Red Onion Prison Retaliation: Kiosk Outage, Power Cut, and Suppression Must End
By: UPROAR Admin · May 24, 2025
A screenshot of text messages to and from David Anderson (in blue), the warden of Red Onion State Prison, regarding a self-burning incident at the prison.
📵 Red Onion Kiosk Outage – Take Action Now
Since April 16, 2025, the only tablet charging kiosk in Red Onion’s C-1 housing unit has been broken. Most cells in C-1 do not have outlets, leaving incarcerated people cut off from the outside world for over a month.
Tablets are used to email family, contact lawyers and journalists, and access religious and mental health programming. This outage is happening during an ongoing crisis of abuse and retaliation at Red Onion, where VADOC has repeatedly silenced protest and falsified records.
The outage followed a coercive “safety agreement” issued after a wave of self-immolations. The form required prisoners to pledge not to self-harm and falsely acknowledge access to mental health care. When many refused to sign, Warden David Anderson retaliated by cutting power:
“Make sure they keep his power off … any more does it and we’ll cut all C-bldgs power off.”
— Warden Anderson, internal text (VPM, May 23)
These actions violate VADOC Contract DOC-14-074, which requires broken kiosks to be repaired within 72 hours. The outage is now over 40 days old.
⚖️ This Is a Constitutional Crisis
The ACLU of Virginia is currently litigating a class-action lawsuit (Thorpe et al. v. Clarke et al.) on behalf of prisoners in long-term solitary confinement at Red Onion, arguing that VADOC’s so-called “safety agreement” is unconstitutional.
In March 2025, ACLU-VA filed a motion documenting how people who refused to sign were punished with power shutoffs, cutting them off from contact with family, lawyers, advocates, and religious content available only through TV or tablet.
These actions violate:
- First Amendment: VADOC cannot compel prisoners to say something they believe is false.
- Eighth Amendment: Denying mental health care and punishing self-harm as “discipline” is cruel and unusual punishment.
- ADA: Punishing people with mental illness instead of treating them violates federal disability law.
- Religious Freedom: Shutting off tablets cuts access to religious programming, violating the right to worship.
ACLU-VA Senior Staff Attorney Geri Greenspan stated: “That’s not just cruel – it’s unlawful.”
ℹ️ How this campaign page works
- Read the overview above (why the kiosk outage matters and what’s unlawful about it).
- Take action in order:
- Step 1: Click 📋 Copy Message and paste into the VADOC Contact Form (link provided). Use the form tips shown on the page.
- Step 2: Use the ActionNetwork tool to send the pre-drafted email to multiple officials (one click).
- Step 3: Call the listed numbers and read the short script. Voicemail counts—ask them to log and escalate your complaint.
- Report your action in the encrypted form at the bottom so we can track pressure and follow up.
- Share the campaign using the links under “Spread the Word.”
Privacy & safety: You can submit with minimal personal info or anonymously. Keep calls respectful and during business hours. Everything here is copy-ready—follow the steps in order and you’ll add real pressure fast.
📝 Step 1: Submit a Complaint to VADOC
Step 1a: Copy the message below and paste it into the VADOC contact form message box.
Step 1b: Submit your message through the official VADOC contact form:
- Email: Use a secure one (ProtonMail recommended)
- Inmate is located in: Red Onion State Prison
- Subject: Kiosk Outage & Retaliation in C-1
- Topic: Jail Conditions or Legal Access
📧 Step 2: Send a Mass Email
Use this email tool to contact multiple officials and demand immediate kiosk repair, reclassification of C-1 prisoners eligible for step-down, and an end to power-based retaliation.
📨 Send the Email Now📞 Step 3: Call Officials
🔹 David Anderson – Warden, Red Onion: (276) 791-0456
🔹 Andrea Sapone – Corrections Ombudsman: (804) 625-3255
🔹 JPay/Aventiv Compliance: 800-574-5729 or 954-862-6900
Hello, I’m calling about a human rights crisis in C-1 at Red Onion State Prison. Prisoners have been without access to tablet charging for over 40 days due to a broken kiosk. Most can’t contact family or advocates. This happened after they refused to sign a so-called “safety agreement” that falsely claims they have adequate mental health care. This is blatant retaliation. I demand: (1) immediate kiosk repair or deployment of portable chargers, (2) free JPay stamps or phone minutes during the outage, and (3) reclassification of eligible C-1 prisoners. Please confirm this complaint is logged and escalated.
📢 Spread the Word and Keep Taking Action
C-1’s communications suppression is not an isolated case within the VADOC regime of violence and silence. Help us build pressure across campaigns and defend other prisoners facing retaliation:
- Protect Ekong Eshiet – Speak out against psychiatric torture
- Blocko “Troy” Claiborne – Demand full investigation into fire extinguisher assault
- Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – Stop interstate retaliation and solitary abuse
🔗 Share all these campaigns far and wide. Find and follow our social media and active campaigns at bit.ly/m/uproar
💸 Chip in to sustain our organizing: uproar.mayfirst.info/donate
✅ Let Us Know You Took Action
“As long as you struggle against abusive government individually, you have no power to affect them or their image. But brought together into a group united with other loved ones of imprisoned people… you have the power to make and take away the careers of those in power by exposing and challenging them publicly.”
— Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, A Call to Organize a Prisoner Support Network (2024)
Our strategy is about maximizing collective power—by flooding not just prison officials, but also oversight agencies and legislators with public pressure. Every call, email, and complaint is tracked so we can document not just patterns of abuse, but patterns of exposure and response from those in power.
Reporting your actions here helps us coordinate, escalate, and ultimately win justice for our loved ones and community members behind bars. Cryptpad is encrypted, secure, and anonymous; leaving us with a way to reach you is optional but helps us ensure each activist completes each set of campaign actions.
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