Activist and political prisoner Eric King is currently at risk of transfer to USP Lee, a high security facility where Eric would be at risk of physical violence. In solidarity with his team, we are asking that NLG members and allies use this action toolkit to take a stand against Eric’s transfer.
This toolkit contains: a list of people and facilities to contact; sample letters and phone scripts; and background information on the case and Eric’s transfer.
This toolkit can also be found on the Support Eric King website.
Places and people to contact:
DSCC Office
Designation & Sentence Computation Center
U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex
346 Marine Forces Dr.
Grand Prairie, TX 75051
Email: GRA-DSC/PolicyCorrespondence@bop.gov
Phone: 972-352-4400
Fax: 972-352-4395
Mid-Atlantic BOP Regional Office
302 Sentinel Dr,
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701
Email: MXRO-ExecAssistant@bop.gov
Phone: 301-317-3100
Fax: 301-317-3119
BOP National Office
320 First Street, NW
Washington, DC 20534
Email: info@bop.gov
Phone: 202-307-3198
BOP Director Michael Carvajal
c/o Michael Carvajal
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St. NW
Washington, DC 20534
Email: mcarvajal@bop.gov
USP Lee
Main public contact: lee-execassistant@bop.gov
Warden Breckon: mbreckon@bop.gov
Assistant Warden Streeval: jstreeval@bop.gov
Phone: 276-546-0150
Fax: 276-546-9115
BOP Mid-Atlantic Regional Director James Petrucci
Email: jpetrucci@bop.gov
Judiciary subcomittee that oversees the Bureau of Prisons and sentencing
https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee/?SubcommitteeID=14927
Virginia Senators to Contact (USP Lee Jurisdiction)
Tim Kaine
Email: https://www.kaine.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
Twitter: @TimKaine
231 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4024
Mark. R Warner
Email: https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactPage
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRWarner
Twitter: @MarkWarner
IG: https://www.instagram.com/senatorwarner/
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2023
VA Congress
Morgan Griffith
https://morgangriffith.house.gov/contact/contactform.htm
Twitter: @RepMGriffithAbingdon
Phone: (276) 525-1405
540-381-5671
(202) 225-3861
Missouri Senators (Eric’s original sentencing district)
Josh Hawley
https://www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley
Office: 202-224-6154
Twitter: @HawleyMO
Roy Blunt
https://www.blunt.senate.gov/contact/contact-roy
Phone: (202) 224-5721
Twitter: @RoyBlunt
Missouri Congress and Members of House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security; Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Cori Bush
Phone: (314) 955-9980
Phone: (202) 225-2406
Twitter: @coribush
Links to find your State’s Representatives:
House of Representatives
Congress/Senate
Sample letter (can be adapted to a phone call script)
To whom it may concern,
I am writing about my friend who is a prisoner in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. His name is Eric King, inmate number 27090-045. He was recently found not guilty on all counts at a trial in the U.S. District of Colorado. Eric was moved from FCI Englewood and is currently being transferred from a private facility, Grady County Jail in Oklahoma. He has been told he is en route to USP Lee, a maximum security prison in Virginia.
I am writing because I believe Eric should not be sent to USP Lee, and would be in danger if he were sent there. He is scheduled to be released from prison in December 2023, and wants to avoid anything that would infringe on this release date.
There is an active threat against his life. A few years ago, before being sent to Colorado, Eric was held in the Segregation Unit at USP Lee for approximately two weeks. Before that, at USP Atlanta, a white supremacist gang member told him he would be killed at USP Lee if he was released into general population. This was documented at USP Lee.
It is imperative that Eric not be put in harm’s way. I am asking that you not send him into a situation that is so dangerous. The Bureau of Prisons knows this and there is established case law regarding the BOP sending someone into dangerous and life threatening scenarios. See Fitzharris v. Wolf, 702 F.2d 836, 839 (9th Cir. 1983); Gullatte v. Potts, 654 F.2d 1007, 1012-13 (5th Cir. 1981); Roba v. U.S., 604 F.2d 215, 218-19 (2d Cir. 1979).
Additionally, Eric is in this situation because of a bogus maximum management variable on his security profile. This has him erroneously being sent to a facility beyond his actual security level. He has no pending charges and no incident reports. He intends to be released to Colorado to live with his wife and his two children in just over a year. I ask that this management variable be removed so that he can be sent to a medium- or low-custody prison close to home and begin preparing for release.
I am afraid for my friend Eric’s life if he is sent to USP Lee and I am asking that you intervene with the Bureau of Prisons and ask them not to send Eric King into harm’s way by sending him to USP Lee.
Eric is represented by the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC): Lauren, Sara, and Sandy. They can be contacted at this link respectfully: https://cldc.org/contact/ . If you would like to give them a call please use the CLDC number: 541-687-9180.
Please help my friend.
Sincerely,
[Name]
What to expect on the phone
The BOP may give a response saying that Eric is a maximum custody prisoner with a “vast disciplinary record” and needs to be designated for imprisonment at a maximum facility to be held in segregation with his communication strictly limited.
- “Mr. King is currently pending prosecution for assaulting a Lieutenant at FCC Colorado” Eric King was found not guilty on 3/18/22.
- “Mr. King is a maximum security level inmate” The only reason Eric is designated as a maximum-security prisoner is due to the BOP giving Eric a disciplinary write-up for the incident that he was acquitted for.
- “Inmate King has received over 20 disciplinary infractions for the past 2 years” Eric has not had a disciplinary infraction in almost 2 years.
Background on case and letter from Amnesty International
Eric King was COVID swabbed by guards at Grady County Jail in Oklahoma on the afternoon of April 13th, meaning imminent transfer to federal prison. Eric has been transferred and en route to maximum security USP Lee in Virginia despite being threatened there by white supremacists and the Federal Bureau of Prisoners (BOP) knowing of this risk.
Eric has made it very clear that doing a “check-in” with BOP or being in the SHU at USP Lee away from general population is not a way to guarantee his safety; he can still easily be isolated in cells with white supremacists and is at risk for having more extreme mail bans, phone bans, no visitations, and no reading materials. Even if Eric had a slim chance of being shipped to a place other than USP Lee, there’s still a risk due to Eric’s extensive history of targeting from white supremacist inmates and prison guards, as well as BOP attempting to keep Eric’s treatment under the radar. We need eyes on Eric now more than ever as he approaches release in December 2023.
On behalf of Eric, Amnesty International’s USA Deputy Director of Research specified in a recent letter to BOP’s Director Michael Carvajal about Eric’s recent acquittal at his federal jury trial last March for acts of self-defense when attacked by guards at FCI Florence, noted his lack of disciplinary sanctions these last two years, and the known threat to his life if he is placed at USP Lee:
“Transferring Eric King to a maximum-security facility across the country, far from his family and loved ones when he has such a short amount of time remaining on his sentence seems to be more retaliatory and punitive rather than necessary due to specific security concerns. Under Rule 59 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners, “Prisoners shall be allocated, to the extent possible, to prisons close to their homes or their places of social rehabilitation.” The BOP must revisit the issues within Eric King’s security profile which allow his eligibility to be at a maximum-security facility and the decision for him to be placed so far from where his family resides and where he intends to settle upon release.” Please SHARE the letter in its entirety here.
We need people to contact the BOP and state representatives EVERY DAY. Together we could request our own state representatives to have Eric placed in a prison that’s within their state’s jurisdiction. They can pressure their colleagues and hold them accountable to addressing Eric’s right to life. We need people to keep emailing and calling the Bureau of Prisons, USP Lee, representatives that are members of The Subcommittee overseeing the BOP, and Virginia senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
