Sean hasn’t been receiving mail from people who told him (through other means) that they had sent him stuff.
If you’ve sent anything to Sean and haven’t got a reply from him, please contact redbirdprisonabolition@riseup.net and we’ll let sean know, so he can at least write you back. Thanks!
In Support of Kerry and the Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resisters
Kerry, a fourth subpoenaed witness to the Pacific Northwest Federal witch-hunts refused to appear in court. Kerry released a statement entitled, “Never Surrender.” In this statement, Kerry voiced support for the May Day attacks on the federal courthouse, attacks that the Grand Jury has convened to investigate.
I join with Kerry in support for the attacks on the federal courthouse and would like to question why such attacks can only occur on holidays like May Day. We have a lot of federal courthouses and very few revolutionary holidays.
Support Kerry and the Pacific Northwest Grand Jury Resisters.
In Support of the Tinley Park 5
“If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning, I’d hammer in the evening, all over this land. I’d hammer out justice, I’d hammer out freedom, I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land…”
-”If I Had a Hammer” Peter, Paul and Mary
A group of Nazis were having a meeting at a restaurant in a Chicago suburb, likely planning some kind of violence against people they don’t like. Their meeting broke up early when folks armed with framing hammers put several of them in the hospital.
Probably not what Peter, Paul and Mary had in mind. But it works for me.
Five members of Anti-Racist Action were charged with crimes related to the attack despite the fact that Nazis were hospitalized and no humans were harmed. Those charged have accepted plea deals with sentences ranging from 3 and a half to 6 years.
Check out their support site for details about their situation
Recent letter form Sean:
“Quick update: No laundry service in a week. Blackjack and I smell like rank mules. Still hungry, sleep deprived and freezing. Scott Basquin is withholding ALL printed material. Sometimes he issues a notice of withholding, sometimes he just steals it.
He withheld Walden, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau as a threat to safety and security. No shit. This guy would see the boodgeyman jumping out of a Walt Disney coloring book. He just plain stole 3 pages from a JPay [name removed] sent.
We’ve got like 25 withheld items going to central office screening committee. East Bay sent lit. Dillon’s was withheld, Blackjack’s was improperly withheld as nuisance after screening and then when they were told it was sent from a publisher, they screened it again, saw danger they didn’t see the first time and issued notices of withholding. Mine were just chucked in the trash, it seems.”
If you feel like giving these trifling COs some shit, call ManCI at 419-526-2000.
In a recent sworn affidavit Leslie Dillon admits to heading the Mansfield faction of the Army of the 12 Monkeys. He states that as Monkey number 9 he knows that his co-accused Sean Swain and James “Blackjack” Dzelajilija are not members of A12M. He states that he is the only member of the Army of the 12 Monkeys at ManCI, and that he did not recruit or attempt to recruit any members. He also explains the circumstantial evidence the Rules Infraction Board used against Swain and Blackjack and describes an attempt to coerce testimony from him against Swain.
Dillon states that Swain’s 12 Monkeys tattoo pre-dated the emergence of the Army of the 12 Monkeys and is simply a reference to the 90s movie starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. The “propaganda” found in Dzelajilija’s cell was actually rap lyrics he wrote based on 2Pac Shakur’s song “Everyone Rise”. Dillon aquired a copy of these lyrics and remembered the 2Pac song, so he typed the lyrics and signed it Monkey #12.
Dillon states that he has attempted to explain these circumstances to ManCI staff repeatedly with no response. He goes on to describe an interaction with unrecognized staff member at ManCI on December 3rd, 2012. This staff member offered Dillon a deal where ManCI investigator Angela Hunsinger would overturn his RIB conviction if he would testify that Swain was the leader of the Army of the 12 Monkeys. Dillon refused and that evening his cell was searched and his property destroyed. The next day ODRC Director Gary Mohr affirmed Dillon’s RIB sanction.
Dillon did not come out as the leader of ManCI faction of the Army of the 12 Monkeys because shortly after his transfer, the Ohio State Highway Patrol interviewed him about alleged bomb threats he knew nothing about. He was afraid that if he admitted participation in the Army of the 12 Monkeys, he would be blamed for these bomb threats. Later, when he discovered that the threats were not real or serious, and that other prisoners were being scapegoated for his 12 Monkeys activities, he decided to go public and made his sworn statement.
