[col. writ. 1/8/14] © ’14 Mumia Abu-Jamal
On April 10, 2012, a raid began at the Pennsylvania prison at Dallas. The raid was the targeting of men who filed complaints with the Human Rights Coalition and in federal courts.
Several of the men, some of whom did file such complaints, anticipating violence against them, used their bed sheets to seal their cells, and refused to come out, unless they could meet with high-ranking DOC officials to report the violence and intimidation facing them.
Guards in riot gear and helmeted, tore through the sheets, sprayed tear gas or pepper spray, and beat the 5 men for their protests – and then shipped most of them across the state of Pennsylvania.
Thus was born the Dallas 5 (originally 6, but one man pled out and was released) – for after this non-violent protest, these men faced criminal charges of riot and incitement – despite being locked in their cells under solitary confinement – or, one man; one cell, for 24 hours a day.
The men: Andre Jacobs, Carrington Keys, Duane Peters, No Consent, and Derrick Stanley haven waiting for nearly 4 years for trial.
Their family and supporters are demanding that the charges be dropped. Trial is set for January 21st, 2014.
Shandra Delaney, a mother of one of the men, is also a Human Rights Coalition Investigator, and has written articles on the Dallas 5, and also sent out petitions seeking dismissals.
Luzerne County, where Dallas state prison sits, is a site now infamous for the Kids-for-Cash scandal, when judges exploited hundreds of children, for years, to make money by locking them up.
That’s where the trial (f there is a trial) will take place.
–©’14maj
[More info: http://scdallas6.blogspot.com/