On-Going Race Wars Inside American Prisons: AB & BGF

 

The Aryan Brotherhood

The Aryan Brotherhood (AB) declared war on the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) after a White convict named Robert Holderman was stabbed and beaten to death by Blacks at San Quentin in 1967. That incident is said to have been a big reason why the AB formed in the first place. In January of 1970, a large fight ensued on a Soledad Prison yard involving Blacks vs. Whites. AB member Billy “Buzzard” Harris was shot in the groin. AB's “Harpo” Harper and “Chuco” Wendekier were also involved in the incident. The Yard Gunner, C/O Opie Miller, shot and killed three Black inmates involved in the skirmish which infuriated the BGF who felt it showed favoritism towards Whites.

While there is no known hard proof they were distinct or very organized pre-AB groups, California Department of Corrections (CDC) staff called them by various names such as the Diamond-Tooth Gang, Bluebirds, NAZIS, and finally the Aryan Brotherhood (AB). They officially started in San Quentin (SQ) in 1967 and, per Minority inmates, were sometimes favored by the Guards. An AB member who was of Irish descent by the name of Jack “Red” Mahoney influenced the AB, also called “The Brand”, to use a "Shamrock" as one of their symbols. According to some prison gang experts, to be a bonafide AB you must have “the Rock”.

Some early AB’s were Eddie Vaughn (A-24437), Wayne “Bulldog” Ladd (A-37452), and William McGirk (A-64144) who had Mob ties. There was “Bucky” Garrett (A-66904), Carl Nooner (A71944), and Mark Duclas (B-33806) who all had ties to Washington State. Other early AB were “Tall Dennis” Murphy (B-47015) and Joe Morse (A-76005). There was Donald Hale (A88892) and Fred Mendrin (B-27246) who killed an NF member for La EME’s Joe Morgan in 1972. There was also Ronnie “Spots” Berg (B-6168), Tommy “Slim” Center (A-90434), Ronnie “Harpo” Harper (B-1716), Robert “Chuco” Wendekier (B-12961), Larry Witzig (B-16969), Mike Carmichael (B-33451), Eddie Burnett (A-77730), and Mervin “Moose” Forbes (B-18667). Paul Allen and George Harp also played major roles early on in the Brotherhood.

The AB is run by a Commission in California and in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) system. In 2012, the CA Commission consisted of John Stanton, Phillip Fortman, and David Chance. Some recent Federal Commission shotcallers were Barry "Red Baron" Mills (B-13776), Tyler "T.D." Bingham (B-17741), and Mike “Big Mac” McEhinney (B-94093). Both Commissions approve prospective members, make decisions on rules, and are responsible for resolving problems between members. The committee is also the authority which issues orders for “hits” or “contracts”  and the AB leadership expects their orders to be carried out.

Barry Mills was well-known to Cons throughout the United States. As a young man he was arrested in the Summer of 1967 at a bus stop in Ventura, California, and held for transfer to Sonoma County which had issued an arrest warrant for Grand Theft Auto. In December of that year, he was denied a request for probation and held at the Sonoma County Jail. On January 29, 1968, Mills and another inmate escaped from the Sonoma County Honor Farm. Mills was arrested a few weeks later in Windsor, CA, and held on an Escape Without Force charge. About a month later, he was sentenced to serve 6 months on the Auto Theft with 1 year and 1 day in state prison for the Escape charge. Mills was then sent to the CA Medical Facility-Reception Center (CMF) in Vacaville for intake. He was finally released in March of 1969 from the California Training Facility (CTF) in Soledad.


Approximately two weeks after the 1970 Soledad Prison incident where three Blacks were killed, Mills and his crime partner William Hackworth were arrested for robbing a Stewarts Point convenience store off Pacific Coastal Highway 1 that netted $775 dollars. Hackworth soon rolled on Mills who was sentenced to do five years in prison. Mills killed a Black inmate, Charles White, at San Quentin in 1970 allegedly because White had disrespected him during his prior prison stint at Soledad. SQ Prison authorities had placed White very near Mill’s cell.

Mills was also credited with the killing of inmate Garland Berry at SQ in 1977, but he was never convicted of it, and released at the end of that year. Mills was sent back to prison, this time to the BOP, for his role in a June 1976 bank robbery that was committed shortly after a release from San Quentin. In June of 1978, Mills was sentenced to serve twenty years for his role in the plotting of a Fresno bank robbery for $21K which took place two years earlier. He quickly decided he better make as big of a name for himself in the BOP as he already had done in CDC.

