Store
by Eric King
If words are as dangerous as bullets
and sharp as knives
Can we start filling the pages?
grinding our pencils to stubs
Turning ink into guillotines
prose the ropes onto their wrist
and rhyme these prison walls to paste
cause nothing else seems to be working
heads aren’t rolling, the streets are on holiday
maybe enough words can spark
a million fires in our hearts
which would create a million fires in the banks
a million convicts in the streets
Not giving a fuck about a voters box
Giving a fuck about having a life
our words can break these chains?
then gather our dictionaries
there aren’t enough thesauruses in the world
I need to fight more, I need to write more
My tongue has been shackled
I haven’t resisted, I haven’t insisted
More words, more battles, more victories
more poems, more struggle, more bumps
We’d be fighting with our minds
dismantling the system that strangles us
Then turning those words into life
A life more important than burning and bombing
Enough magic, love, growth and life
We can grow into a space worth existing in
Our words can get us free.
– Eric King, political prisoner, FCI Englewood, 2020
Who is Eric King?
by Eric King Support Crew
Eric G. King, a 33-year-old vegan anarchist political prisoner and poet, was arrested and charged with an attempted firebombing of a congressperson’s office in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2014. As part of his plea and sentencing, Eric publicly and proudly acknowledged that his intent was to take direct political action in solidarity with the community of Ferguson, Missouri, following the August 2014 police killing of Michael Brown Jr.
Eric was charged with throwing a hammer through a window of the building, followed by two lit Molotov cocktails. The criminal complaint states that both incendiary devices failed to ignite. Eric was identified as a suspect by local police because he had previously come under suspicion for anti-government and anti-police graffiti.
On March 3, 2016, he accepted a non-cooperating plea agreement to one count of using “explosive materials to commit arson of property used in or affecting interstate commerce.” Almost three months later, on June 28, Eric was sentenced to 10 years, the statutory minimum and maximum for the charge he pleaded guilty to.
He is also maintaining his dedication to struggling for a world free of domination and oppression.
Since his arrest and subsequent incarceration, he has been extremely isolated from his loved ones and has repeatedly been targeted by the guards, who have regularly put him in jeopardy. At CCA Leavenworth, where Eric was held in pretrial detention, he was kept in segregation for six months at one point and was often subjected to stints in solitary confinement after the guards targeted him.
Despite these struggles, he continues to maintain his good spirits and resolve to see this situation through to the end. He is also maintaining his dedication to struggling for a world free of domination and oppression.
Eric is currently facing one count of assaulting a government official for an incident that occurred in August 2018 at FCI Florence. Eric has been housed in a segregation cell at FCI Englewood since August 2019 fighting this charge and is on “restricted general correspondence.” He can only receive mail from his wife and mother for a six-month period minimally and cannot receive books and magazines. He faces a maximum of 20 additional years in prison and is fighting his case under very bleak circumstances and harassment by Bureau of Prisons staff.
Supporters are encouraged to donate to his legal defense fund at https://fundrazr.com/e1cKo1 and follow his case at supportericking.org and on social media as well.
