Portland Observer
Walla Walla inmates request federal investigation
by Ronald H all
and they locked us up in a closet
naked. As we were waiting in there,
an hour elapsed. We were taken back
to our cells and there was nothing in
there but the bunks - the bunk, a
mattress and a blanket.
“ As I stood at the cell bars to look
at the things that were removed all in
the tie r, I saw pictures o f my
daughter, o f me, o f my wife torn up
and some pictures just on the floor. I
seen my radio. The members o f the
squad who were shaking the tier
down were loading them into barrels
For the first time since lockdown
in July, inmates o f the Walla Walla
State Penitentiary met the press and
told their story to the outside world.
Although the inmates had been
assured by the Acting Superinten
dent that there would be no time
lim it, shortly before the meeting he
announced that time would be re
stricted to 45 minutes and that
representatives from isolation would
not be allowed to participate.
to our cell. We were all standing
there waiting fo r them. 1 was in
front; I had my hands on my head.
“ So they yelled and said, OK Who
are the blanket asses. There are two
Indians living in the cell, myself and
my b ro th e r-in -la w . One o f the
guards said that one and I know who
the other one is. I was told to step
out. When I proceeded to do it, I was
punched in the gut. 1 had glasses on
and my glasses were smashed in my
face. I was beat the length o f the tier.
At the end o f the tier I was turned
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toilets like they use on construction
sites. They cut the top o ff so they
could see in at all times. They had
them pumped out twice a week. Then
they started giving us food roughage
to make us go to the bathroom
easier. Guys had to move porta-pot
ties to the front gate to get them
pumped out.”
For tho future
David Baily spoke about ad
ministration promises to discipline
offending guards. “ Over 300 are
doing life -- for forgery and burglary
They see guards beat prisoners and
try to kill them. Then you expect
them to sit back and be guarded by
these same guards for the next 13
years. It doesn’ t make much sense.
“ The situation is comparable to
being in a pit with rattlesnakes and
no way out. You can’ t cut o ff a
couple o f rattlers. It won’ t do no
good. You have to cut o ff the head
the poisen w ill k ill you.
"This is the situation for 1400 per
sons who had no part in the killing o f
Officer Cross. Also the 230 men in
A Wing who were beaten but had
nothing to do with killing Officer
Cross. The six men in segregation
who were beaten handcuffed to their
cell bars, maced and re-beaten, then
brought into admissions and beaten
again and put into illegal strip cells.
They did not have anything to do
with killing Cross.
“ Firing five guards and verbally
spanking seven others does not
elimate or rectify the problems that
have been created or the respon
sibilities for the criminal acts. Some
o f these crimes are o f a more serious
nature than the people here have
commited and are presently serving
life sentances for.
“ Now the a dm inistration feels
that they can give up 5 sacrificial
goats and call it justice."
Baily stated that he has advised
prison and state officials o f his desire
to present evidence against the thir
teen guards who participated in the
beating o f the six men in isolation,
but his letters have not been an
swered.
Ray Sperber said the institution
has had fo ur wardens and three
Directors o f Corrections in three
years. "Reflecting back, it's obvious
all these things came to a head under
Dixie.”
He charged that the prison has
inadequate staff — too few guards
and guards that are not competent,
there is no confidence in the staff or
the administration by the residents
or the guards. “ They say one thing
and do or mean another. It is hard to
show or have any respect for law or
authority when those o f the law and
October 11.1f7l
authority don’ t obey it or show no
respect for anyone’s rights.”
He said the a d m in is tra tio n is
playing a "numbers” game, moving
bodies from one facility to another
and not a llie v ia tin g the over
crowding.
"T o o many men are in maximum
custody who should be on medium
or minimum and given a chance to
show i f they are responsivle. There is
violent/radical guards just like there
are some residents who are hard to
control.”
C itin g many o f the p rison 's
ongoing problem s, Ray Sperber
asked that the prisoners who want to
do their time from those who don’t;
the violent from the non-violent;
first timers from losers; m ultiple
lifers or long termers from short
term younger, more m ellow in
dividuals.
