Our comrade and friend Abu Faheem Shabazz (aka Jerry Smith, #129911), who was locked up in adult prison at the age of 14, released in January 2018 on parole, and re-incarcerated in December 2019 on completely false parole violations, is on hunger strike at the Westville Control Unit.
On or around Nov. 15, Faheem was in custody at the Westville Level 2 facility, when another person incarcerated on the same unit as him began to have a seizure. Nurses were called, but they didn’t come quickly. Faheem also experiences seizures due to intense beatings he was subjected to by Wabash Valley CF staff when he was incarcerated there as a teenager. Since the nurses weren’t coming to help the person having a seizure, Faheem took it upon himself to help, by holding the person’s head and making sure he didn’t hurt himself during the seizure. By the time the seizure was over, the nurses still hadn’t come. When they finally arrived, over 20 minutes later, Faheem was angry and told them that their response time was unacceptable. For that, he was written up on a conduct report.
A few days later, Faheem was moved to the Westville Control Unit, which is a solitary confinement unit where people are locked in individual cells 23 hours a day. His property was not returned to him after he was moved, and he was held in restrictive status housing (solitary) for nearly a month before receiving a hearing. He was found guilty of a C write-up of using vulgarity. He still has not received his property, including his hygiene, which means he hasn’t been allowed to wash himself with soap for over a month! He also is not being allowed to order commissary.
Please call Warden Galipeau’s office at Westville and IDOC Commissioner Robert Carter and demand 1) That Faheem’s property be returned to him, 2) that he be allowed to order commissary, and 3) that be returned to general population immediately.
Warden Galipeau: (219) 785-2511
Commissioner Carter: (317) 232-5711
Please follow the prompts to reach the Warden and Commissioner’s offices, and leave a message with whoever you reach
Script:
“Hello, I am calling on behalf of Mr. Jerry Smith #129911, who is incarcerated at the Westville Control Unit. Mr. Smith has been held in the control unit for over a month in violation of IDOC Policy, which mandates that he be given a Restricted Status Housing Report if he is being held in segregation prior to a disciplinary hearing. Further, his property has been confiscated by Officer Davis, and he has not been provided a Notice of Confiscated Policy, which is also a violation of IDOC Disciplinary Policy. Please return all of Mr. Smith’s property, allow him to order commissary, and return him to general population immediately!”
You can support Faheem by making an account and emailing or sending him money through web.connectnetwork.com, by looking him up with his state name and DOC number. Or you can write to him at Jerry Smith #129911, Westville Control Unit, 5501 S 1100 W, Westville, IN 46391.
