Monthly Archives: March 2022

Political Prisoner Eric King Faces Retaliation and Bullying from Bureau of Prisons as He Takes the Stand to Defend Himself Against BOP Allegations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18th, 2022

Contacts: 

Eric King Support Committee [[email protected]]

Josh Davidson [[email protected]; 443.235.1567, Signal preferred]

Political Prisoner Eric King Faces Retaliation and Bullying from Bureau of Prisons as He Takes the Stand to Defend Himself Against BOP Allegations

Denver — On day three of the trial of political prisoner Eric King, it came to light that the cell he is being held in at FCI Englewood was flooded, destroying his personal property and legal documents. Attorney Sarah Alvarez, a member of King’s legal defense team, relayed to presiding Judge Martinez that the corrections officers at the facility communicated to Mr. King that they had observed a bird fly into his cell, a guard had to chase it, and somehow toilet paper ended up in the slightly leaking sink, causing the flood damage. Judge Martinez made a statement to the court that he had never seen such issues in all his years on the bench and that it is far reaching to say it was not intentional on the part of the Bureau. “Now a bird is being blamed? The BOP is setting itself up for a civil lawsuit,” Judge Martinez noted.

When questioned by Judge Martinez, Zachary Huffman, attorney for the Bureau of Prisons, attempted to insinuate that Mr. King himself had flooded his cell, destroying his own property. 

The story of modern-day prison abuse is exemplified in the case of Eric King. King is 5’6’, a father and a husband serving a ten-year sentence in federal custody. Two years ago, in FCI Florence, a federal prison in Colorado, a guard took King to a storage closet, alone, and beat him with closed fists. Even though this prison guard’s violence was not video-recorded and only King and the guard were present during the altercation, other prison employees fell in line to try and undermine King’s self-defense claim.

Today, March 17, 2022, King is now facing a federal assault trial with the possibility of a 20-year sentence. King has been in solitary confinement since that incident in 2018 and is one of 42 people to be held for over a year in solitary confinement within the federal system. “For Eric King, a video recording of this incident would have sealed the deal for his self-defense claim, and potentially acted as a deterrent for this bully guard, keeping both King and the guard uninjured,” said Josh Davidson, a member of the Eric King Support Committee.

In 2021, Senator Ossoff introduced bi-partisan legislation to install such cameras in the BOP as a response to widespread criminality and violence within the corrections officers employed by the Bureau. 

This is not the first time that this Florence prison facility has experienced disturbing guard abuses and cover-ups. The AP recently reported that “more than 100 federal prison workers have been arrested, convicted or sentenced for crimes since the start of 2019, including a warden indicted for sexual abusean associate warden charged with murder, guards taking cash to smuggle drugs and weapons, and supervisors stealing property such as tires and tractors.” In fact, a bipartisan Senate working group was launched last month to “scrutinize conditions within the Bureau of Prisons following reporting by The Associated Press that uncovered widespread corruption and abuse in federal prisons.”

Former political prisoner and whistleblower, Chelsea Manning, offered her support to King by speaking out against the violent culture of corrections officers:

“The most awful and violent and dangerous interactions I’ve ever seen have come, with impunity, from prison staff. The only common denominator in every single jail, every single civilian and military prison, at every security level, was just the awful brutality of prison staff towards inmates. The worst people in jail or prison are staff, time and time again, and this was across the board no matter where I went.”

Davidson added that “the events occurring amidst trial are a clear extension of the corruption and violent culture BOP staff are ensnared in and that all prisoners are forced to suffer. Eric is taking the Bureau head on and refusing to allow this agency to continue to bully and harm people inside, and they are trying to make him pay for it.” 

Closing statements have been made in the case and the jury has been sent for deliberations.

