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Sheriff: Prison Reform Advocate Planted Guns for Jail Break
Tennessee authorities say a longtime prison reform advocate was preparing to stage a jail break when he hid loaded guns and ammunition in a new jail that was under construction.
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content Feb. 19, 2020, at 4:43 p.m.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A longtime prison reform advocate was preparing to stage a jail break when he hid loaded guns and ammunition in a new jail that was under construction, Tennessee authorities said Wednesday.
Alex Friedmann, a former prisoner turned crusader against private prisons and a longtime editor at Prison Legal News, was charged last month with attempted burglary. He was accused of gaining access to the new jail by dressing as a construction worker and stealing keys.
As the investigation continued, “it was discovered that Mr. Friedmann, over many months, had developed and implemented an extremely deliberate and, in my opinion, evil plan,” Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall said during a Wednesday news conference announcing Friedmann’s re-arrest on upgraded charges.
Friedmann is now charged with vandalism of $250,000 or more, with his bond set at $2.5 million.
Friedmann's attorney, Ben Raybin, issued a statement late Wednesday.
“I am currently unable to comment on any of the factual allegations,” Raybin said. “Mr. Friedmann is presumed innocent and will respond through the appropriate legal processes.”
Hall said he believes Friedmann was designing a massive jail break that would endanger “every inmate, every visitor and our entire community.”
“Virtually everything I’m telling you is on video” Hall said, noting that investigators have poured through hundreds of hours of video to identify the areas of the building that were compromised.
Hall currently serves as president of the National Sheriff’s Association and said no one there has ever seen anything like this before.
“It will forever change how correctional facilities are built,” he said.
Prison Legal News is a project of the nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center. Friedmann resigned as editor after his earlier arrest in January, executive director Paul Wright said in a telephone interview.
[ED: What this AP story doesn’t mention is that this celebrated “prison reform advocate” had spent ten years in a Tennessee prison for attempted murder, armed robbery, and attempted aggravated robbery.]
Don't you just love those liberal activists? Is it necessary to state the obvious? Non-violent, non-dangerous offenders locked up for weeks or months for being bad don't even WANT weapons. It would only be dangerous, violent offenders who are looking for weapons.
And, I almost missed the romanticized side of things. Attempted murder, armed robbery, and attempted aggravated robbery - much the same thing that Patty Hearst was involved in. Awwww, to bad he's not an heir to some rich old bastard, huh?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2020, @03:07AM (8 children)
Seriously, fuck you Runaway1956. This was an evil terror plot by a truly deranged individual. One individual is not representative of an entire population, any population. Criminal justice reform is not even definitively a liberal or conservative issue. This should be obvious because Trump deserves credit for advancing criminal justice reform. You're trying to turn people against each other by twisting the issue to turn liberals and conservatives against each other and further polarize our politics. The fact that a deranged individual was planning an act of terror to advance the issue of prison reform does not reflect on liberals or on everyone who supports criminal justice reform. Virtually anyone, liberal or conservative, will condemn this terror plot and the individual behind it. It is vile that you're trying to use this to further divide people and turn them against each other. You are a truly disgusting individual. Fuck you. You are a truly sick individual, a fact you have repeatedly demonstrated.
To anyone else reading this, this is NOT a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a terror plot by one deranged individual that thankfully has been discovered and thwarted. Everyone should oppose Runaway1956's efforts to use this incident to incite arguments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2020, @08:23AM
Yes, nearly all Soylentils agree, Fuck Runaway! And the whores he rode in on, Fauz Neus! The first Amendment grants us the right to plant weapons in prisons, it is an inalien-non-immigrant right!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday February 20 2020, @04:23PM (3 children)
I'm not even arguing with you. But, no, I won't fuck you, and you can't fuck me. No thank you.
Hail to the Nibbler in Chief.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2020, @05:19PM
Runaway is saving hisself for the ol Big President D.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 21 2020, @02:59AM (1 child)
Calm down, Runaway1956! No one is after your booty! I am sure all the calls for sexual concourse with you are merely figurative, in the literal sense of "Fuck you, Runaway!" It think what everyone is saying, is stop with the NRA talking point submissions. You are becoming a exact negative copy of aristarchus, poore, solitary, obsessed, and not dead yet.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 22 2020, @01:58AM
The difference is, Aristarchus actually has some serious mental firepower; he just chooses not to use it, much to my dismay. Look for the posts he's written on ethics for a few examples. I wish to hell he hadn't gone all-in on trolling, because he could be an impressive fighter if he stuck to the straight and narrow.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 21 2020, @02:18AM (2 children)
Stash a couple dozen guns in a couple dozen different hiding places, there will be buyers inside with connections outside to make payment.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 21 2020, @04:32AM (1 child)
The defining aspect of terrorism is the presence of a political motivation for the violence. Because the alleged criminal is an advocate for prison reform, it seems likely that there was a political motivation for these actions. The mass shooting as an Orlando nightclub is considered a terrorist act because the shooter stated the attack was because of the US military's strikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. The choice of weapons does not distinguish terrorism from other violence. The political motivation is the distinction. If the guns were hidden for the purpose of a prison break that would make a political statement about prison reform, then it can be considered a terror plot.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 21 2020, @02:17PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.