JOSH LUCAS
Assistant
Speaking before the Texas Jail Commission in Austin about the atrocities in the Tarrant County Jail
Pepper Spray: another “Medical Emergency”
For every black man and women born free, only to be enslaved, and discarded by the mass incarceration industrial complex due to the traits they carry in their genome inherited from a people who built this country, while being enslaved by white men.
By Josh Lucas
Dedicated to Robert Miller and Anthony Ray Johnson Jr. who both died after being pepper sprayed in the Tarrant County Jail, may they rest in Power.
There’s a sickle cell crisis
In Tarrant County,
Due to the trait
Not the disease.
Robert Miller, handcuffed and
Pepper sprayed at
Point blank repeatedly,
Died, while in custody
due to the trait
Not the disease.
Like the mark of ham, more
Phrenological justification
For subjugation, to dehumanize
And discard black life.
I find dis-ease
In this here, our county seat,
One hundred years after
Mr. Fred Rouse was
brutally beaten,
shot at point blank,
and hung from a tree,
Extra-Judicial Killings still occur--
Due to the trait, not the disease.
The Piece de Resistance, Opal Lee
Marched behind enemy lines
in the name of Justice, and Dignity,
Recipient of the medal of freedom,
Just last week --
While county officials appeal
Crystal Masons’ Acquittal,
To place her back into custody
all part and parcel
Of intimidation and
voter suppression schemes,
due to the trait. I find dis-ease
When 1 in 13 black bodies,
13 percent of We the People, freed
By the 13th amendment are
All potential victims to
A “medical emergency,”
Due to the trait,
Not the disease--
Sickle cell crisis,
In Tarrant County.
My name is Josh Lucas
The above was presented to Commissioner's Court 5/7/24
I rise today to express my first amendment right and speak out against the continual disregard for human life in our Tarrant County Jail, now 65 deaths under this current jail administration.
I find it disconcerting that the sheriff isn’t here today to speak to this agenda item, as was the request of our commissioner — who represents us we the people. Furthermore, I find it disconcerting that in his leadership position he has failed to adequately staff our jail, with over 100 vacancies, leading to mandatory overtime for jail workers which doesn’t alleviate an already hostile workplace of any stress.
For every black man and women born free, only to be enslaved, and discarded by the mass incarceration industrial complex due to the traits they carry in their genome inherited from a people who built this country, while being enslaved by white men.
By Josh Lucas
Dedicated to Robert Miller and Anthony Ray Johnson Jr. who both died after being pepper sprayed in the Tarrant County Jail, may they rest in Power.
There’s a sickle cell crisis
In Tarrant County,
Due to the trait
Not the disease.
Robert Miller, handcuffed and
Pepper sprayed at
Point blank repeatedly,
Died, while in custody
due to the trait
Not the disease.
Like the mark of ham, more
Phrenological justification
For subjugation, to dehumanize
And discard black life.
I find dis-ease
In this here, our county seat,
One hundred years after
Mr. Fred Rouse was
brutally beaten,
shot at point blank,
and hung from a tree,
Extra-Judicial Killings still occur--
Due to the trait, not the disease.
The Piece de Resistance, Opal Lee
Marched behind enemy lines
in the name of Justice, and Dignity,
Recipient of the medal of freedom,
Just last week --
While county officials appeal
Crystal Masons’ Acquittal,
To place her back into custody
all part and parcel
Of intimidation and
voter suppression schemes,
due to the trait. I find dis-ease
When 1 in 13 black bodies,
13 percent of We the People, freed
By the 13th amendment are
All potential victims to
A “medical emergency,”
Due to the trait,
Not the disease--
Sickle cell crisis,
In Tarrant County.
My name is Josh Lucas
The above was presented to Commissioner's Court 5/7/24
I rise today to express my first amendment right and speak out against the continual disregard for human life in our Tarrant County Jail, now 65 deaths under this current jail administration.
I find it disconcerting that the sheriff isn’t here today to speak to this agenda item, as was the request of our commissioner — who represents us we the people. Furthermore, I find it disconcerting that in his leadership position he has failed to adequately staff our jail, with over 100 vacancies, leading to mandatory overtime for jail workers which doesn’t alleviate an already hostile workplace of any stress.
Josh Lucas quoted in the Huffington Post July 2024 “He is the elected leader of the jail. It is all under his watch and under his leadership. And he is posing with Kyle Rittenhouse and taking money from these white supremacists’ PAC groups. Those are all reflections of his character that create a culture of disregard, particularly for Black inmates and their life,” Joshua Lucas, a criminal justice reform co-chair of the Justice Network of Tarrant County told HuffPost.”
“Last month, the county approved the largest settlement in county history following the death of a baby born inside the Tarrant County Jail that year. Chasity Congious gave birth while alone in a cell.”
Note: the second highest lawsuit was paid just a few months earlier for another death in the jail where the man’s body laid in the cell until rigor mortis set in because jailers are not checking on the inmates.
Note: the woman who gave birth in the jail had been in jail for five months without a single court hearing. Deaths in the jail are due in part to judges not doing their job.
“Officer Rafael Moreno knelt on Johnson’s back. Johnson can be heard responding: “I can’t breathe.”
“This is like George Floyd 2.0,”
Vote for democracy. Vote for freedom. Vote for fiscal responsibility. Vote for every Democratic candidate on the ballot.
“Last month, the county approved the largest settlement in county history following the death of a baby born inside the Tarrant County Jail that year. Chasity Congious gave birth while alone in a cell.”
Note: the second highest lawsuit was paid just a few months earlier for another death in the jail where the man’s body laid in the cell until rigor mortis set in because jailers are not checking on the inmates.
Note: the woman who gave birth in the jail had been in jail for five months without a single court hearing. Deaths in the jail are due in part to judges not doing their job.
“Officer Rafael Moreno knelt on Johnson’s back. Johnson can be heard responding: “I can’t breathe.”
“This is like George Floyd 2.0,”
Vote for democracy. Vote for freedom. Vote for fiscal responsibility. Vote for every Democratic candidate on the ballot.
