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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2020, @07:14AM (6 children)
Sorry for this off topic post, but Runaway you're the first person I thought of to ask this question (at any place anyone can still post as an anon).
On a lark I looked up what the upcoming US census questionnaire is going to look like. For question 9, they not only ask for race, but also for origin. For example, for the white option, it says "Print, for example, German, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyptian, etc."
Not having any particular European or other origin, I'm tempted to put down under the white origin, "Confederate". My question is, would this probably get my name put on yet another list of ne'er-do-wells?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2020, @07:50AM (1 child)
So, Jew trying to pass? Welcome to SoylentNews, Stephan Miller! And Congrats on the nupitials. Hope you were using "protection", if you know what I mean. If not, ask Runaway. He's good with guns as an alternative to justice or actual relations with women.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 22 2020, @02:34AM
No, no; what I meant by no particular European origin is that there are several European countries I could reasonably choose from, yet there is but one entry permitted on the form.
A few years ago a distant cousin of mine did some rather amazing genealogical research, and shared the results with everyone in the family who contributed info. The "main" branch of our family appears to have been started in the U.S. by a rather young boy who arrived in Virginia in the early 1700s, and from the limited info available he appears to have been one of those children kidnapped off the streets of eastern England and shipped over to the colonies as slaves (oh all right, "white indentured servants" whose service only ended when they escaped). Over the years many other types entered my ancestral line, including Scottish, Irish, French, German for certain, and some Scandinavian as probable. My ancestors did not appear to be overly discerning in their choice of mates; although they seem to have not included any Jewish genes into my makeup (to address your hopefully satirical point).
I could reasonably pick any one of those places as an "origin". However, the main trunk of my family tree did slowly work its way westward through Virginia over the years, moving with civilization (or perhaps moving one step ahead of the law, knowing my kin). Only in the last century did they dip a bit into Kentucky. As I have several ancestors resting in Confederate POW camp graveyards, the most recent country that my family comes from other than the USA is in fact the Confederacy.
I doubt the census is interested in this level of accuracy however, and I think I will simply put on the form "unknown", because I'm honestly at a loss as to how to characterize myself besides simply "American".
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Thursday February 20 2020, @03:31PM
You could put down "NYFB". If they ask you about it, you can tell them "None Your Fucking Business".
That might seem a bizarre response, to some - but the whole problem with race in the US today, is gubbermint worries too much about race. Morgan Freeman had very good advice when he said we need to just stop talking about race.
I might note that my wife is much more of a conformist than I am. After she saw the census thing I filled out, years ago, she has always ensured that SHE gets the census form, and fills it out, before I get my hands on it. ;^)
Hail to the Nibbler in Chief.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday February 21 2020, @02:59AM (2 children)
I'm gonna write "New York City" because a) it's true and b) if you threw darts at a map of Europe I very likely have an ancestor from anywhere they land, possibly including some bodies of freshwater. This is beyond weird to ask...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 21 2020, @06:52AM (1 child)
Not really. Those of us descended from more recent immigrants are often quite capable of identifying our origins. Long term residents of the melting pot? Not so much.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 22 2020, @01:56AM
My ancestors came here in the 1870s or 1880s, IIRC. My mother's side is mostly Irish and Italian, with a few odd bits of Norwegian and French in there, and my father's side is mostly Ukranian, Polish, German, and Russian. And somehow, somehow, we're the van Eck family despite having maybe one Dutch ancestor somewhere in the pile? Who knows.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...