Marc Cole, Cornwall's First Taser Death

30-year old Marc Cole - a painter from Falmouth who  had a recent history of severe and enduring mental-illness - a severe condition of the brain called hydrocephalus and a family history of Bi-Polar Disorder died on 23rd May 2017 after being shot by Devon and Cornwall police with a Taser stun-gun when they were called out to attend a mental-health-crisis - Mr Cole is the first person in Cornwall to die after being stunned with a taser - 

Letter to:  The Cornishman newspaper  Cornwall, Britain and other press, 29:5:17

Dear Editor,

I was extremely distressed to hear that 30 year old Marc Cole, a painter from Falmouth died on Tuesday 23rd May, having cut himself in the street and been shot by police with a taser stun-gun.  

Over the last seven years I've had a lot of communication about tasers with the police, government, UN and human rights organisations.  The law around tasers is something I have touched on with Derek Thomas MP, who has kept me waiting eleven months for a response.  

As a citizen of a democracy, I expect my representatives to engage in discussion with me over the issue of arming our police.  I agree with the UN that the taser is not safe for street-use.  As I've watched the taser-fatalities accumulate in this country, I'd imagine the relatives of the deceased might agree with me. Safer weapons are available.  May we as a people discuss this?

Sincerely,

Jeremy Schanche

------------------------

NOTICE:

I am very keen to speak to the family of Marc Cole, the man who was killed in the above incident.  They can contact me at: save the holy headland at yahoo dot com - I'm a human-rights activist who has worked on taser-law issues for several years and would like to offer them any help I can give.  

Jeremy Schanche

-------------------------

note:  since writing the above notice, I have made contact with the family of the man apparently killed by police in the street in Falmouth.  If anyone else has been shot or threatened by police with a stun-gun, please contact me for free legal advice.

Please check out my in-depth investigation of everything related to taser RESIST CARDIAC ARREST  written in 2010, when I launched my campaign against these illegal and vicious weapons of torure, having seen what was happening in the USA, where people were dying on a very regular basis from being shot with these weapons.  The town of Falmouth, in West Cornwall, Great Britain, has played a very important part in the RCA campaign, as it was a previous incident of Falmouth police taser-torture that led to my communicating with the United Nations and learning about how Britain's politicians have lied to us since '85 on this issue. This is an interesting example of 'cause and effect,' or a 'chain of causality.'

Nutshell Version:  tasers arrive in UK, RCA Campaign starts after death of Brian Loan, 1st fatality;  UN Declaration says tasers are illegal instrument of torture; Brit Gov non-communication and evasion after many, many letters from me about legal basis of weapons;  UNCAT never ratified as politicians won't go there or talk about it;  police continue to stun-gun people;  man dies in Cornwall, as predicted in 2010.

Also:

They now have machine-guns.

Welcome to the Western Democracy.  Bullet-proof jackets are available for going shopping.

A brother speaks of a lost brother - dead after police taser attack.

Tributes to Marc Cole from the community.
Please remember Marc Cole, 'Colsey' of Falmouth, Britain and his family, in this most distressing situation.  Please respect the family's request to be left in peace.  

WHY DIDN’T THE DADE COUNTY FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY PROVIDE THE MIAMI HERALD NEWSPAPER WITH A CERTIFIED AUDIO COPY OF MY JUNE 2014 INTERVIEW WITH THE MIAMI-DADE POLICE DEPARTMENT ON THE DARREN RAINEY MURDER WHEN THE HERALD FIRST REQUESTED IT?

Darren Rainey

Katherine Fernandez Rundle

Harold Hempstead

"On 6/23/12 Darren Rainey was brutally killed in a shower that reached temperatures in excess of 160 degrees Fahrenheit in the Dade C.I. Transitional Care Unit (TCU).  The Miami Dade Police Department was assigned to investigate the Rainey murder that same night, but they didn’t actually start investigating said murder till June 2014.  What caused them to start their investigation in June 2014?  The Miami Herald newspaper published weeks of articles on how the police were refusing to investigate said murder.  

In June 2014, when police started their investigation I was one of the inmate-witnesses they interviewed in June 2014 about the Rainey murder.  Following the Dade County Florida State Attorney’s 3/17/17 decision not to prosecute in the Rainey case, the Miami Herald Newspaper ordered all the public records in the Rainey case which included audio copies of all the interviews the police conducted.  As of 4/19/17 I’ve been told by a Miami Herald representative that the Dade County State Attorney turned over audio copies of all the interviews the police conducted with everybody but me.  Also, I was told that the Dade County State Attorney said the alleged reason why her office didn’t provide an audio copy of my interview with the police was because they didn’t have it, and the MDPD was still in possession of it.  Now tell me this doesn’t sound like more foul play.  Why would the MDPD provide the audio recordings they conducted with everybody but me to the State Attorney?  Does the Dade County State Attorney have the audio recording of my interview, and they just don’t want to turn it over to the Herald because the State Attorney knows she lied several times on me in her 3/17/17 memorandum and to the media about things she alleged I told the police?  Does the Miami-Dade Police Department still have the audio recording of my interview and they don’t want to turn it over to the Dade County State Attorney, because the police told the Dade County State Attorney I told them things that I didn’t say?  Are the Dade County Florida State Attorney and/or MDPD refusing to provide an audio copy of my June 2014 interview with the police until one or both of these agencies can add or subtract things from my interview to suit their lies?  These are questions that I have about matters that I’d like to know.  There are several things that concern my June 2014 interview with the police that I don’t need to ask any questions on.  I know I didn’t say several things in my police interview that the Dade County State Attorney alleged I said since 3/17/17.  I know when the police were interviewing me they were doing their best to limit my answers and evidence I was trying to provide to the degree that I said something about it more than once.  I know that MDPD detective Sanchez told me prior to the interview that the Miami Herald had published several articles on the Rainey murder in the weeks prior to them interviewing me in June 2014, and later on I found out that the majority of those articles were on how the MDPD was refusing to do their job and investigate the Rainey murder.  I know these news articles got the police in some trouble and got them mad.  Other than all of the foregoing that I do know, I know one more thing which is: there’s no logical reason why the audio interview I had with the police wasn’t turned over to the media with all the other audio interviews but for foul play with the MDPD and Dade County Florida State Attorney.  

