“A Tale of an American Political Prisoner”

Part 8.2: The DC Gulag; Washington, DC

–Divides and Determination–

by: Jessica Watkins (X: @J6ssicaWatkins)

A True Story; 100% verifiable with Text Messages, Emails, Video/Audio, Court Documents and Testimony.

The Pod continued its inevitable split – along lines of those who were Patriots and those who wanted to use the guise of patriotism to make a quick buck. Soon the grifters were trying to dismantle anything that resembled “competition” in the marketplace of the Patriot movement for the J6 Community. A number of charities were “sniped” at by the grifters, and soon it became a full fledged attack. The small group of grifters started demanding “transparency” for these charities; outright claiming that they were being used as shell corporations to make people rich, despite all evidence contrary. No group was so diametrically opposed to by the grifters than the the Patriot Freedom Project (PFP). The grifters had their own GiveSendGo’s (GSG’s) and they wanted people to donate to GSG’s directly, rather than to a “Third Party Intermediary”. The problem with this of course is that, a GROUP like the PFP can generate DIRECT J6 awareness; conducting media interviews, online advertising, etc. Crowdsourcing for a 501(c)3, and building a movement. Jake hated that idea, and became the nucleus for his own merry band of a-holes. His GSG wasn’t making as much as he wanted, and his pet projects weren’t getting much traction. But, the PFP was the perfect work-around to prevent individual GSG’s from being attacked. They were vulnerable to being shut down, or … most commonly … shadow banned. Furthermore, only the most prolific J6 voices were gaining attention to their own GSG’s. So people like Jake Lang, Jon Mellis, and Nate DeGraves were doing SWARMS of interviews trying to get as much attention as possible. This drove up traffic and donations to their OWN GSG’s, garnering hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile other J6 Patriots who didn’t have the same media presence were lucky to have a few hundred dollars donated.

The groups like the Patriot Freedom Project mitigated this entirely, making sure that the needs were being met uniformly. It was working, much to Jake’s chagrin. If it weren’t for the Patriot Freedom Project, I wouldn’t have had an attorney. Flat out, end of story. I know for a FACT that the PFP donated to dozens of Patriots; not just for attorneys, but power bills, rent/mortgages, car notes, Christmases and Birthdays for the children of Political Prisoners. Dozens (if not hundreds) of Patriots benefited from their work. The PFP was an AMAZING organization, but Jake Lang and his cadre of back-biters wanted to dismantle the entire thing. It was taking too much of their shine. It was drawing all the media attention away from the most outspoken individuals, and directing funds at THE CAUSE. The response of the grifters was to attack groups like the PFP, muddy its legitimacy, and cry “they’re not being transparent”. Jake and Nate were the worst for this. People like Jon Mellis however were riding the fence. He sided with the grifters a lot, but he also helped a lot of us get articles published in the Gateway Pundit. The combined effort of my Gateway Pundit article and the PFP was ultimately what funded my attorney; the former put him on retainer, the latter paying his trial fees. I owe Tim Hale and Cynthia Hughes from the PFP a debt of gratitude for what they did. But on the inverse, I also owe Jim Hoft from the Gateway Pundit, and Jon Mellis an equal amount of gratitude for drawing attention to my GSG. Without their combined help, I would have never afforded Attorney Crisp. However, I owed Jake Lang and Nate DeGraves NOTHING. All they did was cause problems and delegitimize the PFP for personal gain. That, I found infuriating, insufferable, unconscionable, and frankly… unforgiveable.

I say all of this, because the wheat is often separated from the chaff. This rift in C2B became most apparent when we came under pressures that required unity in the Pod. We needed to put aside our differences to stand together and solve a problem. Our phones had stopped working. We’d call our loved ones, and they couldn’t hear us – but we could hear them. Then after a few weeks of this, we couldn’t hear them – but they could hear us. Calls to our attorneys didn’t work at all. We wrote complaints and filed notices, but nothing was ever done. We became convinced that the jail was doing this to us deliberately. Soon, we decided to show them what peaceful protesters can do. We decided that the next time we came inside from Outdoor Rec, that when they tell us to “step into our cells” that we would just refuse. We spread word throughout the Pod, and we were all in agreement. When the time came, we ALL went outside. Everyone but Nate, Ronnie, and Jake. They did their typical snubbing of the Patriots, segregating themselves and doing whatever they wanted to do. When we came back in, we braced for it. Yup. We’re doing this! As @BrysonGrey would say, “It’s a Patriot Party”. Soon the CO was yelling over the Unit. “COUNT TIME! STEP IN!” He must have known something was wrong, because we congregated together, locked elbows together and sat down on the couches. “COUNT TIME! COUNT! COUNT! STEP IN YOUR CELLS NOW!” We just started laughing, ignoring him entirely. We had just kicked the hornets nest. The worst fears of the goons in the DC Gulag were coming to fruition. The J6ers were making a stand. Guess who wasn’t there. Yup, you guessed it. Jake, Ronnie and Nate. Jake came out eventually, finally after we had cajoled him enough. Nate finally did also, but only after being mocked into submission. Ronnie stayed in his cell. He gave us the middle finger, and snubbed our solidarity.

It was apparent then, that they had no interest in standing together with Patriots. They were more interested in their freedoms, liberties, and petty privileges than taking a stand with their brothers. Soon, when it was clear that we were refusing to obey, frantic radio calls went out. When the ERT (Emergency Response Teams) were called; it was awesome. Goons in tactical gear swarmed through the Pod, gas masks on, bear mace at the ready. We just ignored them like they weren’t there. We had plotted this part out; knew this would be the response. But, our demands were reasonable. We need our phones back. Immediately. They were violating our rights by not allowing us access to contact our attorneys. We needed them fixed, ASAP. Shane Jenkins was our spokesperson to represent us. Shane is a good guy; even tempered, cool, calm and collected. Surprisingly articulate. He addressed all the issues we were suffering, while we sat there calmly in peace. The entire jail went on lockdown, and the Jail brass came down. Wardens, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants. Finally, when we refused to step in, they threatened to gas us all. I think they were scared to do that, what with us being J6ers and all. If this got out of hand, they could look real bad and it WOULD make the news. We hunkered down, wrapping towels over our faces and putting on homemade eyewear to protect ourselves. Then they gave us a parlay we could deal with. “If we get the US Marshals involved, will you speak with them?” Shane looked at us, and we nodded our consent. So be it. He told them however, in no uncertain terms. “Yes, that is fine. Do that. But! If you don’t fix the phones, we can and WILL do this again.” They put us on Lockdown for a week as punishment (worth it), but I’ll be damned if the phones didn’t work when we came back out. It would take a month, but when the US Marshals finally came, we had a LOT to say. It would change things in a big way.