On May 20, 1979, Mills killed inmate John Marzloff at BOP-Atlanta. The hit was ordered by “Terrible Tommy” Silverstein because Marzloff had “burned” Tommy prior. Marzloff was nearly decapitated in a prison yard restroom by Mills who was backed up by the AB’s Danny Holliday. It is not uncommon for the AB to kill White inmates or even their own who they feel "broke the rules". The AB also committed multiple murders of Blacks, in particular Washington D.C. Blacks (DCB). The Author was interviewed by the Biography Channel for a segment called "The Baron of the Brotherhood" which focused on Mills and many vicious racial crimes that the AB committed.


In March of 2006, AB leaders Mills, TD Bingham, and Tommy Silverstein finally stood trial in a major RICO case. Prosecutors had hoped for the Death Penalty. Instead what they got was another Life Sentence on top of the “all day” time that they were already facing. Former ABs Kevin Roach, Brian Healy, Clifford Smith, Danny Weeks, and Glenn “Speedy” West all agreed to cooperate for the Prosecution testified against the AB. Long former AB shotcaller “Big Al” Benton was also called as a witness. Even though the AB have been hit with multiple RICO’s, they can still be dangerous on the street or in jail. There are many groups calling themselves AB in the U.S. but not all of them get along with each other.

To read more about the History of the AB see: http://www.amazon.com/History-Aryan-Brotherhood-Gabriel-Morales/dp/1491063793

 

The Black Guerrilla Family

 

The Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) was the most political of all CA prison gangs and were the most dangerous towards Police and Corrections Officers in the late 1960s through early 1970s. The BGF’s roots started in the California Department of Corrections (CDC) in 1966 as two groups, the Black Family and Black Vanguard, led by George Lester Jackson and W.L. Nolen. Jackson's group was also known as the Revolutionary Armed Movement (RAM) that aligned with the Black Panther Party, but he was locked up in prison years before the Panthers started. After the death of W.L. Nolen, Jackson merged with James “Bone” Johnson's group called the Black United Movement (BUM) and these groups all formed the early nucleus of BGF.


He became a revolutionary in prison and wrote several books including “Soledad Brother–The Prison Letters of George Jackson” and “Blood in my Eye”. After Jackson’s books came out he had almost celebrity-like status. His visitors would often call him "Comrade George" as Marxist-Leninists often do.


The following is typical of what Jackson preached, “Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will die or live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution. Pass on the torch. Join us, give up your life for the people.”

The BGF first gained the national spotlight as the "Soledad Brothers" on January 14, 1970, when three convicts, including W.L. Nolen, were shot to death by “Guard” O.G. Miller at Soledad Prison. One inmate present, Warren Wells, was known to the Author and worked years later as an Office Trustee at New Folsom-C Yard. The Author also directly dealt with many other active BGF and AB members locked up in prison and jail.


Three days after the incident, Soledad Corrections Officer John Mills was hurled to his death from a tier. The Soledad Brothers, George Jackson, Fleeta Drumgo, and John Clutchette, were inmates accused of being accomplices by murdering C/O Mills in retaliation for the murder of the three black inmates killed earlier by prison staff. Jackson was transferred along with the Soledad Brothers to San Quentin’s-Adjustment Center (AC) in the Summer of ’70.

On August 7, 1970, Jackson’s younger brother Jonathan Jackson burst into the Marin County Courthouse in a bid to free several BGF inmates on trial and took hostages to exchange for his brother George. With court hostages in tow at gun point, Jonathan and the BGF inmates made their way to a  rented yellow Hertz van. They were about to pull out of the parking lot when Marin County Officers and San Quentin guards opened fire. When the shooting stopped, Judge Harold Haley, Jonathan Jackson, inmates Christmas and McClain all lay dead in the van; inmate Ruchell “Cinque” McGee (A-92051) was unconscious and seriously wounded. After Jonathan and his fellow BGF member's failed escape attempt, George Jackson became enraged and sought revenge so he formed the “August 7th Movement”.


George Jackson was killed during a bloody escape attempt from San Quentin’s AC-High Security Unit in August of 1971 while he made a break for the prison gate with inmate Johnny Spain (B-8672) who later went on to became a college professor. Multiple staff and non-BGF inmates were also killed by Jackson and the BGF.  Prior to his death, Jackson became bitter towards the Black Panther Party, in particular Huey Newton, for what he felt was lack of support and direct action. In spite of this friction, the Panthers held security at his funeral and buried him with  honors as being a "Field Marshall" for them.


