By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on September 8, 2020 Rioting has never been the answer to police violence. Today, rioting seems to be the knee-jerk response in many American cities when men and women of color are the victims of senseless police violence. This response is wrong and counter-productive. Police violence against blacks has been a problem in America since the days of slavery. It has been rampant, ugly and brutal throughout our nation’s history. Police violence against blacks was particularly vicious during the Jim Crow era from 1880 to 1963. It eased a little bit during the civil rights era from 1964 to 1983. It came roaring back in the new Jim Crow era from 1984 to the present. Unfortunately, many local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have long been havens for white supremacists who love to abuse, brutalize and mistreat people of color. We are officially back in the COINTELPRO era. Sadly, the presence of black police officers on the scene of police violence incidents has not mitigated the problem. This is true because too many of these officers have morphed into the role played by the “Jewish Ghetto Police” in Poland and Germany during Adolph Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany. Does this mean there is nothing that people of color can do about police violence? No, there is an effective solution to this problem. A Proven Solution Based upon my experience as a Montgomery, Alabama city council member from 1979- 1983, I know that it is possible to curb police violence in an effective way just by using the power of this local government office. During my tenure on the council, Montgomery’s mayor was a gun-toting, arch conservative, right-wing Republican who relished police violence. Police officers routinely brutalized and executed Black suspects. Under the state’s “Fleeing Felon” statute, officers could use deadly force to stop a suspect who was merely fleeing the scene of a crime. Fatal shootings occurred frequently. I used the power of my office as a council member to investigate every incident of police violence. Every council member across America has the power and authority I possessed to investigate the operational affairs of any municipal department. For example, a council member can investigate the police department’s hiring practices, training protocols, incident reports on officers, Internal Affairs reports on complaints of excessive force, personnel files on officers, and any other aspects of an officer’s job performance. No one can block the investigating council member’s access to these city records. The council member can investigate as a committee of one, as I often did. Upon completion of his/her independent investigation, the council member must reduce his/her findings on the incident of police violence to a written report and include the report in the minutes of the council meeting where he/she presents the report. As an official government document prepared by a member of the governing body, this report will favorably impact a fair and just outcome of any incident of police violence. Using this technique, we were able to get the “Fleeing Felon” statute declared unconstitutional. We got numerous “trigger happy” police officers removed from the force. The number of fatal police shootings dropped to zero in a 4-year period. We were also able to revamp the police department’s hiring and promotional practices. Finally, we were able to abolish the city’s “debtor’s court” which imprisoned traffic court and misdemeanor offenders who could not afford to pay their fines. Positive change in the justice system for people of color in America can only come from an extremely focused and aggressive work ethic from those who are elected to represent our political interests. When our local government officials (i.e., city council members, mayors, county commissioners, etc.) do not investigate and prepare written reports on incidents of police violence, our communities suffer heartbreak, despair, violence in the streets, property damage, bodily injuries and death. Our elected officials can make a positive difference, but only if they outthink and outwork our political adversaries. Sadly, this is not happening today. If Black Lives Matter activists truly want to end senseless police violence in America, I would urge them to run for local public office, get elected and use the power of their office to investigate police violence. This approach was tried, tested and proven to be effective in Montgomery, which was one of the most racist cities in America during one of its most racist periods in history. The city now has an outstanding young mayor in Steven Reed and a Black police chief. Black Lives Matter activists should become agents for change inside the political system where they will have full access to all city records and the legal power and authority to effectuate positive change. Their colleagues on the city council many not like them, but all council members will respect their dedication to a worthy cause and committed work ethic. At the end of the day, their political constituents will LOVE them.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 10, 2020 A Commentary The novel corona virus known as COVID-19 has devastated America. Our economy is in shambles. Unemployment is at a record high. Public health officials and first responders are overwhelmed. The federal government and Federal Reserve have pumped nearly ten trillion dollars in stimulus and loan money into the hands of American businesses, state and local governments and individual taxpayers in an effort to keep the nation afloat. Churches and other religious institutions have sought and received federal stimulus money. Americans are scared. Early on, big corporations robbed the small business stimulus fund of $350 billion in just two weeks. Federal assistance for Wall Street giants was swift, massive and was distributed without a hitch. Federal assistance for “Main Street” was more symbolic than substantive. As of July 31, 2020, there was no national plan to save Main Street from the ravages of COVID-19. In a biblical sense, the disease is a “plague upon the land”. Since January 2020, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in America has surged to 5,255,392. The number of COVID-19-related deaths has climbed to 166,345. Approximately 1000 people per day are dying from COVID-19. A second wave of COVID-19 is on its way. It will sweep across America with a vengeance. No community will be spared. The death count will rise dramatically. It is evident today that America’s response to COVID-19 was never organized, adequate, or effective. At the beginning of the year, many Americans thought the greatest threat to the nation’s national security was the endless caravans of migrants from Central and South America who sought entry at the southern border. They were called “drug dealers”, “gang members”, and “rapists”. Migrant children were forcibly separated from their parents. There was widespread abuse of detained migrants by border agents. Chants of “Build the Wall” drowned out a thoughtful bi-partisan approach to immigration reform. By March, we learned that the real threat to our way of life was COVID-19 and that we had no way of stopping this deadly disease. With the 2020 presidential election less than three months away, COVID-19 has made it crystal clear that President Donald J. Trump’s “real” opponent is the novel corona virus. This disease is doing to Trump’s chances of re-election, what former Vice President Joe Biden could never have done alone. COVID-19 is eroding Trump’s voter approval rating with all voters. It has forced our national economy into a nosedive. All of us are experiencing COVID-19 fatigue. Working class Americans are living through an economic depression. Jobs are bleeding out. The major American corporations that received a huge tax break early in the Trump presidency never used the money from their tax savings to repatriate their jobs in foreign countries back to America. Instead, they bonused CEOs for making their companies look more profitable on paper. Political philosophies have been thrown out the window. Republicans have always frowned upon welfare benefits for poor people. Yet, they are now first in line for corporate welfare for the richest companies. Because of COVID-19, these corporations have accepted trillions of dollars in federal welfare benefits without spending one minute standing in any line. Those who railed against universal healthcare are the first ones to seek bailout money for hospitals and other healthcare facilities that are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. I have never understood how elected officials and other public servants who enjoy healthcare insurance that is paid for by taxpayers can vote to deny healthcare for a substantial body of working class, uninsured taxpayers who foot the bill for insurance plans for these public officials. Voting for the November 3, 2020 election will begin in a few weeks, via early voting and absentee ballots. The presidential election has become a referendum on whether Trump has provided credible leadership during the COVID-19 crisis which is infecting and killing Republicans and Democrats alike. Millions of voters will make up their minds on this question by the end of September. They will likely be guided by scientific data and not political spin because Main Street is hurting, badly.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on May 3, 2020 On April 26, 2020, I published an article titled, "Did COVID-19 Start at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp?" The article disclosed an outbreak of a mysterious flu-like illness at the Camp in December from a novel virus that affected about 10 inmates who had to be quarantined for 2 weeks. One of those inmates was Mack Smith (Reg. No. 59923-019), a 69-year-old white inmate who was serving time on a tax-related charge. Smith died in the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) custody on April 24, 2020. Mack never fully recovered from the December outbreak of the novel flu-like virus. His non-productive coughing, co-morbidities, and weakened physical condition continued on a downward spiral until his death. I knew at the time the article was published that I might be singled out for punishment at the Camp. I introduced America to Mack's story in the hopes that the amalgamation of conditions that led to his tragic death in the BOP's custody would never happen to another inmate. On April 27th, I prepared another article on Mack Smith that was scheduled for publication on April 28th. This article details the pain and suffering that preceded Mack's death. It also highlights the valiant efforts by one inmate who desperately tried to get Mack the medical care he needed. Within minutes of finishing the article, I was called up front to Camp Control. I told my roommate, George Dunn, Jr. (Reg. No. 61181-019), that "they" have come to get me and I might not be coming back. Special Investigative Services Sure enough, "they" were waiting for me at Camp Control -- a lieutenant and another officer from the BOP's infamous Special Investigative Services (SIS). They told me to come with them, which I did. They drove me in a police van from the Camp to the Federal Correctional Prison that houses medium risk and violent criminals. Neither man told me what I had done. Several days earlier, I had received a risk assessment of -13 for general risk and -5 for risk of violence. I had a risk classification of "Minimum," which is the lowest classification