06. september 2013, both Kevin & Tyler had their email, commissary, and phone taken away in expressed retaliation for the outside support they’ve received. And it gets worse. As punishment, the jail has also taken away their right to see a doctor and file grievances – both flagrantly illegal moves.
Yet
more scandal: A jail staff member warned Kevin Olliff two days ago they
would impose this punishment if he didn’t have this website taken down.
The Woodford County jail is out of control and criminal, and they are
attempting to cut off Kevin & Tyler’s communication to the outside
world to keep anyone from knowing what they are doing. To say this has
backfired is an understatement, because now they have escalated a simple
request for books and food to something that is legally actionable.
Keep the pressure up
We are working to get names of the people responsible and post them here
so they can be publicly accountable. For now, we ask that everyone keep
the pressure on the jail.
Call the jail: 309-467-2116 is the number. Tell them to provide Tyler
& Kevin with vegan food, and restore their access to doctors, the
phone, email, commissary, and books.
Call the sheriff: Sheriff James Pierceall, 309-467-2375. Let him know
what his happening in his jail, and ask what he’s going to do to correct
it.
Call the mayor: Scott Punke, 309-467-2113. Let him know Woodford County
Jail has turned into a lawless operation and inform him of all the
details, especially that prisoners are being denied access to medical
care as punishment.
Here is a rundown of the events so far:
- From day one, the jail has refused to serve them vegan meals. They have been in jail for 3 weeks.
- Just after Kevin & Tyler’s book wish lists were posted, the jail declared a ban on all books in the jail.
- After a flood of phone calls, a jail staffperson told both Tyler &
Kevin on Tuesday that if the calls didn’t stop, they would take away
everything they could from both of them, including phone calls and
commissary.
- Also on Tuesday, a staffperson told Kevin Johnson he would be punished
if this website (detailing the jail’s misdeeds) wasn’t taken down.
- On Thursday morning, every possible thing that could be taken from
them, was: Email access was cut off, phone revoked, and commissary was
taken away.
- In addition, they had both their ability to file grievances cut off, and their ability to see a doctor.
Kevin and Tyler’s health in danger
As it stands, Kevin & Tyler are receiving insufficient food, and now
are unable to supplement it with commissary food. And as they are
effectively being starved, they are also unable to seek medical help.
As their situation worsens, they are unable to get word out of their
condition, because all means of communication have been cut off. It is
vitally important that we escalate pressure on the Woodford County Jail
now.
The world is watching
Now Woodford County Jail’s misdeeds have a worldwide audience. This is
not going away for them, despite their attempt to create an information
blackout by cutting off outgoing communication for Kevin & Tyler.
We are compiling names of the public servants responsible and will post soon, so the world can know who is behind this.
We are moving forward with legal remedies on this end. We need everyone out there to keep up the pressure with phone calls.
Woodford County Jail: Your criminal actions now have a worldwide
audience. Your feeble attempt to cut off Kevin & Tyler’s
communication channels and prevent the public from knowing what you’re
doing has failed. The spotlight is on you.
KEEP CALLS COMING.
Jail: 309-467-2116
Sheriff: Sheriff James Pierceall, 309-467-2375
Mayor: Scott Punke, 309-467-2113
04. september 2013:
Both receiving insufficient food
Despite over two weeks of attempting to remedy the situation from the
inside, the jail continues to disregard their need for vegan food. They
have been forced to pick out small amounts of vegan food from their
meals, and many meals provide nothing that is vegan. The jail has been
unresponsive to their consistent requests, and its time for these
requests to start coming from the outside.
Giving the jail a free education in how to treat prisoners
With a jail as small as Woodford County, it is likely they are not aware
what it means to target prisoners who have massive outside support.
Together, we can educate them.
All calls to the jail should (politely) let the jail know that:
-The jail should allow books to its prisoners (like nearly every other jail in the country).
-Kevin & Tyler should be provided vegan food.
Please call the jail now: 309-467-2116
If the response you receive from the jail is unsatisfactory
Call the sheriff and let him know what the jail (that is under his
supervision) is doing, and ask what he is going to do to correct it.
Sheriff James Pierceall: 309-467-2375
Phone calls achieve results. Many small battles like these have been won for prisoners through phone calls from the outside. Thanks for supporting Tyler & Kevin.
