"In 2010 or 2011 it was on the news that a man in
central Florida was talking about burning a Koran on TV. This became such a big issue that people
across the World were commenting on it.
However, when the New Yorker magazine published an article in April 2016
entitled ‘Madness’, and it mentioned
Darren Rainey’s Koran being thrown in the trash, I didn’t hear any comments on
it. I’m not a Muslim but to me there are
certain things that are right and certain things that are wrong. To me, the man in 2010 or 2011 in central Florida
that was talking about burning a Koran on TV was wrong. To me, it was wrong for Dade Correctional
Institution Staff to throw Darren Rainey’s Koran in the trash. What do you think? Do you think it’s wrong for a person to be disrespectful
to another person’s religion by burning or throwing in the trash the primary
religious book that person believes in?
Do you think it’s wrong that Dade Correctional Institution staff threw
Darren Rainey’s Koran in the trash? Do
you think it’s wrong that Dade County State Attorney Ms Katherine Rundle said
on March 17th, 2017 that she’s not going to prosecute Darren Rainey’s
killers?
They say actions speak louder than words and
it’s my position that Ms Rundle stated Black Lives Don’t Matter in Dade
County, Florida, when she held that she wasn’t going to prosecute Rainey’s
killers. I have the Dade County State
Attorney Inter-Office Memorandum stating they aren’t going to prosecute and
it’s packed with inconsistencies and misquoting of facts and evidence. I’ve mentioned several of the many problems
in the State Attorney’s foregoing document in other blogs I’ve written.
I personally don’t know why Ms Rundle chose the
route she did when she could’ve just been honest and admitted that to her
Darren Rainey’s life wasn’t worth the money it would cost to prosecute his
killers. Yes, Ms Rundle would’ve
received a big backlash if she just clearly stated the foregoing truth, but she
has in essence stated the same thing by her actions in not prosecuting Rainey’s
killers.
It is my position that Ms Rundle’s history of
not prosecuting law enforcement officials who unlawfully kill African Americans
and not prosecuting Rainey’s killers should show the people of Dade County and
the World, that Black Lives don’t Matter in Dade County, Florida. I’m asking the people of Dade County, Florida and everybody who’s reading
this blog to prove that Black Lives Matter in Dade County, Florida. It is obvious that Black Lives and all lives
Matter to me.
I pray that everybody who’s reading this blog
join together in unity and peace and that we all do what we can to show the
people of the World that even though Ms Rundle doesn’t think Black Lives Matter
in Dade County, Florida, that Black Lives do Matter in Dade County, Florida,
and all over the World.
For years I have known that the quest my sister (Windy Hempstead) and I
have set out on to obtain justice for the murder of poor, black, mentally
disabled, Muslim, prisoner Darren Rainey was going to be a hard one. Why?
Because I’ve learned throughout my life that most people in this World
don’t believe the lives of certain people have the same value/worth as
others. Most people discriminate or are
racist against certain races and groups and the people they discriminate
against or are racist against, they place below themselves and put a lesser
value on their lives. Out of the 6
classes of people I can think of that are most disliked in America (especially
the South) Darren Rainey fit into 5 of the 6 groups. Poor people, African American people,
mentally disabled people, Muslim people and prisoners are 5 of the 6 most
disliked peoples in America. Rainey was
a poor, black, mentally disabled, Muslim, prisoner and that is why my sister
(Windy) and I knew this would be a hard fight.
I think what people are failing to see is that the fight for justice for
Rainey is not just a fight for Rainey, it’s a fight for the value of life; it’s a fight to show that all life has
value; it’s a fight for all poor people,
all black people, all mentally disabled people, all Muslim people and all prisoners. Will you please join Windy, Jeremy and me in
this fight for the value of life? Just
like your life has value, Rainey’s life has value, and all life has value. I’m asking that you please send emails to
Alicia Garza, Rev. Al Sharpton of The National Action Network, Rev. Jesse
Jackson of The Rainbow Push Coalition and any member of the Black Lives Matter
movement you know and ask them for help in obtaining justice for the murder of
Darren Rainey.
