alert

Distribute Far and Wide and Please Take Immediate Action

HRC/Fed Up! has received correspondence from five prisoners in the Special Management Unit (SMU--the most restrictive hole in Pennsylvania) in the last week to report that prison guards and the Unit Manager are starving an inmate as a means of retaliation. We have also been contacted by the inmate's family.

New Afrikan POW Russell Maroon Shoats has been suffering from chest pains.

He has repeatedly been ignored by guards when requesting the medical attention he urgently needs. On May 13th he filed a grievance to address
the situation. Only after receiving calls from his family did they move him to the medical department.

Now he is in medical but has yet to receive an X-ray or any treatment.

Please call to demand that Russell Shoats (inmate #AF-3855 at SCI Greene) receive a coronary angiography (heart X-ray) and medical care.

Dear Fed Up! Community:

We were alerted Sunday evening (March 16) to a report of assault at Red Onion State Prison targeting Fed Up! co-founder Kevin "Rashid" Johnson #185492. Last Thursday, fellow prison advocates received a letter from another prisoner at ROSP stating the following:

"I am writing to you concerning a situation with Rashid. The police set him up today. Gassed his cell numerous times and did a cell extraction on him after they got him down on the floor, they punched him in the face and pulled his hair."

Physical Abuse at Red Onion State Prison Increases with New Assistant Warden – Rowlette

---the following information has details of abuse and may be triggering--

The Human Rights Coalition received alarming news this morning that several people incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison(ROSP) were being abused by correctional officers.   This information is paraphrased and being sent out because the people in prison are in fear for their safety. We will have a more detailed report in the next couple of weeks.

Over the last month, prisoners report the atmosphere at ROSP has intensified in regards to racial harassment of prisoners as well as physical abuse. It has become a regular occurrence for prisoners to be called racial slurs when receiving food. If the prisoners responds in anyway their food is taken from them and the Sergeant says the prisoner refused the meal. Personal property of the prisoners is also being destroyed. Prisoners believe this upsurge in abuse is related to the reinstatement of Assistant Warden Rowlette. Richard Rowlette was a Major at Red Onion State Prison when it was first opened and sited for extreme acts of abuse by the Human Rights Watch. ( http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/redonion/)

On November 8^th, Kevin Johnson was maced for holding the slot in his solitary confinement door open. This act of defiance, holding the slot open, was in response to a prisoner being assaulted on his block. On November 20 ^th, his hand was slammed in the slot twice. Prisoner's hands and arms have been broken in the past from being slammed in the door slots.

Statement from Russell Maroon Shoatz regarding medical situation

I have been in prison for over 35 years and for over 25 years I have been held in various control units.
during those years, I have suffered from high blood pressure, that has been aggravated by the stress brought on by the harsh conditions of 23 hour daily lockdown.

For a year I have also suffered from irregular heartbeats, that since March 2007 has degenerated into a heart flutter, shoulder and chest pains and lightheadedness, all of which indicates serious underlying heart problems, that could lead to stroke or heart attack.

Yet, despite my complaints, I have only been given support stockings to wear, occasional electrocardiogram (ECG) reviews, and been prescribed aspirin. None of which is capable of detecting the underlying problem.

I need your help in order to get the prison to allow me to see a heart specialist and be given a stress test and be fitted with a holter monitor in order to pinpoint the problem, before being prescribed proper treatment.

come on Sunday to the A-Space in West Philly to write letters to SCI Greene!

Eight veterans of the Black Panther Party (BPP,) seven of whom are accused of belonging to the Black Liberation Army (BLA,) were arrested today on charges stemming from the 1971 shooting death of San Fransisco Police Sgt. John V. Young.