Is it too much to ask that the law be followed in the Rainey case?  Is it too much to expect Dade County officials to do their jobs that they swore oaths to do?

Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you think would like to join us in our fight for the value of life.  Please sign our petition on Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER."

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. ‘Caged Crusader,’  Tennessee D.C., April 2017

WHAT IS DADE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER DR LEW TRYING TO HIDE ON THE DARREN RAINEY CASE?

On 4/18/17 I was told the Miami Herald published an article on how Dade County Medical Examiner Dr Lew is refusing to allow an independent medical examiner to review the skin and blood samples etc. from Darren Rainey that are the records to support her findings.  Also, I was told the reason why Dr Lew is doing the foregoing is because she’s alleging the skin and blood samples etc. that the independent examiner wants to review are not public records.

 If  that was true then why do medical examiners across Florida disagree with her.  You can find several articles by the Miami Herald newspaper on prison deaths that county medical examiners across Florida allowed independent medical examiners to look at the skin, blood etc. samples in other prison death cases.  Also, you can find several other cases in Florida where county medical examiners allowed independent examiners to examine skin, blood etc. samples in murders and deaths they were assigned to.  Were all the medical examiners in Florida legally wrong for doing what they did and only Dr Lew’s office is right?  Of course not.  Florida lawyers also say Dr Lew’s office is legally wrong.  I can only think of two logical reasons why Dr Lew’s office would refuse to allow an independent medical examiner to review the skin, blood etc. samples from Darren Rainey.  Dr Lew and the Dade County State Attorney know the skin samples prove Rainey’s skin was burned and that he didn’t die like Dr Lew alleged.  

Option One:  They don’t want the independent examiner to expose Dr Lew’s lies, so they’re going to fight tooth and nail to prevent the foregoing.  

Option Two:  Dr Lew refused to allow the independent examiner to review the record samples from Rainey until she had time to replace Rainey’s record samples with another dead person’s samples.  

These are the only two logical reasons I can come up with.  If you can think of another one will you please share it with me?  In other blogs I addressed problems with Dr Lew’s findings and how a lot of the reasons why Dade County officials don’t want to prosecute Rainey’s killers is because Rainey was a poor, black, mentally disabled Muslim prisoner and to them Rainey’s life wasn’t worth how much it’ll cost to prosecute Rainey’s killers.  

I haven’t yet explained the impact the Rainey case would have on the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) and Florida and how much it’ll cost these two entities if a murder prosecution was instituted (and was successful.)  I believe it’s fair to say that if the Dade County Florida State Attorney (and Dr Lew) said Rainey was killed based on the conditions in the shower it would show the DOJ and the people of the World the extent of the evil to which FDC staff will subject inmates.  It would more than likely cause the DOJ (and the people of the World) to see that the DOJ (or some type of independent oversight committee) really needs to take over, supervise, monitor FDC and it would lead to millions and millions of dollars in liability and problems for FDC that they’d have to pay to have fixed to prevent future inmates from being harmed.  

Despite all of the things I’ve mentioned, these things shouldn’t matter.  Those who killed Rainey shouldn’t be allowed to remain free and Rainey’s killers should be prosecuted.  If Rainey’s killers would be prosecuted their prosecution would be a statement to all that the lives of poor people, black people, mentally disabled people, Muslims and prisoners matter.  By not prosecuting Rainey’s killers it is a clear statement that the lives of the lives of these people don’t matter and the life of poor, black, mentally disabled Muslim prisoner Darren Rainey doesn’t matter to Dade County Medical Examiner Dr Lew, and to the Dade County, Florida State Attorney who led Dr Lew to make false findings on Darren Rainey’s murder.

Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you believe would like to join us in our fight for the value of life.  Please sign our petition at Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. Caged Crusader, Tennessee D.C., April 2017

Marc Cole Dead After Falmouth Police Taser Torture: Letter To Chief Constable Cornwall - RESIST CARDIAC ARREST CAMPAIGN UPHOLDING UNCAT

Public Message To:  Chief Constable Sean Sawyer, Cornwall and Devon Police, 27th May, 2017

Dear Chief Constable,
Re:  The Death of Marc Cole / Stun-guns / United Nations Conventions Against Torture

Since 2010 I have been attempting to get the British authorities to uphold the law regarding torture, namely the UNCAT.  I have had communication with your predecessor, the former Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary;  Andrew George MP;  Derek Thomas MP; and various members of the British Government and police.  I have a written admission from a cabinet minister that stun-guns are indeed lethal, despite contrary claims by the manufacturer.

Since a young man has just died having been shot with a stun-gun by Cornish police in Falmouth, I thought I would point out to you that the use of the taser x-26 and similar weapons is illegal.  

An MP recently let me know that this fact is virtually unknown in the House of Commons.  However, it is know to some, including the Prime Minister, the Law Lords and the United Nations.  Taser usage became illegal in Britain in 2007, following the UN declaration in Lisbon.  The fact that this change in the law has not filtered through the British Government to the Cornish police in no way diminishes the legal reality of the situation. I believe ignorance of the law is not a recognized defence. 

I understand that the UN Committee Against Torture can not order the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary to cease using their illegal weapons of torture, and I also understand the mechanism by which the British Government avoids its legal obligation to uphold the UNCAT.  I know this from having communicated directly with the United Nations in Geneva myself.  The reason I took a complaint to Geneva was because Falmouth police (who have just been involved in a taser-killing) (and also shot dead a man who had an air-gun) were torturing a handcuffed man in the street with a taser.  Since Penzance police falsely told me they could not take my complaint, I took it to Geneva, that being the obvious route to justice which was not available in this jurisdiction.  My communication with the UN in Geneva explicated for me the mechanism of deception by which the British government(s) since Thatcher in 1985, have been evading their responsibility to uphold the UNCAT by failing to ratify Article 22.  