Please share this blog with your friends and anybody you think could help
us in obtaining justice for the murder of Darren Rainey. Please sign our petition on Change.org
Here's something practical anyone can do: Print out some of these flyers and start passing them around. Tell people about what happened to Darren Rainey and help Harold Hempstead with his long struggles to shine the light of public knowledge onto some very dark events in the Florida prison system. These flyers are for the petition drafted by the 'Caged Crusader' calling for the murder of Darren Rainey to be investigated at the highest level:
Free Speech Poster
Jeremy Schanche interviewed by Cat Watters, People's Internet Radio, NYC, on the film of Harold Hempstead's evidence affidavit on the events of 23rd June, 2012 at Dade Correctional Institution, Transitional Care Unit where Mr Rainey died.
Last year I interviewed Harold Hempstead and I was very interested by what he said about his beliefs on the value of human life. Harold is a Christian and although I am looking at the World through a different philosophy, I am in agreement with him on many things. I'm inspired by his respect for all human life, as I think it's the best way for humans to view each other. Darren Rainey was of the Muslim faith, but this in no way stopped Harold from dedicating himself to helping Rainey.
On 17th March 2017, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle released the official report on Darren Rainey's death - in my opinion it's a pack of lies. When you compare it to The Huffington Posts' article discussing the forensic evidence, you'd think they were describing two different events.
This is a fight for the value of all human life - please join us. Many people have already given years of work to this struggle, Inmate-witnesses risking brutal retaliation for speaking out, journalists who've looked into this case and uncovered a pattern of corruption and suspicious custody-deaths, civil-rights lawyers and human rights groups challenging the legality of the state's actions, religious groups witnessing the truth and spreading the word and the independent activists working on the case in different capacities, some of whom I know give so much of themselves to this kind of work.
Though the above groups are approaching the case of Darren Rainey's death from differing perspectives, I believe there is a common unity of purpose, a shared motivation of outrage at an act of extreme barbarity that simply cannot be tolerated or excused away. I see the death of Darren Rainey as a historic turning-point. In a World that is sadly so accustomed to cruelty and murder, the nature of Mr Rainey's death was so inhuman that it seemed to signify and symbolize all the killings we've been hearing about in these times. If Darren Rainey's death becomes the focus of a continuing and growing movement for justice, then his brutal killing will take on far more significance than it already has.
There's many ways people can contribute to this cause. Follow the Caged Crusader's blog, to study the evidence and keep informed of new statements and reports. Print out and display the above posters in public, or, even better, make your own. In the electronic age, where people are conditioned to get their information through a screen, a poster on a wall has more impact than ever. In dry countries, posters can be glued to walls with PVA glue using a house-painting brush. If you live in Britain, lamination is advisable.
If you are a US citizen you can raise this issue with your representatives. Non-US citizens are of course free to email the black Civil Rights leaders mentioned above, asking them to add their support to the movement for justice for Darren Rainey.
Raising awareness of this issue with human rights and religious groups in your own country would also be very helpful. This will gradually increase the pressure on US authorities to treat this crime seriously. There is already a federal investigation looking into the death of Darren Rainey, but with an extreme reactionary racist like Sessions for Attorney General, US justice is going to need all the help it can get from the public. I think we can all see clearly which direction the new regime is pushing the USA towards. You certainly hear people talking about it enough - well why not do something about it? Get involved with the movement for justice, get involved with the resistance and show those in power that they will not crush our humanity. Do it for Darren Rainey.
The following statement was written by Harold Hempstead, the 'Caged Crusader' of Florida, from a prison in Tennessee on 2nd April, 2017 and first published today on his blog -
Question: Was there any evidence of intent to harm
Darren Rainey?
Dade County State
Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle says “No.”
What does the evidence
show?
1) Several inmates said the water in the shower
Rainey was murdered in got very, very hot.
Some said the water temperature in the shower exceeded 180°. Several inmates said Dade C.I. staff placed
inmates in the shower as punishment, and staff use to turn the water on full
hot with no cold while the inmates were in it.
Several inmates also said they were placed in the shower as
punishment. This was the same shower
Rainey was killed in.
