On April 7th 2006 I was shot in the head and finger at point blank range with a block gun. Rounds fired from these block guns are not supposed to be fired at you below the waist and should be skipped off the ground of wall. I was shot directly in the head and hand from about 9 feet away. As a result I had 4 stitches in my head and almost lost the middle finger of my left hand - the bone was broken and the finger was hanging by a flap of skin. I was also drenched with a canister of pepper spray. I believe all this was done to give the individual I was fighting the upper hand. I have since the incident been trying to get to the law library so I can research my situation before I write it up and write the guard who did the shooting up for excessive force. However, I have not been allowed access to the law library for 6 weeks now. The usual waiting period is 2-3 weeks.
- a California prisoner, May 2006
MIM adds: Indiscriminate violence against prisoners is common in the Amerikan criminal injustice system, where guards wield power as a tool of social control, and rehabilitation is nowhere on the agenda. Prisoners need to come together and fight against the system, rather than fighting each other, resisting the system that sets up groups to fight each other for survival.