The persecution of J6 political prisoners continues. Jake Lang, who has been incarcerated for three and a half years as a pre-trial detainee, has spent 800 days in solitary confinement for ridiculous infractions, such as accepting an interview with the media. Lang's attorneys filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in April, alleging that he "continues to be held and transferred in violation of his constitutional and human rights."
Lang told me that the "FBI hunted us down like animals" after January 6. He said he refused to take a 10-year prison sentence as part of a plea bargain offered to him, because "I don't negotiate with terrorists." During J6, he said the Capitol Police officers pushing back on the crowd turned it into a "human swimming pool," with bodies stacked up three to five high on top of each other.
Lang, who has now spent much of his 20s incarcerated, was arrested after he posted a video on social media of his participation at the Capitol. He was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, civil disorder, accessing a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
Although he has no criminal history, he has been denied bond twice. In contrast, convicted violent felons are being increasingly released on little to no bond around the country.
Lang told me that the crowd was peaceful until the police started needlessly tear gassing them, which he said was instigating. He tried to assist victims who were trampled when the police pushed back into the crowd. He attempted to pull Rosanne Boyland out from where she was pinned under other bodies, since he could tell she was unconscious, but was unable to. Boyland later succumbed to her injuries. He said there is video of a female police officer beating Boyland.
Lang said he was able to help two other protesters, Philip Anderson and Tommy Tatum. They signed affidavits later stating that Lang had saved their lives. Lang said when he discovered Anderson, he was lying unconscious with his teeth knocked out. Lang himself was shot in the foot by a police officer.
He is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. New York state law states that prisoners may be held no longer than 15 days in solitary confinement, but he was held there 36 days. He said he was only allowed out of the cell for two hours a week, not allowed to have books or a radio. State law requires at least four hours a day outside of a cell while in solitary confinement, including one hour for recreation.
A writ of habeas corpus is a court order that brings a defendant in custody in front of a judge and requires the government to prove the validity of the confinement. Lang's habeas corpus complaint described his treatment as "disgusting unconstitutional conditions, punitive punishment, and treatment that can only be explained as the functional equivalent to torture. … The amount of grievances Lang filed by this point is uncountable, most of which remain unanswered." Lang has filed over 50 grievances.
His complaint cited denying him access to a court-ordered laptop to review legal documents, moving him around to jails more than a dozen times and losing or destroying his property. The complaint said a former Capitol police officer posted a photo of Lang on social media with the caption, "He fought me in the tunnel. I hope other inmates find out ... They wanted to fight antifa."
Many of the J6ers are being held at the Washington, D.C., jail, where Lang was confined for some of the time. The conditions there are so bad that the inmates issued a letter stating that they would rather be serving time at Guantanamo Bay, where terrorists are incarcerated.
Lang's complaint alleged that he was transferred to a part of the D.C. jail away from the other J6ers, which was more dangerous. "[I]nmates in that section are provided information … to provoke such inmates in CDF to be violently aggressive towards, and even attack those alleged to have been involved with January 6th," his attorneys said.
During one calendar year, he spent more than six months in solitary confinement. He said the first time he was sent to "The Hole" was in response to inquiring about Bible study and religious services. He said guards engage in "unsolicited distribution of Islamic fundamentalist literature."
Another time he said he was standing with a Bible in his hand when guards sprayed "at least half" of a bottle of mace at his face, paraded him around to show his face to others, then threw him back in solitary confinement naked. Despite the religious persecution, Lang told me that he has led Bible studies and baptized 10 people while in jail.
Lang is a Messianic Jew, and said he was not allowed kosher meals, so he went on a hunger strike and lost 25 to 30 pounds. In July 2022, he was ordered not to speak to the media. The complaint asked that prison officials "be ordered to not interfere with Lang exercising his First Amendment rights in speaking to whomever he chooses to."
Lang has led much of the resistance from J6ers inside the jails, running the website J6Truth, the Political Prisoner Podcast through The Gateway Pundit, and other associated ventures with the help of his fiancee. The original video on J6Truth is the top viewed video on Rumble, with almost 2 million views.
The U.S. Supreme Court's new decision on charging 349 January 6 protesters with 18 USC 1512(c)(2), which makes it a felony punishable by 20 years in prison for obstructing an official proceeding, probably won't affect Lang much. Although the court held that the statute was meant to be limited to circumstances involving forms of evidence tampering, most of the protesters are still facing other charges.
Donald Trump promised pardons for all of the J6 political prisoners if reelected president. Lang raised over half a million for his legal defense and raised another $7,000 to assist the families of the imprisoned J6ers.
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