On March 18th, a jury acquitted anarchist prisoner Eric King on the count of “assaulting” a federal officer. After hearing hours of compelling testimony from King himself, the jurors were rightly convinced he defended himself against threat of death or bodily injury, from a corrections officer at the Bureau of Prisons.
This victory belongs not only to King, but to his family, community of supporters, and most importantly to all those who have fallen victim to the horrific abuses and torture the Bureau of Prisons metes out on a daily basis in facilities across the country.
“When Eric made the decision to fight back against these trumped-up charges of assault brought against him, he made the choice to extend the same values of anti-racism and anti-fascism that moved him to act in 2014 in solidarity with the uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri,” said Josh Davidson, a member of the Eric King Support Committee. This case was fought not only with the goal of returning King home to his family without any additional years of his life being stolen away, but with the goal of holding the BOP accountable in order to make that place survivable for others by at least shedding light on the secretive system of racism and abuse that has been running rampant within the BOP.
This outcome is even more momentous given the government’s fierce opposition to King’s courageous efforts to tell the world about his plight and that of others held in custody.
Eric King is a vegan anarchist political prisoner, who was arrested and charged with an attempted firebombing of a government official’s office in Kansas City, MO in September 2014. Eric was being charged with throwing a hammer through a window of the building, followed by two lit Molotov cocktails. 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.” Then almost three months later on June 28th, at the federal courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri. Eric King was sentenced to ten years, the statutory minimum and maximum for the charge he plead guilty to. His release date is June 2nd, 2023.
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 his safety in jeopardy. At CCA Leavenworth where Eric was held in pretrial detention, he was kept in segregation for 6 months at one point and was often subjected to stints in “the hole” 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.