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Introduction by Nube Brown: I make no apologies for publishing this incredibly jarring account of verbal and psychological abuse committed by a California prison guard against an enslaved (incarcerated) human being. I feel it’s our responsibility as community members, tax-payers and fellow human beings to know the truth about what’s taking place within our prisons so we can make more informed demands of our public officials in our employ using our hard-earned taxes but also to combat ignorance and legal slavery. Still, I will forewarn you the following account is beyond offensive, despite being commonplace and a sanctioned form of treatment of our caged community members.
by Ronnie Winn
On Feb. 20, 2022, in the sergeant’s office, I was found guilty of a 115 (disciplinary code) by Sgt. Hernandez without my input or participation. The charges were never read to me. Correctional Officer (CO) Capalla was present as my staff assistant. I made it clear I did not understand the process because this RVR (Rules Violation Report) had been rejected multiple times by several separate people, like Sgt. Spreeter, Lt. Gregory and Dr. Calavotti and Lt. Arebello.
Sgt. Hernandez said: “You are giving me a line of bulls*** by mentioning these other people. Your story is bull***. I find you guilty and you are on C status.” I walked out. CO Capalla followed me to the side door exit. I said to Capalla, “The charges were not read to me by Sgt. Hernandez or you.” Capalla said, “You are right. Let’s return and I will read the charges to you.” We went back into the sergeant’s office. CO Capalla told the sergeant the reason for my return and he started to read the charges. I said: “I still don’t understand what you are talking about concerning these bogus, fraudulent charges.”
Instantly, CO Capalla became apoplectically violent with rage and extremely abusive, obscene and profane with hostile and aggressive verbiage. I turned to Sgt. Hernandez and said: “Look at him, sergeant, he is having a psychotic meltdown right on the spot in front of you.” Sgt. Hernandez was completely lost to retort.
CO Capalla was shouting: “You mother f*****, get out, you son of a b****. Why did you bring me back in here, you mother f*****?” I said to Sgt. Hernandez: “Look at your officer; he cannot stop his violent rage.” Sgt. Hernandez was stuck in mute shock mode.
CO Capalla said: “Get the f*** out, you piece of s***.” I walked to the side door exit. CO Capalla followed behind me, saying in a lower voice: “Fu** you ni****; fu** your mama; I will beat your fu***** ass. Do something, I will fu** you up, nig***. I wish you would try something. I will beat your ass, ni****. Do something.” CO Capalla lowered his voice, it seemed, to prevent Sgt. Hernandez from hearing these racist aspersions and threatening vituperations.
CO Capalla forcefully approached me shaking the pepper spray canister, screaming . . .
I walked around the front of the program office and saw CO Capalla standing on the top deck in front of the sergeant’s office. CO Capalla continued his abusive type diatribes saying: “Fu** you and fu** your mama. You are a bi*** and so is your mama.” I responded by saying: “Your mama should’ve had a razor and cut your throat, you racist rotten dog.”
CO Capalla forcefully approached me shaking the pepper spray canister, screaming: “Turn around and put your fu***** hands behind your back.” I vociferously said: “I’m not resisting. I’m complicit. I’m not combative.” I spoke loudly. CO Capalla placed me in handcuffs that were painfully and extremely tight, cutting off my circulation and blood flow causing painful bruising. CO Capalla led me upstairs through the sergeant’s office.
I said, “Watch out for the chair.” CO Capalla said: “Don’t worry about the chair, ni****; this is my escort. I said, “I’m not resisting. I’m complicit. I’m not combative.” I repeated the phrase continuously. CO Capalla, proceeded to push me towards the cage room. Once at the cage room, CO Capalla said, “You better not be, you son of a bi***.”
CO Capalla put me in the cage and left the room. CO Banal was assigned to watch me and my behavior inside the cage. CO Banal and I engaged in conversation concerning my description of CO Capalla’s psychotic meltdown. CO Banal expressed that he was not a racist. And to prove his point, CO Banal showed me a picture of Muhammad Ali tattooed on his arm. I expressed to CO Banal that I was Ali because I’m standing up for my rights and human dignity. CO Banal said, “That’s cool, Winn. I respect you for that.”
