On 17th March 2017, Katherine
Fernandez Rundle formally closed the official enquiry into the death of Darren
Rainey at Dade C.I. (prison) Florida, 23rd June, 2012. Mr Rainey died after being locked into a
chamber of super-heated steam. The
official report that was released to the press that day found ‘no wrongdoing’
in the treatment of Darren Rainey – even though his black skin was steamed off
and thrown into the trash. The report
went to great lengths to discredit the testimony of Harold Hempstead, Florida’s
‘Caged Crusader’ and the man who did more than anyone else in bringing this
event into the public domain and risks his life by doing so. Earlier the same day, or rather in the small
hours of the night, Harold Hempstead was woken from sleep, taken into a room
with three agents of the state of Florida (prison guards) and slapped to the ground, choked
and punched, before being told his property would be trashed and being put on a bus for an
unknown location, minus his legal paper-work. For several days his
whereabouts were not divulged to his family or anyone else and he was held
incommunicado. Eventually it emerged
that he had been transported to Tennessee.
These events have generated some media
attention and added fuel to the growing debate over what has come to be known
as ‘mass-incarceration’ in the United States.
This is all to the good, as public perception of USA has yet to catch up
with reality. Since capitalist lobbying
groups started succeeding in their mission to privatize the prison system back
in the 80’s we’ve seen a population explosion of inmates and the USA can now
boast of 2.3 million people behind bars.
Many Europeans make the mistake of imagining that American prisons are
perhaps slightly worse than ours. Sadly,
the prisons of Russia, or even China would bear much closer comparison to those
of the ostensibly civilized USA. The
catalogue of horrors is seemingly endless and the sheer barbarity of the topic
is very off-putting for many readers, particularly those used to getting their
news down the mainstream. ‘America’, as
it likes to call itself, is the world’s richest country and invests a lot of
money in movies – America is constantly pumping its own image out to the world
– even small children soon learn to ape the accent. The cultural domination is all-pervasive, but
there’s a horrific underbelly to it. Not
so far from Disneyland in Florida is the prison where Mr Rainey was steamed to
death and others were starved, raped and tortured, having been greeted on
arrival at the unit with the words “welcome to Auschwitz” by guards who meant
what they said. I hope people are not so
overwhelmed by the subject matter that they are paralyzed into docility, as action
is needed now more than ever if U.S. legislators are to be galvanized into
addressing this human rights crisis. They
only listen when a lot of people shout and shout very loud indeed.
At Harold’s blog, you can see several of
his sworn statements about prison conditions in Florida:
I’ll be updating the Caged Crusader blog
soon, with more of Harold’s witness statements.
I’m also hoping to find time to go through the Rainey-death-report and
look at its many inconsistencies and contradictions – this is, after all, a
document that has basically condoned torture and murder – that’s my belief and
I know I’m not alone.
Most of the reports that went into world
media tell only the tip of the ice-berg.
Amongst other things, there is almost no mention of Darren Rainey’s
Muslim faith, let alone the death of Daniel Geiger – the inmate for whom the
‘shower-treatment’ was invented in the first place. Geiger was starved and repeatedly tortured by
FDC staff in the mental hospital at Dade prison, but he’s not even mentioned as
being dead in the report – apparently he’s listed among the living. Daniel Geiger died on 7th
November, 2016 in the custody of Florida Department of Corrections. A vital witness in the Rainey case, he was
never interviewed by police or anyone else in authority – that opportunity has
now passed.
I’d like to thank the people at the Miami
Herald newspaper who have done so much to tell the world the story of Darren
Rainey and Harold Hempstead.
Miami Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle (Lady Macbeth?)
Email To: Julie Jones, Secretary,
Florida Department of Corrections 17th March, 2017
C.C. Media, Human Rights Orgs.
NO CHARGES FOR PRISON GUARDS WHO
STEAMED A MENTALLY-DISTURBED, BLACK MUSLIM TO DEATH IN FLORIDA PRISON-HOSPITAL
SHOWER BUT HARSH RETALIATION FOR CONVICT/WHISTLE-BLOWER WHO TOLD THE TALE TO
MEDIA
(Attachment to Florida Shower Murder
Story - Disappearing Witness etc. See 'Caged Crusader')
Dear Secretary Jones,
I am writing to you to express my grave
concern over the treatment of one of your charges, Harold Hempstead. You will
be familiar with his name as the key witness in the murder of Darren Rainey at
Dade C.I. Today, four and three quarter years after Mr Rainey was tortured
to death by FDC staff, we have heard that 'no wrongdoing' has been found in the
manner of his death and that no charges whatsoever have been brought against
anyone involved.
I have also been informed today that
Harold Hempstead has been removed from the State of Florida and transferred to
the custody of another state. I am under the impression that this move
may not be totally legal.
Harold has repeatedly witnessed the
crimes of the state and fearlessly documented them. He has further
witnessed and documented the retaliation against him and others who use their
free speech to speak out against the arbitrary brutality and sadism of certain
of the guards. This is how he has come to the attention of international
media and the human rights community. A great many people are now taking
an increasing interest in his case and his history of advocating for some of
society's most vulnerable members.