In California, the BGF are still a major security concern for authorities. They still commemorate the Jackson Brothers and the deaths of BGF like Jeff "Katari" Gaulden during "Black August Remembrance" (BAR). A major BGF symbol is a Black Dragon which symbolizes George Jackson surrounding a prison tower. Sometimes there is a Prison Guard being crushed in the dragon's claws.
 

The BGF are currently the #1 Security Threat Group within the Maryland Prison System (MDOC). Like California BGF, they started off-shoot groups to take the pressure off of them, but still attempt to control all Black inmates. State officials say the Black Guerilla Family, entrenched in Maryland prisons, is highly organized, deeply involved in the drug trade, witness intimidation, and is growing stronger on the streets of Baltimore. The Bloods and United Blood Nation are also strong in Maryland. MDOC prisons consider the BGF an organized crime family as they are involved in just about everything within prisons charging others for a percentage of their illegal profits.

 

To read more about the History of the BGF see: http://www.amazon.com/The-History-Black-Guerrilla-Family/dp/1491213981

 

 

 

 

Part 2: Prison Gang Violence & Possible Remedies

During and after the Attica Prison Riot on September 9, 1971, authorities eventually agreed to twenty-eight of the prisoners' demands. Inmates stated they rioted, in part, due to the death of George L. Jackson, a black radical activist prisoner who had been shot to death by Corrections Officers in California's San Quentin Prison Adjustment Center on August 21^st. Jackson was a founder of the Black Guerilla Family (BGF). Public outrage over how the situation was handled and scrutiny by a review commission led to several post-riot reforms. One of the biggest reasons given for the riot was overcrowding, but to this day Attica Prison is still over maximum capacity by double bunking a portion of their population in small cells designed to house only one inmate.

Reducing overcrowding is one way to cut down on prison and jail violence.

After the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot in February of 1980, inmates and officials also blamed overcrowding, inferior services, and lack of inmate programs as being major causes of the disturbance. There was also a shortage of correctional officers and training. Some staff used a form of manipulation called the "snitch game" to control uncooperative prisoners and label inmates who would not behave as being informants. This tactic meant the named inmate would often start being abused by fellow convicts. Then prisoners would choose to become a "snitch" to get away from their tormentors, however; this hampered efforts to get accurate information as inmates would often set up others or make bogus claims. This increased tension as inmates became suspicious of each other and distrustful of officers. Rioters broke into the infirmary to steal and take drugs. Many informants were killed with extreme brutality. Rioting inmates affiliated with Los Carnales (LC) gang were involved. Rivals soon formed the Sindicato Nuevo Mexico (SNM) gang.

Careful use of reliable informants and proper staff training are good ways to reduce violence.

The 1984-85 bloodshed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison system was also blamed, in great part, on gangs who had filled a power vacuum after the prior inmate trustee system was abolished. The Texas Syndicate (TS) attacked many inmates and gave rise to rival organizations like the Texas Mexican Mafia, also known as the Mexikanemi. To better deal with growing violence TDCJ later created the Gang Renouncement And Disassociation (GRAD) process in which members are given an avenue to denounce their gang membership. Part of the process also exposes them to Anger Management and Cognitive Intervention.

Careful monitoring of inmate behavior, appropriate discipline, and effective programs are good ways to reduce violence.

After prison gang violence increased in the 1970s, Security Housing Units (SHU) were built by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Both Corcoran and Pelican Bay State Prisons were designed to house the state’s most serious offenders in a secure, safe, and disciplined institutional setting.  The SHU was a modern design for prison gang members and violent maximum security inmates. SHU housing pods are small and inmates look out through a perforated steel door at a solid concrete wall. Human contact and privileges are minimal. Food is delivered twice a day (hot breakfast, sack lunch, and hot dinner) through a slot in the cell door. A correctional officer in a control booth controls all SHU doors. The C/O can press a button and allow one prisoner at a time to go out to a shower or to a court-mandated five hours per week of outdoor exercise. This exercise takes place in a cement yard, often called a "dog run", which extends the length of three cells and has a roof partially open to the sky. The correctional officer in the control booth is always armed. From his central vantage point, he can shoot onto any one of six pods, each containing eight cells.

Safety and Security Measures and Fair Policies for both staff and inmates are proven ways to reduce violence.