As a result of the continuing illegal use of stun-guns in Cornwall and Devon, resulting from the British government and police failing to properly engage with my legal objections to this weapon's deployment, constables of our local force recently burnt a disturbed young man to death by electrocuting him when he was doused with petrol - proving they were incapable of following the basic guidelines that are supposedly taught to ensure the 'safety' of this weapon.

We now have a second disturbed man apparently killed by an illegal stun-gun in Devon and Cornwall.  I know other injuries were involved in this case, but it seems highly likely that the stun gun was a major contributory factor.  

Have the Devon and Cornwall police been warned that the batteries in their weapons are known to be carcinogenic, and highly dangerous if damaged?  Since this warning comes in printed form with each new weapon, I trust you have put the safety of the constables first and informed them of the carcinogenic nature of their weapons.  Failure to do so would seem to be placing their health in jeopardy unnecessarily.  

If you have any doubt about the validity of what I am imparting to you, then I request that in your role as head of law and order in Cornwall and Devon that you please contact the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva and request them to inform you of their judgement given in Lisbon in 2007.  I believe they will make it clear to you that the UN's Investigative Committee has indeed defined the said weapon as an instrument of extreme pain and torture, likely to cause death.  They recommended its use be discontinued instantly as it was in violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.  Please verify this information for yourself and liaise with the British Government and respond to me on this (preferably before anyone else is killed in the street with one of these weapons.)

It is my informed belief that Great Britain is in breach of UNCAT by our continued use of taser and similar weapons.  I have informed the government and police of this many times and have never received a satisfactory response from any official, clarifying the government and police's position in law.  It is my belief that Britain's continuing breach of UNCAT has led directly to the deaths of Andrew Pimlott in Plymouth and Marc Cole in Falmouth as well as numerous other deaths in Britain.  Politicians who have evaded discourse on this issue bear some responsibility for these deaths.  Derek Thomas has broken a public promise to me over this and failed to raise the matter of UNCAT ratification with the British Government.  I believe Mr Thomas is criminally negligent in this regard and I will be proceeding against him.

I have informed you of the law, as I see it and am sincerely asking for remedy by the steps mentioned above.  I am extremely distressed that a human life has been taken, I believe unnecessarily and this is a crime against nature.

I trust you will respond promptly to me and engage with me, over this point of law, and over this wasted human life.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Schanche

Newlyn, Cornwall.

The local Cornish news article that alerted me to this latest taser-related fatality.  Ironically, I was actually looking for an article on the fact that as of now, our streets in little old Cornwall will be patrolled by cops wielding tommy-guns (that's sub-machine guns for all you younger readers) and I was not at all happy about that, as I'm not keen on police displaying arms unnecessarily.  

Guardian article on the death of Marc Cole, who was shot with a taser stun-gun by police after having knifed himself in Langton Road, Falmouth, Cornwall on Tuesday May 23rd, 2017.   (Correction:  31/5/2017:  I have just heard from the family of the man killed that he DID NOT cut or stab himself with a knife - He was shot twice with a stun-gun by Falmouth police.  Initial news reports were confused and the police will not be commenting until the 'I'PCC have done their work - this can take over a year.)

This is the Chief of Police for Cornwall and Devon.  It seems that he is himself under investigation by police over some murky business involving false accounting, the shudderingly evil Conservative Party of Britain, a corrupt crime commissioner type functionary - allegedly - who is a former Conservative Party apparatchik, etc.,  you get the picture...  this is the man I'm addressing my letter to over the death of a distressed man in the street. I expect he'll check me out, realize that I'm a harmless and penniless busker, send me a fob-off letter and nothing will change.... 

RESIST CARDIAC ARREST

WHO IS GREGORY SHEVLIN? AN IMPORTANT WITNESS IN THE DARREN RAINEY MURDER CASE

Gregory Shevlin was one of the most worked orderlies in the Dade C.I. Transitional Care Unit in 2011 and 2012.  We worked together as orderlies more days than any other orderlies in the TCU in 2011 and 2012.  On the day Darren Rainey was killed Shevlin was one of the two orderlies working.  I didn’t know the events that happened with Shevlin on the night Rainey was murdered until a few days after Rainey’s murder.  On the day Rainey was murdered, Shevlin slept in Wing J1 and I slept in Wing J3 of the TCU.  A few days after Rainey was murdered, I was able to see Shevlin for the first time since Rainey’s murder where I could actually speak with him.  It was at a group meeting with several other inmates.  Shevlin was expressing to Dr Cesar and the rest of the group that he was mad because Sgt. Fanfan wrote him a Disciplinary Report for refusing to clean up the feaces in Darren Rainey’s cell on the night Rainey was killed.  Shevlin said that on the night Rainey was killed, after Ofc. Clarke took Rainey out of his cell to escort him to the shower, Sgt. Fanfan told Shevlin to clean Rainey’s cell.  Shevlin said that when he looked in Rainey’s cell and seen the feaces, he told Sgt. Fanfan he wasn’t “going to clean it up,” to “get Hempstead.”  

Sgt. Fanfan then told Shevlin to lockdown in his cell and that he would be receiving a Disciplinary Report for disobeying a verbal order.  Shevlin said when he got back to his cell he was mad so he took a razor and made a big cut on the top (not the palm) of his hand.  Shevlin further said that as Sgt. Fanfan and the security staff dealt with the issues going on with Darren Rainey, he (Shevlin) stood in his cell bleeding.  He said security staff refused to help him so he almost bleed out and had to go to the hospital late on the night Rainey was killed.  Shevlin knew I had been studying law for a long time, so while he was sharing the foregoing with all of us, he asked if I’d help him “fight the Disciplinary Report.”  He wanted to get it thrown-out.  I of course said yes.  I wanted to see the Disciplinary Report right away.  I knew the Disciplinary Report and the events that happened with Shevlin on the night Darren Rainey was killed was more evidence to prove Rainey’s murder.  

