Chemical Spraying of Gregory Mills

LETTER FROM PERRY JAMES ARCHIBALD, August 21, 2001

Dear Margaret,

This letter concerns inmate Gregory Mills. He is the inmate who I asked to contact you when I was being assaulted on May 22, while housed in cell 1323 on the third floor of B-wing.

Well, today they decided to retaliate against him for his filing grievances and standing up on my behalf concerning the May 22 incident. They gassed him for about two hours straight today, alledgedly because he had an extra T-shirt in his cell.

They used about six canisters of CS gas on Mr. Mills, without justification. They went all outside his window and sprayed gas through the back of his cell window. This was done by Sergeant Bridges on Captain Kenneth Lampp's orders.

He was left in his cell for approximately two hours before being removed to shower and be seen by medical staff - who are every bit involved in covering up abuse of inmates by falsifying medical reports for the administration.

Mr. Gregory Mills has numerous witnesses to this incident of abuse by FSP staff. Sergeant Lindsey, who is B-wing's new supervisor, is the sergeant who initiated this assault against Mills, along with Captain Kenneth Lampp.

P.S. Now they are using a laser gun against us, along with the chemical agents. What will they use next?

AND FROM GREGORY MILLS, August 28

Thanks so much for helping us inmates at FSP get word out to the citizens here, and wonderful people across the world.

Well, hopefully, you have received the letter from Perry Archibald, explaining the last attack on me, which took place on August 21, and in which they used about seven cans of chemical agents.

All I did was have my T-shirt over my cell door window while I used the bathroom. The B-wing supervisor, St. Jeffrey Lindsey, doesn't care for me because I show other minority inmates how to file on him concerning his racial abuse. So he called his buddy Captain K. Lampp, who didn't come to do anything but use force on me by means of chemical agent. He even had St. Bridges go outside the building to my cell window [B1110S] and spray me. While Lampp and Sgt. Lindsey were spraying me from my food flap, Sgt. Bridges sprayed me through the window.

After this ordeal, I was moved from that cell, on the 4 to 12 shift, to B1115S. They placed me on strip cell status, with only a blanket, boxer shorts and legal materials. The next morning I was visited by Col. Clark and Captains Lampp and Griffin. That's when I regained my mattress, clothes, etc.

So I started cleaning the cell, and when I was cleaning under the bunk, I noticed two pieces of sharp metal stuck within the food and head of the bed. At this time, Officer Ducan opened my food flap and asked me, "What do you have under there, a shank?" [knife] I got up and approached my cell door and asked him, What was he trying to do; set me up?

I got my food tray and juice. He returned to feeding chow. At this point, I placed the pieces of metal in tissue paper and, when officer Ducan returned, I gave him the objects.

A couple days later, I received a D/R from Sgt. Lindsey, for possession of a weapon. He framed me to have me moved off the wing. Now he can abuse inmates without anyone saying anything for the inmates who can't file for themselves.

I got a postcard from Erike Truman, from England, tonight, and she mentioned something about good news concerning a D/R. If she means the D/R got dismissed, that is a lie. They found me guilty on the 24th and moved me to Q-wing.

Every time you-all crank up the noise on this administration, they play the good guy role, like they're trying to correct things. Don't let them play you all the time. I've seen this happen too much over the last year and a half.

This prison needs a true cleaning - and I mean from the top to bottom. We'd like some minority captains which this building has never had. This is the position where the most abuse is coming from.

My chances of progressing here are over. It'll never happen now. But my pen will continue to try and bring forth a positive change. Even though I can't see any misconduct from this wing, hopefully, the guys on B-wing will help each other pull through.

Right now I am waiting to go to D/R court for the weapon charge, and Destruction of State property.

Well, thanks once more, and I know for sure that the Almighty sent you to watch over us. May He continue to keep you safe and full of happiness.

Respectfully yours, Gregory Mills

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Florida DOC staff and administrators have no respect for the people they control or for the human rights of those people. They are quick to abuse and vicious in their attacks on prisoners who dare speak out against the abuse of humans and their God-given rights (which are also, supposedly, granted and protected by state and federal Constitutions).

Just taking this case of unnecessary, illegal, unwarranted attack on Gregory Mills shows the inhumanity, the senselessness, and the waste involved in the administration of the Florida DOC.

The rules of the DOC require explanation and discussion with an inmate before force is used. There was none in this case. As is all too often the case, a sergeant with a grudge against an inmate finds a minute breaking of a rule and, without any discussion or warning, brings in officers who immediately use force far beyond what is necessary for the incident. In this case, they used 6 or 7 cans of chemicals against Mr. Mills. For no good reason and at what cost? Six cans of chemicals wasted - at what cost to Florida taxpayers?

If treatment in the Florida DOC met international standards for prisons, there would be need for far fewer guards and fewer prisons; there would be less waste of materials and equipment, more peace in the wings and more rehabilitation of persons who will one day return to the streets. Florida voters SHOULD care about a humane system that offers training and rehabilitation. If that isn't sufficient to bring about change, think about the billions of dollars of tax money wasted on a vicious, corrupt and inefficient system. Call and write your state legislators - NOW! Give them notice of your concerns now - before the 2002 primaries and elections.

Charles Swan
in the Law Office of
Margaret Gondleman Gold
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15217
[email protected]