in the Bureau's system. On April 14, 2020, a Camp executive and I signed an agreement to place me in "community custody" and transfer me to home confinement. My transfer was scheduled for April 30, 2020. This agreement was rescinded on April 22nd after the Bureau issued new guidelines requiring that the released inmates must have served 50% or more of their time or have 18 months or less on their sentences and have served 25% or more of their sentence. Other factors were involved, as well. Those factors will be disclosed in a future article. When we arrived at the medium security prison, I was escorted to the Detention Unit for inmates and Campers under administrative punishment. The Bureau calls the facility its "Special Housing Unit;" inmates call it the "Hole." In reality, it is "Hell on Earth." It is what Americans would expect to see in third world countries where pro-democracy dissidents are severely punished. My Unexplained "POW" Status When we reached the entrance to the Hole, the SIS lieutenant told the intake officer that I was a "POW." I didn't realize that SIS viewed me as a prisoner of war. But, what kind of war was the lieutenant referring to? It could not have been the war on drugs, or the war on terrorism because I had never been charged with these crimes. Was it the war on fraud and other white collar crimes? After all, I was indicted, tried, and convicted on trumped up mail, wire, and bank fraud charges that career federal prosecutors in New Jersey declined to indict me on following a six-month grand jury investigation that considered the same body of evidence in 2015 and 2016. Then, I quickly realized that there is no war on fraud at the federal level. Wells Fargo, for example, publicly admitted in February to creating 2 million fake bank accounts to bilk hundreds of thousands of victims out of tens of millions of dollars in banking fees. Yet, not one bank executive has been prosecuted on any kind of state or federal fraud charges. The company, itself, only paid a $3 billion fine for its 4-year mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud crime spree from 2012-2016. What is worse, Well Fargo was back to fleecing the public again in April when it joined 3 other big Wall Street banks in looting $880 million from the $350 billion loan fund Congress established in March to rescue genuine small businesses that were collapsing during the coronavirus crisis. The money taken by these bank raiders was distributed to more than 235 large publicly traded companies. To date, no bank executive or official involved in this looting scheme has been charged with fraud. The last category had to be POWs from the federal government's war on COINTELPRO targets. Led by the FBI and Department of Justice, this war was first described in a 1976 Congressional Oversight Committee report. COINTELPRO was a formal centralized program directed from Washington during the 1956 to 1971 time period that targeted civil rights activists who challenged the status quo in an effective and persistent way. Targets of this war generally included black, white, Asian, and Hispanic activists who sought equal opportunities for all, voting rights, and the fair administration of justice. This war cast Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as the "most dangerous Negro" in America, while the FBI called him an "evil, filthy beast." Even though the centralized COINTELPRO program ended in 1976, many FBI field offices and U.S. Attorneys in the South have continued a more discreet version of the COINTELPRO program, unabated. Entering the Gates of Hell Once I entered the Detention Unit, I was cuffed and taken to a holding cell where I was required to strip naked. I was given orange prison clothes to wear. Then, I was taken to cell 212 C, which was a small irregular trapezoid-shaped cell with a metal door, a toilet, bunk beds, a tiny table, and one small window with a partial view of the yard. No reason was given for my detention. The Detention Order stated that "It is this Correctional Supervisor's decision based on all the circumstances that the above named inmate's continued presence in the general population poses a serious threat to life, property, self, staff, other inmates, or to the security or orderly running of the institution because [of a] pending SIS investigation. Therefore, the above inmate is to be placed in Administrative Detention until further notice." The Order was not signed or dated, as required by BOP regulations. The Supervisor who issued the Order was also required to perform a "24 hour review of the placement," which did not occur. The Supervisor in my case was the SIS lieutenant who picked me up at the Camp. My cellmate in the Hole was Keith Barnhart (Reg. No. 52251-060), who resided in my dorm until January. Keith, who is 55-years-old, was in the Hole because a cell phone was found in his dorm cubicle. Cell phones are classified as a contraband item in prison. Fortunately, my 2012 visit to the prison cell on Robben Island in South Africa where Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in solitary confinement prepared me somewhat for my imprisonment in the Hole. Mandela's autobiography was the first book I read in the Camp. It also contributed to my ability to understand what a "political prisoner" must do in order to survive Hell on Earth. All of the inmates at the Camp and a handful of staff members from Alabama know my background and view me as a "political prisoner." I was also blessed to be in the cell with Keith. He was a decorated soldier who worked in Army Intelligence on highly classified missions. Keith's Army Intelligence training taught him how to survive in captivity, how to handle mental and physical abuse, and how to manage total isolation when a soldier is captured behind enemy lines. Keith shared all of these lessons with me. Keith was worldly, highly intelligent, mentally tough, compassionate, and he definitely did not belong in prison, particularly in light of all the dangerous missions he carried out in service to his nation. Each day, we took mental flights back in time to the many places we had visited around the world. We also shared stories about the dangerous national security work we had undertaken for our country. Keith was particularly fascinated by my work with the U.S. State Department in Namibia in 2012 to block the Iranians from obtaining a uranium mining concession from Epangelo (Namibia's state-owned mining company) to support its nuclear weapons program. I had also given the State Department an eye-witness account of the Iranians loading duffle bags of diamonds onto their country's version of Air Force One and flying them out of Freetown, Sierra Leone shortly after Iran was kicked off the Swift international banking system as part of American sanctions against the country. I also passed time in the Hole, exercising, reading, and writing about my journey to Hell on Earth. I was only allowed to shower one time and changed clothes once. I did not have access to a prison phone or my email account. I limited my consumption of water from the sink located above the toilet because it had the taste of lead in it, and I kept thinking about the lead poisoning of Flint, Michigan's residents several years ago. Guards in the Hole had to flush the toilet by pressing a button outside of our cell. No inmate Orderly cleaned our cell while I was there. We did not have disinfectants or cleaning supplies for our cell even though the nation is in the midst of the coronavirus public health crisis that has already infected 1,160,774 Americans, 67,444 of whom have died from the virus (as of Saturday). The prison at Talladega was opened in 1979. No living American President from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush to Barack Obama should ever lecture any foreign power about the mistreatment of its inmates or the conditions of their prisons. Each one of these presidents had eight years in office to eliminate the barbaric conditions in America's federal prisons, and each one of them failed to do so. The Day of My Release On April 30, 2020, the fourth day of my detention in the Hole, Warden Cheron Y. Nash stopped by my cell. She was accompanied by the SIS lieutenant who ordered my detention as well as other members of her executive staff. When I asked her why I was being held in detention, Ms. Nash turned to the lieutenant and questioned him about my detention. This supervisor didn't know why I was locked up even though he issued the Detention Order that said I was a threat to the general prison population and the orderly running of the prison. Ms. Nash appeared to be visibly stunned and immediately questioned the lieutenant about the 24-hour Supervisor's review, which had not been done. She also noted that the Detention Order was not signed. Several hours later, an officer in the SHU came to my cell and informed me that I was being released. I had a couple of hours to say goodbye to Keith. It was hard for me to leave him behind. As I was walked from the holding cell where I changed back into my Camp clothes, several SHU officers trailed me chanting, "Dead man walking, Dead man walking, Dead man walking." I ignored the chanting, which stopped when the guards got to the entrance of the SHU where a black lieutenant was waiting. I walked into the sunshine at 3 p.m. Thursday for the first time in four days. Epilogue Throughout my entire time in the Hole, I felt the spirit of my ancestors who came to America from Africa in the hell holes of slave ships. I also felt the presence of my parents and deceased siblings, as well as the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Fannie Lou Hamer, and thousands of other brave men and women who risked it all for me to be able to stand up for a defenseless and vulnerable human being like Mack Smith. Even when I was confined to a dingy dungeon during the middle of the deadly coronavirus public health crisis, I never doubted that God would see me through to the other side of midnight. I did not ask God to free me. Instead, I asked God to give me the strength and courage he had given my African ancestors, parents, deceased siblings, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Fannie Lou Hamer, and the millions of others who survived unbearable conditions in slave ships, slavery in America, Jim Crow laws, wrongful imprisonment, and endless acts of domestic terrorism. All of them were willing to die on their feet in the quest for human dignity rather than live on their knees in a permanent state of subservience. The Angels gathered above me for four 4 days, not to welcome me to Heaven, but to protect me in Hell. Like my dear friend Dr. Maya Angelou (deceased), I know why the caged bird sings.