Approx. 10am I’m still sore, bruised up and I don’t know what the hell that gas did to my throat but it hurts to talk. My face looks fucked up and I don’t feel like writing but I need to get these updates out.
Today is Justin Fuller’s execution date. I was supposed to be out at visitation today but I think they have the unit locked down. Kevin Watts is over in the B-dayroom and he’s refusing to come out. He’s “occupied” the dayroom in protest of Justin (AKA: J-Wacc) Fuller’s unjust murder that’s set to be carried out later today. Kevin is standing with J-Wacc in complete solidarity! I’m going to give ya’ll a “play-by-play” account of what all is about to happen…
Ok, they just put all of the other guys who were in other dayrooms back in their cells. I’m on the other side of the pod so I can’t see the entire other half but between me and my other neighbors, we’ll be able to see what all goes on. Sgt.’s and Lt.’s and even the major are over there now. Kevin has a homemade gas mask on. A bunch of officers are over there. They choked me pretty hard and my throat is sore. It’s hard to write right now. The Emergency Response Riot Team just came in the door. All of the officers have gas masks on. Damn! They just fired on Kevin with the 37mm Riot Control assault tear-gas weapon. It sounded like several 12-gauge shotguns fired simultaneously. The gun looks somewhat like an H&K MP5 assault submachine gun, the kind Army Special Forces Units use. Kevin still hasn’t come out.
Can you imagine how it would feel to have one of your friends led off to execution? Would you remain complacent and do nothing? Or would you stand up against injustice and protest? The ER Team is lined up at the dayroom door. They just fired on Kevin with a canister of Crowd Control gas. They just ran in! The 5-man Riot Team slammed into Kevin with the riot shield and they are all struggling. The team is piled on top of him and he’s lost under a blur of black gloved fists, stomping combat boots and riot gear.
It looks like they have Kevin cuffed and shackled. Now they’re ripping all of his clothes off. This system attempts to dehumanize “inmates” in every way possible; this is especially true when a person challenges this system in any way. Now the riot team is picking Kevin up. They’re about to bring him through the door separating the sides of the pod. There he is, completely naked, in handcuffs and shackles and surrounded by the riot team and a bunch of officers. Alright, they’re bringing Kevin on to this section. Hold up! Ok, I’m back; I just had to talk a little shit to the officers and let them know that they are a bunch of indoctrinated, oppressive fascist cowards. They just put Kevin in 77 cell downstairs. Let me holler at him to make sure he’s alright…
“Hell no (!), I’m not alright, I’m burning up!”- That was Kevin’s response. He’s alive, responsive and not beat down too bad so that’s good. 8-24-06Approx. 1:30pm The officers just finished feeding the lunch trays but they skipped Kevin, they didn’t feed him. I’m about to holler at Officer Lane to see what’s up… “Watts jacked my dayroom so now I’m jacking his tray.” I suppose Officer Lane thinks that he can starve people without any consequences or repercussions. Lane is a fairly new officer and he hardly ever works the disciplinary pod. I’m about to cordially explain to him that if he doesn’t give Watts a tray then I will be forced to commit a direct action which will result in a "major incident". Kevin is in an empty cell, completely naked and covered in gas. He just committed the courageous and righteous act of occupying the dayroom- which led to him being assaulted with chemical gas and beaten- in protest of Justin Fuller’s execution date. How can I call myself an activist and allow Kevin to starve? Could I even call myself a human if I sat by and did nothing while such an inhumane and sadistic act occurred? No. They’re going to have to gas me and beat me today also if they don’t feed Kevin. *** Officer McCoy just walked by and I asked him if they were going to feed Kevin. He said, “Calm down Will, he’ll get fed.” Well, we’ll see… Ok, cool, Officer Lane and Officer McCoy just gave Kevin a tray. They also gave him a towel and some clothes. I’m about to do some stretching to try to work some of this soreness out. 8-24-06Approx. 2pm The Emergency Response Team just came on the pod. They brought another guy in completely naked in nothing but handcuffs and leg shackles. I feel like I’m trapped in a movie that’s being produced and directed by Anthony Burgess, Franz Kafka, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. This environment is insane. 8-24-06Approx. 4pm I just found out that Justin refused to participate in his own murder! He stood up to this deplorable system and he refused to walk to his execution! I don’t know what all happened but I do know that Justin protested his execution and the ER Team had to physically put him in the execution van. I was supposed to be out at visitation today to stand with Justin in solidarity, but for some reason my visitor didn’t show up. I hate that I wasn’t out there but it’s good to know he protested. I knew he would; Justin always stood up for what was right.
When I was separated from everyone else on disciplinary status down on A-pod, in 83 cell, Justin was 2 sections over. Me and Tony (Ford) were protesting down there so the ER Team was always running over to the section we were on. Most inmates on death row are completely indoctrinated. They don’t want any part of any type of protest. They’ve developed various coping mechanisms that form the boundaries of their comfort zone. Anyone or anything that disturbs those boundaries is met with (conscious or unconscious) animosity by the death row “herdsmen.”
Let me give you an example: One day when I was on A-pod I refused to give back the handcuffs. The ER Team stormed on the pod, I was assaulted with riot control chemical gas, then I was left naked in a cell. While all of this was happening everyone else was left in the showers, including Justin. A bunch of other inmates were whining and crying about the gas and being left in the shower. Justin wasn’t. He fully supported us protesting and he was essentially a part of us protesting. He knew he might suffer from retaliation but Justin still supported everything me and Tony were doing. He didn’t allow this system to dictate his morality.
In a few hours Justin Fuller will be executed. He will be strapped down to a gurney and murdered. But Justin bravely refused to give justification to state-sanctioned murder by participating in his own execution. He refused to support injustice with inaction. Justin courageously protested his execution and he now stands as an inspiration to me and he should definitely stand as an inspiration to others!
In the spirit of protest: Robert Will
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