Long term Indiana political prisoner Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun (aka Leonard McQuay #874304) has declared a hunger strike in response to the serious repression and attempts on his life that he is facing at Miami Correctional Facility, and needs everyone concerned about the human rights of incarcerated people and freedom in general to come to his defense!

Listen to the audio below to hear Khalfani’s testimony and hunger strike announcement.

On February 17, Khalfani was found guilty of an A102 Battery charge (conduct report MCF 22-01-0321) related to an incident that occurred in December, wherein Khalfani briefly defended himself against an attack from another prisoner and secured himself in his cell. Khalfani says that the camera evidence of the incident shows that he only hit the assailant once and then secured himself inside his cell, but the guard who heard the conduct report found him guilty and sanctioned him to 180 days in solitary confinement, 45 days of commissary restriction, moved to a lower credit class, and charged $100,000 in medical restitution for the alleged medical bills of the person Khalfani defended himself against in December. Khalfani was not provided any documentation to justify this enormous restitution charge by the Disciplinary Hearing Board as required under IDOC Disciplinary Policy 02-04-101. The failure to provide documentation to justify or substantiate the restitution charge while confiscating all the money (~$2000) on Khalfani’s Trust Fund account is a major violation of Khalfani’s Constitutional due process rights.

Khalfani has a blood clot that has been developing for some time and he has put in many medical request slips to get the issue addressed, with no response whatsoever over the course of two months. This is a very serious medical issue that could cost Khalfani his life, and on Tuesday he experienced an episode that he thought may have been a heart attack, as described in the interview below. Khalfani feels that the prison medical staff’s response was inadequate and that the prison administration is trying to have him killed.

Meanwhile, Khalfani’s mail from his legal team as well as their attempts to set up legal calls and visit him are being blocked by the prison, and none of his mail that he’s sending out is reaching the people he’s sending it to. The transfer that he had pending to New Castle CF has been stopped by the recent battery write-up and Khalfani being placed in solitary confinement, which will delay his release from prison.

Khalfani believes that these attacks against him are retaliation for the lawsuits he has recently won and legal actions he has filed challenging the IDOC on censorship, abuses by the MCF K-9 unit, and other issues related to the conditions in Indiana prisons.

Please call IDOC HQ and email Commissioner Robert Carter, Chief Legal Counsel Jon Ferguson, and the Ombudsman Office to support Khalfani!

IDOC HQ: (317) 232-5711 ext. 0, ext. 2

IDOC Ombudsman: Ombud@idoc.in.gov

Commissioner Carter: rocarter1@idoa.in.gov

Chief Legal Counsel Ferguson: JFerguson1@idoc.IN.gov

Script: “Hello, I am [calling/emailing] in support of Leonard McQuay #874304, who is on hunger strike at Miami CF. Please investigate the recent conduct report by which Mr. McQuay has been wrongfully thrown in solitary confinement and had a $100,000.00 restitution charge applied to his account, MCF 22-01-0321. The camera evidence from the incident in question clearly shows that Mr. McQuay was defending himself, and no documentation or evidence was provided to Mr. McQuay to substantiate the restitution charge.
Mr. McQuay has also been denied medical and mental health treatment despite submitting multiple request slips over several weeks. Please dismiss charge MCF 22-01-0321 , ensure that Mr. McQuay is able to contact his legal team and receives the medical care he needs, and transfer him to New Castle CF!”