Gregory Shevlin’s nickname was ‘New York.’  He was a very loud and vocal inmate when he wanted to be.  The Disciplinary Report Shevlin received and the medical records relating to Shevlin cutting his hand on the night Rainey was killed are evidence.  Another thing that I’d like to point out is that when prison staff, medical staff and law enforcement were at Dade C.I. on the night of Rainey’s murder, Shevlin was in the same general area of all of these people.  If I know Gregory Shevlin like I believe I do, I can assure that my old vocal work-partner made sure that everybody he seen on the night Rainey was killed knew what was going on with him (Shevlin.)  

Finally, the cell Shevlin was housed in on the night Rainey was killed (even though it was in Wing J1) had a direct view of the shower Rainey was killed in (even though the shower was in Wing J3.)  What this means is, when Shevlin was in his cell bleeding on the night Rainey was killed, he could see (but not hear) everything going on with Rainey in Wing J3.

Obviously all of the foregoing made Gregory Shevlin a very important witness and all the documents relating to what happened with Shevlin are very important to prove Darren Rainey’s murder.  I provided all of this information and a lot more details to the MDPD, Dade County Medical Examiner and State Attorney, and Department of Justice and FBI.  When I seen on page 42 of the Dade County, Florida State Attorney’s 3/17/17 written decision to not prosecute Rainey’s killers, that the MDPD interviewed Shevlin while he was still housed in the Dade C.I. TCU, I could only say “why?”  

Why would the MDPD interview Shevlin while he was housed in the Dade C.I. TCU where inmate-patients had a long history of being murdered, tortured, starved and abused?  They knew Shevlin was an important witness and that he’d have to be willing to place his life in danger to speak about what he knew about the Darren Rainey murder while he was still housed in the TCU.  

Why would they place Shevlin’s life in danger?  The detective assigned to the Darren Rainey murder case had been in law enforcement for many, many years.  They knew what they were doing.  They knew they were placing Shevlin in danger.  They knew they were placing Shevlin in a position to not tell them (the police) everything he witnessed on the night Rainey was killed.  The MDPD interviewed Gregory Shevlin while he was housed in the Dade C.I. TCU because they didn’t want Shevlin to tell them what he witnessed and knew about the Rainey murder.  

Another thing I noticed when I was reading the Dade County State Attorney’s 3/17/17 decision to not prosecute Rainey’s killers was there was no references to the Disciplinary Report Shevlin received or any of the other documents relating to what happened with Shevlin on the night Rainey was killed.  I believe it’s reasonable to say the State Attorney, police and medical examiner in the Rainey case didn’t even try to obtain the foregoing report and documents.  Why?  Because these agencies didn’t want to prosecute Rainey’s killers so they didn’t take the investigation into Rainey’s murder serious and the police interviewed Shevlin in the Dade C.I. TCU knowing that would place him in a position to not talk about what he witnessed and knew about Rainey’s murder.  Why do you think all these problems have happened with the Rainey case that I’ve presented and will continue to present if it’s God’s will?  I believe the answer is obvious, and so obvious it really doesn’t require repeating because of how many times I mentioned it in other blogs.  However, because this might be the first blog you read that was written by me, I’m compelled to state again what I’ve stated in so many other blogs.  To the Dade County, Florida State Attorney and Miami-Dade Police Department, Rainey’s life wasn’t worth how much it’d cost to prosecute his killers.  Why?  Because Rainey came from a poor family, he was a black, mentally disabled Muslim prisoner, in prison for minor possession of drugs.  It shouldn’t matter what or who Rainey was.  What should matter is Rainey’s life had value.  What should matter is those who tortured and killed Rainey violated state and federal law.  Will you please join us in our quest for justice for the murder of Darren Rainey?  Will you please join us in our fight for the value of life?  Will you please share this blog with your friends and anybody you believe would like to join us in our fight for the value of life?  Will you please sign our petition on Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. Caged Crusader, Tennessee Dept. of Corrections, USA, April 2017

WHY ISN’T DARRELL RICHARDSON ON THE FDC INMATE MORTALITY LIST FOR DADE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION?

I recently received a copy of the inmate mortality list for Dade C.I. for the years 2000 - 2017.  When I was reading the names on the list I was shocked to see Darrell Richardson’s name on the list.  In 2011 when I first seen black, mentally disabled inmate Darrell Richardson he was about 185 pounds of muscle.  I was told he was in prison for killing two or three people and believe that he alleged Oprah Winfrey told him to do it.  Darrell Richardson got Dade C.I. TCU security staff mad by always refusing to eat his food quickly and give his food tray back at meal times.  After security staff made several attempts to get Darrell Richardson to comply with their orders to eat quickly and give them back the food trays when he was done eating and Richardson continued to give them problems with complying, they started placing his food in a styrofoam tray.  After the styrofoam tray treatment didn’t work they started removing food from Darrell Richardson’s tray.  They told him when they gave his tray to him with food missing from it that they removed food from it because he wasn’t eating quick enough so that meant there was too much food on the tray.  As Richardson continued to not eat quickly and not return his styrofoam trays after meals, security staff decided they’d start withholding trays from him when they didn’t have time to get the styrofoam tray back from him.  