In his statement Dillon implies that The Army of the 12 Monkeys is active elsewhere in Ohio. This possibility is supported by rumors and activities of prison staff. On January 31st there was a large disturbance at Lake Erie Correctional, which the Army of the 12 Monkeys are rumored to have instigated. ODRC transferred 40 prisoners from Lake Erie to segregation at ManCI, possibly to contain 12 Monkeys activity at the one prison. Guards at Marion Correctional have also searched footlockers looking for nail clippers that may have been used to cut phone lines, a sabotage technique described by in the Army of the 12 Monkeys guerrilla manual. Outside of prison walls, someone has anonymously distributed copies of this guerrilla manual on the internet with instructions on how to mail it in to prisons everywhere.
Letters of solidarity and support can be sent to Leslie Dillon at:
Leslie Dillon
ManCI 416-607
PO BOX 788
Mansfield OH 44901
This is the sworn and notarized statement of Army of the 12 Monkeys member Leslie Dillon, regarding ManCI staffs attempts to scapegoat Sean and Blackjack for A12M activities they had no part in.
Wednesday, Feb 13th, Mansfield OH- Tomorrow is the deadline for Sean Swain to file his final appeal to Warden Terry Tibbals. Supporters are asking people to call the Warden on Friday to oppose the transfer. The Rules Infraction Board found Sean guilty of leading The Army of the 12 Monkeys, a group calling for sabotage and low intensity guerrilla warfare against the prison system. They had no evidence against Sean other than an alleged “ideological match” with the propaganda put out by this group.
Sean has been under strict supervision in a control unit since September, but the activities of the Army of the 12 Monkeys have continued in Mansfield and may have spread to a second correctional institution in Ohio. On January 15th, at least four prisoners were transferred from general population in Mansfield to segregation for allegedly engaging in 12 Monkeys activity including breaking windows.
On the weekend of Jan 26 there was a large fight at Lake Erie Correctional, one of Ohio’s three private prisons. In multiple fights, which involved multiple offenders, only one prisoner was hospitalized because of injuries inflicted by a correctional officer. 40 prisoners were transferred to ManCI and put in quarantined segregation, in their own seg block. Rumors from that cell block are that the Army of the 12 Monkeys sent a press release claiming responsibility for the fight before it happened. The fact that the ODRC transferred so many prisoners to ManCI would support these rumors, they might be trying to contain any prisoners exposed to 12 Monkeys propaganda in one institution.
Sean Swain is has been an outspoken anarchist and proponent of prisoners’ rights for many years. Before the accusations and transfer to segregation, Sean was writing strong opposition pieces to the ODRC’s privatization of prisoner commissary accounts. Sean has served over 20 years of a life sentance for a murder he maintains was self-defense against a man who broke into his house.
If the transfer to Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) goes through, he fears he may spend the rest of his life there. Recently Cornelius Harris, a prisoner on level 5 at OSP went on a 36 day hunger strike demanding a step-down procedure after spending three years in solitary on level 5 with no incident reports. Prisoners accused of participating in the Lucasville Uprising 20 years ago have been held on level 5 at OSP since the facility opened in 1998.
Warden Terry Tibbals will be receiving Sean’s appeal of his Sean’s transfer to Supermax at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) on Thursday afternoon. We suspect that left to his own devices, he’ll rubberstamp the transfer and send Sean to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement on security level 5B. We need to let him know that Sean has our support. Please tell the warden we know Sean’s being scapegoated and persecuted for his anarchist convictions, which are rooted in his deeply held (and institutionally approved) religious beliefs. Sean and his lawyers are working on a religious discrimination lawsuit if the transfer goes forward, but we’re hoping that inundating the Warden with phone calls will get him to blink and save us the time and trouble.
Please call Warden Terry Tibbals at 419-526-2000 on Friday morning. See call in script below.
If you’re feeling like an over-achiever, you can also call the investigator who wrote the report condemning Sean based on a flimsy “ideological match” with no actual evidence. Maybe chat her up about the differences between anarchism and maoism. Or maybe compare and contrast the democratic ideology she’s supposed to uphold (including features like the “rule of law” or “due process”) and the arbitrary authoritarianism she’s actually perpetrating. Her name is Hunsinger and she’s at 419-526-2000 ext 2027, 2026, and 2029.
Also, please send Sean some valentines or something. He’s been on lockdown, underfed, sleep deprived, and basically tortured since September. He could use some warmth and love.