Prison reform is "ju s t like putting
up a stop sign or cutting down a tree
at a blind intersection. It takes a
death or two — then a costly survey —
then months for an ok. Then ten men
in four state trucks to put up one sign
or cut down one treel”
The inmates o f Walla Wall State
P e nite n tiary requested an in
vestigation by the U.S. Justice
Department. And they asked that the
press watch fo r the expected
retaliation.
w
The Morns Morks House
1501 SW Hornson Srreer
Porflond 97201
Telephone 227 26ÔÔ
Walla Walla inmates meat the press
Julius Gilespie gave a brief discrip-
tion o f events leading up to the July
violence.
“ The present adm inistrtion has
condoned repeated acts o f guard
harassment o f inmates - beatings,
etc. The adm inistration is openly
disrespected by corrections officers
and memorandums that are issued by
them are looked over. During the
months o f A pril, May and June o f
this year a battle fo r control o f
W ashington State P enitentiary
emerged between the guard’ s union
and the administration. Corrections
officers deferred order o f the ad
m inistration when given and pur
posely engaged in harassment against
inmates, inmate clubs and inmate
program s in an e ffo rt to create
negative reactions from inmates to
better enact their plan for control o f
the penitentiary.”
Gilespie charged that during A pril,
May and June the inmate population
was pushed to the lim it by correc
tions officers. “ Visitors were overly
harassed and we were being subject
ed to skin searches two or three
times daily. Ficticious infractions
were w ritten on inmates and the
major hearings committee imposed
sanctions on inmates on the officers’
report alone.”
On June 12th an Indian inmate
was fatally stabbed in the resident
council office. Meetings were held
between representatives o f the
C hicano Center and the Indian
Brotherhood and an agreement
reached that there w ould be no
reprisals. That afte rn oo n an
agreement was reached and, accor
ding to Gilespie who was at the
meeting, the Captain agreed to pull
his officers back and have no further
shake downs that day.
Three days later Sgt. Cross was
fatally stabbed.
Shakedown
David Riviera described the first
days o f lockdown which began after
the Cross killing:
“ For the first three and one-half
weeks we were locked in cells without
showers. We were constantly told
showers were coming the next day.
The a ttitu d e o f the guards had
deteriorated to the point where they
weren’t even speaking to the men -
they weren't even seen. The only way
you knew they were there was when
they brought the cold TV dinners
around. A t that p o in t the m ail
slowed and it virtually stopped. We
were ignored completely - our cries
for showers, and I say cries because
the weather was very hot, were
ignored.”
Riviera said the men were looking
forward to the shakedown because
they had been assured that after it
(Kcured things would return to nor
mal. The killing o f the guard was an
isolated incident. The administration
did not say at that time that the lock-
down was the result o f Chicano-
Indian fighting.
“ A t the time a memo was issued
on the items listed that would be
taken out o f our cells and the things
we could keep. That was to ta lly
disregarded. Everything was taken
out o f our cells. When they came to
my cell they took the four o f us out,
and members o f the same squad were
also d rivin g them out o f the in
stitution. Hence so many missing
items, so many personal belongings.
Riviera described the fate o f those
who are translered to other prisons.
“ You don’ t know if they’ re going to
come in your ceil in the morning and
take you out naked like they’re doing
and beat people when they transfer
them. Throw them on a bus and send
them to who knows where. They are
starting to fo llo w the C a lifo rn ia
system and are making it necessary
for the evolutaion o f gangs such as
the Aryan Brotherhood, the Mexican
M a fia and the Black G u erilla
Family.
“ They are going to make it
necessary because they have
eliminated what they call our turf,
which actually wasn’t like that. A lot
o f positive things were happening
here. We were having good
crim inology classes and a lot o f
positive things were coming out o f
them. A ll that now has virtually been
eliminated.”
Night of Violence
John Wait described the night o f
violence in Eight Wing:
“ On July 7th, after shakedown,
there was a promise o f showers.
There has been a lot written in the
news media, about that was the
reason we went o ff at Eight Wing
and became destructive. That is not
true. We went o ff in Eight Wing
because o f the way they brutalized us
and our personal possessions - the
only things that we were allowed to
have that had meaning to us, that
kept us in contact with people on the
streets.