In other words, when security staff knew prior to feeding a meal, they wouldn’t have enough time to deal with getting Richardson’s tray back from him, they just wouldn’t feed him.  This was the treatment Richardson received for several months.  How do I know this?  Because I was the orderly serving the meals with security staff and because of my personal relationship with staff.  The last time I seen Richardson (like Oscar Davis) was the day he was leaving the Dade C.I. TCU.  He appeared to me to weigh under 120 pounds.  He was so weak he had to be pushed in a wheelchair out of the Dade C.I. Transitional Care Unit.  Darrell Richardson was the second inmate that I knew from Dade C.I. TCU that I believe died from a medical problem that came about as a result of being denied a large quantity of food on a daily basis for several months.  I believe the security staff that used to deny Richardson food caused his death and are liable for murder if the extreme lack of food led to a medical condition that caused his death.  Even though Richardson was a murderer who was a headache to Dade C.I. security staff, they had no right to deny him food as punishment.  His mental disability is what caused him to be as he was.  What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong.  The law mandated that security staff give Darrell Richardson three full meals a day.  They didn’t follow the law.  Richardson was a mentally disabled, black inmate.  The Florida of Corrections swept what happened to Richardson under the rug  and attempted to hide the Darrell Richardson case by not listing him on the inmate mortality list for Dade C.I.  I wonder how many more inmates are not on the inmate mortality list that died at Dade C.I. or who Dade C.I. staff were behind the deaths of.  I advised the Department of Justice of these matters concerning Darrell Richardson.  Also, I filed FDC grievances on what happened to Oscar Davis and Darrell Richardson.  This is another case that the Dade County Florida Medical Examiner, MDPD and Dade County State Attorney covered up.  Why?  Because just like with Darren Rainey and Oscar Davis, Darrell Richardson was a mentally disabled black inmate and to these agencies his life didn’t matter.  

My dear friends, we are just starting.  There is a lot to discuss.  Darrell Richardson was denied food as a punishment in the same Dade C.I. TCU Darren Rainey was killed in.  

Will you please share this blog with your friends and anybody you believe would like to join us in our fight for the value of life.  We need your help.  You can make the difference.  Please sign our petition on Change.org called THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Caged Crusader

OSCAR L. DAVIS - A DEAD INMATE WHO I WITNESSED BE DENIED DOZENS OF MEALS OVER A SEVERAL-MONTH PERIOD

In 2011 when I arrived at the Dade C.I. Transitional Care Unit (TCU) there was a blind, mentally disabled inmate there named Oscar Davis.  Oscar Davis was highly disliked by all of the staff and most of the inmates because of the charges he was incarcerated on and because he was very loud and disrespectful.  It was alleged that he was in prison for raping a senior citizen and that he also dug out his own eyes.  When I was an orderly in the Dade C.I. TCU I was the inmate who held the trays of food and gave the trays to the inmates during meal times.  The inmate-patients were locked in their cells during meal times.  The only way I could give the inmate-patients a tray was if security opened the food flaps for me to give the inmates their trays of food.  If security didn’t want to feed an inmate-patient, they wouldn’t open the inmate’s food flap.  This was done so much that it was common sense that the inmate-patients in the cells that didn’t have the food flaps opened, weren’t being fed.  

In 2011, one of the inmates that I witnessed be denied the most food was Oscar L. Davis.  He was denied one to two meals a day (and sometimes three meals a day) for the months I knew him between April and December 2011.  I watched his physical health get worse.  I remember the day mental health specialist Dr Cesar told me Oscar Davis was taken to an outside doctor and that doctor said Davis was missing the type of vitamin in his body that allowed the doctor to know he was being denied large quantities of food.  Dr Cesar then asked me if Oscar Davis was being fed.  I told Dr Cesar to listen to what the outside doctor said.  I also remember when security told me Oscar Davis was dying on the day he left the Dade C.I. TCU.  Finally, I remember about two weeks after Davis left the Dade C.I. TCU, security telling me that Oscar Davis died.  

Since 2011 I’ve believed that Oscar Davis being denied so much food contributed to his death.  Am I wrong to believe that if the extreme lack of food caused Davis to have a medical condition that killed him, then those who denied Davis so much food killed him?  Please tell me what you think.  I’ve shared this issue with the Department of Justice and others.  Oscar Davis was the first inmate that I knew, while at Dade C.I. TCU, who I believe staff killed.  I admit I don’t have as much evidence on Oscar Davis as I do Darren Rainey, but I still think the extreme denial of food led to Davis dying.  What happened to Oscar Davis was swept under the rug by the Florida Department of Corrections and covered up by the MDPD, Dade County Medical Examiner and Dade County State Attorney.  How they seen it, Oscar Davis was a poor, black, mentally disabled inmate in prison for raping a senior citizen.  I believe what is important is not who Oscar Davis was but that right is right and wrong is wrong.  Nobody has the right to starve or kill somebody just because they don’t like them.  We have to have an objective standard on the value of life and not a subjective standard.  We must say the lives of all people matter, no matter their nationality, race, religion, creed, or position in this World.  Anything less is an attack on the value of life.  Oscar Davis was denied large quantities of food as punishment in the same Dade C.I. TCU Darren Rainey was killed in.  Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you believe would like to join us in our fight for the value of life.  Please sign our petition on Change.org called THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Caged Crusader

DO YOU KNOW OF ANY CASES WHERE THE DADE COUNTY FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY REFUSED TO PROSECUTE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS FOR UNLAWFULLY KILLING A CAUCASIAN OR CHRISTIAN?

Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Dade County, Florida State Attorney since '93

In prior blogs I mentioned how I believed the Dade County Florida State Attorney refused to prosecute Rainey’s killers because Rainey was a poor, black, mentally disabled, Muslim prisoner and to the Dade County State Attorney Rainey’s life wasn’t worth how much it’d cost to prosecute his killers.  I’m in prison with no access to the internet and limited access to a telephone.  I believe if I can prove the Dade County Florida State Attorney has no history of refusing to prosecute law enforcement officials for unlawfully killing Caucasians or Christians, it will support my position more, that a motivating factor in why the Dade County State Attorney didn’t prosecute Rainey’s killers was because Rainey was a poor, black, mentally disabled, Muslim prisoner.  If I had access to the internet and unlimited access to a phone, I could thoroughly research this issue within 2 or 3 hours.  Since I don’t have the foregoing, I don’t want you to think I haven’t researched this issue.  Those who know me fairly good, know that I have a strong belief that nobody should ever assert something without any evidence.  If I was to assert something based on no evidence, I’d be engaging in unsupported speculation.  In other words, giving you my opinion based on no evidence.  Now it is obvious that I can only speak based on the knowledge that I have.  As long as my statements are only consistent with what I know / the level of knowledge that I have, then I cannot be charged with lying - something all Christians and people with morals should strive against doing.  If I make assertions based on what I know and somebody comes along who knows more than me on said subject and presents evidence that my assertions are not accurate, I haven’t proven to be a liar.  However, it would be proven that person has knowledge I didn’t have prior to making my assertion.  