CDCR is currently in the midst of what it calls a "dramatic policy shift” to determine who still belongs in isolation and what SHU inmates can return to General Population (GP). It intends to review the case file of thousands of SHU inmates in the near future. Since October, 2012, officials have reviewed 88 SHU cases and decided 58 inmates can be transferred. Another 25 have been placed in a "step-down" program and can work towards eventual transfer to GP. Just 63 inmates were released out of the SHU in the prior 10 months of 2012 before the new policy took effect in late October of this year.

"This is a huge overhaul," CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thorton said, "This is a huge shift in the way we manage gangs."

The new regulations are temporary and set to expire in October of 2014. Officials said they purposely set an expiration date so they can tweak the regulations and make changes after working with them for two years before making it standard operating policy. Critics argue the step-down process still requires "cooperation" with Institutional Gang Investigators (IGI) and it still requires many years before release from isolation cells. Some even allege the new policy expands definitions of gang activity, which will result in even more inmates getting sent off to the SHU based on vague criteria or just for being suspected members of an expanded Security Threat Group (STG) list.

Prison officials insist otherwise and argue that new regulations require more concrete gang "behavior" than merely just possessing “suspicious” artwork or letters. For instance, officials no longer automatically transfer an inmate who is found to only "Associate" with a gang. Inmate Todd Ashker, alleged to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, was convicted of 2^nd Degree Murder of a fellow inmate while housed at Folsom Prison. He says most gang "validations" are based with evidence provided by anonymous informants "making it virtually impossible" to credibly refute. He also filed a lawsuit against CDCR. Lawyers for the state contend the new policy addresses issues raised in Ashker’s lawsuit and are seeking its dismissal. A federal judge is set to hear legal arguments on the matter in 2013.

In Washington-DOC, while known gang members make up 18 percent of the state's prison population of 18,000, they account for 43 percent of major violent incidents and are responsible for many infractions. Washington State Jails, even though many administrators refuse to accurately track or acknowledge it, note similar statistics. In urban western Washington county jails Black gang members often create violence, while in more rural eastern counties Hispanic gangs like Norteños and Sureños are responsible for most fights.

Inmate Behavior needs daily monitoring, prison and jail lockdowns should be used for security reasons only, not as long-term group punishment.

It is widely known the incarceration rate in America is the highest among developed nations. In 2002, incarcerated individuals (90% of them men) was estimated at two million.  That has gone down recently due to financial pressures at all government levels more than any major push for overcrowding reductions. Three common reactions to prison gang violence by staff are: Segregation, Consolidation, and Inmate Transfers. It is also well known that Minority members of society are disproportionally represented in the prison system and as a result of Security Threat Groups, many correctional institutions are now trying to combat prison violence though intervention programming.

Facilities need inmate violence control suppression, gang members need intervention, and the community needs better youth gang prevention.

Lastly, there are few good studies on inmate violence in America. Agencies tend to keep statistics low key and are very fearful of inmate lawsuits today. They have historically been reactive, not proactive. Many Administrators believe if they can suppress issues long enough they may go away or inmates may give up. To be frank, many are near retirement and don’t want to be bothered more than they are already are. But, deliberate indifference may prove to be more costly for cash strapped governments than immediately addressing issues? Maybe society should starting dealing better with disciplinary and psychiatric issues in children before they get to be problem adults? Maybe we should teach youth the skills they need to function in society and give more hope to improve their lives?

Another factor that gets overlooked a lot is many men and women locked up in our nation's institutions are lacking a spiritual rudder to successfully navigate the turbulent seas of life. It is true that some prison gangs will try to utilize religious services as cover for their criminal activities, but if volunteers are properly screened and services properly monitored, they can benefit inmates who are soul searching for a different attitude on life.

Religious Services and Spiritual Reawakening has saved thousands of people from gangs and a criminal lifestyle.

America’s Jails and Prisons are out of sight, out of mind, for most of the general public. Only when a riot and major incident happens do correctional facilities get a couple of minutes on the nightly news. Much of the general public gets their distorted views of prison life from shows like ‘OZ or Prison Break’, or movies like ‘Blood In, Blood Out and American History X’. Some shows like ‘Lockup’ and others showing jails often only show graphic violence inside or may even glorify it. Maybe more people should take personal tours of prisons and jails to talk with both inmates and staff to hear about real issues that could improve overall conditions?

Listening to experts on the inside and working better on the outside can reduce violence.

We are interested in your thoughts on this matter so please leave a comment on this Blog.

You can read more on this subject in “La Familia: The Family; Prison Gangs in America”:

http://www.gangpreventionservices.org/merchandise.asp#PrisonGangsBook