March, 28 2012, 11:18am EDT
Breaking: Tim DeChristopher Placed in Isolated Confinement
On the evening of Friday March 9th, Tim DeChristopher was summarily removed from the minimum security camp where he has been held since September 2011, and moved into the FCI Herlong's Special Housing Unit (SHU). Tim was informed by Lieutenant Weirich that he was being moved to the SHU because an unidentified congressman had called from Washington DC, complaining of an email that Tim had sent to a friend. Tim was inquiring about the reported business practices of one of his legal fund contributors, threatening to return the money if their values no longer aligned with his own.
Salt Lake City
On the evening of Friday March 9th, Tim DeChristopher was summarily removed from the minimum security camp where he has been held since September 2011, and moved into the FCI Herlong's Special Housing Unit (SHU). Tim was informed by Lieutenant Weirich that he was being moved to the SHU because an unidentified congressman had called from Washington DC, complaining of an email that Tim had sent to a friend. Tim was inquiring about the reported business practices of one of his legal fund contributors, threatening to return the money if their values no longer aligned with his own. According to Prison officials, Tim will continue to be held in isolated confinement pending an investigation. There is no definite timeline for inmates being held in the SHU -- often times they await months for the conclusion of an investigation.
In the SHU, Tim's movement and communications are severely restricted. In the past two weeks, he has been allowed out of his 8 X 10 cell (which he shares with one other inmate) four times, each time for less than an hour. The SHU could have been designed by Franz Kafka. Tim is allowed one book in his cell, and four in his property locker. His writing means are restricted to a thin ink cartridge which makes correspondence extremely difficult. He can still receive mail from the outside, but has no other form of communication other than 15 minutes of phone calls per month.
Peaceful Uprising found Tim's conviction and sentence to two years of prison time outrageous enough, and people all over the US demonstrated their dismay at this injustice through widespread solidarity actions. But now, Tim is being effectively thrown in the hole for no good reason we can see, other than to further restrict his communication. We are witnessing, once again, the hidden power of public and appointed officials in Washington DC to inflict cruel and unusual punishment on Tim because of his courageous stand in confronting injustice and speaking truth to power.
We firmly believe the only way Tim will be returned to the minimum security camp he's been housed in for the last six months is to place outside pressure on elected and appointed officials in Washington DC, specifically the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and members of Congress charged with overseeing the BOP. Peaceful Uprising wishes to express their solidarity with Tim by making this national call to action, asking Tim's supporters to call officials at the Federal Correctional Institution in Herlong CA, the Bureau of Prisons in Washington DC, and members of Congress that sit on the subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security demanding that they immediately return Tim to the minimum security camp from which he came.
Take action here.
Peaceful Uprising is committed to defending a livable future through empowering nonviolent action.
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