“A Tale of an American Political Prisoner”

Part 9.4: The DC Gulag; Washington, DC

–Get the Trumpers! (Part 2)–

by: Jessica Watkins (X: @J6ssicaWatkins)

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

Pauline and I waited in the Day Room of E2B for 15-20 minutes while we waited for our escort to wheel our carts of property up to E4B… The Hole… Solitary Confinement… for literally no reason at all. The psychologists had cleared us of any issues. But, according to Lancaster, she wanted to “play it safe” in case we lied to the doctors. So, she threw us in The Hole a week before the 4th of July. It would be well over a month before we’d leave again. I was furious. Lancaster escorted us up to E4B, and she “shopped” the various cells, selecting one that was filthy. It was the worst cell on the block: covered in feces, urine and menstrual fluid, with tiles peeled up. Rust and black mold running down the walls. Graffiti scrawled on every available surface. When she put me in there, I turned on her and shouted. “This place is 3rd world as f***! F*** this! Find me a new cell!” She poked her head in, and said “It’s not bad. Get over it.” and shut the door. When the guards came back, I showed them the conditions of my cell, and they IMMEDIATELY moved me. They knew it was an inhumane cell. In fact, that cell wasn’t even supposed to be used! It was the low rent district of The Hole, and they never put inmates in there. I was moved across the hallway into a different cell, where I would remain for the next month and a half.

It rapidly became apparent that the decision to put me there was arbitrary; that the jail staff knew that I was neither suicidal nor a threat. I had done nothing wrong, and the treatment was undeserved. Let me be emphatic. I WASN’T on “suicide watch”. So let me explain Suicide Watch for a moment. There ARE Suicide Watch cells… IN MEDICAL (Section Medical 68). There AREN’T Suicide Cells in The Hole. The cells in Medical 68 have cameras, wide windows on the doors, a guard needs to sit outside the cell 24/7 to supervise the inmate. The inmate isn’t allowed to have any personal property, no sheets or blankets; not even clothes, bras, panties, NOTHING. They get a “Turtle Suit”, (which is like a canvas dress thing) and a plastic mattress. So, let me be 100% clear. i was not thrown in The Hole for suicide reasons. Even the guards openly talked about it all the time during count, saying “This lady isn’t suicidal. Why do they have her marked down this way?” Furthermore, I was allowed to keep all my blankets, sheets, pants, towels, and enough medication (aspirin and such) to kill a horse. They never went through my belongings to see if I had weapons. Lancaster just threw us in The Hole and left us to rot. And by rot, I mean 23 and 1, Solitary Confinement. I needed to be locked into a “Rec Cell” half the time. I had to be handcuffed whenever I went to Medical. I was treated like a terrorist, not someone with a mental health emergency. This was how it became clear that none of what they were claiming was true. It was a ruse to punish the J6 people; we were being targeted.

The 4th of July came and went. The “suicide pact” never happened (there never was one), and yet still we were left to rot. I broke down crying most of the time. I begged my attorney and my paralegal (Liz, she’s so awesome! :]) to help me. They called the jail, but surprise surprise… the jail “couldn’t do anything about it”. They could. People transfer in-and-out of The Hole all the time. Sometimes in a matter of hours or days. They weren’t keeping us there for any reason, other than they WANTED to. i could have left at any time. But the jail seemed intent on leaving us there. The Counsellor even came one time, again with that stupid form of hers… and tried to get me to “sign off” on the fact that I was a Maximum Security inmate. She said that because of this, i could remain in “The Hole” indefinitely, because I could be deemed a threat to the jail Staff and the inmate population. I freaked out, and relayed all of this to my attorney. I didn’t want to live in The Hole! I even begged the Staff to return me to C2B. I would rather live with the J6 men, than be stuck in Solitary Confinement alone, indefinitely! My mental health swirled the drain, but it would only get worse. My only lifeline, my Patriot sister, Pauline… well, her health was in SEVERE decline. The malnourishment had caught up to her. Eventually, Pauline had a medical emergency. Her blood pressure dropped, and she needed to be taken to the hospital. She had some kind of gluten problem. She was wasting away, and the jail was refusing to honor her dietary needs! She was so emaciated that you could see every one of her ribs. Her arms were toothpicks. But they kept giving her food she couldn’t digest. She (no joke) looked like a Concentration Camp victim. Eventually it caught up to her.

When she collapsed, they took her on an ambulance to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with severe intestinal issues. The CO’s and jail staff hovered over her medical bed day and night with holstered pistols. They left her handcuffed spread-eagle on her hospital bed, and left her lying in her own urine and feces. The guards refused to get the nurses to clean her up. That poor woman was TORTURED, I’m sorry… that’s torture! You can’t cuff someone to a bed spread-eagle to squirm in their own filth. For what? A 1512(c)(2) charge? She didn’t even have violent charges! She merely trespassed, so they hit her with an Obstruction charge. She was so badly emaciated that it took the hospital weeks to bring her up to a safe weight and discharge her. When the jail staff brought her back to the DC Gulag, they threw her back into The Hole! When I saw her, i broke down crying. I was so glad she was safe. She looked so much healthier… by A LOT! Her skin, her face, and her muscle tone. She looked NORMAL! It was clear to anyone with eyes, the jail was slowly killing her. A before and after picture would have been STARTLING! But once the jail brought her back, they would only return to doing the same. Her malnourishment would resume. Despite the diagnosis, despite her medical condition, the jail continued to feed her food that she was unable to eat. In the span of a month, she began to waste away again. Her hair fell out in gobs. It was what would eventually get her released home on Bond. After Pauline had come back to the jail, we were in The Hole for a week or two, before we were finally brought back to E2B at last. The inmates were overjoyed to see us again. They told us everything, including how they overheard Lancaster bragging to the CO’s about what they had done to us. She thought it was FUNNY. And I wasn’t f***ing laughing.