#eastham prison

[westdallasgang]

Three-headed snake ring found inside Bonnie and Clyde's abandoned car after a failed ambush on November 22, 1933.

The ring was recovered from their bullet-riddled ’33 Ford Model B by Sheriff Smoot Schmid after the "Sowers Raid" in Sowers, Texas. Bonnie and Clyde made plans for a family gathering to celebrate the birthday of Clyde's mother. Unbeknownst to them, the Dallas police were informed by an unnamed informant where they would be ahead of time, and a five man posse awaited their arrival that same night. It was 6:45pm when the outlaw couple approached the secret meeting in their stolen vehicle. Clyde's instincts sensed the trap and he accelerated past his family's car at which point the lawmen unleashed a hail of bullets. Bonnie and Clyde were forced to flee on foot after three of their car's tires were punctured. Despite the wounds in their legs, they successfully escaped.

The five man posse then raided the abandoned Ford and discovered a cache of Bonnie and Clyde’s personal belongings. Most of them took home a variety of relics, ranging from bullets to lipstick cases. This ring is recorded in the Schmid family’s inventory as “Bonnie Parker's Ring". Although, no one knows for sure if it was Bonnie's.

What we do know is that Clyde was a skilled amateur craftsman, dabbling in jewelry-making, leather craft and woodwork. He was also a skilled musician. The ring most likely was self-made by Clyde around 1930-1932 while incarcerated at Eastham Prison. There's a lot of giveaways in the ring's details, like the arrow passing through the musical note “B” for Barrow. The red and green jewels were commonly used in his other crafts with similar styles and artistic approach. Schmid's descendants auctioned off the ring back in 2017 and it was sold for $25,000.

[juhnkit]

Motivational Music in the Morning ... #LiamStJohn, #EasthamPrisonFarmBlues From ... #StrippedBack [Official Music Video] (2022) #MMitM1

[mumble-muse]

a list of (maybe?) all the queer characters that appear in midsomer murders.

cw for homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, abuse, death, violence, slurs and sexual content.

spoilers for all series.

Series 1-5

Notes:

Where possible I've avoided using specific labels but used descriptions given within the episodes by the characters themselves or others.

I've included brief descriptions of their role in the episode and other details. These are not intended as full summaries.

I've used the wiki to check details so hopefully it's fairly accurate.

Season 1: Tom Barnaby & Gavin Troy

Gerald Hadleigh, E01S01 Written in Blood. Sexually abused as a child, he kills his father and runs away. He is revealed during the episode to cross-dress and is described by other characters as a transvestite. He attends a gay bar in Causton. Other characters, including Troy, express confusion and/or disgust at his cross-dressing and his dresses. He is killed by another character for implying he and her brother were lovers and her disgust at seeing him in a dress. Barnaby is largely neutral about Gerald, but does assume he must have seen a psychologist regarding his cross-dressing.

Tim Young & Avery Phillips , E02S01 The Hollow Man. They run a second hand bookshop and are partners. Avery expresses concern to another character that Tim is cheating and/or will lose interest as he did not identify as gay his entire life. Later, Tim is revealed to have been having an affair with a woman. She threatens to reveal the affair, but Tim confesses to Avery before she can. We see Avery crying in his arms as Tim tells him that he only loves him.

Simone Hollingsworth and Sarah Lawton, E03S01 Faithful Unto Death. Troy immediately calls them dykes cause of course he does. Sarah has a little chat with Barnaby about the joy of being the only gays in the village. Barnaby is very chill and accepting. Simone and Sarah fake a kidnapping to help Simone escape her (supposedly) abusive husband, kill a bunch of people and steal some money. Simone betrays Sarah after Sarah has gone to prison for her.

Season 2: Tom Barnaby & Gavin Troy

Ian Eastham and Charles, E01S02 Death's Shadow. Ian is discovered in bed with Charles (a youngish minor character) by our detectives. Ian says he is not gay and is disgusted by his own impulses. He is paying Charles to sleep with him.

Season 3: Tom Barnaby & Gavin Troy

Arthur Prewitt, E02S03 Blue Herrings. A resident of the residential nursing home. Almost immediately described as a "poofter" by Troy. Barnaby reminds Troy that it was illegal to be gay when Arthur was young. Troy laughs cause he's an arsehole. Arthur is a very particular and tidy person. He confesses to tidying another resident's room, accidentally scaring her and causing her death out of shock.

Frank Mannion, E03S03 Judgement Day. A TV presenter and judge for the village competition. Is mostly just flirty and bitchy. Honestly kind of delightful. Unfortunately gets a lot of snide homophobia from other characters.

Alan Bradford, E04S03 Beyond the Grave. He's briefly suspected of taking vengeance on a woman for not being into him but, in a hilarious analogy, he describes himself as "If sexuality were the Civil War, I'd be a Cavalier not a Roundhead". He then says he's never been attracted to the opposite sex. Luckily Troy makes no comment.

Season 4: Tom Barnaby & Gavin Troy

N/A

Season 5: Tom Barnaby & Gavin Troy

Melissa Townsend and Sally Rickworth E01S05 Tainted Fruit. Melissa is killed early on and Sally is suspected briefly after their previous affair was revealed. Their relationship is a secret and historical and really they're frenemies. Also Melissa is played by Lucy Punch and therefore incredible.

Honourable mentions:

Dennis Rainbird from the pilot episode, The Killings at Badger's Drift. Assigned suspiciously queer at Gavin Troy but there isn't much here to say either way.

[this-world-will-rememeber-me]

Why you shouldn’t joke about Ed Crowder. (An unfortunate rant)

I won’t be sharing the persons username, please don’t share it if you know it but I just wanted to talk about it since although it may have been like 90 years ago but it’s still an issue that is very relevant now.