Eric King Trial court report- March 17, 2022 (Day 4)

“Now a bird is being blamed? The BOP is setting itself up for a civil lawsuit after this.” – Judge Martinez

The morning began with a worrying description of the conditions that defense attorneys Alvarez and Freeman heard of upon arrival at the prison to visit Eric following yesterday’s court session. Alvarez told the Judge that Eric returned from court to find his cell was flooded, his personal property damaged, and his legal papers covered in spilled coffee. When pressed, a corrections officer told Eric that a bird flew into the cell and knocked over the coffee. The Judge expressed his frustration with these bullying tactics stating that never in his entire career had such things occurred during the course of trial and it was becoming difficult to believe the BOPs excuses any longer. He then requested that the BOP provide surveillance video of the range where Eric is being held in segregation.

Eric was cross examined by US Attorney Teitelbaum, who attempted to impeach Eric by publishing several pictures, a drawing, and a letter written to his wife prior to the alleged assault. The defense repeatedly objected to these exhibits and had to remind the Government of the rules of the court’s order on the motions in limine. After several sidebars adding to the length of cross examination, Teitelbaum ended his questioning and the defense did not redirect.

The defense called FBI Special Agent Cronan as their next witness. After lengthy back and forth with the Judge and the Government about the purpose of calling this witness, the defense declined to call the agent and rested.

At this point in the day, jurors were brought back to the courtroom for closing arguments and jury instructions.

The Government began its closing argument with the assertion that Eric is guilty. He went on to assert that Mr. Wilcox is trustworthy because of his nervousness that went on to become more comfortable over 3-hours of testimony, also that he openly admitted what he could and could not remember. He asserted that there are two types of people in this world, the ones you can rely on and the ones who seem to have an answer for everything and always believe they are right. In a strange flip of the script the Government seemed to argue that inconsistency made their witnesses against Eric more credible. Teitelbaum completes his closing after 45-minutes.

Lauren Regan, Executive Director of CLDC and lead attorney for Eric’s legal team, made the closing argument. In a response to a strange analogy to a wedding made in the Government’s closing argument, Regan began by saying that 08/17/18 was not a wedding. Not for Eric, who was assaulted. Not for the guards. Not for anyone. Eric’s memory is clear, he was assaulted by Mr. Wilcox in a storage closet. This was not normal. She then reminded the jurors of their duties to uphold Eric’s constitutionally protected rights and his presumption of innocence, underscoring that burden of proof lies with the Government and not with Eric. Unfortunately for the Government, the proof just isn’t there. Because the assault occurred intentionally out of the view of cameras and witnesses, in a room that was clearly not the appropriate venue. She went on to remind jurors that inconsistencies in testimony should cast a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the evidence against Eric. The BOP witnesses repeatedly attempted to obfuscate the clear and simple truth. Wrapping up her argument, Regan reminded the jurors that there are nearly 2 million people imprisoned in this country, prisons are violent places, and cover-ups at the hands of the people holding others captive are real.

Because the burden of proof rests at the feet of the Government, they are given the opportunity to give a rebuttal after the defense closes. US Attorney Spencer stepped in to finalize their case. She began by relaying something she was told by her mother, that “words matter.” Speaking in an agitated tone, Spencer said that we don’t call correctional officers captors, we don’t call prisons a business, and we don’t lie and call a medium security prison “notorious,” in a clear response to Lauren Regan’s closing. She asked if the BOP guards were attempting to make up a story, wouldn’t they all align? Asserting her point, she said there is nothing sneaking happening. She repeated that words matter and ended her rebuttal.

Following the closing arguments, the Judge gave further instructions to the jurors and sent home the alternate.

The jurors did not return a verdict today and will return to court tomorrow, March 18th, at 8:45AM MT.

We will share on our social media accounts as soon as we receive word that the jury may have a verdict. The public access telephone number is: 877-336-1828 and access code 9449909# 

Read details about the trial and the trial decorum order at https://cldc.org/king-trial-decorum

The Civil Liberties Defense Center is representing Eric pro-bono & there are significant costs associated with bringing a case to trial. Please donate at https://cldc.org/donate/ and put ‘For Eric King Legal Defense’ in the notes.

Eric King Trial court report- March 16, 2022 (Day 3)

Eric King trial court report- March 16, 2022 (Day 3)

An update on Eric’s movements.