“ A t approximately 10:00 in the
evening o f July 7th, guards came in
to the wing, fired o ff a round from a
shot gun. They proceded to F Tier,
proceeded to take people out o f their
cells, one cell at a time. There were
approximately 15 or 20 in the wing in
full riot gear. The guards at the bot
tom o f the wing by the main gate had
weapons. People were taken out -
2,3 or however many people lived in
the cell. They were beaten, knocked
to the ground. They were stamped
on, handcuffed with th eir hands
behind their backs. I live on the last
cell on the tier. I listened to all o f this
coming down. They took all o f F tier
out, then they proceeded to E tier,
took all o f E tier out, theq to C tier,
took all o f C tier out. Then they
began on D tier.
“ When they began on D tier I ob
served the process with a m irror that
I stuck out the bars o f my cell. As
each cell was brought out the inmates
were brought out one at a time with
their hands on their head. They were
kicked, punched and taken down to
the front o f the tier. There they were
turned over to another cadre o f
guards. They were cuffed behind the
back with a specific type o f a cuff. It
is a plastic c u ff with a wire that runs
through it so it can be cinched up
tight. They were slammed into walls.
I observed these things with my own
eyes when they hit my tier.
“ I was on the last tier so you can
see how I felt, knowing they were
getting closer to our cell. They came
loose. An officer slammed me into
the wall face first after I was cuffed
and ripped my watch o ff my arm.
“ I was taken down in front o f the
wing. I was thrown in the d irt in
front o f the wing, on my face. My
feet were put in back o f my head; my
face was pushed into the dirt so I
Couldn't breathe. Everytime I moved
to try to get breath I was stepped on
and kicked. I was taken there with a
group o f 50 or 60.”
DES CONNALL
Life in the Yard
Professional Corporation
Jim Koepenick discribed life in the
big yard, where the inmates o f Eight
W ing lived from July 7th u n til
present.
"W hile lying in the dirt, there was
construction going on at the time,
there was no concrete or grass, just
d irt. W hile we were there, there
were officers on the wall who would
urinate on the inmates who were
lying on the ground.”
LEGAL CLINIC
Koepenick said the deputy director
and other members o f the ad
ministration witnessed these acts.
Koepenick accused the guards with
drunkedness. “ There were even
comments among the guards
jokingly that as soon as they get this
crew in the yard they would have
something else to d rink.”
The men were herded into the big
yard. " A ll we had on when we went
in the yard was a pair o f pants - no
shoes or socks. The grass had been
thoroughly saturated, it was wet and
it was cold that night. People were
herded into rows, had to sit down in
rows, and put your head on your
knees. Orders were given to shoot
anyone who moved, at that time the
yard was secured.
“ One resident informed the Nine
Tower C ontrol Area that he was
going to get up and use the toilet
facility - it was approximately 25
yards. A shot was fired from Nine
Tower as the resident went to use the
toilet facilites.”
The men stayed in the yard.
“ Everybody was beat, in different
degrees Toilet facilities in the yard
didn’t work. After a day, there was
human waste on a slab 30 feet from
where they were serving food. I can’t
begin to explain what it was like.
Sunburns were so bad people's eyes
were swollen shut. People's feet were
burned so they co uldn 't walk on
them; if they did it would split them
and they’d start bleeding.
“ P e rio d ic a lly ,
fo r
fu rth e r
harassment, they w ould run the
"Cyclons” in the riot gear and line
us up against the wall and remove
things in the yard. On a couple o f oc-
cassions shots were fire d . They
finally brought blankets and we used
TV dinner trays to make tents.
There was not even a comb in the
yard for a week; toothbrushes they
finally gave to us.
“ Sickness, constipation - it was
a real bad problem. After 4 or 5 days
they finally let us get a letter out. It
was censored and mailed two weeks
later. Mail was very sparodic.
" I can’t begin to express the con
ditions we lived under in the big
yard. Bugs, flies, no sanitation. They
fin a lly brought in some portable
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CRIMINAL LAW
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF INTOXICANTS
DOMESTIC RELATIONS
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
BANKRUPTCY
PERSONAL INJURY
WILLS - PROBATE
AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS
CONSUMER PROTECTION
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