The below is OCEAN Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 10, Article 2 (Feb. 10, 2020) published by Russell J. Hatton & Daniel A. Wilson from the gulag in Moose Lake Minnesota.
OCEAN authors Daniel A. Wilson and Russell John Hatton are “Muckrakers.” Muckrakers are journalists who expose social ills as well as corporate and political corruption.
Julius Chambers of the New York Tribune, is considered by many to be the original Muckraker. Chambers undertook a journalistic investigation of Bloomingdale Asylum in 1872, having himself committed with the help of some of his friends and his newspaper’s city editor. His intent was to obtain information about the alleged abuse of inmates. The publication of a series of articles led to the release of 12 patients who were not mentally ill; a reorganization of the staff and administration of the institution; and eventually resulted in a change in the lunacy laws. This later led to the publication of Chamber’s book A Mad World and Its Inhabitants (1976). From this point onward, Chambers was frequently invited to speak about the rights of the mentally ill and the need for facilities for their proper accommodation, care and treatment. Therefore, we see our role as Muckrakers as very important and we hope to encourage everyone to shed light on corruption.
Our friend and OCEAN drop, Pete, made the following comment about OCEAN:
OCEAN is pushing some buttons with those in authority at MSOP, by bringing to light many of the injustices perpetrated by them. It is much like opening up the door to a very dark room, and exposing the deeds of the monsters hiding there. The monsters don’t like their deeds being exposed, they’ve been at it for over 20 years, and they’re terribly afraid of the light.
On January 21, 2020, four copies of the 9th issue of the OCEAN Newsletter, where confiscated from Daniel and deemed “Counter Therapeutic.” When asked why, he was told that they are “offensive.” The newsletter where routed to clinical staff.
On January 29, 2020 OCEAN editor Russell Hatton printed the 9th issue of the OCEAN Newsletter and it was confiscated by 1 E cell block security counselor Sabrina Search and routed to Property for review. What the MSOP Property department has to do with media content is unknown. On January 31, 2020 Mr. Hatton’s I E Clinical Primary therapist, Ross Peterson, provided a written reply:
The unit staff reported that the newsletter had “questionable content.” It was secured and being sent for “media review.” I suggest you review the media policy to see what appeals you can make.
Upon speaking with Mr. Peterson, Russell asked what specifically was the “questionable content.” Mr. Peterson indicated to the article “How MSOP keeps the Murder Machine Running: Big Money & a Little Nepotism Goes a Long Way.” Stating he understands staff wages are public information, he seemed to be more concerned about the comments about nepotism.
Any and all material used by OCEAN editors is vetted, fact-checked through multiple research methods and double checked to be accurate. The material used in the OCEAN article: “How MSOP Keeps the Murder Machine Running: Big Money & a Little Nepotism Goes a Long Way,” was taken from multiple newspaper articles and other credible sources, as referenced in the article itself.
The OCEAN Newsletter in question covered the nepotism at MSOP, ridiculous staff salaries, and citations of sexual misconduct on the part of some staff. All of the information was either cited from public sources or considered common knowledge at MSOP. We were told that it could potentially “incite a riot” even though what we wrote is daily talk among the clients. None of it is new, and the newsletter is not intended for MSOP peers anyway. It is written for the public.
Our newsletters inform why MSOP, and many other civil commitment centers across the nation, need reformation immediately. OCEAN believes that MSOP staff should be accountable to the tax payers that pay them. MSOP staff seem to disagree. We hope the fact that they are trying to censor us makes our case even stronger.
Although we were not the first to do so, we were also targeted for comparing MSOP to Nazi death camps, and MSOP staff to SS officers. One security guard got on my case about it after she briefly “skimmed the first page.” The comparison was “offensive” to them, (not necessarily inaccurate, just “offensive”) and for this reason they need to stop us from writing … See the irony? One of the very first things the Nazi’s did when they took over Germany was they censored the media and people of Germany. Those who fought for freedom of speech often faced the concentration camp, torture, or death. Similarly, Japan and Italy did away with free
speech, free assembly and free press because they knew that abolishing these fundamental rights where the first steps to achieving their goals.