04. september 2013:
Hours after posting Hours after posting Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang ’s
book wish list so they can pass their time in jail productively, the
jail announced a new rule: Books are no longer allowed in the entire
jail.
This is a transparent attempt to target Kevin and Tyler. In a jail with
less than 20 people, word is that they are the only two prisoners who
have been receiving books from the outside.
Small jails such as the Woodford County Jail are not used to prisoners
who have tremendous outside support, and will likely need a polite
reminder that the world is watching. We are planning to deal with this
unprovoked targeting of Kevin & Tyler aggressively and will be
posting updates shortly.
Until this is resolved, please hold off on sending books.
******
Please send Kevin & Tyler a letter of support (include your email address if you wish to correspond via email):
Kevin Johnson #4565
Woodford County Jail
111 E Court St.
Eureka, IL 61530
Tyler Lang #4564
Woodford County Jail
111 E Court St.
Eureka, IL 61530
14. august 2013:
Kevin Johnson (Kevin Olliff) and Tyler Lang are animal rights activists
who were arrested on August 14 in rural Illinois on charges of
„possession of burglary tools.“ Visit their support website for updates:
http://supportkevinandtyler.com
Two Los Angeles animal rights activists – Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang –
have been arrested in rural Illinois. They are being charged with
“possession of burglary tools,” a felony.
Many details are not known, and there are some we cannot post publicly yet, but here is what we can say right now:
The two were pulled over late on the night of August 14th in rural
Roanoke, Illinois. After refusing consent to a search, the police
searched their car anyway. Inside, police allege they found bolt
cutters, wire cutters, muriatic acid, ski masks, and cammo clothing.
There is no evidence linking them to any crime or intended crime, nor
were they arrested on anyone’s property, and their history as animal
advocates is the only basis for these serious felony charges.
They were subsequently arrested for “possession of burglary tools, ” for
the wire cutters and bolt cutters. The police have not yet speculated
what they believe the intended “burglary” target was. We will give more
details once we are able.
Kevin & Tyler have their next court date set for September 9th. This is just a preliminary hearing and we’re not yet sure what will transpire at this appearance, but it is likely there will be some more news to report after this date. Check back for updates.
Please send Kevin & Tyler a letter of support (include your email address if you wish to correspond via email):
Kevin Johnson #0327873943
WOODFORD COUNTY JAIL
111 E COURT ST
EUREKA, IL 61530-1252
Tyler Lang #0821889409
WOODFORD COUNTY JAIL
111 E COURT ST
EUREKA, IL 61530-1252
Tyler being held in segregation
We got word that Tyler Lang is being held in “administrative
segregation” for an unknown reason. This is a type of confinement
generally reserved for high-risk prisoners or those who are being
punished. We’re told he is being held in a small cell block with three
other prisoners separate from the rest of the population. It is possible
this is being done because the jail is so small, it is the only way to
keep Kevin and Tyler apart.
In other news regarding Tyler, he is not being given vegan food. So far,
he has been sustaining himself off food purchased from the jail
commissary, which is expensive. He is attempting to remedy the problem
from the inside, however calls to the jail may be necessary in the near
future.
Bail for Kevin and Tyler set at $100,000 & $200,000
After initially being held without bail, Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang had their bail amounts set today.
The bail hearing shed some light on how the courts and law enforcement
may be treating this case. After the local prosecutor initially asked
for much lower amounts, the judge went beyond even what he requested and
set bail for Tyler Lang at $100,000, and Kevin Olliff at $200,000.
This amount is exorbitant for a “burglary tools” charge. In Illinois, $15,000 bail is the standard for Class 4 felonies.
Until bail can be arranged, Kevin and Tyler remain in jail.
About Kevin Olliff
Kevin is a 25 year-old activist from Brentwood, California. A vegan
since age 15, Kevin has been involved in numerous animal rights
campaigns since the mid-2000s, including vegan outreach,
anti-vivisection work, and a tour with the Sea Shepherd.
About Tyler Lang
Bio coming soon.
More Infos:
http://totalliberation.blogsport.de
http://supportkevinandtyler.com
https://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/94312
