized as an attempt by me to commit homicide.

While confined in CBCC IMU I, in late December of 2002, organized a non-violent, multi-racial direct action campaign - a food strike - in order to highlight and obtain remedial action for the numerous injustices we prisoners were being subjected to in the IMU. News about this campaign was disseminated to the media and various prison reform organizations for support and exposure. Many people responded to our pleas for support, including two reporters: Ms Emeline Cokelet from the Port Angeles newspaper, and Ms Patricia Murphy, a Washington state reporter from KUOW FM 94.9 in Seattle. The latter requested to interview me, but her request was denied by DOC officials.

During the food strike I was interviewed by CBCC's Ad Seg Hearing Officer, Mr. Kevin Bowen, who basically determined that my complaints were legitimate. Although the CBCC administration eventually responded by instituting some remedial measures (for example they replaced the IMU Correctional Unit Supervisor (CUS) Mr. Delong, the instigator and enabler of much of the injustice) - CBCC investigator Mr. Terry Benda characterized the multiracial nonviolent dirct-action campaign (food strike) as "STG activity" in a DOC document obtained by Mr. Kisinger in a public disclosure request. (more about this document later).

I was eventually transferred (in a van) from CBCC IMU to WCC IMU for a court hearing in Mason County, after which I was transferred back to CBCC IMU. Unlike all my other transfers to and from CBCC around the time of the food strike, my transfer back to CBCC after the court hearing mentioned above was conducted on the chain bus: a giant chain bus in order to transfer a mere three inmates! The chain bus was divided into three sections separated by chain-link fences. An inmate (he was dressed and chained as an inmate anyway) was confined in the first section of the bus; I was enclosed in the middle section (there was a CO positioned in a chair between the first and middle section), and DOC dirty informant IM Kerry Pinard was confined in the last section. IM Pinard continuously tried to engage me in a conversation about my alleged assault on IM Wilkenson. This DOC-orchestrated surreptitious interview did not result in my disclosing any incriminating
information to IM Pinard, who later falsely accused, in a fearful bid for protective custody, another IM of threatening to harm him after his contradictory statements about his crime of conviction were investigated and he was discovered to be a rapist.

Back at CBCC IMU I was confronted by CO Barnes: "I can't believe you did that." Confused, I asked her: "What are you talking about?" "You know - you tried to carve "A . F." into IM Wilkenson...." (A.F. are the initials to the White Supremacist prison gang known as the Aryan Family, which DOC investigators have falsely branded me an associate of and have been aggressively attempting (illegaly mind you) to validate me a member of ever since I started exposing DOC malfeasances in 2000). Needless to say, I never tried to carve ANYTHING into IM Wilkenson. (I will submit to a lie detector test to prove this), let alone the initials of the Aryan Family prison gang, which I am not associated with or a member of. This vicious rumor (as repeated by CO Barnes) was created and propagated by CBCC investigators in their illicit attempts to validate me as an AF member.

I was later moved to cell B-207 due to the unsanitary conditions of B-211. While there in that cell at WCC I received two letters from two different prisoners ( Robert Elliot and Frank Hickman, both of whom were then confined at the Washington State Reformatory (WSR) at Monroe - a prison so lax, plush and saturated with drugs that scofflaw officials/investigators often use the facility as a bargaining chip or reward when colluding with dirty informants, when seeking to break and turn taciturn prisoners) - despite the fact that WCC investigators (George Gilbert, etc.) were constantly monitoring my outgoing and incoming mail. (Prisoners here in Washington's DOC aren't allowed to write each other.) In other words, it seems very likely that they colluded with the dirty informants by letting their letters get to me, and probably told them what to say in the letters as well.

The first letter I received was from IM Elliot (a self-described intravenous drug addict), who stated that he was transacting some business with IM Hickman and wanted to know if I would give the word so that Hickman could remain in GP without being subjected to violence. IM Elliot then provided a phone number, suggesting that I call and leave my name on the answering machine if I was agreeable to allowing IM Hickman to remain safely in GP.