The 8th issue of the OCEAN newsletter, the one heavily focused on the Nazi and MSOP comparison, was inspired by a friend of ours who wrote the following:
There may be guys at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (M.S.O.P.) who are very dangerous and should never get out. Perhaps I am one of them. There are assaults that happen here. Most of them are emotional or mental. Rarely are they physical. These assaults have happened to staff and clients alike. I should know, because I have seen and experienced them myself. The assaults are being perpetrated by both clients and staff. Having said that, we should also know that there are hundreds of men in here that could be let out, who are not dangerous, and do not belong in this Concentration Camp. I am not associating M.S.O.P. to the Nazis Germany Concentration Camps of WW 11. However, I do want to expose the truth about the real life Concentration Camps of the 21st Century. I encourage you to get your dictionary and look up the definition of “Concentration Camp.” I have done this with many different dictionaries and Encyclopedias. We ought not ignore the fact that by definition, the U.S. has modem day Concentration Camps that you, as Minnesota taxpayers, have built.
We are not at MSOP because of the crimes we committed. Most of us already have done prison time in the Department of Corrections, (D.O.C.) and even completed real sex offender treatment. Instead, we are all here because of what we might do. There are even about 90 guys here who have no criminal record at all. This is a political ploy, which violates our rights to be free from preventive detention. Of course, there are some individuals here that should probably never get out. However, most men in here do not have a mental illness recognized by the psychiatric community. Generally, MSOP residents are no more dangerous than felons being released from prison every day of the week. But the political scare tactics you see on the news are hyping up the lies just to get the public to look away from what they are doing here at in this Concentration Camp.
The Webster’s Third New International Dictionary from 1993 said the following about Concentration Camps: “A camp where persons ( as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or foreign nationals) are physically and mentally abused.” The World book Encyclopedia Volume 4 from 1986 defined Concentration Camps as: ” . . . a place where political enemies, real or assumed, are imprisoned, usually without trial. The term was first used by Great Britain for prison camps it set up during the Boer War in Africa around 1900. Russian secret police imprisoned millions of persons in labor camps after 1928, during Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship. During World War II, the United States and Canada held thousands of persons of Japanese ancestry in special camps ( also see WWII Internment of Aliens).
But the best known Concentration Camps were those set up in Nazi Germany before and during WW 11.”
The American Heritage Student Dictionary from 2 007 defined Concentration Camp as: “An area or group of buildings where civilians, political prisoners, and sometimes prisoners of war are confined, usually under harsh conditions.” The Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary from 1996 defined Concentration Camps as: “A guarded compound for the detention or imprisonment of aliens, members of ethnic minorities, political opponents, etc., esp. any of the camps established by the Nazis prior to and during WW II for the confinement and persecution of prisoners. (1900-05) … ”
So as you can see there are many levels of the same thing, and just because we are not in Germany and the Nazi’s are not in charge here at MSOP, doesn’t mean that MSOP is not a Concentration Camp.
Similarly, there are also many different levels of prisons today. Some prisons kill their prisoners with lethal injections, some just warehouse individuals until they die of old age, while other prisons lock them up 23 hours a day in a cell, letting them out only for an hour a day to shower and exercise. Yet, some institutions allow inmates free roaming visits. Other prisons have swimming pools, baseball fields and barbecue picnics. But they are all still penitentiaries where they have Supervised Release Dates (S.R.D.). Similarly, although M.S.O.P. does not treat their captives in the same horrifying, shocking and appalling ways as the Nazi’s did, this does not make M.S.O.P. any less a Concentration Camp.
So I ask you, “Are you OK with paying for Concentration Camps here in this modern day U.S.A.?”
