UPDATES as of 3/31 in slideshow:
Original post (on 2/29) below:
For the past two weeks we have been conducting a participatory phone zap that has brought pressure upon SCI Rockview to reprimand three guards who hung nooses in the facility last November. This is a protracted struggle that has resulted in backlash from the facility staff and revealed numerous chains of complicity, manipulation, and deception that run from the top-down within the DOC. As of now we know two prisoners have been targeted in retaliation for speaking up and demanding their grievances be taken seriously. Prisoners in the facility are being punished for using sanctioned methods of grievance. We have now shifted into a two-fold approach to the phone zap, where on the one hand we plan to make it known that eyes are on what PA-DOC is doing to the comrades, as a layer of defense and anti-repression support. On the other hand we also plan to continue amplifying the demands of prisoners in the facility. There have been several public calls and positions papers that are in circulation, generated from inside-outside discussion from various groups. You can read one of these statements that we have made available here, as well as practical displays of solidarity and mutual support.
We have an update on Charles Gilyard (AY3679), who was targeted and put in the hole at SCI Rockview for filing grievances and for continuing to speak up after the grievances were denied and internal investigation dropped.
Charles (AY3679) was moved to SCI Houtzdale, on Thursday 3/28, located an hour west of SCI Rockview. He has been there since approx. 3:30pm. We received word that Rockview did not ship any of Charles’ belongings and he is to start from scratch with no property. Charles is in his 60s. His experience in the hole (isolation) without any calls permitted and hyper-immobilized for over a week has taken a toll.
On 3/29 we will be calling SCI Houtzdale and PA-DOC East Office to demand that his property be salvaged and shipped. We are also asking any letter writing collectives and books thru bars groups to send Charles (AY3679) some love and light.
Please call SCI Rockview and demand that the property of Charles Gilyard (AY3679) are shipped to him where he is now held, at SCI Houtzdale.
We also need help calling in to check on Charles Carrington (#HS1233) who remains in the hole at SCI Rockview pending a retaliatory transfer. After filing his grievances about the noose incident, he expressed concern for his life & was communicated that he felt staff were trying to kill him. We need to make sure that the prison knows we have eyes on what is happening. There is an absolute difference in the way the guards and staff move when we are constantly checking versus when we are not. And we need to stick with Charles through this, and urge people to not devolve into spectating but actively participate in the defense of people who are retaliated against for defying silence and speaking up in the jaws of unmediated state power.
Please call in to demand Charles Carrington (#HS1233) be removed from the hole at SCI Rockview. If he isn’t transfered we need to let it known that we are watching. And if they say he has been transferred then we need to demand his property be salvaged and shipped.
Contacts:
SCI Houtzdale Phone Line | 814.378.1000
SCI Rockview Phone Line | 814.355.4874
When calling the SCI Rockview facility itself, you can request to speak with the admin or security. If you choose to speak with admin, here are their specs: Superintendent is Bobbi Jo Salamon; Deputy Superintendent of Central Services is Mike Rowe; Deputy Superintendent of Facilities is Scott Woodring; Business Manager is Adam Beck; Superintendent’s Assistant is Nicki Paul (Nicki is also the grievance coordinator – and a big liar!). When you call the prison directly, ask to speak with any of these admin.
PA-DOC East Office
Morris Houser, Acting Deputy Secretary Eastern Region 717.728.4122 | 4123
Marilyn Richards, Staff Assistant 717.728.4114
Samuel (Clueless) Condo, Staff Assistant 717.728.4747
Capt. Bly, Inspection Captain 717.728.4126
Scripts:
SCI Rockview is attempting to disrupt the cohesion of inside resistance to these racist guards by targeting and removing people who they think are its catalyst. The regime is simultaneously attempting to thwart the energy of outside support into individually supporting comrades, while comrades inside are isolated and targeted for reprisal. Therefore on the one hand, we have defensive work: making sure the comrades who are singled out and face accelerated retaliation are materially supported and the prison knows we have all eyes on the unfolding situation. And on the other hand we continue our offensive work: adjusting strategy to force PADOC to not only recognize the prisoner demands but to fulfill the requested terms of relief from which such demands emerge.