2) The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC)
has a procedure called ‘Forced Hygiene Compliance Procedure.’ If Rainey wiped feces on himself and was
refusing to shower, Dade C.I. staff were required to follow this
procedure. They didn’t follow this procedure
because their intent was to harm Rainey and not to help him, because he was
being a headache to them. This procedure
required them to get approval from the Duty Warden and Psychiatrist before
placing Rainey in the shower, staff would’ve had to use a hand-held video
camera to record all their actions and Rainey’s actions while doing Forced
Hygiene Compliance and the Duty Warden and a nurse would’ve had to been present
through the whole process. These things
would’ve prevented Dade C.I. staff from placing Rainey in the shower they
placed him in to punish him and that eventually killed him.
3) Rainey wasn’t placed in any of the 6
operating showers in Wing J1 where he was housed. He was placed in a shower in another wing
that he wasn’t housed in, on a night inmates in the TCU weren’t supposed to be
in any showers. He was placed in the
only operating shower in the TCU that was in a blind-spot, that mounted
security cameras in Wing J3 couldn’t view.
4) Dade C.I. staff who tested the water in the shower
Rainey was killed in said the water temperature exceed 180° which was
approximately 55 to 60° hotter than what FDC’s Environmental Health and Safety
Manual mandated it could be. There was
no lawful or logical reason for the water temperature in the shower Rainey was
murdered in to be so hot. The only
possible reason it was so hot was to punish mentally disabled inmates that
refused to follow staffs’ orders.
5) Rainey was unsupervised and in the shower for
approximately 2 hours as a form of punishment.
6) If staff were trying to shower Rainey, how
come they placed him in the only shower in the TCU that he could avoid the
water in? Rainey wouldn’t have been able
to avoid the water in any of the ten other working showers in the TCU. The obvious and only possible reason Rainey
was placed in the only shower in the TCU that he could avoid the water in was
because he wasn’t placed in that shower to shower. Rainey was placed in that shower as
punishment and that is why he was placed in the only shower in the TCU that
reached temperatures in excess of 180°.
7) Officer Roland Clarke or any of the other
Dade C.I. staff didn’t take Rainey out of the shower even though he continued
to yell and kick the shower door asking to get out (because of how hot it was
in the shower.) If they weren’t trying
to harm him they would’ve took him out of the shower when he was pleading to
get out of the shower.
8) In the state’s own report that I have, Dade
C.I. staff and medical staff that were working on the night Rainey was murdered
said his skin was burned.
9) Dade C.I. Captain Dixon who tested the water
temperature in the shower (according to the State Attorney) said the water was
tested at 160 degrees.
How many times have the
people of America heard obvious lies and twisting of facts by those who don’t
want to prosecute when a black man is killed by a law enforcement
official? It is a sad thing that Dade
State Attorney Ms Rundle has chose to not uphold justice but instead let Rainey’s
killer (Roland Clarke) go free.
Please share this blog
with your friends. If you know anybody
that can aid in getting justice for Rainey, please share this blog with
them. Please sign our petition on
Change.org
The following is a copy of what Harold Hempstead has just asked me to post to his blog: Harold Hempstead Caged Crusader Wordpress
The information was dated 2nd April, 2017, received by me on 8th April and published the following day.
2 OFFICERS, 3 NURSES AND A FIRE RESCUE
LIEUTENANT SAY RAINEY’S BODY HAD SKIN SLIPPAGE, WITH REDNESS, FELT HOT AND
APPEARED TO BE BURNED, ON NIGHT RAINEY WAS KILLED
Here are some of the many important facts that
appear in the Dade County State Attorney’s 3/17/17 inter-office memorandum
stating they’re not going to prosecute anybody for murdering Darren Rainey:
Pg.9:
Ofc.s Clarke and Thompson, Nurse Patino and Lt. Lopez (Miami Dade Fire
Rescue) all said that Rainey’s body had red areas and skin slippage or coming
off and some further advised that, in their opinion, he had possibly sustained
burns while in the shower.
Pg.18 Dade C.I. Nurse Patino said when the shower
was off the night Rainey was murdered, steam was in the shower, Rainey’s skin
was peeling off and his body felt hot.
Pg.19 Dade C.I. Nurse Robinson said that she went
to the shower when Darren Rainey was dead in it and the shower room felt warm
and steamy. She also said Rainey had
skin slippage.