I have taken the position that one of the motivating factors in why the Dade County State Attorney has decided to not prosecute Darren Rainey’s killers is because Darren Rainey was a poor, black, mentally disabled, Muslim prisoner.  I also believe there’s substantial evidence to prove murder in the Rainey case.  

I’m asking for the help of those who are reading this blog.  Will you please search the internet and provide me with one newspaper article from the Miami Herald, Miami Times or any respected newspaper that present facts that show (1) That since Katherine Fernandez Rundle has been the Dade County Florida State Attorney, her office has refused to prosecute a law enforcement official for unlawfully killing a Caucasian or Christian who was unarmed and not a physical threat to the police or others.  (2)  The Caucasian or Christian had to be unarmed and not a physical threat to police or others.  If the Caucasian or Christian was armed or a physical threat to others then law enforcement was to some degree justified in the action they took.  In the Rainey case the government admits that Rainey was unarmed and not a threat to police or others.  (3)  The newspaper article must specifically reference how the Dade County Florida State Attorney has refused to prosecute a law enforcement official for unlawfully killing a Caucasian or Christian.  The evidence that I’m specifically needing is this:  (1)  Evidence that the law enforcement official who unlawfully killed the Caucasian or Christian wasn’t prosecuted by the Dade County State Attorney’s Office since Katherine Rundle has been the Dade County, Florida State Attorney.  (2)  Evidence that the person killed was a Caucasian or Christian.  (3)  Evidence that the person killed was unarmed and not a physical threat to police or others.  It should be noted that if there was any evidence showing that law enforcement believed the Caucasian or Christian was armed (even though he or she wasn’t) then law enforcement was still to some degree justified in the force they used.  As long as they had some evidence to believe such.  I know you might disagree with me, but as a Certified Paralegal I know Florida law doesn’t.  If you can’t find me an article from a respected newspaper or even a respected magazine that can provide the above evidence, I’ll also accept any State or Federal document that can provide the above evidence.  Please look at what I’m specifically requesting, because if you provide me with anything other than what I’m specifically requesting, I won’t be able to use it / it won’t be helpful.  I need facts/evidence.  Not opinions.  I really want those who are reading this to please look at how I construct my words in this blog to try and get help at finding specific evidence to support a specific position.   I believe if you research you won’t find any articles by respected newspapers or magazines or any State or Federal documents on all of the above.  Keep in mind I need all of what I’m requesting - not just some of it.  The reason why I’m being so specific is because I need facts/evidence to present to the Department of Justice and Civil Rights leaders.  I can’t present opinions/speculation to them.  I want to read anything you’d like for me to read concerning the matters herein.  Please feel free to provide Jeremy with any articles, documents, etc. you’d like for me to read.  If you don’t provide me with what I requested herein, I’ll take the position that nothing could be found on the internet.  I strive to know the facts/evidence and to never present unsupported speculation/opinions.  I ask you, will you please help me see if there’s any articles by respected newspapers or magazines or any State or Federal documents on the internet that provide the specific facts/evidence listed herein that shows the Dade County State Attorney’s Office under Katherine Rundle’s leadership has refused to prosecute a law enforcement official for unlawfully killing a Caucasian or Christian?  Please look because I believe you won’t find what I’m looking for.  Also please understand that by encouraging you to help me research, if you don’t find what I’m specifically looking for, you’ve aided me in proving that a motivating factor in why Katherine Rundle has decided to not prosecute Rainey’s killers was because Darren Rainey was a poor, black, mentally disabled, Muslim prisoner and to Ms. Rundle his life wasn’t worth how much  it’d cost to prosecute Rainey’s killers.  

Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you believe would like to join us in our fight for the value of life.  Please sign our petition on Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. Caged Crusader, Tennessee D.C., April, 2017

IT WAS NORMAL FOR THE INMATE-PATIENTS HOUSED IN DADE C.I. TCU WING J3 TO HEAR INMATE-PATIENTS BEING TORTURED IN THE SHOWER THAT KILLED DARREN RAINEY

In January 2012 Dade C.I. staff started using a shower in Wing J3 of the Dade Correctional Institution Transitional Care Unit (TCU) that reached temperatures of more than 160 degrees Fahrenheit to torture mentally disabled inmates.  Inmates who refused to do what staff said were placed in the shower and the water was turned on full hot with no cold.  Inmate-patients placed in the shower for punishment would stand as close as they can to the shower door to avoid the hot water.  What made the shower punishment wasn’t the hot water that they could avoid but the heat and steam from the shower they couldn’t avoid.

From January 2012 till June 23rd, 2012 several mentally disabled inmates were placed in the shower as punishment, each of them were placed in the shower one or more times.  All the inmate-patients to some degree or another yelled, kicked the door, or made noises wanting to get out of the shower.  The foregoing always happened on the 4:00pm till 11:00pm shift.

For the inmate-patients housed in Wing J3 of the TCU, the above happened so much it was considered normal.  

I explained this numerous times to the MDPD and Federal Government.  The Dade County State Attorney knew this.  The reason why I’m explaining the following is because the Dade County Florida State Attorney contended in her 3/17/17 memorandum that the fact that the inmates only went to their cell windows a few times in Wing J3 on the night Rainey was killed, in essence showed nothing unusual was happening in the wing that night.  She makes this assertion but fails to state in her memorandum that the reason why nothing unusual was happening in Wing J3 the night Rainey was killed was because it was normal for us inmates housed in J3 to hear inmate-patients in the shower for punishment, trying to get out of the shower.  