Defense attorneys Sarah Alvarez and Sandra Freeman went to visit Mr. King last night only to find him in an alternate location from where the government said he would be. This cut into attorney/client visitation time in a furtherance of the B.O.P. and the FCI Warden’s frustrating and suspicious actions against Eric. On who’s actual directive this harassment has been taken is hard to say. Mr. King’s defense team has still not received an inventoried list of Mr. King’s possessions nor documents making it impossible to see how, if any, of the items taken had been mishandled. The government has still not been able to articulate any type of security threat either from or against Mr. King to justify his movements to an empty range in the SHU facility for the remainder of the trial.

Prosecution called Nurse Practitioner Farboni in the first half of proceedings today. Farboni is the RN that gave Mr. King his ‘medical assessment’ after experiencing the unprovoked attack by Lt. Wilcox. Farboni was skillfully crossed by defense team member Sandra Freeman. Through sharp and steady questioning, they were able to show the shockingly inept and incomplete assessment performed  by Nurse Farboni. Over three minutes of audio/video evidence was shown to the jury explicitly showing Mr. King complaining of a pain level  of 7/10 on his temple as well as other points of pain around his face and wrists. Nurse Farboni did not address a single one of Mr. Kings complaints nor did she question any of his injuries. Her 3 minute assessment came off as willfully negligent at best.


In a very long awaited and anticipated moment, Mr. King finally took the stand on his own behalf with lead attorney Lauren Regan conducting the direct examination. Ms. Regan opened the line of questioning by asking Mr. King about his history as a boxer when he was a young man. Eric spoke well of the discipline and self-respect this training brought to his youth. It also explained why Mr. King was able to so skillfully defend himself against Lt. Wilcox’s attack. During Mr. Kings testimony the jury was leaning forward and paying close attention to Eric’s words, his language offered a welcome respite from the parade of “I don’t recall” parroted by all the BOP employees who have taken the stand to this point. Mr. King spoke about the hardship of staying positive on the inside, “Being in prison sucks, it’s not like normal life, It’s dark. It’s built around violence.” Eric then spoke about all the ways he has made an effort to do good time, teaching yoga and spending time in the law library and chapel. Mr. King lit up when he spoke about getting out, becoming a welder and reuniting with his beloved family.


The questioning from Ms. Regan then turned to the day this case is centered around: August 17, 2018. Mr. King described how after a lockdown that resulted from a separate physical interaction between a prisoner and a prison guard, he had reached out to his wife and shared with her the news of the altercation. Ms. Regan asked Mr. King about the purpose behind the email written to his wife, the same email that inflamed Lt. Wilcox and led to the unprovoked attack. Mr. King calmly described that his wife was recovering from surgery and the purpose of this email was to stay connected, brighten her day, and make her laugh. Ms. Regan asked Eric, “Are you aware your emails are monitored?” Eric answered with an unequivocal yes.

After writing the above-described email to his wife, Mr. King was summoned to the Lt.’s Office for what remained an unknown reason at this moment. After arriving, Mr. King described in perfect uncoached detail how the attack on him unfolded in the storage closet attached to the Lt.’s office hallway. In testimony that disputed the mish-mash of different scenarios offered by the string of prison guards offered up in this case, Eric explained how he was led into the storage closet and left alone by Lt. Kammrad on Lt. Wilcox’s demand. Once alone, Lt. Wilcox began to berate Mr. King before eventually losing his cool and attacking Mr. King unprovoked. Lt. Wilcox exclaimed “You’re a bitch, You’re a punk,” before shoving Mr. King and striking him twice. Mr. King then calmly explained how he skillfully defended himself with 3 quick punches before putting his hands on top of his head and becoming passive as other guards rushed in. The clarity of his testimony was very believable and had the jury listening intently.

Please join us tomorrow for court for the last day of the trial. Court will commence with the continuation of Eric King’s cross examination. The public access telephone number is: 877-336-1828 and access code 9449909#

Read details about the trial and the trial decorum order at https://cldc.org/king-trial-decorum

The Civil Liberties Defense Center is representing Eric pro-bono & there are significant costs associated with bringing a case to trial. Please donate at https://cldc.org/donate/ and put ‘For Eric King Legal Defense’ in the notes.