Pg.20 Dade C.I. Nurse Wilson said that she seen
Rainey’s body directly after he was killed and it appeared red and
wrinkled. She told the 911 operator on
the night Rainey was murdered that Rainey’s body appeared to be burned. Nurse Wilson noticed skin slippage on Rainey
also.
Pg.21 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lieutenant Alexander
Lopez who seen Rainey’s body on the night he was killed said he appeared to
have burns and skin slippage on certain parts of his body.
Pg.49 Dade C.I. Dixon stated she tested the water
temperature in the shower Darren Rainey was killed in 2 days after Rainey was
killed and the thermometer read 160°F.
According to the Dade
County State Attorney’s memorandum, the officer who placed Rainey in the shower
(and Ofc.Thompson) on the night Rainey was killed said Rainey’s skin was
slipping off, he had red areas on his body, and he possibly sustained
burns. Why would they say this unless
they knew the water Rainey was in was very hot?
If any staff tested the water before putting Rainey in it there would’ve
been no reason to think Rainey’s body was burned. The only logical reason why Ofc.s Clarke and
Thompson said Rainey’s body appeared to be burned was because they just had
Rainey in a very hot shower for a long time and they knew that’s what made his
skin look burned.
Other than what these 2
officers said, nurses Patino, Robinson, Wilson who all seen Rainey’s body on
the night he was killed said his body appeared to be burned, his skin was
slipping off him, his skin was red and wrinkled, his body felt hot, and steam
was in the shower he was killed in.
These 3 nurses are trained medical providers that have specialized training
and experience with the human body. They
all seen Rainey’s body directly after he was killed. Did they all lie about what they seen? Of course not. They told the truth.
The same applies to
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lieutenant Lopez who seen Rainey’s body on the night he
was killed. He said Rainey appeared to
have burns and skin slippage on certain parts of his body. Did he lie?
Of course not. He told the
truth.
Why was Rainey’s skin in
the condition these state officials said it was in on the night Rainey was
killed? Dade C.I. Captain Dixon tells us
why: Because the shower water in the
shower Rainey was killed in was tested at 160°F.
Did I or somebody else
convince these state officials named herein to make these statements? Of course not. The state doesn’t try to twist these state
officials’ statements and say somebody manipulated them to make these
statements (like they did with the inmate witnesses.) Instead the state uses the Dade County
Medical Examiners statement to try and refute these state officials’
statements. In other words, to say they
were mistaken. Were these 2 Officers, 3
Nurses, and Fire Rescue Lieutenant all wrong about what they seen or were they
all right? I believe it is only logical
to say they were all right. I believe
that the reason why it took so long for the Medical Examiner to come back with
her far-fetched findings was because she had to search long and hard to refute
what these state officials seen and what Darren Rainey’s body proved. These state officials gave stronger
statements than what I did about Rainey dying in a hot torturing-devise
shower.
There is corruption in
this case at the highest level. Why?
Because Dade County doesn’t want to spend the money it’d cost to
prosecute Rainey’s killers. Rainey wasn’t
worth that amount of money to them. Why wasn’t
he? Because he was a poor, black,
mentally disabled Muslim prisoner and Black Lives Don’t Matter In Dade County.
Please share this blog
with your friends and anybody you think could help with getting justice for
Rainey.
The following is a statement from Harold Hempstead, Florida's 'Caged Crusader.' It was written on 2nd April and published 9th April, 2017...
On 3/17/17 the Dade County State Attorney issued
an inter-office memorandum stating they weren’t going to prosecute anybody for
killing Darren Rainey. I have this
document in my possession and I’d like to share what it says starting in the last
paragraph of pg.54. The last paragraph
of pg.54 reads:
“Dr Lew
noted that Rainey had an elevated body temperature (as taken by a nurse) after
he was taken out of the shower and his temperature was still elevated hours
later when it was taken as part of the autopsy protocol. Without knowing what Rainey’s temperature was
before he was placed in the shower, it
is hard for Dr Lew to asses this fact. The only comment she could make was that, along
with knowledge of the time of death, elevated temperature contributed to decomposition
and most likely to his skin slippage.”
