J6: Truth and Prisoners

by Esther Uriel

The liberal version of what happened on January 6, 2021 is that right-wing insurrectionists attempted to stop the certification of Biden as president by staging an “insurrection.”  As a result of this, many arrests were made of people who had entered the Capitol Building, and many who were merely in Washington attending President Trump’s rally.  Many of those arrested are still being held – held without bail and without trial – in what we learned from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to be utterly deplorable conditions.

But what is the truth?

Unfortunately, the public does not know.  In the month of January 2022, new video footage has been emerging throwing everything into question.  For example, new footage of Ashli Babbit, the woman who was shot to death by Capitol Police officer Michael Byrd, is being interpreted by her husband as showing that she was attempting to stop rioters from entering the building, to call over police for assistance, and that she went through the window to get away from the mob.  Other footage shows a man trying to get protesters to break into the Capitol Building, only to have suspicious protesters start chanting “Fed, fed, fed!”  In Congress, Ted Cruz openly questioned whether there was any FBI involvement in the actions of January 6^th.

At this point, there are more questions than there are answers, and our nation is divided on what it believes occurred.

Yet through all the questions, prisoners are still being held without bail and without trial.  This despite the fact that most of them are not being charged with acts of violence and have no history of prior arrest.  And despite the federal regulations which stipulate that federal prisoners must be tried within 70 days.  Many prisoners have been held as long as a full year now.  Many are in dire financial straits, having lost their businesses and homes, and are unable to afford adequate legal counsel.

A relative of one of the prisoners started a fund-raising campaign on this web site: www.PatriotFreedomProject.com.  On this site, it is possible to donate funds of any quantity, even a small amount helps, to either the fund-raising project as a whole, or to any individual prisoner that one wants.  Readers can learn about each individual prisoner and can simply offer prayers and words of encouragement by clicking on the tab called “Connect with a 1/6er.”

Before Christmas, each prisoner’s prison address was posted on the web site so that people could send cards.  I took it upon myself to write to each prisoner.  Slowly, I have been receiving responses from those to whom I wrote.

The prisoners expressed to me that they are being “locked down”, often in solitary confinement.  The current excuse for this is covid, according to the letters I received.  They are often denied reading material, have had personal mail confiscated, and are harassed for being white.  They are mystified that prisoners can be treated so badly.

The deplorable conditions they are being subjected to were documented in a visit to the DC Department of Corrections facilities by representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on November 4, 2021.  In their report, they write that the prisoners did not have access to their attorneys, families, medical attention, or even proper nutrition.  On the Patriot Freedom Project web site, several prisoners described being fed a thin slice of bologna with a thin slice of cheese.  Some reported severe weight loss.  It was reported to Reps. Greene and Gohmert that the prisoners are “punished” with a 14-day lockdown in solitary for seeing their lawyer.  On the Patriot Freedom Project web site some of the men allege that a prisoner was severely beaten for wanting to start a Bible study group.

Regardless of whether any individual prisoner is guilty or innocent, no prisoner in the United States should be treated in this manner.  Prisoners in our country are typically fed three meals a day, have medical care, have recreation time, are allowed reading material and access to a library, are allowed to watch TV, and are allowed to participate in Bible study.  The J6 prisoners are not.  They are being treated differently from other prisoners – differently, and far worse.

I want to encourage readers to please go to www.PatriotFreedomProject.com to make a donation to help with these prisoners’ legal defense.  Or, at the very least, to offer some words of prayer and encouragement.  It is the human – and humane – thing to do.

Esther Uriel is a pseudonym