I am in communication with several
members of the British government about the human rights crisis in Florida and
you may well be hearing from my government in the very near future.
In the meantime, I would be very
grateful if you would tell me where I can address my letters to my friend
Harold Hempstead, D.C.# 268866.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Schanche
Newly released video interview of Harold
Hempstead by Julie Brown of the Miami Herald:
To: Caroline Mortimer - The
Independent, London. U R G E N T
Re: Your Article: Florida
Prosecutors Refuse To Charge Guards For Trapping Prisoner In Hot Shower Until
It Killed Him - 18.3.2017
Dear Caroline,
I approached your paper over this story
yesterday, offering to provide abundant information direct from my sources in
Florida, including Harold Hempstead. Your article has quoted liberally
from the official death-report, but has missed some vitally important points.
There is a great deal more behind this 'story' that I could inform you
about.
By portraying Harold Hempstead as an
unreliable witness, you are doing him a terrible disservice. Convicts in
USA who speak out about abuse by guards are very likely to be killed, and are killed
on a regular basis. Mr Hempstead is in prison for life, and not only
gains nothing by witnessing the truth about what happened to Darren Rainey, but
is endangering his life by doing so.
Forms of retaliation taken against him
have included numerous transfers, depriving him of all his medications and
housing him in cells with no less than five convicted murderers. This is
because he testifies against ALL the abuse in Florida's prisons and he will not
stop witnessing and testifying. He has uncovered systemic starvation,
torture and grave violations of the constitution. The US Department of
Justice take his allegations seriously enough to be conducting ongoing interviews
with him pending a CRIPA investigation.
The same day - 17th March - that State
Attorney Rundle announced the finding of 'no wrongdoing' in Mr Rainey's death,
Harold Hempstead was transported out of the state of Florida an is,
effectively, in secret detention.
Mr Hempstead's history of exploitation
by the state of Florida goes back to when he was 13 years old and was illegally
recruited as a police spy. Having exposed corruption and sex abuse by the
police, he was put away for 165 years on dubious theft charges. His prior
history of police-work was deemed 'inadmissible' by the judge who said 'I hope
you die in prison'. If you understand the culture of profound corruption
and violence in Florida, you'll realize that they wanted Mr Hempstead put out
of the way, as he was a problem to the corrupt authorities - he did not 'play
the game'.
I can prove to you and your paper that
you have grievously misinterpreted the facts about Harold Hempstead and about
what happened to Darren Rainey. In the barbaric world of Florida's
prisons, life is very cheap indeed and it would be beyond ironic if a guy who
risks his life for truth got branded by the media as a liar - giving certain
guards more 'reason' to persecute him.
History will sooner or later vindicate
Harold Hempstead and show him for the genuine hero he is. When that
happens, it would be much better for The Independent if they had shown
themselves to be on the side of truth, rather than merely repeating the lies of
a demonstrably corrupt government department.
Please contact me to discuss setting
the record straight and give me a chance to provide you with the wealth of
information I have on this case. Nobody in Europe knows more about this
case than me, it's been my main focus for almost a year and I can back up
everything I say with facts and evidence. If you care at all for justice,
then please talk to me.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Schanche (The ‘Independent’ failed to respond to me
about this.)
This article by Eyal Press of The New
Yorker is well worth reading, as is his previous expose of FDC, aptly entitled ‘Madness’...
From 28.3.2017 this article is absolutely brilliant for pathological
evidence, but fails to do justice to Harold Hempstead and his role in the case,
in my opinion. The harrowing details it reveals about 3rd degree burns contrast starkly with the official report. But what about the skin on
the stairs? There is no mention of
that. I’ve contacted Huff Post and
offered the same as I did to the Independent, Guardian and numerous other
British and American news sites. Even
Buddhist groups, Socialist news services and Black Lives Matter have failed to
respond, as did Amnesty International… you get used to this kind of thing after
a while.
Email to: Julie Jones, Secretary,
Florida Department of Corrections
23rd March, 2017
Dear Secretary Jones,
I hope you can find time to study the
articles below. It seems neither reasonable, nor humane to prevent Harold
Hempstead (268866) from speaking to his family on the phone and I don't see how
this can be constitutional either. Please do the right thing and permit
Harold's free speech to resume.
The suppression of his free speech,
five days after being transported out of state, is causing intense distress to
his family, particularly his 72 year old mother who suffers from confusion and
is distraught with worry for her son. This is affecting her health, which in
turn has a negative effect on the entire family.
I sincerely ask you to ensure that
phone access is restored today.
With best wishes,
Jeremy Schanche
(Links were added on the email to wiki
articles on: Freedom of Speech in United
States, United States Constitution, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
United Nations Convention Against Torture.)
Email to: Julie Jones, Secretary, Florida Dept. of Corrections. 20.3.2017
Where's Harold?
Jeremy Schanche
A great article from Al Jazeera:
Transported to the East….. this story gives an insight into how
prisoners are transported from state to state in USA:
Who's gonna tell about, who's gonna tell about, what's going on down there?
