Anarchist prisoner Eric King is facing a serious assault charge after being attacked by a prison guard. The following information is taken from his legal fundraiser site.
**Content warning: Eric's case involves extreme government conduct and use of force, and it is important to recognize that the information and images from this case are shocking. Eric has consented to sharing case updates and information about what is publicly filed in court. That said, we ask that supporters who access/share information about Eric's case (whether here, through PACER, or other media) do so with a trauma and consent-informed sense of caution and awareness of how pretrial publicity can negatively affect a criminal case.**
Eric King is an imprisoned parent, artist, poet, and partner who needs support defending himself as he faces serious federal charges from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
Eric is currently serving a ten year sentence in BOP for Use of Explosive Materials to Commit Arson. On September 11, 2014, Eric threw two molotov cocktails and a hammer through a window of an unoccupied Kansas City congressional building. Eric was charged in the federal court in Kansas City; in 2016 he accepted a non-cooperating guilty plea and a mandatory minimum 10-year federal sentence for the case. As part of his plea and sentencing Eric publicly and proudly acknowledged that his intent was to take direct political action in solidarity with the community of Ferguson, Missouri following the August 2014 police killing of Michael Brown, Jr. He has been in BOP custody since he was sentenced in 2016.
Even in prison, Eric is committed to using his poetry, art, and writing for liberation and a world free from domination and oppression.
Learn more about Eric, read his writing, share his struggle here: http://www.supportericking.org
Follow Eric's support team on twitter: @SupportEricKing
August 17, 2018
In 2017 Eric was transferred to FCI Florence, part of the notorious federal prison complex in Florence, Colorado. On August 17, 2018 an Administrative Lieutenant from FCI Florence ordered Eric to attend a private "interview" in a prison storage room. BOP officers who removed Eric from the storage room heard him say that the Administrative Lieutenant attacked him and that Eric was defending himself. Officers took Eric out of the storage room and to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where they stripped him, shackled him to a bed, and held him in isolation without ability to communicate with his loved ones or a lawyer for three days. Eric had visible injuries when he was transferred out of Florence to USP Leavenworth on August 20, 2018, and he has experienced tingling in his limbs, headaches, blurred vision, and nausea daily since August 17, 2018.
The New Federal Charge
In May 2019 Eric was indicted by a grand jury in the District Court of Colorado for a new federal felony charge of Assaulting a Federal Official. The charge is based on what the government says happened during the interview in the Florence storage room with the Administrative Lieutenant. Eric now faces up to 20 additional years in federal prison, and is fighting this charge while still in the custody of his accusers.
On February 25, 2020, Eric's legal team asked the court to postpone Eric's trial date, which is currently scheduled for April 27, 2020. Even though Eric is only accused of one charge, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) treatment and investigation of Eric involves some very serious complex Constitutional, legal, and moral questions about how the BOP treats and investigates Eric and other prisoners in their custody.
The request for a continuance filed by Eric's defense team asked the judge to postpone the trial date because both the government and Eric's defense need more information about the case. The request filed in court explains that more time is needed to prepare for trial because information already turned over by the government shows:
- Eric was moved to the prison at Florence after BOP accused and punished him for threatening prison staff because he kept a diary of his private thoughts,
- On the afternoon August 17, 2018 a Florence Administrative Lieutenant read Eric's email and ordered Eric to an "interview" in a storage closet,
- BOP officers heard Eric say that he was hurt and had been defending himself,
- After the encounter with the Administrative Lieutenant BOP officers took Eric from the storage room, strapped him into a "restraint chair," and took him to the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where they cut off his clothes, “four point” shackled his limbs to the corners of his bed with handcuffs, and left him alone for hours,
- Eric was held in isolation for three days without the ability to talk to his family or a lawyer,
and
- Evidence in the case is missing, including evidence of what happened while Eric was shackled and isolated in the SHU.
The following images have been shared by his defence team, with Eric's consent:
On August 17, 2018 an Administrative Lieutenant at FCI Florence read Eric's email and ordered Eric to an "interview" in a storage room at the prison.
Eric was transferred to Florence in January 2017 after officers at FCI Englewood read his diary and reported drawings and poetry as a threat to staff
Eric has no history of violence, but he was transferred to Florence in January 2017 after officers at FCI Englewood read his diary and reported drawings and poetry as a threat to staff.
Eric had visible injuries to his face on August 20, 2018
Florence officers removed Eric from the storage room, handcuffed him, and moved him into the yard of the prison where they strapped him into a special restraint chair and carried him to the SHU. Mr. King remained calm in the SHU as officers cut off Mr. King’s clothing, “four point” shackled Mr. King’s limbs to the corners of his bed with handcuffs, and left him alone in that position for hours.
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