Did Dr Lew really say she couldn’t say why
Rainey’s body was hot when he was taken out of the shower, and was still hot
hours later? Let’s see what the most
logical reason would be. On pg.49 of
this same report, Dade C.I. Cpt. Dixon said she tested the water in the shower
Rainey was killed in 2 days after Rainey’s murder at 160°F. Rainey’s killer Ofc. Clarke on pg.14 of this
State Attorney’s report said, when he seen Rainey’s body on the shower floor,
his body was covering the drain and there was water pooled around him. Throughout this State Attorney report several
inmates say the shower had excessively hot water in it that Rainey was killed
in. In the State’s Memorandum/Report
that Dr Lew is cited as saying she didn’t know why Rainey’s body was hot when
taken out of the shower and hours later, it clearly states that Rainey’s body
was laying on the shower floor in 160°F water.
This is what happens when people twist facts. Their own words can be used against them on major relevant facts. Not something that is trivial. It is very hard to believe that Dr Lew
would state she didn’t know why his body was hot. Wait a minute! I guess it’s not. If she said that the reason why his body was
hot was because he was just taken out of an excessively hot shower, then that
would mean a murder prosecution had to happen.
A murder prosecution could not happen.
Why? Because Darren Rainey was a
poor, black, mentally disabled Muslim prisoner and his life does not matter to
Dr Lew and the Dade County State Attorney.
Despite Florida Department of Corrections' continuing attempts to rob 'Miami Harold' Hempstead of his Freedom of Speech, he continues to speak out fearlessly about the killing of Darren Rainey in a locked chamber of super-heated steam in Dade prison, 2012. His latest statements, published 8th April, 2017, criticizing the attempted suppression and cover-up by Florida D.C. and State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office are signed under the name by which he's becoming increasingly known these days - 'Caged Crusader.'
HAROLD HEMPSTEAD TRANSFERRED TO TDOC ON 3/17/17
TO HINDER HIS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEDIA ON THE DARREN RAINEY MURDER CASE.
I believe that one of the reasons I was
transferred from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) on 3/17/17 to the
Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) was to hinder my communications with
the media on the Darren Rainey murder case.
Why else would I have been sent outside of Florida 2 states away from
Florida on the same day the Dade County State Attorney released their decision
to not prosecute in the Darren Rainey case?
The Dade County State Attorney and FDC knew this
would extremely hinder my ability to communicate with the media about the Dade
County State Attorney’s decision and about their extreme twisting of the
facts. They knew that I would challenge their
statements and twisting the most, so they decided to send me to another state
on the same day they released their decisions.
By doing what they did it has made it where the State Attorney can tell
their twisted facts on why they aren’t going to prosecute and the person who
knows this case the best (me) (other than the media) is extremely hindered in
challenging their statements. Because I
was deposited into another state prison system with none of my property on the day
the State Attorney released their decision.
The things that FDC will do to cover up their
evils and try to discredit their witnesses.
Please share this blog with your friends. Please share this blog with anybody you know
that can help with getting justice for Darren Rainey. Please sign our petition on Change.org
entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY
DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES MATTER.
Caged Crusader
----------------------------------------
WHY DID DADE COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY KATHERINE
FERNANDEZ RUNDLE FOCUS ON SMALL IRRELEVANT FACTS WHEN SHE DECIDED TO NOT
PROSECUTE IN THE DARREN RAINEY MURDER?
If you go to the Pinellas County, Florida Clerk
of Court records for the case I’m in prison on (Case No.: CRC 99-05695 FANO)
it’ll show that my State Attorney used the following in Voir Dire as a way to
tell the jury to not focus on small irrelevant facts that have no bearing on
the trial. The State Attorney said
“Ladies and gentlemen, imagine if you would, you were at the Superbowl with
fifty thousand people watching it in the stadium with you. A man jumps out of the sitting area on to the
field and kills a player. Everybody
watched the killing, you were all eyewitnesses, but none of your statements
will be identical. All the eyewitnesses
will say the man who went on the field killed the player, but outside of that,
to some degree or another, all the statements will be different. Some might say it was sunny, others might say
it was cloudy, many will say the killer was wearing clothing that he wasn’t
wearing; and so on and so forth. The important thing about their statements is
not the irrelevant facts, but that they all agreed that the man who went on the
field killed the player”
Now the foregoing to some degree was improper in
my trial because I wasn’t on trial for murder.