Don’t let the media fool you in to thinking that this is a treatment center. If you just take some time and do some research you can find the real facts about what your tax money is really paying for. The taxpayers are paying millions and millions of dollars each year. Did you know it costs $393.00 per person, per day and there are close to 740 men (and one female) here? This money is used just to house us in this Concentration Camp with their fake treatment. They are now asking for additional money to make room for more men. Do you think there is something wrong with all these people committed in Minnesota?
I also want to reveal some of the ways M.S.O.P. is similar to other Concentration Camps. We are housed in buildings with two man prison cells that is surrounded by two layers of barbwire fencing and patrolled by guards. No one has an out date. This is a life sentence. We are constantly being told that we are the “worst of the worst” and that we will never get out unless we follow every little rule they have, which has proved to be nearly impossible and those that have followed all the rules, are still here.
The “therapists,” the lawyers, Judges, and the politicians are told that if we complete the “treatment,” we can go home. Even when the Governor stood up and said on record that “As Long as I am in office NO ONE from M.S.O.P. will EVER get out on my watch! ” Mr. Berg, the associate clinical director of M.S.O.P. was asked under oath in court during the Karsjens v lesson trial, if anyone could ever complete the treatment at M.S.O.P. his answer was, “No” and he went on to explain that the program is not designed to be completed.
Within the last 25+ years of M.S.O.P.’s commitment, only a few men ever got out and the ones who did, got out through technicalities in the law and fighting their case in court. Not from completing M.S.O.P.’s “treatment.” We are being deprived living with our families, friends and loved ones.
They try to force us to do “treatment” if we want a job and/or any privileges. They lie and twist everything we say and do. The only reason they push treatment is to train everyone into the Stockholm Syndrome so they can control us and get us to obey with all these impossible rules. Like I already stated, there is no real releases from this Concentration Camp.
I believe that the psychological abuse is a whole lot worse than physical abuse. But that is just my opinion. I know others who say the physical is worse and I can’t argue with them, everyone is different and has different experiences.
If MSOP is not psychological abuse, psychological starvation, and psychological torture, then I don’t know what is.
This friend, also said, “I only wait and pray for the day I get to die. I have intentionally over-dosed on meds 2 times now to speed it up, but with no success.” For this friend, his freedom to express this was important and we knew his story had to be told.
After doing more research, we realized that his concerns that MSOP closely resembles a concentration camp are valid, even if they are not yet as egregious as those of Nazi Germany.
Our friend is still with us today, thank God, but he is still struggling. I hope OCEAN helped him find some purpose by telling his story.
We are not saying that MSOP is just like Nazi Germany. We are saying it is heading in that direction. We are saying that humans, left unchecked, always have the potential to display cruel and abusive actions towards others – especially if they have an opportunity to abuse a class of people that they think are despised by the masses – like “sex offenders.” Besides the media propelled stigma, there is no objective oversight at MSOP.
The reason MSOP doesn’t have an incinerator is not because they can ‘t have one, it’s because they don’t want one. However, one day they will.
MSOP gets away with a lot. OCEAN hopes to change that by exposing them. We are not surprised that they now want to snuff us out by censoring us.
To date, we are not allowed to print the 9th Issue of the OCEAN Newsletter. Currently, as I write this, I have no idea if I will be able to print it. The guards at the desk are reading everything we print. But if you are reading this right now, consider it a miracle.
We have not printed much in the last 2 weeks. We are waiting for things to cool down a bit. We are curious as to what other kinds of retaliation MSOP is capable of. Although OCEAN operatives are willing to make personal sacrifices for justice, we are not willing to make unnecessary and arrogant risks that do nothing to support our cause. We are obviously considering a lawsuit, but rubbing it in their faces by printing 50 copies of the 9th newsletter right now is simply not productive.
We will keep our readers informed, hopefully.
Go with the flow, don’t buck the system Russel.