As is obvious, this letter put me in a lose/lose situation: if I called to leave my name on the answering machine to demonstrate my genuine indifference to IM Hickman's situation, it would appear to investigators monitoring my calls that I was a "shot-caller" who was responsible for IM Hickman's precarious situation; on the other hand, if I didn't call, it would appear to investigators monitoring my calls that I was a shot-caller who was responsible for IM Hickman's dangerous situation. Either way, the letter put me in a no-win situation, just as, I suspect, the investigators planned it to. I did not call or write IM Elliot back, nor have I ever written him.

The second letter I received was from IM Hickman, who first described to me how he'd been subjected to violence three times in the last year. He then went on to try to convince me that he wasn't an informant (as if I cared), pleading with me to give him a chance to prove himself, for, as he wrote, he had life without parole and wanted to be in a car (crowd/group) that was going somewhere. Again, this letter made it appear to investigators monitoring my mail that I was a shot-caller responsible for IM Hickman's situation, just, I suspect, as investigators planned it to.

Around this same time Mr. Kisinger submitted a public disclosure request to the public disclosure coordinator at CBCC requesting a copy of any and all reports, documents, etc WDOC officials at CBCC relied on to validate me as a White Supremacist STG member. Mr. Kisinger eventually received five pages from Ms. Pamela Riddle. Four of these pages were/are from DOC's STG Tracking System, which according to the documents (pages) received, contains a section for the following validation criteria: a) Correspondence-Incoming/Outgoing; b) DOC Behaviors; c) Verbal/written Information.

On the first document, entitled "STG Tracking System - Edit Offender" my nickname ("caveman"), which was given to my by my aunt when I was a very young boy, is referred to as my moniker, my alleged Group Name is cited as "White Supremacist," and my alleged Set Name is cited as "Aryan Family." My status, as of 5/20/03 (the date of the documents) is cited as "Associate."

The second document, entitled "STG Tracking System - Validation Criteria List," states the following under "DOC behaviors": "Inmate (I/M) Curtis, James 984533 was a subject of an investigation from 12/31/02 to 02/10/03 concerning Security Threat Group (STG) Activity. During the investigation the following was discovered. On 01/02/03 at, or about 8:45 (A.M.) I [Mr. Terry Benda] heard IM Curtis (Aryan Family [A/F] STG Associate) relay a message through a third party to IM Steven Eggers (suspected A/F member). The message from I/M Curtis was instructions to Eggers to organize a group demonstration within the Clallam Bay Correctional Centers (CBCC) Intensive Management Unit (IMU). I/M Curtis on the above date was housed on the IMU East side, while IM Eggers was housed on the IMU west side. I also heard I/M Curtis further instruct IM Eggers to notify the rest of the group (other A/F members) of his instructions for a demonstration. On 01/02/03 at, or
about 4:30 (PM) a food boycott (about twenty I/M's [sic] within IMU occurred on 1/11/03 at, or about 3:00 (P.M.) I further heard IM Curtis relay additional instructions to IM Eggers and IM Travis Layman (suspected AF member) to continue the demonstration. On 01/22/02 at, or about 7:00 (P.M.) I heard I/M Curtis relay further instructions to IM Chad Walton (suspected A/F member) to take control and continue the demonstration in his absnce. The above report will serve as summary of confidential source Report on file by T. Benda, Investigator Report on file at CBCC.

Observe that the "behavior" described here by Terry Benda as STG activity is the nonviolent multi-racial direct-action campaign (food strike) referred to above. Note also, that this "behavior" is being used as criteria to validate me as a White Supremacist AF associate who is not only instructing other suspected AF members to participate in the food strike, but to notify the other AF members of my instructions to participate in the food strike. Strange indeed, for NONE of the IMs mentioned by Mr. Benda in this document were AF members!