Also, the Dade County State Attorney hopes that everybody doesn’t use common sense in realizing how it’s a common instinct for people who don’t want to get hurt to not make themselves seen when they’re in an area where somebody is getting hurt.  If you’re in the area of where a person is severely hurting and killing a person and you could avoid being seen by the suspect, would you hide?  Most people would.  Does the Dade County State Attorney expect the witnesses to the Darren Rainey murder to have stood at their windows all night long and in essence tell the staff torturing Rainey “Hey, I’m watching you torture Darren Rainey?”

Anyone using reasoning when reading the Dade County Florida State Attorney’s 3/17/17 memorandum stating they aren’t going to prosecute Rainey’s killers will see that the State Attorney used unreasonable, trivial and frivolous reasons to attempt to attack the circumstances of what happened on the night Rainey was killed and etc..

If you have any information to show corruption with the Miami-Dade Police Department and/or Dade County Florida State Attorney’s Office, will you please share that information with us?  

Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you think can help us with getting justice for Darren Rainey.  Please sign our petition at Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. Caged Crusader, Tennessee Dept. of Corrections, USA, April, 2017

Theo Blackmore Open Letter On Death And Politics

To:  Theo Blackmore, Liberal Democrat Party, Penzance, West Cornwall, Britain.
Dear Theo,
I've known you for many years and I consider you a friend so I was happy to hear of you standing as a Liberal Democrat Party local councillor and thought you had a good chance of getting voted in.  Back in February you came to my door with some of your Party colleagues, including a lady in a wheel-chair who I believe you said was a Baroness.  We talked briefly and I took some literature from you and also briefly described my work on the Rainey case.  Darren Rainey was the mentally-disabled Muslim who the Florida jail-guards Clarke and Thompson etc., steamed to death in a torture-chamber in the mental wing of Dade prison, Florida.  Your colleagues were very interested in what I had to say on the Rainey case and it was agreed between us all that I would forward material on the case to the Baroness - via you.
I sent spent some time writing you an email with several links to information on this matter on 14th February. 
Receiving no reply from you, I sent the same message on 15th March.
Receiving no reply from you, I sent a message on 18th March asking if you had received the others.  I was using the email address from your propaganda leaflet, so presumably you monitor it.
Receiving no reply from you I re-sent the message of 18th March again on 20th March.
Receiving no reply from you I became somewhat pissed off.
Meeting you on the road some weeks back I explained all this to you and you said you would respond.
Receiving no response from you, I became disillusioned. 
Voting day came round and you didn't get in, it was won by corrupt Tory Roger Harding, the car-salesman who chops down protected woodlands for a hobby.  It seems doubly sad and ironic that Roger won.  If only you had communicated with me as you said you would, you could have helped the human rights crisis in USA and I could have given you loads of dirt on Roger Harding.  These people, these Tories, these Conservatives are so openly corrupt, it's quite easy to collect good evidence on them.  I could have helped you demolish that corrupt joker, but instead, we're saddled with more years of right-wing, capitalist, austerity and general malaise.  Shame. 
From long years of unpaid political activism I've learned one thing.  Most of your time, if you are a writer, rather than a thrower of bricks, is spent chasing evasive politicians who do not like to get embroiled in various human rights and legal conundrums and crises that people like me constantly throw at them.  Rather than having the honesty to just say 'go away', most of these politicians will lead you into a time-wasting dance that can go on for years.  This was well-known to Charles Dickens in the nineteenth century who devoted a chapter of Little Dorritt to the 'Circumlocution Office' of the British Government, where they basically just fuck you around and play little tricks on you...  Well, while I'm dealing with the Circumlocution Office, people are getting their heads kicked in in Florida and in every state of the union where people are herded into cages like animals and tormented in the name of the law.  They are dying of starvation, dehydration, injuries, medical neglect, medicinal poisonings and many other forms of torture, cruel, unusual, degrading and inhumane treatment.  Which is why I hate having to spend hours writing chasing-messages to people who promise to respond and then fail to.
The information you said you would pass to your Party colleagues concerns an American prison that has descended to the level of a kind of death-camp.  The State has already admitted liability in the case, including torture and multiple fatalities.
Since discussing this issue with you in February, the State of Florida has found 'no wrong-doing' in the killing of Darren Rainey.  For those of us fighting to bring justice for a dead, black Muslim and the other disabled people and blind people being starved to death in the Amerikan prison system, the last thing we need is politicians wasting our time with false promises of help.
To earn the people's respect, and votes, politicians have to do what they say they are going to do.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Schanche



P.S.  I made a critical remark about your politics to my mother who told me to "shut up" and slammed the phone down on me.  She hasn't spoken to me since...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read how Florida's 'Caged Crusader' speaks out courageously for the rights of the disabled inmates incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections.  Harold Hempstead has been putting his safety in jeopardy to publicize the torture of mentally and physically disabled convicts by prison staff who are confident in getting away 'Scott' Free with their crimes - which include murder.

DANIEL GEIGER - THE FIRST INMATE PLACED IN THE SHOWER AS PUNISHMENT THAT KILLED DARREN RAINEY

"From the beginning I explained to the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) that Daniel Geiger was the first mentally disabled inmate placed in the shower (Rainey was killed in) as a torturing device, and easily the most mentally disabled inmate I witnessed get placed in the shower as punishment.  Just prior to Geiger leaving the Dade C.I. TCU to go to Lake C.I. TCU I witnessed him eating his own faeces.  I don’t believe Geiger was ever in touch with reality when I knew him in the Dade C.I. TCU.

In 2012 Geiger was transferred to Lake C.I. TCU.  I was told that in the end of 2016 Geiger was found dead in the Lake C.I. TCU.  I don’t know anything about Geiger’s death, I just know he died.