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on January 31, 2016; Republished on July 12, 2018 Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson proudly serving her country in 2005. Army Private First Class LaVena Johnson was just eight days short of her 20th birthday when she met her death on a military base in Balad, Iraq. Private Johnson was not killed in a firefight with enemy combatants. She died on July 19, 2005, at the hands of a fellow soldier. Her death was not the result of friendly fire; it was a cold-blooded murder. The U.S. military orchestrated a successful cover-up of Private Johnson's murder by making it look like she had committed suicide, which they listed as the official cause of death. The cover-up was successful, until now. Unfortunately, Private Johnson, a high school honor student and native of Florissant, Missouri, was an innocent murder victim who happened to encounter a powerful soldier engaging in prohibited conduct, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Her discovery of this conduct cost Private Johnson her life. The cover-up of Private Johnson's murder went all the way to the top of the military's chain of command. A reckless indifference to the truth by top military commanders made this cover-up successful for more than a decade. The Military Claims Private Johnson Committed Suicide Military investigators quickly launched an investigation into Private Johnson’s death. They claim that Private Johnson was upset because her boyfriend of two months had broken up with her, via email. The investigators allege that Private Johnson printed out the emails, stuffed them in her pocket, slung her M16 service weapon over her shoulder, and went to buy M&Ms and a six-pack of soda at a military store with an unnamed male friend. The investigators also claim the two soldiers returned to the barracks, but then Private Johnson left again, alone this time. She made her way to a tent belonging to a military contractor. Once Private Johnson was inside the tent, the military says she found a can of aerosol, lit the break-up emails on fire, and then set the entire tent on fire. According to the investigators, a distraught Private Johnson, only 5’ 1″ tall, then put her 40-inch M16 rifle into her mouth and fired one shot. A spent shell casing was found next to her right leg, but not the fatal bullet. The military concluded its investigation and issued an official cause of death – Pfc LaVena Johnson committed suicide. Case closed…or so they thought. The Forensic and Physical Evidence Points to Murder The physical evidence and forensic reports, together with witness statements, crime scene photos, the military’s autopsy, and a subsequent independent autopsy, paint a very different picture of Private Johnson’s death. If she did not kill herself, then Private Johnson was murdered. The military stonewalled the release of the forensic reports and physical evidence to the Johnson Family every step of the way. While the military’s autopsy showed that Private Johnson sustained only “non-serious” injuries prior to her death (e.g., a busted lip, broken teeth, and scratch marks on her neck), the crime scene photos of Private Johnson’s body, morgue x-rays, and an independent autopsy suggest that a much more serious physical struggle took place. Private Johnson had bruises and scratches on the upper part of her torso; there were even teeth marks on her body. Private Johnson appeared to have been badly beaten before she was killed. The morgue x-rays show that Private Johnson suffered a broken nose, which appeared to have been fixed with plastic surgery post-mortem, and a broken neck. What appears to be lye, or another dangerously corrosive caustic substance, had been poured on her vaginal area. Shockingly, none of these injuries is mentioned in the military’s autopsy or investigative report. What is more, there was a trail of blood outside of the tent where Private Johnson’s dead body was found. The back of Private Johnson’s clothes had debris on them indicating that she had been dragged into the tent after a violent attack but prior to the tent being set on fire. The right side of Private Johnson’s back and her right hand had been burned, apparently from a flammable liquid that had been poured on her and subsequently lit. Despite the bruises, scratches, and teeth marks on her body, together with her broken nose, fractured neck and burns on her body, Private Johnson was found completely dressed in the burning tent. Additionally, the forensic evidence severely undermines the military’s suicide theory. Private Johnson’s fingerprints were not on the M16 she supposedly used to kill herself. There was no gunshot residue on her hands. Given Private Johnson’s 5’1” height, it would have been nearly impossible for her to stick the barrel of the 40-inch M16 rifle in her mouth and pull the trigger with her finger. Although she could have used one of her toes to pull the trigger, this did not occur because crime scene photos show that Private Johnson’s shoes were still on her feet. Private Johnson’s fingerprints were not on the matches, the aerosol, or any of the other items found inside the tent. What is more, there was a footprint found inside the tent that was never identified. Military investigators conducted no DNA testing on the weapon to determine whether Private Johnson touched the gun or its magazine, or whether she pulled the trigger at all. This is important because of the two small cuts on Private Johnson’s right thumb. These cuts would have produced enough bodily secretions for DNA testing on the gun, magazine and/or trigger. If not, certainly the alleged act of placing the rifle inside of Private Johnson’s wet mouth would have yielded enough bodily fluid for DNA testing. Again, the military’s failure to conduct DNA testing on the M16 rifle was inexcusable. Interestingly, there were no discernible fingerprints of any kind on the M16, not even the fingerprints of the first responder who admitted to moving the M16 when he/she discovered the body. This absence of fingerprints belonging to Private Johnson or the first responder strongly suggests that the M16 weapon had been wiped clean of fingerprints after the discovery of Private Johnson’s body. Additionally, the M16 “found” at the crime scene bore Serial Number 7095028. Private Johnson’s April 27, 2005 deployment Order (#117-301) to Iraq shows that she was issued (and traveled to Iraq with) an M16 rifle that bore Serial Number 7097069. She was never issued another M16 rifle. Nowhere in the military’s criminal investigation records does it disclose who was issued the M16 (Serial Number 7095028) that was located at the murder scene, nor does the military explain what happened to Private Johnson’s M16 (Serial Number 7097069). Military investigators claimed they did not retrieve the M16 bullet that killed Private Johnson. Finding the missing bullet would have been a key piece of evidence in determining whether Private Johnson’s death was a murder or suicide. What is more, investigators failed to conduct a thorough search of the crime scene and surrounding area for the missing M-16 bullet. This is important because the small hole in the top left side of Private Johnson’s head is more consistent with a close-range shot fired from a 9 MM pistol than an M16 rifle fired from inside of her mouth. The military claimed that this hole was an exit wound from an M16. The autopsy photos indicate that this hole could also be an entry wound from a 9 MM pistol. Additionally, the internal damage to Private Johnson’s head suggests that the 9 MM bullet likely lodged in Private Johnson’s tongue, a major part of which had been removed during the military’s autopsy. Remarkably, there was no reference to the removal of Private Johnson’s tongue in the military’s autopsy report. There was no suicide note or any other hard evidence suggesting Private Johnson was in a suicidal state. She was happy and healthy; she talked to her parents almost daily; and she looked forward to coming home for Christmas. The lead investigator appointed by the Army had to wait four days for the military’s Criminal Investigation Division to finish its investigation before he could get started with his own investigation. Also, the crime scene was contaminated in a significant way. Multiple first responders were in and around the tent area, thereby compromising the evidence field and integrity of the crime scene. The physical evidence of a murder and subsequent cover-up by military officials greatly outweighs any physical evidence of a suicide. Yet, the Base Commander’s directives to investigators shortly after Private Johnson’s body was discovered all but told them to classify her death as a suicide. As a result, the plethora of forensic and physical evidence establishing that Private Johnson had been brutally beaten and murdered was given virtually no attention by investigators, while the scant evidence supporting a suicide theory was developed to the maximum extent possible. 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A Commentary By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on May 10, 2020 Rogue prosecutors and FBI agents tried to take down President Donald J. Trump from 2017 to 2019. It was a classic coup d'état. Former FBI Director James Comey, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and their team of rogue prosecutors and FBI agents destroyed the lives of many of Trump's friends and associates in search of any law enforcement angle to nail the President. In February 2020, President Trump had this to say about them: "Look how they have hurt people. They've destroyed the lives of people that were great people .... Their lives have been destroyed by scum. Okay, by scum." While Trump was a presidential candidate, two rogue FBI agents -- Peter Strzok and Lisa Page -- tried to stop his election as president by using the awesome power of the FBI to target, investigate, and intimidate law abiding American citizens who were connected to Trump and/or his campaign. This scheme was concocted and implemented while Strzok and Page were in the midst of their steamy extramarital love affair. Robert Mueller's rogue prosecutors investigated and prosecuted Roger Stone solely because he was Donald Trump's close personal friend. After Stone's conviction on process crimes (i.e., lying to Congress, obstruction, etc.), these rogue prosecutors asked Stone's trial judge to give him a Draconian sentence that was not warranted under the facts and circumstances of his case. To his credit, Attorney General William Barr had to step in to prevent this manifest injustice. Rogue prosecutors and FBI agents also destroyed the lives of former Trump presidential campaign manager Paul Manafort and George Papadopoulos simply because they were associated with the Trump Campaign. In the same investigation of the Trump Campaign's alleged collusion with Russia (which has now been debunked on multiple occasions by multiple agencies), Mueller's prosecutors violated Department of Justice (DOJ) standards of professionalism to extract a guilty plea from former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. As a result, the DOJ formally dropped charges against Flynn on Thursday. Obama-era rogue federal prosecutors indicted, tried, and convicted two of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christy's staff members -- Bridget Anne Kelly and William Baroni -- on trumped up "honest services" fraud charges over the infamous "Bridgegate" controversy. Their convictions were overturned last week by the U.S. Supreme Court on a 9-0 vote. This case evidences a clear abuse of prosecutorial power over a 7-year period. In March, rogue federal prosecutors in Boston were caught cheating in Hollywood actress Lori Loughlin's college admissions bribery case. These prosecutors deliberately withheld 309 pages of notes made by their star witness from Loughlin's defense team. The notes were exculpatory in nature and were favorable to Loughlin's defense. Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are set to go to trial in October in a case that should be dismissed for prosecutorial misconduct. None of this is new. In 1963, the rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents who ran the COINTELPRO program tried to make Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., commit suicide. They also called King the "most dangerous Negro" in America. They labeled him a "thug," a "filthy animal," and an "evil, abnormal beast." The list of professional misconduct by rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents is endless and nationwide in scope. For the most part, they are accountable to no one. Past Presidents Have Failed to Stop Rogue Prosecutors and FBI Agents Rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents have been out of control for a very long time. President John F. Kennedy never trusted them. President Kennedy appointed his brother Bobbie Kennedy as Attorney General to keep a watchful eye on these rogues while the president and his brother engaged in sexual escapades inside and out of the White House. President Bill Clinton was too busy having sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinski to tackle the growing problem of rogue prosecutors and FBI agents. When Clinton did call upon these DOJ officials, it was to get a same-day pardon for fugitive Marc Rich while Clinton was lusting over Rich's voluptuous wife in the Oval office. President George W. Bush had Vice President Dick Cheney watching over the rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents. While these DOJ officials were busy expanding the definition of political crimes under the "honest services" category of fraud crimes, they missed all of the red flags leading up to the 9/11 terrorists attacks on America. Nearly 3,000 Americans died because rogue prosecutors and FBI agents were consumed with manufacturing political crimes like the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman for bribery. The political ménage à trois of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Attorney General Eric holder was simply too weak and too distracted by Obama's celebrity status to stop prosecutorial misconduct by rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents. DOJ lawlessness ramped up on Obama's watch. What is worse, these three men did absolutely nothing to address and curb the only legalized form of slavery in the United States that targets Americans of color and poor people -- the disproportionate intake of inmates of color in federal penal colonies. Furthermore, Obama, Biden, and Holder left 63-year-old grandmother and first-time, non-violent, drug offender Alice Marie Johnson to languish in a federal prison until her death, while failing to prosecute a single Wall Street bank chief executive officer for the $13 trillion in financial fraud that caused the U.S. economy to collapse in 2008. Fortunately, President Trump freed Ms. Johnson after 23 years of imprisonment. Federal Judges Are Afraid of These Rogues Federal magistrates and district court judges, who should be policing prosecutorial misconduct in their courtrooms, are afraid of rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents because these federal law enforcement agents will turn on judges as quickly as they will turn on ordinary Americans. Because of the close collaboration between FBI agents and prosecutors, these DOJ rogues know the dark, seedy side of federal judges and U.S. magistrates. They know who's an alcoholic, who's popping prescription pills while conducting trials, who is sleeping with courtroom deputies, law clerks, and court reporters, and who has personal financial problems. They often use this embarrassing personal information to intimidate and control judges and magistrates. This control gives rogue prosecutors and FBI agents a license to lie to grand juries, magistrates, trial judges, and appellate judges. They feel free to: (a) target potential defendants for political or personal reasons, (b) manufacture phony criminal charges against political figures, controversial activists, Hollywood celebrities, unpopular public figures, and other "undesirables," (c) encourage pro-government witnesses to give testimony that is known to be false and misleading, (d) withhold or suppress evidence that is favorable to the defense, and (e) hijack the courtrooms of judges who are known to be weak, dumb, compromised, and/or lazy. Federal judges and magistrates rarely hold federal prosecutors accountable for complying with ethical rules of conduct that apply to other licensed attorneys who appear in their courtrooms. Too often, they look for lame excuses to forgive ethical lapses by rogue prosecutors. The American Bar Association is silent on this troublesome issue. The same is true for the Federal Judges Association and all 50 state bar associations. Epilogue Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who headed the Bureau from 1924 to 1972, would be proud of today's rogue federal prosecutors and FBI agents. He is their idol. They epitomize Hoover's arrogance and lawlessness. This is especially true for the rogue prosecutors and FBI agents in Southern states who continue to carry out Hoover's COINTELPRO operations, albeit on an informal, discreet basis. In the 1950s, Hoover weaponized the DOJ as a force for political intimidation and for crushing dissent on public policy issues he opposed. Hoover was an overt racist and staunch enemy of civil liberties. Under Hoover's watch, the DOJ used its power to pick winners and losers in the political arena. This is a tradition that continues today. Rogue prosecutors and FBI agents tried to prevent the election of President Donald J. Trump. After Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, Robert Mueller and his band of rogue prosecutors and FBI agents tried to overthrow his presidency. This bold move constituted a coup d'etat that was green-lighted by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who made up a flimsy excuse for recusing himself from Mueller's Russia investigation so that Trump-hater Rod Rosenstein could supervise and direct the probe. This coup d'etat failed, miserably. Today, President Donald Trump is doing something past presidents have failed to do -- he is attacking corruption and misconduct within the ranks of federal prosecutors and FBI agents. This is one more substantive way Trump is distinguishing himself from the criminal justice failures of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Now is the time for Trump to direct Attorney General William Barr to prosecute rogue prosecutors and FBI agents. If Trump does not tackle this perennial problem within the federal criminal justice system, nobody will.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on May 6, 2020 Mack Smith (Reg. No. 59923-019) died in a Birmingham, Alabama hospital's palliative care unit on April 24, 2020 while in the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP). He was an inmate at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp. Mack lived in T-Dorm exactly two cubicles across the aisle from the cubicle George Dunn, Jr. (Reg. No. 61181-019) and I shared. We have since moved to another cubicle in the dorm. On April 27, 2020, Devon Williams, a fellow inmate in T-Dorm, filed an emergency motion for an immediate release under the compassionate release provisions of the First Step Act. Williams' motion was filed one day after I published an article titled, "Did COVID-19 Start at the Talladega Prison Camp?" In his motion, Williams stated that five staff members at the Talladega prison facility tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and noted that "Mack Smith, an inmate [in T-Dorm] exhibited coronavirus symptoms, and passed away on April 24, 2020." On April 28, 2020, U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven, Connecticut ordered the Government to Show Cause why the release sought by Williams should not be granted. Judge Hall also set a hearing on the motion, via telephone, for May 4, 2020 at 11 a.m. EST. On April 30, 2020, the Government filed its opposition to Williams' motion for immediate relief. The Government also asked Judge Hall to seal (a) an unredacted version of its Response in Opposition to the Williams' motion, (b) Mack Smith's medical records, and (c) an unspecified email. The email in question is believed to be an April 25, 2020 email from Williams to his attorney about Mack Smith's death and Williams' subsequent request for a COVID-19 test. The Health Services unit at the Camp told Williams he would not be tested unless he showed symptoms of the virus. On the same day Williams filed his motion, another inmate was taken out of T-Dorm because he was reportedly running a fever. There is no word on this inmate's condition. Camp officials have steadfastly maintained that no inmate in their custody has the coronavirus. The BOP's website, however, has acknowledged that five staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Mack Smith Long Slow Death Mack was a 69-year-old non-violent, first-time offender who was serving a sentence on tax-related charges. He was one of the oldest inmates in T-Dorm and the second longest resident of the dorm. At 71-years-old, I am the oldest inmate in T-Dorm and the second oldest inmate in the Camp. Mack, who was white, was a successful self-made businessman in the outside world. As an inmate, Mack was respectful, polite, and considerate of the needs of his fellow inmates. Mack befriended me shortly after I arrived at the Camp on August 28, 2019. His health was rapidly deteriorating, and he was seeking a compassionate release from the Camp for this reason. Mack was already using a walker with wheels for mobility and was having difficulty with his breathing. By early December, Mack was in very bad physical shape. His coughing was non-productive and incessant. He was visibly weak from his respiratory illness. During the entire time Mack was an inmate at the Camp, he was living and breathing air in a dorm that is encased in black mold that is trapped behind the exterior walls of the dorm. The concentration, growth, and spread of the black mold in the Camp's dorms pushes the old black mold from inside of the exterior walls to the outside of these walls. One does not need an environmental engineering degree to detect the presence of this black mold. It is literally within plain view to the naked eye. Mack Smith was a proud man who never received the standard of healthcare in BOP custody that his chronic medical condition warranted. As a result, Mack suffered in silence and agony. His repeated requests for a compassionate release fell upon deaf ears within the BOP. Even when the Camp considered a transfer to home confinement for Mack during the COVID-19 crisis and scheduled it for April 14, 2020, the transfer was rescinded before he died. Inmate George Dunn, Jr., Tried to Save Mack Smith George Dunn, Jr., repeatedly spoke to Camp officials in an effort to get adequate medical help for Mack Smith. Dunn, who is a tall distinguished looking 62-year-old black entrepreneur from Atlanta, helped Mack whenever he was too weak to walk through the dormitory or too incapacitated to get out of his bed. Dunn also cleaned up behind Mack whenever he was unable to make it to the bathroom in a timely manner. Dunn, who is affectionately called the "Governor" by fellow inmates because of his strong advocacy for basic human rights and compassion for deserving inmates, finally succeeded in getting Mack and about 9 other inmates quarantined when an outbreak of a flu-like virus that swept through the Camp in December. Prison officials often belittle Dunn at Town Hall meetings in front of the inmate population in our dorm for speaking up on behalf of fellow inmates who needed help in dealing with the hardships of prison life. Even under this pressure, Dunn never backs down from trying to help inmates in need. Even though Mack was still coughing in January and he showed visible signs of a weakening physical condition, Camp