“The magnificent seven.”
They are a cross-section of American men, black, white, Greek, and Italian. Seven men, seven guards at a county jail in Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania. Seven man who collectively face 37 counts of sexual and institutional assault against a dozen women.
The women? Local newspapers have a policy of not naming them, a process that adds to their extreme and visibility. As inmates, as prisoners, they were already invisible.
How could they feel otherwise when they complained for years only to be ignored, retaliated against, only to be assaulted again and again and again. The trial against Lackawanna County Seven has begun and who knows what will happen. They may be convicted or they may be acquitted, for they were charged with sexually assaulting women, women prisoners, two categories doubly invisible in today’s America.
On local TV, a tape was shown of the men being arrested and walked out of the county prison, their hands handcuffed, all caps covering most of their faces. It was hard to tell their ages. I assume they were mostly young men, but published counts showed all seven were between the ages of 42 and 53: mature men, fathers, grandfathers.
The sexual assaults against women in a Pennsylvania county jail were no different than the sexual assault against Hollywood’s brightest stars, ‘cause it’s about power, y’all. State power, male power, and the power of the law which legitimize scapegoating. It’s ultimately all about power. What will happen? We shall see.
From imprison nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)