Guards Raid Raniere’s Cell Find Razor; May Be Moved to Midwest Prison for Muslim Terrorists to Mute Communications During Rule 33

On December 21, USP Tucson guards raided Keith Raniere’s cell and seized contraband – a razor.

A lieutenant signed off on a disciplinary violation.

It may have been the final shave – the needed excuse – that will lead Raniere out of Tucson to another prison in the Federal Bureau of Prisons [BOP] system.

Raniere arrived at USP Tucson on January 21, 2021. He lived in the general population with other prisoners for most of the two years he has been there.

Tucson is a maximum-security facility, operated to safely house sex offense convicts, who are unsafe in most maximum-security prisons.

In 2021, Raniere spent 100 days in the Special Housing Unit [SHU], locked in a windowless cell for 23 hours daily.

The assignment to the SHU was timed, perhaps coincidentally, during the 100-day lead-up to preparing his appeal, and Rule 33 motion accusing the FBI of tampering with evidence in his case.

The ostensible reason for his stay in the SHU in 2021 was that he passed an innocuous phone message, “send her my love,” to his friend Nicki Clyne through another inmate on the phone.

In May 2022, Raniere filed a Rule 33 Motion, alleging the FBI tampered with evidence. Within hours, the BOP scrubbed his phone contacts and allegedly cut off a phone call with an attorney.

On July 26, 2022, inmate Maurice Adonis Withers attacked Raniere, punching him in the face in an unprovoked attack in the dining hall at breakfast.

Withers and Raniere were sent to the SHU for fighting, pending an investigation into who started the fight.

Within weeks, the BOP determined Withers started the fight, and Raniere was the victim.

Ironically, the Warden released Withers from the SHU but kept Raniere confined.

Soon after, the BOP assigned William Anthony ‘Toni’ Fly, an intersex ’woman’ with a history of 75 rape and sexual assault complaints against BOP staff and inmates, into Raniere’s 10 x 14 x 8 feet tall SHU cell.

Months passed. Raniere made numerous applications to return to the general population.

Perhaps it was a disappointment to BOP officials, but Fly made no complaints against Raniere but complained instead against guards in the SHU. In turn, the guards suspended the delivery of Fly’s female hormones and other medications.

Between the lengthy confinement without sunlight or the ability to move around, Fly began to melt down, exhibiting psychotic behavior, screaming and yelling, threatening to kill others and himself.

Raniere avoided any altercation with Fly, despite what whoever is clamping down on Raniere might have hoped.

One day, guards raided their cell, moved the prisoners into even smaller cages than the SHU cell, and served them lunch with 19 streaks of feces on the wall and two piles of feces on the floor.

While so confined, prison psychologists and other experts observed Raniere’s mental condition.

More months passed.

Because Fly is transitioning to female, “she” is permitted, unlike male prisoners, to use a razor on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

On Wednesday, December 21, a day Fly was authorized to possess a razor, as mentioned above, guards raided Raniere and Fly’s cell.

The prisoners were removed. A search was conducted, and they found a razor, which Fly was permitted to possess.

The guards confiscated it and wrote a disciplinary ticket for Raniere for possession of illegal contraband – a razor.

On January 9, BOP officials held a hearing on Raniere’s alleged possession of a razor. Raniere maintained it was Fly’s, legally obtained. He did not use or possess it. It was not hidden from view.

On January 13, a supervisory correctional officer informed Raniere that the BOP planned to reassign him to another prison – a Communications Management Unit [CMU]- which would make his communications with the outside world – including his lawyers – almost impossible.

The BOP operates two Communications Management Units [CMU] – in Terra Haute, Indiana, or Marion, Illinois.

On January 19, the BOP expunged the disciplinary report against Raniere, finding the razor belongs to Fly.

For months, Raniere and his attorneys have complained the BOP has been retaliating against him for no other reason than Raniere accused the FBI of tampering with evidence.

While in the SHU, it is difficult to communicate with lawyers and most outside contacts. His six months in the SHU without any disciplinary violation — remember, he went there for an investigation for fighting and was exonerated for that five months ago – without finding an infraction – is grounds for a lawsuit based on cruel and unusual punishment.

If Raniere is assigned to a CMU prison, his communications would be virtually nil, which appears to be precisely what the Government wants.

If the tampering evidence was so easy to disprove, why go to such lengths to suppress his ability to contact lawyers?

And now it appears the BOP, knowing that they can’t hold him in the SHU much longer  – he has asked to go back to the general population – the BOP apparently plans to assign him to a Communications Management Unit – a facility used to house terrorists.

CMUs have been called “Little Guantanamo.”

CMUs are designed to enable BOP staff to monitor all communications between inmates and persons outside -including lawyers.

In operation since 2006, but not officially recognized until 2015 in the Code of Federal Regulations, CMUs are in operation to protect the public from Jihadists and terrorists who might issue orders of murder from prison.

 On April 1, 2015, the BOP issued a Program Statement.

CMUs limit the frequency and volume of communications:

• Written letters are limited to six pieces of paper, double-sided, once per week to and from a single recipient.

• At the discretion of the Warden, BOP’s limited email transmissions are limited to two messages per week to and from a single recipient.

• Inmates are limited to three telephone calls per calendar month for up to 15 minutes.

• Visitation is limited to four one-hour visits per month.

As stated above, the BOP currently operates CMUs in two of its facilities, separately located at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC), Terre Haute, Indiana (established in December 2006), and the United States Penitentiary (USP), Marion, Illinois (launched in March 2008).

The BOP established CMUs after 9-11-01 as a solution for the long-term warehousing of inmates in cases of terrorism, espionage, and politically motivated violence.

The BOP’s Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) coordinates the CMU.

CMUs contain predominantly Muslim prisoners.