officials returned him to T-Dorm after 2 weeks in quarantine. Again, Dunn pleaded with Camp executives to get Mack much needed medical help. Eventually, a white inmate from Kentucky, whose name I will withhold because I do not have permission to publish it, stepped up to help Mack clean his cubicle, make up his bed, retrieve his food from the dining hall, and cleaned up Mack from a personal hygiene standpoint. This inmate is the person who summoned Camp officials when Mack deteriorated to the point where he needed hospitalization. Dr. William Mark Holbrook, MD, a Family Medicine physician and the Camp's Clinical Director, never visited Mack in his dormitory cubicle the entire time I have resided in T-Dorm. Nurse practitioners attended to Mack's medical needs, as best they could. No Money for Healthcare, But Plenty of Money for Yamaha Baby Grand Pianos While Mack Smith was suffering terribly from the BOP's questionable standard of medical care, the Talladega Prison and Satellite Camp was busy purchasing two Yamaha Baby Grand Pianos. One of these pianos, with a price tag of $7,000, was placed in the music room in the Camp's recreation area. The Camp offers no formal music classes and only one inmate uses the Baby Grand piano. Mack's case was not an isolated occurrence. On October 4, 2019, inmate Travis Paul (Reg. No. 63706-037) reported damage to his lungs when he was forced by a Camp supervisor to empty chemical foam-filled fire extinguishers into an open water-filled dumpster without proper safety training and the personal protective equipment required by OSHA for doing the job. Paul, 48-years-old, has pleaded with Health Services to be seen by a pulmonary physician who specializes in injuries to the lungs. Since October 4th, Paul's non-stop coughing has continued, unabated. Paul believes he may be suffering from pulmonary fibrosis caused by the incident. If true, this condition would place Paul in one of the highest at-risk groups for the conronavirus. Despite Paul's repeated requests to Health Services to visit a pulmonary physician, no such appointment has not been scheduled for Paul. Last month, Dr. Holbrook stated that the Camp's healthcare services for COVID-19 conformed to the generally accepted standards of medical care established by the BOP and the Alabama Department of Health. Historically, the Alabama Department of Health's low standards of medical care have been used over the decades to support or justify: (a) involuntary medical experimentation on 600 unsuspecting patients in Tuskegee, Alabama, (b) the forced sterilization of poor female inmates and mentally ill patients in state prisons and mental health facilities, (c) involuntary lobotomies as a the treatment for mentally illness in state-run mental health facilities, and (d) recent bills in the Alabama Legislature to authorize the castration of male inmates. Epilogue Mack Smith's organs eventually failed him during his hospitalization. He was then placed in a palliative care unit of a Birmingham hospital. All life support equipment was removed from Mack on April 23, 2020. To this date, the official cause of Mack Smith's death has not been determined. The Government's request to seal Mack Smith's medical records suggests that the BOP wants to construct and control the narrative around Mack's death. Why? Did Mack Smith die from respiratory complications due to his long-term exposure to black mold at the Talladega Prison Camp? Alternatively, did the coronavirus contribute to Mack's demise, directly or indirectly? Was Mack's death on April 24, 2020 preventable? Only an independent forensic autopsy can answer these important questions with the confidence needed to restore public trust in the BOP during the coronavirus pandemic. I extend my personal condolences to Linda Smith (Mack's widow) and to the entire Smith family. It was a pleasure to have met and known Mack Smith. I will never forget him. I hope the Smith family gets the answers it seeks as to why the BOP denied Mack a timely compassionate release, and why he died in BOP custody.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 20, 2019 Republished on May 4, 2020 [Publisher's Note: On April 26, 2020, I published an article about the tragic death of Mack Smith (Reg. 59923-019), a 69-year-old white inmate at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp. The next day, I was taken to the "Hole" at the medium security prison in Talladega where I was held for 72 hours without charges. After my release on Thursday, I published a May 3, 2020 article about "My Journey to Hell on Earth." Many people inside and outside the Camp have asked me why I cared about Mack Smith's death to the point that I would subject myself to retaliation by certain BOP officials for exercising my First Amendment right to write about Mack's demise. The answer lies in the story below about a caring white woman who put herself at-risk of being arrested and ridiculed as a "nigger lover" when she gave a thirsty little 5-year-old black boy named Donald V. Watkins a drink of water from a "Whites Only" water fountain on a hot and humid day in racially segregated Montgomery, Alabama in 1953. Her extraordinary act of bravery and kindness in breaking the rigidly enforced color barrier that day impacted me for the rest of my life. I never knew her name. Yet, I have carried her spirit of compassion and courage with me every day of my life. Metaphorically, I gave to Mack Smith and his family, in their time of need what this strange white woman gave to me in 1953 -- dignity and respect for humanity when it mattered.] I never knew her name, but I never forgot my chance encounter with her. It is as fresh in my mind today as it was when I was a young child. By today’s standards, what she did would be considered “ordinary” and polite. In the early 1950s, she could have been jailed for what she did. Here is her story: It was a hot and humid summer day in Montgomery, Alabama. My mother gathered her six children for a Saturday shopping trip downtown. She made sure all of us went to the bathroom before we left the house. She also gave each one of us a peppermint to put in our pocket. This was her routine for our trips away from home. The peppermint had a specific purpose that had nothing to do with keeping our breaths fresh. If the “Colored Only” water fountain from which we could drink was not working, the peppermint would keep our mouths moist long enough for my mother to find a “Colored Only” water fountain that was working. We had been walking downtown from store-to-store and it was extremely hot and humid. I became thirsty and asked my mother to show me where the water fountain was located in a store called Gayfers. When we got to the "Colored Only" water fountain, it was not working. My mother told me to suck on my peppermint until we could get to the next store. This is when I discovered that I had forgotten to bring my peppermint. I begged my mother to let me drink out of the adjacent “White Only” water fountain that was working. At 5-years-old, I didn’t know what the signs meant anyway. A white woman was standing there drinking from the “White Only” water fountain. She heard me pleading with my mother for a drink of water. My mother tried to calm me down and then looked at her. The two women never spoke a word to each other. After the white woman finished drinking from the fountain, she kept the water flowing. With her inviting eyes and body language, she gestured for me to come drink out of the “White Only” water fountain. My mother stared at her and she stared back with a smile that only another mother could give. I slowly walked over to the fountain and started drinking the “White Only” water. To me, it tasted just like the “Colored Only” water. I drank and drank for what seemed like an eternity because I was very thirsty. After I finished drinking the water, the woman smiled, nodded her head in a farewell gesture, and slowly walked away. At that moment, two adults and one child had broken Alabama’s strictly enforced laws on racial segregation in public accommodations. We became criminals that day because a young black child in the custody of his loving mother needed water and a caring white woman, who was a stranger to us, gave it me from the “White Only” water fountain. What made her do it? Why did she care enough about me to risk being arrested and labeled a “nigger lover” by local police? Why did I matter to her? In that moment, the bravery and kindness of this unknown white woman triumphed over the arcane social mores and legal code of the day. Simply put, I was an innocent young child who was thirsty and she gave me water. What is more, she broke the law to do it. I never saw this woman again, but what she did that day helped to shape my view of humanity. Because of her, and tens of millions of Americans like her, I was eventually able to: (a) drink from any public water fountain that worked; (b) use any public toilet that was available; (c) eat at any public lunch counter that served food I could afford to buy; (d) work as the first black cashier for the Delchamps grocery store chain in Alabama; (e) attend the college of my choice; (f) desegregate The University of Alabama’s School of Law; (g) take and pass the bar exam without fear of sabotage in the scoring of my exam results; (h) practice law throughout Alabama’s 67 counties and in the District of Columbia; (i) apply for and receive the first bank charter issued to an African-American owner by the Alabama Banking Department; (j) own and manage international energy services companies; and (k) participate fully and freely in the political process across America. When I started practicing law in Alabama in 1973, a few white state court judges openly addressed me as the “nigger lawyer from Montgomery” (as opposed to “Mr. Watkins”) in front of the all-white jurors who were trying my cases. When this dehumanizing conduct occurred, I saw her spirit emerge again and again in the eyes and faces of the jurors. I did not know them and they did not know me. Yet, they ALWAYS rose above this demeaning judicial bias and did the right thing out of a sense of personal honor and integrity. I never knew her name, but her spirit has always been with me. She showed compassion to me as a child and treated me with respect as a human being. That fateful day, she gave me more than water. In her own way, she gave me enduring hope for a better world. Throughout my life, I have embraced her spirit by trying to give as much love for humanity as I have received from the kindness of strangers.