Eric King trial court report- March 15, 2022 (Day 2)

Eric King trial court report- March 15, 2022 (Day 2)

8:30 AM (Before the jury entered the Chamber)

Day two started with some highly disconcerting news. Yesterday, while Mr. King was in court, unbeknownst to him or his council, his cell was emptied of all his belongings, including a bevy of attorney/client privileged documents. The obvious concern here is that the B.O.P. had taken control of sensitive documents without any oversight, and if they chose to do so, there is no telling who previewed and potentially copied these documents. This potentially corrupt action could easily tip the hand of defense strategy in this important case.



Based on the fact that this case is primarily about B.O.P lies, the idea that B.O.P officials had custody of Mr. Kings privileged documents all day and did not violate the defense’s privacy is a difficult pill to swallow. Mr. King was then notified he would be moved in the middle of his trial from FCI Englewood to FDC Englewood, an entirely different prison with different guards and procedures. This move could easily be perceived as punitive or retaliatory as a disruption at such a critical time could easily upset any individual who is incarcerated and accustomed to their routine as well as staff attached to their current housing.

The attorneys for the government, the Marshals, and all other officers of the court claimed to have no prior knowledge of this action taken by the Bureau of Prisons. The government claimed Mr. Kings property was only taken for 15 minutes where Mr. King shared that it had been missing for 2.5 hours. (This made it impossible for him to prepare adequately for today’s hearing. His documents and belongings were actually taken in the morning and held ALL DAY). Despite the fact the Judge explicitly said Mr. King had done nothing to deserve this transfer, he then allowed Mr. King to be moved this evening to FDC Englewood based on the belief that it would be a similar level of surveillance and conditions. Several years ago, Judge Martinez had explicitly ordered Mr. King to not be subjected to further diesel therapy by the B.O.P. This entire event was understandably upsetting for Mr. King.

Ms. Regan- Mr. King’s lead defense attorney asked for an evidentiary hearing to bring all B.O.P. officials to testify under oath that Mr. Kings documents were not viewed, shared, or copied. She also asked for photographic evidence of Mr. Kings new conditions of confinement. She was denied on both requests.

The two main government witnesses today used conveniently fuzzy recollections to cover up the obvious inconsistency in their testimony. Ms. Regan cross examined Lt. Wilcox while Ms. Alvarez handled Lt. Kammrad. Some of the inconsistencies included where Lt. Kammrad was located when Mr. King was brought into the storage closet before the assault occurred, who did the medical photography of Wilcox’s hands, timeline inconsistencies etc. It has become clear that the government’s case will largely try to obscure the truth through heavy coaching as well as an incredible loss of memory when examined by the defense attorneys. Tomorrow, we expect to be another long day of testimony for both sides though Judge Martinez has consistently tried to keep this trial on track for the scheduled timeline and 5 day trial.

Please join us tomorrow for court. The public access telephone number is: 877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909# Read details about the trial at https://cldc.org/king-trial-decorum

The Civil Liberties Defense Center is representing Eric pro-bono & there are significant costs associated with bringing a case to trial. Please donate at https://cldc.org/donate/ and put ‘For Eric King Legal Defense’ in the notes.

Watch https://twitter.com/UnicornRiotLive for live tweets covering the trial.


Eric King trial court report- March 14, 2022 (Day 1)

Eric King Trial Recap

Day 1- March 14, 2022


(Jury Selection)

Judge Martinez opened the proceedings and addressed the jury pool solemnly explaining, “Our system cannot survive without jurors!” From there, both the Government and Defense whittled down the pool to the appropriate 12 and the alternate. Some highlights or lowlights of the process were one woman being excused because she was prejudiced against Mr. King solely based on the fact he was a prisoner. Another juror’s father had been brutalized by the police and permanently disabled. They were both excused.

(Gov. Opening Statement)

The Government laid out its case, claiming Mr. King was completely not injured in the storage closet exchange. Their evidence of this was a photograph of Mr. King taken moments after Wilcox struck Eric. This was immediately countered by the defense showing a photograph of Mr. King with a very clear black eye taken two days later. They then attempted to maximize Lt. Wilcox’s injuries by describing his blood stained shirt in dramatic fashion.