The BOP claims CMUs are necessary because specified inmates “take on an exalted status with other like-minded individuals. Their communications acquire an extraordinary level of inspirational significance for those already predisposed to these views, causing a substantial risk that such recipients of their communications will be incited to unlawful terrorist-related activity.”

The BOP says inmates may communicate dangerous coded messages, citing the Al Qaeda training manual:

“Take advantage of visits to communicate with brothers outside prison and exchange information that may be helpful to them in their work outside prison. The importance of mastering the art of hiding messages is self-evident here.”

Raniere’s CMU Assignment

If he is assigned to a CMU, Raniere’s lawyers will argue that the placement violates his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

His arguments will be stronger than his recent lawsuit against USP Tucson. Raniere can challenge the CMU designation – that he is a terrorist – through the BOP’s administrative remedy program.

To prevail, Raniere must show he is subjected to an “atypical and significant hardship” more egregious than the “ordinary incidents of prison life.” Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484 (1995).

Still, if BOP assigns Raniere to Marion or Terre Haute CMU, he will enjoy more freedom than he has for six months in the SHU at USP Tuscon.

The CMU operates as a general population unit, where inmates leave their cells during the day and participate in educational, recreational, religious, unit management, and work programming.

The restrictions on communications, however, implicate a violation of Raniere’s liberty interest.

Raniere’s access to the courts and ability to effectively assist his counsel in his pending Rule 33 motion will be severely limited, if not curtailed. It suggests the Government knows his Rule 33 has merit.

For Raniere to go to a CMU, a referral from the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), is required. Then, a BOP Assistant Director must determine that Raniere’s ability to communicate with his friends, family, and possibly his attorneys would jeopardize the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities and/or the public.

Raniere does not meet any factors for inclusion in the CMU, nor does it appear the Government can show the need for the restrictions:

“The CMU concept allows the Bureau to monitor inmates for whom such monitoring and communication limits are necessary, whether due to a terrorist link or otherwise, such as inmates who have previously committed an infraction related to mail tampering from within an institution, or inmates who may be attempting to communicate with past or potential victims. The ability to monitor such communication is necessary to ensure the safety, security, and orderly operation of correctional facilities, and protect the public. The volume, frequency, and methods of CMU inmate contact with persons in the community may be limited as necessary to achieve the goal of total monitoring, consistent with this subpart.”

Raniere’s original case was not a terrorism case. Though convicted of sex crimes, none of the crimes were violent. He certainly does not have “violent followers” prepared to carry out “jihad” or its equivalent at his direction.

The BOP may designate an inmate to a CMU if:

• The inmate’s current offense(s) of conviction, or offense conduct, including association, communication, or involvement, related to international or domestic terrorism;

• The inmate’s current offense(s) of conviction, offense conduct, or activity while incarcerated indicates a substantial likelihood to encourage, coordinate, facilitate, or otherwise act in furtherance of illegal activity through communication with persons in the community;

• The inmate has attempted, or indicates a substantial likelihood, to contact victims of the inmate’s current offense(s) of conviction;

• The inmate committed a prohibited activity related to misuse/abuse of approved communication methods while incarcerated; or

• There is any other evidence of a potential threat to the safe, secure, and orderly operation of prison facilities or public protection due to the inmate’s communication with persons in the community.

Raniere has not been accused of attempting to contact any of the 22 victims, mostly DOS members, identified by the judge after his conviction.

It is unclear how the Government intends to justify Raniere’s confinement in the CMU. They are likely to fail, and such a failure will be an embarrassment to the BOP, for it will undoubtedly be widely publicized.

The BOP may be between a rock and a hard place.

There are safety concerns in returning Raniere to the general population in Tucson. Another coward like Adonis Withers might come around, sneak up, and cold cock him.

It may be true that the BOP has no control over their inmates and are incapable of protecting Raniere in maximum security.

On the other hand, the BOP is skirting dangerously close to solid grounds for a cruel and unusual punishment lawsuit that might stick – six months in the SHU and no disciplinary findings – as hard as they try. It might be the BOP that gets the close shave.

There is, of course, an alternative.

Raniere is over 60, and his conviction of no violent crimes – to medium security – or even a low-security prison where he would be safe – by providing him with a management variable.

Raniere is assigned to high security to a large degree, because of the length of his sentence.

He has over 24 points custody points, not because of a lengthy criminal history, a pattern of violence, or even his crimes of conviction, but because he has 98 years left on his sentence.

There is a route to keep Raniere safe.

Suppose the BOP is not retaliating and trying to suppress his communication to thwart him from exposing the FBI. In that case, they could place him in a medium or low, or place him in what they call a “cheese factory” – a drop-out yard, which houses inmates who need special protection, such as those who have dropped out of gangs and informed on members, persons convicted of sexual crimes, convicted former law enforcement officers, celebrities, and anyone who could be in danger from other inmates or bullied by staff.

Instead, they want him either in the SHU or in a prison with a clamp down on communications, like they do with Al-Queda.

The entire episode smells of retaliation and fear of the truth seeping out about the FBI.

The SHU and the CMU are a pretext to halt communications between Raniere and his team for his Rule 33 motion.

   

Terrorists? Really?

For the BOP to argue that Raniere’s followers, who danced in front of the MDC and offered coffee and donuts to guards more than two years ago, rise to the level of terrorism, will lead to a court review that will not support these nonviolent protests were terrorism.

Raniere’s Rule 33 motion is now in the hands of US District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis. He will decide whether to hear the motion, call an evidentiary hearing or dismiss the motion.

If he dismisses it, it will go to the appellate court.

A careful study of his Rule 33 motion shows that there is much more than mere fluff there.

When it looks like retaliation and smells like fear, it probably is.

And if the Rule 33 shows true, a good many people won’t be quacking.