Sean Swain
ManCI 243-205
PO BOX 788
Mansfield, OH 44901
SUGGESTED CALL-IN SCRIPT
Hello, I’m calling about Sean Swain’s potential transfer to OSP. Sean’s number is 243-205. I’ve seen the Rules Infraction Board decision and familiarized myself with the facts of Sean’s case. I believe he is being scapegoated. I understand that prisoners continue to engage in the activities Sean has supposedly been found guilty of leading, despite the fact that Sean has been under strict supervision for months. Other accused prisoners are not appealing their guilty findings or transfers. Sean is appealing, because he is innocent. The only evidence against him is ideological, and you do not have any authority or security interest in regulating or attempting to control the ideology or beleifs of the people you hold captive. Approving this transfer is out of line. Sean was scheduled for a security level reduction and transfer to Marion Correctional before these false accusations surfaced. Please, let Sean go to Marion instead of OSP. Thank you.
On Friday January 11th Sean Swain wrote a JPay email notifying outside supporters that his security status review was scheduled for the following Monday. We didn’t receive this email until Tuesday and haven’t heard anything since. On December 26th, Sean sent a fat envelope with instructions for his lawyer on how to pressure officials, threatening a civil suit if they go ahead with the transfer. This envelope didn’t arrive until Thursday January 10th. Intentional delays of communication by ManCI staff prevented us from helping Sean fight this transfer.
This is but one example of the kind of treatment Sean has received since first being accused of leading the Army of the 12 Monkeys’ sabotage campaign back in September. ManCI staff have made special exceptions to almost every rule regulating how they’re supposed to treat someone in ad seg facing these kind of charges. Of course, this is not unexpected. Prison guards at ManCI seem to enthusiastically embrace the reputation that COs are hateful, small minded and trifling.
Calls to the prison and officials in central office contradict Sean’s information and each other. These people are either jerking us around, or they are totally inept. We cannot get trustworthy information on whether the security review occurred, it’s decision, or Sean’s current status.
Sean Swain needs our help standing up to these people. The last communication we’ve received from him was the above-mentioned JPay dated Jan 11th. He needs mail. He needs donations to his legal fund. He needs things to read. ManCI staff deny books sent to him on the slightest pretense, but some zines and articles seem to have gotten through.
He needs the phones at ManCI and ODRC central office to ring off the hook. Sean was scheduled for a status reduction that would have sent him to lower security at Marion when the 12 Monkeys events occurred. Please call the prison and demand that Sean be transferred to Marion, as planned. If you want to be polite or reasonable, you can describe how the Rules Infraction Board presented no evidence, how the investigator admitted that the accusation is based on Sean’s ideology, how these charges are a trumped up retaliation against Sean’s anti-prison privitization essays. You can remind them that the supreme court has ruled that prisons have no legitimate interest in controlling the speech or ideology of their captives. We doubt that Sean cares very much about us being reasonable or polite with these people anymore, though.
Please call ManCI at 419-526-2000 ask for the Warden’s office and demand all this nonsense be dropped and Sean sent to Marion as planned. You can also ask to speak to the Local Control unit manager, Lt Lynch, if you wanna listen to the phone ring while he ignores it.
Please call Director Gary Mohr at Central Office, 614-752-1150 . Let him know that we won’t tolerate the COs and officials in Mansfield trampling on the basic rights of prisoners. Ask to talk to Lotte Sanders in legal services if you want to argue the facts of Sean’s case with a talkative and friendly fascist bureaucrat.
It goes without saying that Sean (like every prisoner) also needs a lot of things that we can’t publically condone or openly speak about.
Sean Swain’s support team has retained Bob Fitrakis, a well-known activist lawyer, journalist and professor to help with Sean’s various legal troubles.
We’ve also created a legal fund to cover the expenses. We are looking for a new lawyer now. Sean has been pretty thoroughly fucked over by those he not-so-affectionately refers to as “the fascist fuckweasels” so we’ve got our work laid out for us.
Issue 1: Sean’s original conviction. Sean is serving a life bid for defending himself against an intruder who broke into his home and threatened him. The intruder happened to be related to the clerk of courts. Naturally, Sean didn’t get anything like a fair trial, his self-defense argument was not accepted and he got the book thrown at him. He has appealed the court’s decision, with assistance of a public defender, the appellate court found in his favor and remanded the case to the original court, with specific instructions for re-trial. The court failed to follow these instructions, and found against Sean again. Sean is currently arguing that their decision is thus void. He hasn’t had access to his legal documents for years, but just recently received them and is working on the next stages of this case, so even though it’s been 20 years, Sean is excited to now finally be able to move on his original conviction.