(Ms. Regan’s Opening Statement)

Attorney Lauren Regan began the defense by explaining that Mr. King has been wrongly accused of a crime he did not do, further explaining he was defending himself from an unjust attack by Lt. Wilcox who had walked him into a broom closet for an ‘attitude adjustment’. Ms. Regan further explained that the blurry pictures the government will try to pass off as evidence are indicative of the intentionally obfuscated true facts of the case.

(Poignant quotes from Lauren Regan’s Opening Statement):

“Nothing legitimate happens between a prisoner and a guard in a storage closet.”

“The evidence will show that Mr. Wilcox chose to create this situation. Without visibility, there is no accountability!”


(Lt. Wilcox’s Testimony)

The Government opened their case with a direct examination of Lt. Wilcox. Wilcox was nervous and uncomfortable, pausing for laughter at strange moments in his testimony. From the Governments line of questioning it was clear they’ll be basing their case upon the fact the storage closet is really a Lt.’s Office, and that Eric was ‘extremely agitated’ upon arrival in the LT.’s hall. Wilcox’s testimony came across as weak and heavily coached. Wilcox claimed the storage closet was a ‘transitory office’. Again it was clear that statement had been coached and rehearsed.

The 2nd day of Eric King’s trial starts Tuesday morning at 8:45am. The public access telephone number is: 877-336-1828. Enter access code 9449909#

The Civil Liberties Defense Center is representing Eric pro-bono & there are significant costs associated with bringing a case to trial. Please donate at https://cldc.org/donate/ and put ‘For Eric King Legal Defense’ in the notes.

Eric King Trial Begins March 14th: Courtroom Support and Decorum

March 8, 2022

Dear friends and family of Eric King:

On behalf of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, thank you for your continued interest and support for our client Eric King who faces a federal felony assault on a correctional officer charge. Yesterday Eric’s legal team (Lauren Regan, Sandra Freeman, Sarah Alvarez) were in federal court in Denver for our final pretrial conference before our jury trial starts on Monday, March 14, 2022.  This court has very specific and strict rules that must be followed if you are planning to come to court in person.  The federal courts are also following federal COVID restrictions which means there will be very limited access for the public in the actual courtroom (like less than 20 seats total), the public will not be able to be in our courtroom during jury selection because the whole courtroom will be filled with prospective jurors, and of course, you will need to wear a mask at all times in the courthouse.  Please read on for some tips and precautionary warnings that are included in the Court Order (View the full order here: Trial Decorum Order from Judge Martinez).

There will be a telephone access line  throughout the entire trial, including jury selection so that anyone who would like to follow along can do so.  The public access telephone number is:  877-336-1828 and enter access code 9449909#.

The trial will take place at the Alfred A. Arraj Federal Courthouse, Courtroom A 801, 901 19th Street, Denver, CO. It is anticipated to be a 5 day jury trial.

Once you step onto federal property you are within the jurisdiction of the US Marshalls. There are cameras and monitoring 24/7.  If anything can be construed as a potential disturbance to the trial or court administration it could threaten Eric’s ability to have a public trial. Please be careful!

The COURTHOUSE will open at 7:00 am each day.

Our COURTROOM (A801) opens at 8:15 am Monday-Friday first come, first served.  Everyone must be seated by 8:30 for the start of court each day. People are allowed to wait for a seat in the lobby outside the courtroom.

To enter the courthouse, you will need a valid photo ID—either a state issued ID or passport.  You will go through metal detectors—to hasten the speed with which you can get into court, we suggest you minimize what you bring with you—and make sure you don’t have ANYTHING that could be construed as a ‘weapon’ including forks, camping knives, etc.  Sanitize your bags and pockets before you go through the metal detectors! The court encourages people to leave all electronic devices at home or in your car.

Per court order “No device whose exclusive or principal use is as a camera or video recorder may be brought into or used in the courthouse …. There is absolutely no photography or recording permitted anywhere within the courthouse.”

