Blacks who tried to save Hugo Pinell still being punished for ‘playing God,’ as DA refuses to prosecute Pinell’s killers

by Tommy ‘Jaboe’ Williams

Let me start by saying much respect and love. You all give a voice to us even though CDCR is trying to muffle it. Here is a brief update on the continued disrespect that CDCR is showing to brothers involved in the Aug. 12, 2015, attack on Yogi (Hugo Pinell) as well as mistreatment of Afrikan inmates.

Hugo-Pinell-poem-1995-web-200x300, Blacks who tried to save Hugo Pinell still being punished for ‘playing God,’ as DA refuses to prosecute Pinell’s killers, Abolition Now!
Hugo Pinell wrote this poem in 1995. “Every sincere effort is as special as every human life” might have been meant especially for Tommy and his comrades.

The same ICC (Inmate Classification Committee) that ignored the threat on Yogi’s life is now harassing the inmates that came to Yogi’s aid – the ICC that prisoners call “The Committee.” There are six inmates in Z Unit Ad Seg. Five of us have been released back to general population, but ICC refuses to send us back to a mainline.

I myself have been done with my SHU term since Dec. 3, 2015. I have been put up three times. The third time was today. Every time a prison is recommended, there are different excuses. Just today, I was up for Pelican Bay and High Desert, two prisons I can’t be assigned to due to my sickle cell.

I am medically red flagged. In 2002, I was in High Desert and I was hospitalized for two weeks. My spleen was swollen and it almost ruptured because the prison was high in elevation, which sent me into a bad sickle cell crisis. I was in my 20s then. Now I am 40.

Pelican Bay stays cold and it rains most of the year – nine months out of 12. When I expressed my medical concerns, their response was, “So, it’s not in my computer.” I was also told, “Next time, don’t play God.”

I do not know if you guys know it, but a white inmate who was put on life support was declared brain dead. He has no family, so what’s being said is he paroles this month and they are going to take him off life support so the state will not be responsible for him.

I think that is where the “don’t play God” statement comes from. They are not able to blame murder or attempts on Afrikans, so they are upset and have tried to get brothers who are close to being on parole to flip on other inmates without success.

The DA refused to pick up any cases due to the fact that the ISU (Investigative Services Unit) collected and handled evidence wrong, so the DA issued us receipts refusing to prosecute. They’re mad.

Out of 50 inmates they found one inmate guilty on RVR (Rule Violation Report) 115 and gave him more SHU time for attempted murder on that white boy, more than the white boys who supposedly murdered Yogi. That’s crazy! It’s like we’re being punished for self-defense.

They had the nerve to say in ICC (Committee) that I’m being sent to PBSP and HDSP for battering that inmate and, what is worse, no correctional officer (CO) has seen me in any report doing anything. One correctional officer comes, looks at a camera and points me out.

Out of 50 inmates they found one inmate guilty on RVR (Rule Violation Report) 115 and gave him more SHU time for attempted murder on that white boy, more than the white boys who supposedly murdered Yogi. That’s crazy!  It’s like we’re being punished for self-defense.

On an RVR, we entitled to due process, meaning to confront all witnesses and evidence. They’re even denying us our right to properly defend ourselves.

I asked to question the CO and view what was on camera. They told me the CO has retired and was unavailable for further comment, and they 1030’d us (prohibited us by labeling it as confidential) from viewing the camera footage.

That’s what their evidence is against me – a retired CO and a camera. How are we to dispute their claim against us? Where is the justice in that?

They’re even denying us our right to properly defend ourselves.

There are inmates who’ve been released from Ad Seg since October 2015 and ICC refuses to house us in general population. I can’t call my family or anything, and all the inmates here in Z Unit who are going through this are Black.

I believe we’re suspected of committing that act on that white boy. There are six of us still back here. Ain’t that crazy?

They do this to break our spirits, but it’s not working. We back here are functioning: one fist, one struggle, one nation – fist to the sky! It’s been almost seven months. Here’s to seven more!

The last six in Z Unit are Lipsey T-22756, Bush G-25828, Womack T-42653, Miller G-53249, Williams K-29812 and Moore V-61955.

Send our brothers some love and light: Tommy “Jaboe” Williams, K-29812, CSP Sacramento 2G-174, P.O. Box 290066, Represa CA 95671.