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 26, 2020 In December 2019, about 10 inmates contracted a mysterious viral disease of unknown origin at the Talladega Federal Prison Camp. All of these inmates exhibited symptoms like non-productive coughing, fevers of 101 to 104, shortness of breath, diarrhea, and nausea. After weeks of listening to these inmates coughing, fellow inmates complained to Health Services about a contagious outbreak of a flu-like disease in their dorms. Health Services took the temperatures of the infected inmates and eventually removed them from T-Dorm and V-Dorm. They were quarantined in Y-Dorm for two weeks. The Health Services Unit at the Camp monitored the inmates's temperatures daily and assumed that they were victims of an identified strain of the flu. According to the affected inmates, they were treated with Promethazine for nausea and/or prescription strength Tylenol III for pain. They were ordered to rest all day, each day. All of these inmates returned to their respective dorms at the end of the quarantine period. Mack Smith (Reg. No. 59923-019) was one of the infected inmates who resided in T-Dorm. Smith, a 69-year-old white male, had underlying health conditions when the flu-like virus broke out. Even though Smith never fully recovered from the outbreak, he was placed back into T-Dorm in January. His non-productive coughing continued unabated for the next three months. Prior to the outbreak, Mack Smith had applied to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for a compassionate release due to his rapidly deteriorating health condition. His request was denied. Smith, a non-violent, first-time white-collar offender, also applied for a transfer to home confinement, which was pending at the time of his death. Mack Smith's condition worsened in March. In early April, Smith's co-morbidities required hospitalization. On Friday, April 24, 2020, the Camp's staff cleared out Mack Smith's locker in T-Dorm. Fellow inmates later learned that Smith had died early Friday morning. On Saturday, the men in T-Dorm held a moment of silent prayer for his soul. The Camp's Protocol for Contagious Diseases According to inside reports, Health Services did not collect viral cultures from the noses and mouths of the inmates who were infected in December with the unknown virus. Likewise, there is no indication that Health Services sent any information about the outbreak of the unidentified flu-like virus to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a public health advisory or alert, even though the medical staff at the Camp never identified this particular strain of the novel virus causing the inmates' flu-like symptoms. None of the infected inmates was given the standard COVID analytical test to determine what kind of virus caused their respiratory illness. Additionally, none of the inmates was evaluated or treated by a board-certified pulmonary doctor who specializes in respiratory illnesses affecting the lungs. It is not known whether the medical records of the infected inmates were reviewed by a board-certified epidemiologist. Also, there is no known evidence that Camp administrators or Health Services staff made any effort to trace the contacts that these infected inmates had with staff members and/or visitors leading up to the December outbreak. After the infected inmates came out of quarantine, some of them were placed into the BOP's transit system for transfers to other prisons within the nationwide system. Some of the recipient prisons are now hotspots for the COVID-19 virus. As of Friday, 24 federal prisoners have died from the novel coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases for the coronavirus stands at 730 for federal inmates and 317 for staff members. Included in the number of staff members are 5 correctional officials at the Talladega correctional facilities. It remains to be seen whether Mack Smith's death was related, in any way, to complications from the coronavirus. A forensic medical investigation, including an independent autopsy, is needed to answer this important question with confidence. BOP Healthcare Protocols Raise Critical Questions Did the Talladega Prison Camp outbreak in December involve the first strain of the "novel coronavirus" in America? Was the outbreak ignored by BOP central office officials because it occurred inside a federal prison facility? Was this virus transported from the Talladega Prison Camp to other BOP prisons? If so, did the asymptomatic inmates in transit infect other inmates and staff members within the BOP system? Did the Talladega Prison Camp take all of the reasonable and necessary steps to detect, isolate, and limit the spread of the unidentified novel virus in December? The CDC and Congress need to thoroughly investigate the BOP's handling of this matter. The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus stands at 52,400, as of Saturday. The number of confirmed cases stands at 927,000. At some point, CDC epidemiologists will have to determine whether the contamination at the Talladega Camp in December caused or contributed to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the United States. In recent weeks, several inmates have exhibited incessant non-productive coughing. Yet, the Camp's Clinical Director has repeatedly denied written inmate requests to test them specifically for COVID-19. Some of these requests have come from inmates who fall squarely within the CDC's highest at-risk group for contracting COVID-19. Without administering the CDC's standard analytical test for COVID-19, Camp administrators boldly and repeatedly claimed that no inmate in the Camp is infected with the coronavirus. Last month, President Donald J. Trump publicly declared that any U.S. citizen who wants the COVID-19 test can get one for free. Inmates who have requested the test after Mack Smith's hospitalization earlier this month have been told that they must show symptoms of the virus before testing is administered to them. This BOP testing protocol is particularly troublesome in light of the CDC's April 21, 2020 report of an asymptomatic carrier rate of 30% among the tested general population. Late Friday, Dr. W. Mark Holbrook, MD, the Camp's Clinical Director, said, "We will continue to follow BOP guidelines regarding testing." The BOP guidelines are far below the CDC's guidelines announced for COVID-19 testing and the generally accepted standard of medical care for detecting, isolating, and limiting the spread of the coronavirus. The Alabama Department of Health Standards of Care Dr. Holbrook, a licensed Family Medicine physician, also stated that the Camp's Health Services Unit was following the "current recommendations from the State of Alabama Health Department [on COVID-19 testing]." It is universally recognized that Alabama's standards of healthcare for patients who are wholly dependent upon government-sponsored medical services is one of the lowest standards in the civilized world. What is worse, Alabama is the only state whose Health Department officially sanctioned secret medical experimentation on unsuspecting human beings during the 40-year "Tuskegee Syphilis Study." The Department's unethical medical experimentation ended in 1972 only after it was exposed by national media organizations. Additionally, in the early 1970s, Montgomery-based U.S. District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson issued court orders to end an Alabama Health Department-sanctioned program that forcibly sterilized poor women in the state's prisons and mental hospitals. Finally, five years ago, national media attention led to the defeat of a bill sponsored by State Rep. Steve Hurst (R-Talladega) that would have required the physical castration of select male inmates in the Alabama prison system. The Federal Prison Camp in Talladega, Alabama is located in Rep. Hurst's House District. The facility draws most of its professional consultants and employee workforce from the Talladega and Birmingham metro-areas.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 22, 2020 The closing scene of the blockbuster Hollywood movie "Titanic" is a real tearjerker. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio's character bravely rescues actress Kate Winslet's character and places her in a lifeboat after the unsinkable Titanic started sinking from a tear in its hull caused by the ship hitting an iceberg. After Winslet's character is placed in the life boat, DiCaprio's character tragically dies in the cold dark sea. As we wipe away our tears, we are reminded of the days when men saved women and children from tragedy before attempting to save themselves. That day is gone. Fast-Forward to January 2020. The American economy hit an iceberg called the "novel coronavirus." The unsinkable American economy began to sink, quickly. Congress created lifeboats for major corporations, small businesses, individual taxpayers, state and local governments, and others. This is what happened: Big Corporations Raided the $350 billion Fund Earmarked for Small Businesses The $350 billion lifeboat created in the $2.3 trillion CARES Act for traditional small businesses with 500 or less employees was raided within two weeks by large national restaurant, hotel, and business chains worth tens of billions of dollars. The money ran dry last Thursday and left thousands of traditional small businesses stranded and unable to get funding. For example, Ruth's Chris, a restaurant chain with 150 locations and 5,740 employees snagged $20 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) money. Potbelly Corp., a national chain of sandwich shops with 400 locations got $10 million in PPP. Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chao, Inc., which is privately owned, got $20 million. Casual dining company J. Alexander's Holding, Inc., received $15.1 million. Shake Shack, a chain of hamburger restaurants with 8,000 employees and a Wall Street valuation of $1.6 billion, received $10 million, which it intends to return in the face of a growing public outrage at how this money was disbursed to big corporations. In all, more than 80 publicly traded companies with tens of thousands of employees were the first in line to receive PPP money that was intended for genuine small businesses. They secured a total of more than $330 million in PPP money. The PPP money allows the CEOs of these big corporations to keep drawing their multi-million dollar salaries for the next few months. Many of these large publicly trade companies were also eligible to participate in the Federal Reserve's $600 billion Main Street Lending Program. In effect, they were positioned to raid two separate sources of federal funding, and many of them did so. Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan Chase bragged that its commercial banking unit secured more than $115 million from the loan program for small businesses, which is more than anyone else in the banking industry. The bank also claimed that 80% of its PPP went to businesses with less than $5 million in revenue. Small Business Administration data released late Friday shows that loans for more than $1 million accounted for nearly 45% of the approved dollars under the program. This suggests that larger companies received a disproportionate share of the PPP money that was intended for truly small businesses, which explains why the fund ran dry in just two weeks. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said PPP provided funding to 1.6 million small businesses and that 74% of them were loans under $150,000. Mnuchin is seeking another $300 billion for thousands of traditional small businesses that were left out of the first round of funding. In America, the Rich Are Always the First Ones Escorted to the Lifeboat One truism we learned from the Great Depression of 1933 and the Great Recession of 2008 is this undeniable fact: In America, the rich are always the first ones escorted to the lifeboats. This pattern and practice of preferential treatment happens every time. The first $500 billion in CARES Act money was immediately disbursed to a handpicked group of big corporations to help them clean up their balance sheets. For example, Boeing was awarded billions of dollars to offset losses the company sustained from building a defective and unsafe 737 MAX airplane that has already killed 346 passengers and crew members in two plane crashes. These losses had nothing to do with the novel coronavirus. Boeing's money amounts to corporate welfare for incompetent and careless job performance on the 737 MAX airplane. President Donald Trump and Secretary Mnuchin have refused to disclose the full list of recipients of money from the $500 billion earmarked for major corporations. They have also refused to publish the list of the large corporations that raided the $350 billion earmarked for traditional small business loans. Trump also removed the Inspector General who is responsible for monitoring the payments and compliance with the CARES Act. Both Trump and Mnuchin say they support $300 billion in additional funding for traditional small businesses, if these businesses are still around to apply for it. Lawmakers in Washington are working on a new round of funding for small businesses this week. Who Represents the Political Interests of the "99 Percenters"? The distribution of CARES Act money raises a serious political question: Who in Washington represents the political interests of the "99 Percenters"? Who is the Leonardo DiCaprio figure rushing to save ordinary Americans and genuine small businesses after their financial "Titanic" struck the iceberg? In times of great economic crisis, the "99 Percenters," always get left behind or left out of timely rescues. Politicians in both political parties want their votes, but not their voices on economic issues. Every special interest group in Washington has a cadre of lobbyists to rescue them, except the "99 Percenters." Republican leaders in Washington have long pacified their struggling base of "rural," "blue collar," and "trailer park" voters by leading them in political chants like "build the Wall," "right to life," "lock'em up," and "Make America Great Again," while they dole out trillions of taxpayer’s dollars to big corporation and Wall Street banks during good and bad economic times, including the companies and banks that have acknowledged their participation in nationwide crime sprees. Republican politicians have always ushered the "1 Percenters" to the financial lifeboats on a priority basis during every modern-day economic recession. Democrats in Washington don't really understand economic policies well enough to help the "99 Percenters." This was apparent when President Barack Obama provided more than $800 billion in bailout money to Wall Street banks and major corporations during the 2008 recession, while the "99 Percenters" languished in misery. The recipients of Obama's bailout money promptly used a substantial portion of this money to award bonuses to their CEOs and senior management executives and to buy back their corporate stock. Some of the recipients like insurance giant AIG actually sued the government over restrictions placed on the bailout money. To date, neither political party has cared enough about the courageous first responders in the coronavirus outbreak to include special compensation for them in the CARES Act for hazardous duty pay and bonuses for exceptional performance in the line of duty. These responders put their lives on the line to save COVID-19 patients knowing that their hospitals did not have adequate personal protective equipment for them. They saved tens of thousands of patient lives. These brave healthcare professionals should receive big bonuses for working on the frontlines under conditions that imperiled their own health, safety and welfare. The government should also waive the repayment of educational loans awarded to the professional school costs incurred by doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other frontline health professionals who worked to flatten the curve of the coronavirus without adequate personal protective equipment. They deserve nothing less. Money for first responders, including the families of the deceased ones, should be included in the same economic stimulus bill that will provide an additional $300 billion in funding for traditional small businesses. Public applause and certificates of appreciation for these responders are welcomed, but tangible financial support sends a more appropriate message to them for a job well done. Epilogue Finally, all Americans need to gear-up for a second wave of the coronavirus. It is coming soon, and it will be more deadly than the original eruption. We have time to adequately prepare for the second wave of the virus. The burning question is whether we will do so.

A Commentary By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 19, 2020 It was bound to happen, sooner or later. The issue had been percolating for weeks. It finally boiled over into the public domain on Friday. Author Michael A. Helfand advocated for the distribution of economic stimulus money to churches, temples, mosques, and houses of worship that have been forced to close because of the government lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In an article published Friday in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Washington Should Fund Ministers' Salaries," Mr. Helfand argued that houses of worship play a special role in American society during this time of crisis and they should be treated like any other business or institution eligible to receive money under the federal government's $350 billion Payroll Protection Program. Mr. Helfand's article took my breath away. This is a bad idea for several reasons: First, unlike businesses and individual taxpayers, houses of worship are treated as nonprofit organizations that pay no income taxes on the collection plate and tithing money they collect each Saturday and Sunday. Second, these religious entities pay no property taxes. Yet, they receive all of the basic governmental services that businesses and individuals pay taxes to receive, such as (a) police and fire protection, (b) water and sewer hook-ups, (c) street paving in and around their properties, (d) garbage pickups, and (e) emergency management services during natural disasters. Third, for the most part, today's religious leaders lack the authenticity needed to provide America with credible leadership in times of great moral crisis. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous 1963 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" described this leadership deficiency in words that ring as true today as they did in 1963. Dr. King was a servant leader in his church, as well as the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner. As a young boy in the early 1950s, Dr. King was my pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Fourth, today's churches, temples, mosques, and other houses of worship have strayed far from the ministry of Jesus Christ, a Jewish rabbi whose teachings bridged all religions and faiths. Unlike today's ministers, Jesus had no mega-church building, no private jet, no comfortable mansion, no butlers and servants, no collection of luxury horse-drawn chariots, no expensive jewelry, and no fine clothing and shoes. He traveled the land from village to village by foot or by donkey. Jesus' congregation was a ragtag band of peasants, poor people, and social "misfits" who believed in his teachings. His "Pastor's Appreciation Day" turned out to be (a) a betrayal by a handful of Jewish rabbis and his trusted disciple Judas Iscariot, (b) a trial before Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate, and (c) a crucifixion by Roman soldiers at Golgotha. Without a ministerial salary of any kind, Jesus willingly: 1. Healed the Gentile woman's daughter in the Region of Tyre. (Matthew 15:21-28). 2. Healed a demon-possessed boy at Mt. Hermon. (Matthew 17:14-21). 3. Changed water into wine at Cana of Galilee (John 4:46-54) and healed a Capernaum officials' son. (John 4:46-54). 4. Fed the multitudes at Gennesaret (Matthew 14: 13-21; 15:32-39) and healed many believers (Mark 6:53-56). 5. Healed Peter's mother-in-law (Matthew 8:5-13); healed the Roman officer's servant (Matthew 8:5-13); healed the paralyzed man (Mark 2:1-12); healed the woman with a hemorrhage (Mark 5:25-34); raised Jairus's dayghter from the dead (Luke 8:40-56); healed two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31); healed a mute, demon-possessed man (Matthew 9:32-34); healed a man with a deformed hand (Matthew 12:9-13); and healed another demon possessed man (Matthew 12:22-37), all at Capernaum. 6. Fed the multitudes at Bethsaida (Matthew 14:13-21) and healed a blind man. (Mark 8:22-26). 7. Walked on water at the Sea of Galilee. (Matthew 14:22-33). 8. Raised the widow's son from the dead in Nain. (Luke 7:11-17). 9. Cleansed the leper in the Region of Galilee (Mark 1:40-45) and healed ten lepers in Samaria. (Luke 17:11-19). 10. Healed the woman with infirmities in the Region of Perea (Luke 13:10-13); healed the man with swollen limbs (Luke 14:1-6), and healed Bartimaeus at Jericho (Mark 10:46-52). 11. Raised Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1-44). 12. Stopped the stoning of the woman who was falsely accused of adultery (John 8:12-59) and healed a man in Jerusalem who had been blind from birth (John 9:1-12). I know of no minister, pope, rabbi, imam, or other religious leader whose service to humanity comes anywhere close to the compassionate services rendered by Jesus -- for free. Above all, Jesus never hated any man or woman for any reason, and he never molested any child or persecuted the "least of these." Like his heavenly father, Jesus loved mankind unconditionally and with amazing grace. The role of the church, however we choose to define the many houses of worship and numerous faith-based religions, is to serve mankind -- for free. Mother Teresa (1910-1968), the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner, showed us how to serve the huddled masses of poor believers (in Calcutta, India) with no earthy possessions of her own. This is a great time for today's church leaders to transmogrify from self-centered personality-based mega-church ministries into faith-based servant leaders who live their lives in the spirit of Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, and countless other servant leaders who never used religion as a hustle for aggrandizement or dollars. I am not asking today's religious leaders to become Jesus Christ; I am just asking them to practice Jesus' teachings.