The medical staff came to check me for bruises. I made it extremely clear that I had bruises to both wrists because of extremely tight handcuffs. The nurse asked me, “What is this all about?” I said, “Systemic racism.” The nurse documented my wrist injuries and exited the cage room.
Subsequent to medical staff’s exit, CO Capalla appeared stating, “I’m looking for my cuffs.” His cuffs were on the table in front of the cage I was in. I said, “You called me a ni**** multiple times.” CO Capalla went apoplectic [again] in front of CO Banal and others. CO Capalla said: “Fu** you, you son of a bi***. I’m going to fu** you up as soon as they let you out of that cage, you mother f*****.” I said to CO Banal: “Look, he is doing it again right in front of you, CO Banal. Just look at him; he cannot help himself.” CO Banal dropped his head and continued to witness CO Capalla’s psychotic mental meltdown.
“Dynamite, don’t open your locker!”
CO Capalla continued: “Just wait until they let you out of that cage, you mother f*****. I’m going to fu** you up and beat your ass, you son of a bi***. Just wait. I’m waiting on you.” I turned to CO Banal and said: “Once again I’m sorry Capalla put you in this position.” CO Capalla continued his verbal assaults and violent threats towards me, saying: “When you get out of that cage and go back to Building 14, watch what I am going to do to you. I’m going to fu** you up; just watch.” Those were his last words. He left.
Subsequent to CO Capalla’s exit, a CO whose name I can’t remember for certain – it may have been CO Montoya – brought a pair of my old black shoes to the cage room and placed them on the floor, saying, “When you’re walking back to Dorm 14, walk with these shoes back with you! As I walked back to Building 14, I knew something was wrong that did not exclude CO Capalla’s threats to cause me physical harm, because these black shoes had been in my locker in Building 14-6-L. Once I walked into Dorm 14, the people in the dorm said, “Dynamite, don’t open your locker!” I opened my locker and witnessed a hate crime scene. My entire locker had been violently destroyed by CO Capalla!
The people living in Dorm 14 identified CO Capalla as the chief protagonist of this hate crime. I spoke with Sgt. Huerta and he said, “I gave the order to CO Montoya to remove all your appliances because you are on C Status. However, according to the eyewitness living in Dorm 14, CO Montoya and CO Rodriguez assisted and watched as CO Capalla assaulted and attacked my personal belongings and property with impunity, outside of the procedures of C Status, Title 15 rules, regulations and policies.
My bed area is a hate crime scene, juxtaposed to CO Capalla using racial and racist epithets (ni****) and threatening to cause me violent physical harm in the presence of CO Banal and others, it must be noted, Sgt. Huerta said, “I absolutely had no knowledge CO Capalla was in your building doing nothing with your property.” Sgt. Hernandez witnessed this verbal exchange between Sgt. Huerta and myself concerning CO Capalla destroying my property and manifesting a hate crime scene, in my personal evaluation.
I also spoke quite vociferously directly to Sgt. Hernandez for not engaging regarding CO Capalla’s apoplectic psychotic rage in his sergeant’s office at the RVR hearing that he conducted on Feb. 20, 2022. Sgt. Hernandez remained mute as I reprimanded his pusillanimous conduct on Feb. 20, 2022. It was my intent to have Sgt. Huerta come to Building 14 to witness the destruction that CO Capalla and his accomplices CO Rodriguez and CO Montoya created at my bed residence F-14-6-1.
However, Sgt. Huerta said, “I will send someone to check it out.” Absolutely no one arrived. On Feb. 24, 2022, at approximately 4:30 a.m. I asked dorm officer Aguilar to please come and witness the destruction at my residence by CO Capalla and his accomplices CO Rodriguez and CO Montoya. CO Aguilar graciously honored my request and said, “Yes, Winn, I see it.” I said, “Thank you,” and CO Aguilar returned to his office.
Lt. Valencia, you intentionally chose to render me a document from the prison “Office of Grievances Decision” that mentioned absolutely nothing concerning the AIMS investigation that I requested from you.
