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Help The Alyona Show Find the Congressman at the Heart of Tim DeChristopher’s Isolation

Tim DeChristopher was thrown into the  isolation of the Secure Housing Unit or SHU reportedly because one angry Congressman complained about a letter DeChristopher sent while in low security custody in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.You can read the letter here…While our followers likely know about imprisoned environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, many do not know that he recently spent 3 weeks in isolation because an anonymous member of congress wrote a letter to the FBOP complaining about his correspondence.   For additional background on what transpired over those three weeks we encourage you to read Jeff Goodell’s comprehensive account for Rolling Stone.  Last night we were contacted by the producers of RT America’s The Alyona Show who ran a segment on Tim’s isolation.  They told us about their efforts to determine the identity of the congressperson responsible for Tim’s transfer to an isolated unit, read below to find out how you can help them, we encourage everyone reading this to get involved with their effort.

DeChristopher Letter

DeChristopher merely “threatened” to return a corporate donor’s money and wage a campaign against her/him because he found out the donor was outsourcing jobs. He did not pose a threat to anyone. Yet for exercising free speech, he was “thrown in the hole”.

Human rights groups have compared the experience of being in the SHU to torture. After a visit, DeChristopher’s lawyer said that the normally upbeat man looked visibly disturbed after just three weeks.

The FBOP throwing prisoners in isolation without due process isn’t an irregular occurrence to be sure, but in this case, it’s particularly disturbing that it came as a result of political pressure.

Although DeChristopher is out of isolation now, we’re still keen on finding out which Congressperson thought it was a good idea to put him there in the first place. So we’re asking you, the reader, to help us. …By asking, of course.

Its true that reaching out to 435 Congresspeople is a task of biblical proportions. So it would be particularly helpful if voters with representatives on the House judiciary subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security reached out. The panel is responsible for overseeing the Bureau of Prisons, after all. So feel free to ask them to investigate the matter, if they are not responsible.

Recommended directions:

1.Get in touch with your Congressperson by calling his/her office. [Don’t know how to contact your congress person?  Simply click HERE & type in your zip code]  Identify yourself as a constituent (and please, actually be one!) then inform the staffer that you are calling in response to a television program. Say that you are inquiring whether or not the Congressman contacted the Bureau of Prisons about taking punitive action, including recommending isolation, in response to a letter he sent on March 5.

2.
You may not receive a response right away. Congressional staffers are quite busy. Be persistent. Explain to who you speak to that if you don’t receive a definitive “no” response, the lack of an answer could be construed as a passive admission. Most importantly, stress that you don’t want to hold the Congressman unfairly responsible for this. Eventually, you’ll speak to a staffer.


3.
Once you finally speak to a staffer who works on the subcommittee issues, inquire who it is you’re talking to. Note who you are speaking to and the time of the conversation. Then ask them directly on the record: did your boss contact BOP about DeChristopher’s letter? Did he/she request that punitive measures be taken against Tim DeChristopher, including isolation?


4.
If you don’t receive a definitive answer, ask the staffer to verify for you.


5.
If the staffer actually says yes…don’t judge. Politely ask for an explanation.

Questions for Congresspeople on subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security:

1. Does the Congressperson plan on raising the issue of isolation without due process in a subcommittee hearing?

2. If so, when?

3. What is Rep. X’s position on the detention of Tim DeChristopher?

Once you receive answers about DeChristopher’s story and the subcommittee member’s position on putting prisoners in isolation without due process…reach out to us! [RT America in Washington, DC by emailing TASProducer@Gmail.com ]  We will keep our viewers updated on the situation as responses roll in.

Subcommittee members:
Jim Sensenbrenner, Chairman (R-Wisconsin), Bobby Scott, Ranking Member (D-Virginia), Louie Gohmert, Vice Chair (R-Texas), Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), Boob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), Hank Johnson (D-Georgia), Dan Lungren (R-California), Pedro Pierluisi (D-Puerto Rico), Randy Forbes (R-Virginia), Judy Chu (D-California), Ted Poe (R-Texas), Ted Deutch (D-Florida), Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), Tim Griffin (R-Arkansas), Mike Quigley (D-Illinois), Tom Marino (R-Pennsylvania), Trey Gowdy (R- South Carolina), Sandy Adams (R-Florida), Mark Amodei (R-Nevada)