Sometimes, events occur which, although separate in locality, have features in common, or, when compared, reveal a clarity that they would not possess apart.
Cases in point:
A– A young man, reportedly for the high crime of possessing a 3 inch knife, gets shot repeatedly, until dead. His alleged offense: Causing fear in a cop;
B– A middle-aged man, armed as if about to engage in war, drives to a Colorado Springs abortion clinic, and engages in an hours long rampage, shooting 9, and killing 3 before quitting his tantrum — and submitting to arrest.
Upon arrest, he is neither beaten, nor kicked, nor stomped, nor shot.
I am, of course, referring to the cases of Laquan McDonald, 17, late of Chicago, IL, and of Robert L Dear, 59, of Colorado Springs, site of a Planned Parenthood clinic.
It must be said that Black men receive hyper-attention when in the presence of cops, so much so that, as a rule, white guys fade into the background of normality, unseen, unchallenged – even when they are carrying arsenals.
Again, as in Dear’s case, he drove to the clinic, and then carried arms into the site of Planned Parenthood.
One man – was virtually invisible.
Another man was hyper-visible.
In such cases as this, both paths led to disaster.
![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)