On Feb. 24, 2022, at 1 p.m., I had an interview with Dr. Calavotti concerning the apoplectic racist, psychotic meltdown by CO Capalla, and CO Rodriguez and CO Montoya as his accomplices!
I asked Dr. Calavotti to please persuade Lt. Gregory to come and acknowledge the destruction of my residence involving CO Capalla. Dr. Calavotti’s response was, “I will think about it. I’ve made contact with Lt. Gregory before concerning the fraudulent RVR. However, I do not want to create a pattern of over-familiarity as that would not be a good thing for me or you.” I said: “Dr. Calavotti, that kind of reasoning is the basic paradigm for systemic racism.” Dr. Calavotti said, “I know, but that’s just the way it is. I’m sorry. However, allow me to make a suggestion; I know you may not want to hear it. Go clean up your bed area.” I said, “OK, thank you.”
I left her office and on my return to Dorm 14, I spoke with Lt. Gregory. I asked him if I could speak with him concerning the fraudulent RVR. Lt. Gregory said, “Winn, out of bounds is out of bounds. And as I said to you before, everything is not about race.” I said: ‘This is not about an out-of-bounds RVR; this is about CO Capalla having an apoplectic psychotic meltdown in the presence of other CDCr officers.” Lt. Gregory said, “I will call you to my office later.”
The lieutenant did not call me to his office. I went later to the lieutenant’s office. However, I was repudiated because they said he was too busy with more important issues. I returned to my residence and cleaned up the racist hate crime scene at my home.
P.S. Travis Montgomery, G46099, 14-43U, was physically present when I spoke with Sgt. Huerta and Sgt. Hernandez. Travis Montgomery is an eyewitness to the hate crime scene on Feb. 20, 2022, at my residence F14-6L, perpetrated by CO Capalla and his accomplices, CO Rodriguez and CO Montoya.
I beseech you, please do not abuse or discredit this nascent investigation team, CST, by juxtaposing it to the same old systemic racist equivalent 602 process that always seems to favor staff, CDCr, administration and the infamous Prison Industrial Enterprise.
Addendum: Inmate Request For Interview, form GA-22 9/92, reason for request: “Lt. Valencia, I characterized you as a lieutenant with distinguished integrity; however, you intentionally misled me. The document you sent me was the antithesis of my request. I vociferously asked you to send me documented information concerning the AIMS (Allegation Inquiry Management Section) investigation involving the Hate Crime perpetrated against me by CO Capalla, who has been promoted to sergeant subsequent to his racist assault upon me on Feb. 20, 2022.
However, Lt. Valencia, you intentionally chose to render me a document from the prison “Office of Grievances Decision” that mentioned absolutely nothing concerning the AIMS investigation that I requested from you vis-a-vis Building 14 on Aug. 10, 2022. Lt. Valencia, I spoke with you for the first time concerning this racist hate crime against me by CO Capalla on March 4, 2022. At that interview, you assured me that the AIMS agency is extremely thorough and good at what they do!
Lt. Valencia, at this point this alleged investigation is a smokescreen. It appears I’ve been misled by you and others within CMC’s systemic racist, draconian system. However, if you are authentic and forthcoming, please send me the information I requested from you on Aug. 10, 2022, in Building 14, concerning the AIMS investigation into the racist hate crime and misconduct perpetrated by CO Capalla and others against me on Feb. 20, 2022, Grievance log #2299984. Please answer, Lt. Valencia, asap.
Victim of racist hate crime, Ronnie Lashan Winn
P.S. Lt. Valencia, you said to me on Aug. 10, 2022, that you never received my previous missive because it never made it to your mailbox. Why not? I’m hopeful this missive will make it to your mailbox.
I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.
“Even though I’ve been slated for immolation, before I capitulate I will stand in the center of hell and spit at the flames.” – George Jackson
“Amandla! Ngawethu!” (Power! It is ours!) – Winnie Mandela
Send our brother some love and light: Ronnie Lashan Winn, P82076, California Men’s Colony State Prison, F-14-091, P.O. Box 8101, San Luis Obispo, CA 93409.