Commentary By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 17, 2020 In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and around the world, landlords and tenants are battling over unpaid rents. From luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton, to office supply stores like Staples, to animal suppliers like Petco, to department stores like J.C. Penney, and to renters of apartments and homes, America's tenants have stopped paying their rent. Politicians promised Americans that landlords would work with tenants who were adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Some landlords have relaxed payment obligations, but most of them have not. Many nonpaying tenants are taking the legal position that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a "force majeure" or "Act of God" event that is outside of their control. This event, they argue, prevents them from meeting their rental obligations. This position is correct both as a matter of law and as a Biblical truth. Landlords, lenders, and other creditors, speaking through paid lawyers, are denying that the COVID-19 pandemic is an "Act of God" event. This legal position is contrary to law and is adverse to the Biblical description of an "Act of God." This denial is based upon corporate greed, as retail sales have plunged a record 8.7% and industrial outputs have fallen at the steepest rate since the 1940s. To landlords, lenders, and other creditors, money is their god. The arrogance of landlords, creditors, their parasitic lawyers, and the spineless politicians who traditionally empower them guarantees that a second, more deadly wave of the coronavirus is coming in our direction. This insensitive body of business interests has: (a) reduced God's wrath to a mere business and legal dispute, (b) denied that COVID-19's death, affliction, and economic destruction constitutes an "act of God," and (c) offended God by promoting the erroneous belief that biomedical researchers can nullify God's wrath with a cure or vaccine for COVID-19 in the coming months. What is worse, this misguided group of men and women believe the power of modern-day science to stop the spread of COVID-19 is greater than God's power to impose a plague on the lands. The Second Wave With COVID-19 deaths in the United States totaling more than 2,000 per day, it is apparent that God it trying to get our undivided attention. We have strayed far away from his Biblical teachings. God wants us to change our ways toward each other and toward the "least of these." However, our merchants of commerce only seem to care about returning to business as usual. Our political leaders seem to be focused on jump-starting the economy and taking care of Wall Street. The economic stimulus checks they are providing to Main Street have proven to be inadequate and embarrassing. In reality, the financial relief for Main Street is too little, too late. This is especially true for the 22 million American workers who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is worse, our church leaders have largely remained silent about why America is incurring the brunt of God's COVID-19 wrath. These leaders would rather offend God than upset the Washington politicians they have come to adore and support. This course of action reveals the lack of authenticity of today's church and the true character of its pulpit occupants. The suffering, affliction, permanent injuries, death, and economic destruction coming in the second COVID-19 wave will strongly test the faith of mankind. There is nothing that can be done to stop it. The righteous will suffer, along with the unbelievers. Job 9:33-35. What we are suffering now is nothing compared to the glory God will reveal to us later. Romans 8:18. Enduring Another Storm As for me and the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins family, we have always worshipped and trusted in the Lord our God. Since the 1830s, my ancestors and family members have publicly and privately acknowledged that only God could: (a) deliver us from slavery in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky, (b) allow our black, biracial and multi-racial ancestors to educate their children and prosper in the Deep South during the Post-Civil War Reconstruction era, (c) protect our family members during the Post-Reconstruction era of harsh Jim Crow segregation laws in the Deep South, (c) shield our entire family from eight decades of Ku Klux Klan lynchings, beatings, cross burnings, house and church bombings, and other acts of domestic terrorism in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kansas, (d) nurture and shield our family from the sweltering heat of racial discrimination and brutal oppression of blacks during Alabama Gov. George Wallace's era of "segregation yesterday, segregation today, and segregation tomorrow," and (e) keep us safe in the post-Wallace decades that included (i) massive resistance to equal opportunity, (ii) the benign neglect of blacks, (iii) neo-racism masquerading as conservative political thought, and (iv) today's right-wing extremist abuse of women and minorities by our institutions of government. The Watkins family fully understands who God is, what he has done, and what he is capable of doing. We have seen many "Pharaohs" come and go along the road to freedom and dignity for blacks, women, and the "least of these" in America. Until we fundamentally change our ways as a society, Americans will suffer unimaginable pain and suffering. How long we will suffer is entirely up to us.

Commentary By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 14, 2020 When I first reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Talladega, Alabama to begin serving a 5-year sentence imposed upon me by a Birmingham, Alabama federal judge after a jury of my "peers" convicted me of various "fraud" crimes that I did not commit, I worried that the sustained competitive advantage I had achieved for my Birmingham-headquartered bank, international waste-to-energy company, and Namibian-based oil and gas business would be lost during my term of imprisonment. International market forces, including the Great Recession of 2008, could not stop or slow down the steady drumbeat of growth for these businesses, but deliberate acts of sabotage by federal and state bank regulators and federal prosecutors could, and did. I feared that my businesses would be irreparably damaged while my case is on appeal. I knew when I attended my sentencing hearing in July of 2019 that a provision in the First Step Act signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 effectively reduced the time I must serve (under the worst-case scenario) to 30 months in prison. "Rogue" prosecutors, as Trump likes to call them, requested that I serve 17.5 years in prison for so-called "fraud" crimes that were based upon novel prosecution theories that had never before been applied in federal law to any set of facts similar to those presented in my case. These theories had been considered and rejected by career federal prosecutors in New Jersey, based upon the same evidence of "fraud." The requested 17.5 year sentence amounted to a death sentence, given the fact that I was almost 71-years-old at the time of my sentencing. It exceeded the amount of time imposed upon first-time offenders who committed drug trafficking offenses and murder. After the New Jersey prosecutors declined to charge me with "fraud", federal prosecutors in Birmingham begged the Securities and Exchange Commission to refer the case to them. These prosecutors presented the case to a cherry-picked and highly manipulated grand jury in Birmingham; they charged my son and me with various acts of "fraud;" and they tried our case before a federal judge who was seeking community acceptance after she was severely ostracized in Birmingham's white community for her handling of a high-profile $2.7 billion Sarbanes-Oxley accounting fraud case in which the widely despised CEO of a Fortune 500/New York Stock Exchange company was acquitted on all 36 felony counts when the trial ended. I was the lead lawyer in this defendant's case, and I eventually became the "sacrificial lamb" in the judge's 2019 bid for community acceptance. During my trial, prosecutors never challenged the legitimacy of my businesses. Instead, they used a criminal law process to override and nullify the plain language in the governing business agreements and economic participation purchase contracts in order to make authorized business payments, expenditures, and expense reimbursements appear to be "unauthorized" and "personal" in nature. The so-called crime "victims" were represented by commercial lawyers and Wall Street investment firms of their choosing in the purchase transactions in question. Fortunately, my 19 international energy business partners, all of whom knew my demonstrated business integrity, never abandoned me. Likewise, 23 of the 30 economic participants in my waste-to-energy business rejected direct solicitations from prosecutors to parade them as "victims" of fraud. Seven of the 30 economic participants bought into this victimization pitch and collaborated with the prosecutors. Thankfully, I no longer have to interact with these collaborators. My dedicated team of world-class management professionals are carrying on with my international energy businesses during my imprisonment. My competitors in the energy business sector, including the ones that could never out-compete us on a level playing field, were eventually able to gain some ground on my energy businesses while I am sidelined, courtesy of Birmingham federal prosecutors and their highly suspect motives. Divine Intervention After I settled into life inside the Prison Camp, I began teaching international business to exceptionally bright and intellectually gifted young men who are thirsty for knowledge and hands-on experience about mainstream business principles and operations. Through my teaching, I discovered a goldmine of talent, intellectual acumen, courage, and discipline among my students that would have taken me years to find in the outside world. In my daily communion with God, he calmed my fears and eased my worries about my family and businesses. My true friends stepped up and provided much needed love and tangible support to my businesses, my family, and me. God repeatedly told me everything would be okay, and I never doubted him. Then, in December, God started his reckoning with mankind with the onset of a novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. Based upon my extensive exposure to medical pioneers in my family and my strategic relationships within the international medical community, I knew immediately that the virus was the Judgment of God. There was no cure or vaccine for COVID-19. The plague revealed God's absolute superiority over everything in creation. It was invisible, unstoppable, and rapidly inflicting widespread affliction, death, and economic destabilization around the world. People were dying alone in hospital isolation rooms. COVID-19 spared no nation. The world soon experienced a complete COVID-19 meltdown. The COVID-19 plague has adversely impacted all of my business competitors. Most of them are idle, or completely shut down. Some of them will bankrupt or go out of business. COVID-19 has also adversely affected various groups of people who participated in railroading my son and me in the Birmingham federal court system. Some of these individuals have been furloughed from their jobs, others are sick, and all of them are subject to restricted movements in their private lives, with no end in sight. I believe the virus will likely touch those who occupy the "Pharaoh" positions in the federal criminal justice system, as well as those who have gratuitously inflicted needless suffering on the "least of these." Epilogue Thus far, my businesses are okay. During the 2008 recession, we learned how to successfully manage and survive tough economic times without a government "bailout" or "economic stimulus" handout. Interestingly, the prosecutors in my criminal case focused on whether we paid office overhead expenses on time during the 2008 recession and not on whether we protected and saved the company and its core assets, which we did. When I explained that we were forced to abandon a waste-to-energy project in Sierra Leone in 2014 due to an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, prosecutors told the jury that Ebola was not a valid business reason to shutdown the project, even though the highly infectious disease killed thousands of people in Sierra Leone and caused the country to close its borders as part of a nationwide lockdown. Today, I watch with amazement as God is leveling the playing field of business and life for me and other "political prisoners" who have been persecuted by those who have never lifted a finger in life to promote equal opportunity in America or the fair administration of justice for people of color and other deserving litigants. God's reckoning will not end until the powerful and privileged members of our global society fundamentally change their ways toward the very groups they tend to oppress.