Contacts for pushing Inside Demands:
Timothy Holmes, Chief Counsel | 717.728.7763 | tholmes@pa.gov
Morris Houser, Deputy Secretary East 717.728.4122 | 4123
Samuel (Clueless) Condo, Staff Assistant 717.728.4747
Governor Shapiro’s office: 717.787.2500
Michelle A Henry, PA Attorney General: 717.787.3391
PA Office of Inspector General – 717.772.4935
Script
I am calling on behalf of a community of people who are distressed by a recent incident of antiBlack harassment by a group of CO’s at SCI Rockview, who have faced no consequences for their racist actions. On 11/24/23, prisoners at SCI Rockview found two nooses made from extension cords hung by guards in the office (bubble). Two internal grievances have been submitted by prisoners who witnessed the incident, and prison officials have rejected both. The internal investigation on the matter has also been closed, leading us to resort to contacting anyone external that we can. We would like to make you aware that the facility admin has rejected both internal grievances, submitted by prisoners through the proper channels. And while the guards have faced no consequences for their hateful act, prisoners who have spoken out and lodged legitimate grievances have faced severe consequences that have placed them in the hole, led to transfers, and can compromise their records. We have little reason to believe any further internal investigation will achieve what the prisoners have been demanding, which includes the following:
- Investigate the hanging of nooses as a “hate crime” and take its impact seriously
- Terminate Sgt. Mosser and c/o Richards
- Mandatory therapy for c/o Kirchner
The hanging of two nooses is understood by many people imprisoned at SCI Rockview to be a hostile act and deeply offensive. Some are disclosing how these acts are part of a larger pattern of discriminatory practices used by correctional officers at this specific facility. If this was any other workplace, the act of hanging nooses would lead to severe consequences. The admin at SCI Rockview have not only displayed indifference to the racist act, but some even have made efforts to silence prisoners in distress by the incident. We urge PA-DOC officials to recognize the significance of the prisoner demands, which are derived from the exhausted grievances.
The administration at SCI Rockview is deeply paranoid, fearful, and engaged in explicit damage control right now. SCI Rockview was a site of double digit fatalities and constant gratuitous violence in 2023. The noose situation is tip of the iceburg shit. We are curious to know the extent to which the Correctional Officers union is having a play in this cover up. We are starting to connect the dots a bit more.
The reason for the unprecedented quickness of these transfers following exposure in the Daily Centre and leaking of denied grievances, also may be likely due to pressure for cover up from a high level of PA-DOC. Like we been saying, the noose incident is just the tip of the iceburg at Rockview – a site of persistent, gratuitous violence that is symptomatic of a normalized condition of antiBlack genocide that coheres in PA-DOC. The DOC knows this. This is why they have been so opaque and deflective with the public questioning and independent external investigators. And this is why they have came down so hard on prisoners who will not let this incident go without consequences.
If guards face consequences for something as allegedly “minor” as hanging nooses in the facility, what will PA-DOC be forced to do when the stories of beatings and premature death are dug into further? And to be clear, hanging nooses is NOT a minor act. It is a serious fucking deal. If anyone hung nooses in their “non-law enforcement” site of employment they would be reprimanded and fired with a quickness. This says everything about the institutional culture of PA-DOC. This says everything about the normalized condition of antiBlack genocide that PA-DOC preserves and enforces .
As an recent call to action earlier this week reads:
What is happening right now at SCI Rockview is an autonomous campaign to get two guards fired and for one to received mandated therapy as an act of “mercy.” An autonomous campaign means that it is open to all for participation, using tactics according to their own abilities and needs. It means it is decentralized and not led by a single party, non-profit, or institutionalized entity. It is a type of campaign that anyone who is impacted by the violence of PA-DOC can join in, anonymously or as their full legal selves. It means a diversity of tactics and direct action are on the table always. It is a type of campaign that has no registration form or membership fees. It simply means that if you are moved by or can relate to the unfolding struggle of prisoners at Rockview, then you are qualified to participate. The situation is becoming more dire by the day in this facility, with the staff initiating a backlash that has put multiple people in the hole (solitary) and even transferred one prisoner out of state.
One specific need that potentially can be fulfilled is further research into specific highly responsible prison officials, which is information available in the phone zap scripts and press releases. This information can be circulated somewhere where people familiar with this kind of research can encounter it, like Scenes from the Atlanta Forest or Philly Anti-Capitalist.
Dreaming Freedom, Practicing Abolition 