Brian Tranmer
02683-017
P.O. Box 905
SHU Unit
Ray Brook, NY 12977-0300
September 13, 1998
Hi Carl,
Do you notice anything different about my letter? Well, during your
couple years of incarceration I'm sure you spent some time of that in segregation (me,
I've probably spend your entire prison term in segregation. It's not something I'm
boasting of, but since my incarceration I've spent over 26 months in the "Hole")
so you should understand why I'm writing this with a pencil (since they only give you a
pencil without an eraser).
At the moment I'm being held (I've been here
five weeks now) for an investigation for a supposed "Work/Food Strike" that was
in the planning. Mind you it never happened, but I guess they say they were
"Nipping it in the bud." You know, prevention is better than cure, kind of
thing. To tell you the truth, I didn't know nothing about the shit until one day
after work, at the 4:00 p.m. count, when they were taking a little longer than usual to
unlock our doors for mail call. I ended up falling to sleep, thinking it was just
another bad count, or something of that nature. The next thing I know there's a
bunch of guys banging on my door (at the time all I could see was their helmeted, shielded
heads looking through the little window of my door) telling me to "get down off the
bed and back up to the door with my hands over my head." They rushed in, six
deep, handcuffed me (they also locked up about 50 others but they were in different rooms,
they didn't want my roommate) and took me away to the dungeon where I sit now. You
know it was a big show of power trying to intimidate people. They came with full
riot gear (have you ever seen the Ninja Turtles?) on, ready to beat down a motherfucker.
After about a week in the Hole they took me to see the S.I.S. lieutenant (they guy
who investigates everything that happens on the compound) who asked me a bunch of
questions concerning the previous riot I was charged with, what I was in prison for, how
much of my sentence I had done, if I disliked the way they ran the institution, etc.
Then he proceeded to tell me that "Because of my previous record he put me on
the list to be locked down." He went on to say that "He was hearing rumors
of a work strike so he had to cut off the head of the snake."
Anyway, here I sit (they did let some people
out from the bunch but about half of us are still left) in a room where the toilet can
only be flushed by the police on the outside of the room (that's how all the Holes are
designed now so they have one more tool to torture you with). I dont' know what's
going to happen next but I'm sure the "Almighty" will guide me through. I
was in this little room (I was sleeping on a matress on the floor for three weeks) with
two other guys from the same thing but they let them go to the compound already so I've
been here for two weeks alone already, and still waiting.
I liked the letter from Dennis. He spoke
the truth, true "Louv" is what everyone is lacking.
One Louv,
Brian
PS I heard that brother "Dougie" has cancer and looks pretty thin and old.
Brian Tranmer
02683-017
SHU Unit
Post Office Box 905
Ray Brook, NY 12977-0300