Paolo @Paolocozmo - Twitter Profile

22 days ago

WHAT THEY DID TO ANDREW AND TRISTAN TATE ON SUNDAY Andrew and Tristan Tate remain in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) at FDC Miami. They have seen the sun only four times since July 18th. On Sunday, guards deployed OC spray in the SHU. My clients, Andrew and Tristan Tate, had nothing to do with the incident. They were locked in their cells when it happened. The guards had gas masks. Andrew and Tristan, however, were afforded no such luxury. Locked in a cell with nowhere to go, the chemical spray quickly filled the SHU, poured into their cells, and burned their eyes, throats, and airways. To protect themselves, Andrew and Tristan wet their T-shirts in the shower and wrapped their eyes and heads in the shirts as best they could. The Bureau of Prisons' own regulation demands immediate medical examination and treatment. The Department of Justice's own manual says the first aid for this chemical is fresh air and copious amounts of cool water. Andrew and Tristan received no air, no water, no doctor, and no nurse. Two men convicted of no crime in any country on Earth wrapped wet T-shirts around their faces, sat in a chemical cloud, and waited. You do not have to take my word for it. Two hours later, my co-counsel Tom Maniotis arrived at the facility for a legal visit. The air was still so toxic that his eyes burned and he struggled to breathe. Thomas cut the meeting short and agreed to come back in two hours to give time for the chemicals to clear out. Thomas went to our apartment and washed his face and hands. He returned to the SHU a second time, where the meeting had to be cut short because his eyes were irritated and his throat was burning. So much so that he went straight from the jail to urgent care, where he was diagnosed with acute toxic conjunctivitis, a chemical injury to his eyes. That diagnosis is on paper, from a hospital. Think about what I am saying. Thomas' short-term exposure sent him straight to urgent care. Andrew and Tristan have been stuck in the SHU since this incident happened without medical care or decontamination protocol of any kind. They sit in that cell over no American charge and no broken rule. They sit there because the United Kingdom, which watched them travel freely for three years and did nothing, suddenly demanded their arrest. Instead of the safekeeping the law requires, Andrew and Tristan are being horribly punished. Four hours of sunlight in three weeks, bunks too short for their bodies, no pillows, legal meetings in rooms monitored by cameras, and now a chemical agent in their cells with no help afterward. The Supreme Court says a man awaiting trial may not be punished at all. England's own law says a man jailed before trial is held for safe custody and not for punishment. Every rule forbids what is happening inside that building, and it is happening anyway. On Thursday, August 13, a federal judge in Miami will hear our motion for Andrew and Tristan's release. If you care about justice and the right of all American citizens not to be punished this way, then you must speak out. Let the whole world see your anger by sharing this post. Punishment before judgment is tyranny. Free Andrew and Tristan Tate. Free Them Now.