Issue 2: The Twelve Monkeys, The Rules Infraction Board, and religious discrimination. So, apparently some people callin themselves The Army of the 12 Monkeys got some sort of wild at ManCI. The prison administrators have tried to peg it all on everyone’s favorite anarchist muckraker, Sean Swain, who was at the time writing some pretty inflammatory stuff criticizing JPay and the further privitization of Ohio’s prison system. The Rules Infraction Board were unable to find any actual evidence linking Sean to the sabotage or propaganda, so instead they just said he was an “ideological match” and found him guilty. There’s no evidence that The Army of the 12 Monkeys are anarchists, or that the “investigator” who made this match has any clue what Sean’s ideology is. Sean was held in local control for most of a year before being transferred to The Ohio State Penitentiary Ohio’s super-max prison in what must be one of the most bizarre processes to hit the ODRC since folks were cutting off their fingers and mailing them to the UN to try and get out of Lucasville back in the day. There’s a really solid case, and lots of embarrassing RIB hearing recordings and transcripts just begging to see the light of day.
Issue 3: Adult Parole Authority Hijinx. Sean was up for parole in September 2011. He hired a lawyer to help him prepare for his heaing. The prison officials decided to flop him without having a hearing, inviting Sean, or his lawyer. This violates the APA’s rules. Sean’s lawyer said she would fight this decision, but didn’t. Now Sean and Bob are going to take it up. [We missed the deadline on this one.]
Issue 4: Wrongful imprisonment lawsuit. If Sean can prove that his original conviction is void, then he’s been incarcerated wrongfully since his appeal, and is entitled to a fair chunk of recompense.
Issue 5: Human Rights Claims. Sean has a civil rights lawsuit against the US through the Organization of American States (OAS). In this action, Sean argues that the constitution of the state of Ohio violates the Treaty of Greenville, and thus Ohio does not exist and cannot legitimately hold him, or anyone else captive. The OAS has given the US until Dec 23rd to answer Sean’s claims. Bob finds this interesting, but will focus his attention on the original conviction and the 12 Monkeys / religious discrimination cases. Much much more on this can be found on dropbox.
November 12, 2012
Dear Counsel:
I write this for posting at seanswain.org and for emailing to attorneys and law schools. I provide only brief summaries of legal history and issues, and more information can be provided if it isn’t already posted at seanswain.org.
My Criminal Case
I was falsely convicted of murder in 1991. My conviction was reversed with specific instructions, but the trial court did not obey the mandate. All further proceedings were void, in violation of the law of the case doctrine. In August 2011, I filed a motion to vacate in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. The court has refused to rule on it and the clerk of courts answers none of my inquiries.
I have been unlawfully imprisoned for 21 years. Any attorney who can get Ohio to follow the law can keep every dime of a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit.
My motion to vacate was filed in August 2011 in State v. Swain. Erie County Common Pleas case number 91-CR-253.
My Parole
In September 2011, the Ohio Parole Board violated statute that requires them to notify my counsel prior to a full board hearing. My local hearing was held Sept 19 and the full board hearing was held just eleven days later on Sept 30 without statutorily-mandated notification of counsel. A re-hearing can be mandated, allowing counsel to present the evidence police concealed at the time of trial, proving there was a break-in at my home and I acted in self-defense.
My Current Situation
I have been targeted and framed for gang activity, absent any credible or relevant evidence linking me to any conduct- all based on an inexpert assertion regarding my “ideology.” I have been profiled based upon my deeply-held religious beliefs that humans are designed by their creator for tribal life and that this current, unsustainable disorder is a rebellion against the creator’s plan. Because I am a neolithic indigenist- my religion recognized, approved, and accommodated by the State of Ohio- I have been profiled as an “ideological” offender, my published criticism of policy referenced, to have me sent to Lucasville. Whether I will be permanently silenced or not, this frame-up will cause me to die in prison for a crime I did not commit.
I am held in a special management unit cell, awaiting transfer. Lieutenant Chris Lynch has denied me access to my criminal case file, which was just mailed to me as part of a settlement in a civil action. This file contains thousands of documents I have never seen in my 21 year ordeal.
Every aspect of my criminal case, conditions of confinement, and parole have been extra-legal- and demonstrably so.
I need help.
I have been held hostage for 21 years and own nothing of value. On Sept 19, all of my personal property was destroyed. My parents live on a fixed income and are retured- I am their only child. None of my friends are wealthy. I hope to have the return of $2,500 to a friend of mine from previous counsel who did not attend the full board hearing she was retained for, but that money isn’t mine.
If you save me, I’ll owe you my life.
I’ll honor you and compensate you any way I can.
My parents have held their breath for 21 years, waiting for an end to injustice. They don’t deserve this.
Please contact seanswain.org if you may be interested in representing me.
Thank you for your time and kind consideration in reading this,
Freedom,
Sean Swain