When Mr. Benda states he heard me "relay a message through a third party to Steven Eggers," he is deliberately misinterpreting my phone call to Mr. Jason Miranda (a Christian friend of IM Eggers), a phone call wherein I described our non-violent direct-action campaign and the numerous reasons for it, and then asked Mr. Miranda to encourage Mr. Eggers, who was being housed on the opposite end of the IMU, to not only participate in the campaign but to inform all the other prisoners housed on his side about our campaign and our desire that they all participate (the logic being: the more people participating, the more likely our common complaints and grievances would be addressed and remedied.)

When Mr. Benda states that he heard me relay additional instructions to Eggers and Layman to continue the demonstration he is referring to an exhortation, I believe, that I made to IM Layman while being escorted by two COs out of the IMU to a van awaiting my transfer to WCC. The exhortation: be strong, don't give up but continue the campaign until our grievances are adequately addressed. That's it, nothing more.

When Mr. Benda states on 1/22/02: " I heard I/M Curtis relay further instructions to I/M Chad Walton... to take control and continue the demonstration in his absence," he is somewhat correct, except in his peculiar use of the word "instruct," which conveniently creates the appearance that I was issuing orders, which isn't true. Having the knowledge to do so - as well as the outside resources necessary to reach the media, etc., I organized and participated in the campaign, but I never once made a single order or instruction.

Back to Mr. Benda's statement in the above paragraph. On or around 1/21/03 we prisoners confined in CBCC IMU were contemplating another campaign in order to, once again, highlight and remedy the injustices we continued to be subjected to. After learning of this, CBCC officials decided to transfer me to WCC on 1/22/03 hoping to derail the impending food strike. Their logic: strike the shepherd and scatter the sheep, or, in other words, get rid of me and my outside resources and thereby cripple the upcoming campaign. Aware that this was what was happening, I explained to not only Chad Walton but others that my resources enabling them to reach the media, etc. were still available to them and that they ought to continue on with the campaign - period.

Needless to say, Mr. Benda's version and interpretation of these events has nothing to do with White Supremacist or AF activity, but everything to do with Mr. Benda being yet another rogue DOC investigator who is politically engaged in an illicit, illegal, campaign to validate me as a White supremacist STG member of the AF prison gang. This is not only supported by the fact that Mr. Benda conveniently ommitted all my conversations and interactions with the non-white prisoners during the food strike, etc., but is also underscored by the letters that I wrote to CBCC's Superintendent, Ms. Sandra Carter, during and before the food strike.

When Mr. Benda states that he heard IM Jarnagin instructing me through a third party to recruit AF members he is referring to a phone call Jarnagin made to Mr. Kisinger, a long-time progressive activist and investigative reporter who has devoted his retirement to the intellectual and spiritual education of numerous prisoners like myself (as well as non-prisoner readers of the online newsletter which he edits). This phone call, according to Mr. Kisinger, was about IM Jarnagin's desire to transcend the racial barriers that are so prevalent and divisive here in Washinton's DOC, to work together in a collective manner to peacefully combat the injustices we prisoners are continuously and commonly subjected to by DOC personnel.

Mr. Benda's intentional misinterpretation of this phone call is yet another deliberate twisting of the facts, a misrepresentation designed to advance DOC's illicit campaign to not only validate me as an AF member, but to connect IM Jarnagin to illicit activity. This fact is reinforced by the convenient denial of Mr. Kisinger's public disclosure request, wherin he requested a copy of the telephonic RECORDINGS allegedly depicting: a) IM Jarnagin's supposed call instructing me to recruit AF members, and b) my supposed call instructing IM Eggers to notify other AF members to participate in the CBCC food strike. This public disclosure request for the telephonic recordings were denied for "investigative" reasons, but this is just a convenient pretext to ensure the recordings aren't disclosed and subsequently used to discredit and expose Mr. Benda's lies in general, and the political tactics used to spuriously validate targeted prisoners as gangsters in particular.