When I was reading the Dade County, Florida State Attorney’s 3/17/17 memorandum stating they aren’t going to prosecute Rainey’s killers, I noticed that it said that the MDPD attempted to interview Geiger.  Page 36 of the State Attorney’s memorandum provides a synopsis of MDPD’s attempt to interview Geiger.  The synopsis says Geiger appeared despondent, that Geiger didn’t appear to fully understand the questions and that he was adamant that he was never incarcerated at Dade C.I., but this synopsis contends that the interview was done at Dade C.I.  In other words, Geiger didn’t know he was at Dade C.I. when the interview was being done.  (I guess Geiger returned from Lake C.I. to Dade C.I. sometime prior to this interview and sometime after this interview he transferred to Lake C.I. again.)

By reading this synopsis on page 36 of the Dade County Florida State Attorney’s memorandum, you can see that Geiger was severely mentally disabled when the MDPD tried to talk with him.  However this fact didn’t stop the Dade County State Attorney from citing Geiger like she was citing a mentally-stable man.  To be specific, on page 69, first paragraph, last sentence of the State Attorney’s memorandum it states “Geiger said he was unaware of the shower being used for punishment or torture.”  

Do you think it’s right that the Dade County Florida State Attorney cited Geiger like he was a stable inmate?  Let’s think about this:  when the MDPD interviewed Geiger at Dade C.I. they said he appeared despondent, did not appear to fully understand the questions and was adamant that he was never incarcerated at Dade C.I.  To me it’s outrageous that the State Attorney cited Geiger like he was mentally stable.  The mentally unstable shouldn’t have their words used against them, and they should be given more protection because they are mentally unstable.  

Do you believe it’s right for the police to ask severely mentally disabled people if they were victimized and when they give some kind of answer that can be interpreted as ‘no,’ that the police and State Attorney use that answer against them and let the suspect get away that harmed them?  Shouldn’t the police and State Attorney use witnesses and other types of evidence to prove the crime(s)?  

Another thing that I find outrageous is not only that the State Attorney cited a mentally unstable man like he was stable, but she also cited a dead man.  Yes, Daniel Geiger died several months prior to the State Attorney releasing their memorandum.  

If you look at Martin Christianson’s statement on page 41 of the State Attorney’s memorandum you’ll read that the State Attorney told us what Christianson’s statement was, but also told us that Christianson was deceased.  The State Attorney didn’t tell anybody that Geiger was deceased.  Why do you think the State Attorney did this?  

Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you think can help us with getting justice for Darren Rainey.  Please sign our petition at Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER."

Harold Hempstead, a.k.a. Caged Crusader, a.k.a. Miami Harold - Tennessee D.C., April 2017

-------------------------------- 

A few thoughts on the above, by Jeremy Schanche.  I strongly believe that those convicted of crimes should be treated in accordance with the law.  I don't approve of every law, or every sentence handed down, but the principal of the rule of law is vital, and is central to democracy and free society.  Convicts should be protected from arbitrary, cruel and unusual punishment, which obviously would include starvation and torture, by any means.  This is in accordance with the law. 

Those who feel that the law is either too lenient or too oppressive in any instance can seek redress through various channels including courts of law, lobbying political leaders, engaging in activism and outreach, protesting, exercising your free speech, attempting to influence people through media, writing, publications, etc.. if you're lucky enough to live in a so-called democracy, that is. 

The reality does not live up to the ideal, or the legal entity and is failing countless inmates, who suffer extremely cruel but all-too-usual punishments that constitute torture.  Again and again I ask myself when someone is going to call in the UN - I know they've already been involved at Pelican Bay prison in California where sleep-deprivation was policy.

Daniel Geiger was deeply disturbed and not only was he not getting the medical help that might have led towards his eventual rehabilitation, he was being tortured, and starved, systematically along with others, in a Florida prison of the twenty-first century. 

The notorious 'Shower-Treatment' that has cast such an oppressive shadow over Dade Correctional Institution sine 2012, was actually devised for and tested on Daniel Geiger.  He was tortured in the super-heated steam on at least two occasions, if not more.  He was also known to be starved and lost a dramatic and dangerous amount of his body-weight in Dade, as did others.  To my knowledge, so far, at least six witnesses to the shower-torture at Dade C.I. have already died, through various causes.  How many are still left alive, I wonder?

Daniel Geiger was extremely noisy and shouted continuously, day and night.  Rather than get him appropriate medical treatment, he was cynically used by guards as a weapon.  They would place him in cells next to inmates they wished to sign out of the TCU.  This was essentially using a deranged and tormented soul as a pawn, a mere tool to apply leverage to other inmate-patients who were seeking medical help in the Transitional Care Unit.

To me this represents an incredible degree of callousness, using an acutely suffering man to influence the behaviour of other intensely suffering inmate-patients.

Geiger was so deranged that he was known to eat his own shit and he would not accept the fact that he was even in Dade prison, yet, Katherine Fernandez Rundle and the MDPD got him to say he was not aware of any torture at Dade TCU - even though he himself was starved and tortured there. 

So a deranged man who was starved and tortured was interviewed by police, presumably without a lawyer present, and supposedly gave reliable testimony that he knew of no torture being practiced.  This was in an environment that the guards referred to as 'Auschwitz' as they greeted new arrivals and told them, "we kill guys here and get away with it..."  and yet Geiger's 'statement' to the MDPD detectives who got him in that room, is considered reliable evidence by the police and the Miami-Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle.  Reliable enough to disprove any ridiculous stories of torture and abuse, that is. 

And as Harold Hempstead points out, she was also using the words of a dead man to her own advantage, without bothering to inform people following the case that he even was dead. 

An increasing number of witnesses to the torture at Dade C.I. have been dropping dead in dubious circumstances, inmate-witnesses to the torture and killing that she's gone on a long, circuitous and futile journey to try to deny, Katherine Fernandez Rundle would prefer to try and bury this fact along with so many others, after all, it's what she does best.