 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Chino Escape CaseBy VVAWOn October 6, 1972, Ronald Beaty, an inmate of Chino Prison in California, escaped from a police car transporting him to a supposed court appearance. During the escape, one guard was killed and a second wounded. Since this incident, the San Bernardino Sheriffs and the FBI have used the escape as an excuse for focusing an attack on the growing prison movement in the U.S. Since the incident, 15 people have been arrested on false charges ranging from murder to harboring a federal fugitive. Four of the 15 people are in jail in San Bernardino awaiting trial for murder--Benton Douglas Burt, Andrea Holman Burt, Jean Hobson, and Robert Seabock. These people are innocent of their charges--their only 'crime' has been their work to free political prisoners, (legally), and their leadership in political struggles in their communities. The Chino escape trial is currently in progress in San Bernardino. The majority of the evidence to implicate the defendants in the case has all come from one person: Ronald Beaty. Beaty is a man who escaped from Chino once before, back in 1970. In the process he stole a car, kidnapped two people and then ended up by wrecking the car and killing the occupant of another automobile. On December 11, 1972, Beaty was captured on the San Francisco Bay Bridge. For whatever reasons, he made a deal with the state and tried to save his own skin. The deal was simple enough; incriminate a number of people active in the prison movement that the authorities wanted out of their hair, and get a much lighter sentence in exchange. Beaty would have come up for parole in seven years as a matter of course, prior to the Oct. 6th escape. It was extremely unlikely that parole would have been granted, however, because of his history of escape. He would have most likely had to serve the full 20 years of his original sentence. By escaping and setting up the people now on trial, Beaty has reduced his sentence to 7 years. As a matter of fact, since his whereabouts are a secret, it is quite possible that he will get a shorter term than that. He pled guilty to first degree murder, (which judges almost never let anyone do), in order to have his previous, (1970), escape charge dropped along with the charges from his latest escape. At present, he is eligible for official release in 7 years! The Dept. of Corrections and Federal agents have used the escape to question, isolate, arrest, and harass politically active prisoners and parolees. Shortly after the escape, the House Internal Security Commission (formerly HUAC), announced an investigation into whether ?subversives? were trying to stir up trouble in the nation's prisons. A grand jury was subsequently set up to investigate the activities of organizations the defendants have worked in. Clearly there is a lesson to be learned here. The struggles at Attica and in prisons across the country, as well as the attempted railroading of the Gainesville 8 and Gary Lawton have taught us that only the unified support of the people can expose such frame-ups as in the Chino Escape case and free our righteous brothers and sisters! For $ Support or Information,
|