In addition, NO CELL PHONES OR OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES ARE ALLOWED IN THE ACTUAL TRIAL COURTROOM.  If folks organize among themselves to have a friend sit in the hallway with their phone, that is permitted by the order, but if you try to bring it into court, or if you forget and get caught, you will be banned from re-entry.

The court has some strict rules in this order about the courtroom—the order indicates that once you are seated, you are not supposed to get up and/or leave until a break in the trial proceedings (to minimize disruptions/distractions), and of course don’t make any gestures or statements in court that could get you, or us, in trouble with the Court.

The Court has also put rules in place regarding what you can wear in order to ensure that the jury does not become biased toward one side or the other–we would not want people in the courtroom wearing t-shirts that said ‘we <3 prison guards’ because of the effect it could have on the jurors, and the same goes for anything that might overtly construe your love for Eric or his politics. (:

The order specifically says, “No one observing the trial proceedings in the courtroom or any other location within the courthouse may wear or carry any clothing, buttons, or other items that carry any message or symbol addressing the issues related to this case that may be or become visible to the jury. This includes a prohibition of any sign or clothing  bearing the name or likeness of any of the parties. No banners, posters, or similar items are permitted within the courthouse.”

No food or beverages are allowed in the courtroom, except for water.

Media interviews or broadcasts must be conducted outside the courthouse.

NEVER talk to jurors or witnesses for any reason while trial is going on.  This could result in a mistrial that could be detrimental to Eric.

Thank you very much for your support!

In solidarity,

Lauren Regan

NYCABC Letter writing for Bill Dunne

WHAT: Political Prisoner Letter-Writing
WHEN: 7pm, Tuesday, March 8th, 2022
WHERE: YOUR HOME
COST: Free

Welcome to a very grim choose your own adventure: nuclear-capable world warecological collapse, or global economic implosion. As anarchists, we present a fourth option–one of liberation. As dark as times may seem, there is ample opportunity for organizing to care for, support, and defend one another and our communities. NYC ABC is a collective that attempts exactly that kind of organizing through the lens of support for political prisoners. As we have done every other week for well over a decade, we again call for support in the form of writing letters. This week to call is to focus on antiauthoritarian political prisoner Bill Dunne.

Bill Dunne is an anti-authoritarian sentenced to 90 years for the attempted liberation of comrades from Seattle’s King County Jail in 1979 and for attempting to break himself out of Leavenworth Penitentiary in 1983. Dunne was charged with possession of an automatic weapon, auto theft, and with aiding & abetting the escape. Charges further alleged the operation was financed by bank expropriations and facilitated by illegal acquisition of weapons and explosives. Bill went before the parole board in the winter of 2014, was rejected and given a 15 year “hit” (meaning he cannot go back to the board for that time period).

Please take the time to write a letter to Bill:
Bill Dunne #10916-086
FCI Victorville Medium I
PO Box 3725
Adelanto, CA 92301

Eric King update- March 7th

“There’s something happening here, something special for certain. It begins with trees and bugs and grows into communities built on trust. It revolves around the idea that we can cause their destruction with our growth. It starts with love and grows with the flowers. And with the stars burning us all to dust.” 

Eric is excited, nervous and just so ready. Eric has been silenced for years now with communication restrictions. (Which were reinstated days ago). Eric had something really terrible happened to him. Then for years he didn’t get to talk about it. This trial is Eric’s opportunity to finally speak  this is a *good* day. Even when the communication is dampened he can feel all the love and support. He is overwhelmed with the letters he was able to receive and everyone just helping make him feel so not alone.

Eric has his preliminary hearing this morning please keep him in your thoughts  Unfortunately right now there is another communication restriction so mail won’t be making it through.

If folks are looking for more ways to help they can donate to his lawyers from the Civil Liberties Defense Center and you can support his legal defense efforts by donating at https://cldc.org/donate/ Please earmark your donation on the website “Eric King legal defense”. These funds cover transportation, housing, transcript, deposition and filing fees. Please donate if you can.