I was on trial for burglaries and dealing in stolen property. However, what the State Attorney was in
essence telling the jurors in my trial was to not focus on the small irrelevant
facts but focus on the relevant facts.
From my 18 years of reading case law I have
learned that it is a common thing for State Attorneys to tell jurors to not
focus on the small, irrelevant facts but only on relevant facts. As a certified paralegal I also learned the
reasoning behind this in my college studies.
Small irrelevant facts have no bearing on a case.
Now please keep these things in mind as I
explain something important the Dade County State Attorney stated in their
3/17/17 written decision to not prosecute anybody for murdering Darren Rainey.
Multiple inmates that the State Attorney can
verify were in the wing on the night Rainey was murdered gave statements during
the investigation. All of these inmates
agreed on the following relevant facts:
(1)
Officer Roland Clark placed Rainey in the shower.
(2) The
shower had very hot water in it.
(3)
Rainey screamed while in the shower trying to get out of the
shower.
(4)
Rainey died in the shower.
There are the important relevant facts. The State stresses in their written decision
that the witnesses didn’t agree on the actual time Rainey was placed in the
shower and when he started to yell. The
witnesses agreed he died at night on 6/23/12 and that he yelled while in the
shower, but the State Attorney nit-picks and blames witnesses to a brutal
murder that happened months shy of 5 years ago for not keeping accurate time of
when everything happened. The majority
of people in this world don’t think about documenting the time of when they are
witnessing a brutal murder and the details that lead to that murder. They are usually in shock and try to block
out what they witnessed.
The inmate witnesses all agreed on the important
facts:
(1)
Officer Roland Clark placed Rainey in the shower.
(2) The
shower had very hot water in it.
(3)
Rainey screamed in the shower trying to get out of the shower.
(4)
Rainey died in the shower.
I’m sure most (if not all) would agree with me
that these are the important facts.
Why did the Dade County State Attorney focus on
irrelevant facts and not these important facts?
Because to Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Darren Rainey was a poor, black,
mentally disabled, Muslim prisoner, and his life did not matter. If Ms Rundle would have filed charges against
Officer Clarke
(1) She
would have been prosecuting an officer who is a member of the PBA – a group
strong enough to get her out of office.
(2) The
State Attorney would’ve had to pay a large quantity of money to prosecute the
case and Rainey’s life to Ms Rundle wasn’t worth what it cost.
(3) She
would’ve broke the pattern her office has had for a very very long time of not
prosecuting law enforcement officials who unlawfully murder African
Americans.
These are the reasons why Ms Rundle in her 3/17/17
decision decided to focus on small irrelevant facts and not relevant facts.
Please share this blog with your friends and
whoever you think could help with obtaining justice for the murder of Darren
Rainey. Please contact Revs. Jesse
Jackson, Al Sharpton and the founders of Black Lives Matter and ask them for
help in getting justice for Darren Rainey.
Please sign our petition on Change.org entitled THE LIFE OF BLACK, MENTALLY DISABLED MUSLIM PRISONER DARREN RAINEY DOES
MATTER.
Caged Crusader
---------------------------------------------- Here's an interview between Cat Watters of People's Internet Radio and Jeremy Schanche, 5th April, 2017:
I'm Jeremy Schanche, British artist and activist. This blog features my paper, The Limpet. Here I write about human rights, the environment and politics. Please see my articles about Harold Hempstead and Florida Department of Corrections, with more at Harold Hempstead Caged Crusader Wordpress.com.
I have another blog that's completely different - it's where you'll find The Caterpillar, a journal of collage, poetry and surrealism that is remixed as The Caterpillar Dub - the world's first Dub newspaper. Both of these can be found at:
http://yecaterpillar.blogspot.com.
In October 2024 I published my first paperback book of fiction - The Horned Whale or An Morvil Kornek by Jeremy Schanche - available at various bookshops and at Amazon.
ISBN: 9780993490903.
175,710 words.
£15.
Contains the mystery novel - The Kramvil, plus two novellas, poetry and glossaries.