Key:

Purple = Info Source

Blue = Wikipedia Page

All mentions to the musical are referring to the uk versions (Tour/West End) unless specified

Before I actually start I just want to put out there that I talk about SA, Abuse and violence in general in this post.

This post also isn’t me defending the gangs actions, i’ve spoken about this before and people have told me i’m apparently defending them when that is not the purpose, this is simply just to educate people of what happened to these VERY REAL PEOPLE. Not just musical characters.

Who was Ed Crowder?

Ed Crowder was initially serving a sentence for Bank Robbery up to 99 years and was also believed to have been behind a prison break at Ferguson State Farm where 35 convicts had escaped. As of June 26 1927, 23 convicts had been recaptured and a guard called Will Ruder (if i read it correctly) was killed during the prison break. On May 6 1929, Crowder and another inmate had escaped from solitary confinement but ultimately was recaptured. Here are two articles taking about the events.

Ed Crowder’s name is only said twice in the musical and it is never said what exactly he did to Clyde however, if you watch the UK Tour version, after Clyde receives his sentence to Eastham State Penitentiary/Farm you can see him push his head in between two of the cell bars and then a man approaches him from behind. This man is most likely Crowder judging by how Clyde literally screams after. In West End, you don’t physically see him screaming or see Ed but you can hear him screaming during the blackout before Raise a Little Hell.

What did Crowder do to Clyde in Prison??

Ed Crowder used to prey on Clyde. Quite literally. Barrow was quite small his entire life, according to William Daniel ‘W.D’ Jones, “he was only about 5 feet, six inches tall and he weighed no more than 135 pounds.” It’s believed that Clyde was between 125-135 pounds. Crowder on the other hand was 6 foot and weighed 200 pounds. For most of Clyde’s time in the prison, Crowder had harassed him. Barrow was s3xually assulted and beat by Crowder and possibly other inmates.

Despite Barrow reporting it to the guards several times, nothing was ever done about it. considering it was around sometime around 1930-1931 when this was happening to him, incidents like this in prisons were incredibly common. Guards simply didn’t see any point in doing anything. Most of the guards were amused at how Barrow was being tormented. Some guards even joining with beating him.

Ralph Fults, a member of the Barrow Gang who was also at Eastham at the time, claimed he watched barrow “change from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake”.

Alongside not being helped by the people who were meant to be the good guys in situations like this, Barrow also was teased by other inmates. One example of someone who teased him was Wade Hampton McNabb, an Inmate Building Tender in Eastham Building 1. He was in was the same building as Clyde, despite Barrow not hearing what was being said at the time it was a motive for something the Barrow Gang did around 3 years and 2 months later which I’ll come back to.

Raise a Little Hell

The song Raise a Little Hell takes place on October 29/30th 1931 (the wording of the news report confused me so i’m not exactly sure) and is about Clyde’s plan to end the abuse he is being subjected to in prision. Towards the end of the song, Barrow completes the murder by (although it isn’t exactly said it’s pretty obvious) beating and crushing Crowder’s skull with a Lead Pipe.

Top two gifs by @dontyouknowemma-itsyou ! Bottom gif by @noxexistant

Note about continuity: Although in the Proshot it shows that Clyde got the pipe from his bed, in the West End/UK tour version, he is shown to get the pipe from another inmate. Clyde actually got the pipe on his way back inside from the outside work they were made to do in the prison and hid it in his trousers.

Although, yes, Clyde did kill him, another inmate called Aubrey Scalley took the blame for the murder. The article about Crowder’s death mentions he was stabbed 15 times, Scalley was the one who stabbed him.

“One of the men left his bunk and went back to the rear part of the building” refers to Clyde. Apparently he somehow lured Crowder to the area and that’s how it all went down.

For reference, here’s a picture of Eastham Building 1 (1930). The murder happened just behind the furthest pillar.

Wade Hampton McNabb

This is a separate murder from Crowder. It happened on April 3rd 1934, 50 days before Bonnie & Clyde were ambushed and killed.

During Clyde’s time at Eastham, McNabb would call him his “Prison Wife” without him knowing. Not much longer than two years after his early release from prison Clyde found out what McNabb had said about him and whilst McNabb was on a 60 day furlough he was found dead with his face down somewhere between Texas and Louisiana. Apparently he looked like he had been kneeling down like he was saying a prayer before being hit in the back of the head and a gun being emptied into his head. Read a newspaper article about it here.

Joseph Conger Palmer (Usually just referred to as Joe Palmer) was the one to actually kill McNabb.

Palmer was executed by Electric Chair alongside Raymond Hamilton on May 10th 1934 for the murder of Prison Guard Major Joe Crowson. Crowson was shot 11 times on January 16th 1934 with a rifle and machine gun, he survived for 11 days after before dying due to his wounds.

My point is, maybe don’t make jokes about literal SA. If it isn’t meant to be harmful, still just don’t say it. SA is still a very real issue that happens daily and can be incredibly traumatic. Whether you’re joking about a criminal or not. just don’t. <3

[thecrimecrypt]

Blockbuster Crimes (Bonnie & Clyde)

The story behind one of history’s most infamous criminal couples.

On 5 January 1930, in West Dallas, Texas, Bonnie Parker, 19, met Clyde Barrow, 21. Bonnie was a bored waitress, estranged from her jailed husband, while Clyde was a petty criminal. 

They fell head over heels in love. Soon after, when Clyde was jailed for burglary, Bonnie smuggled in a gun to help him escape.  He was recaptured, sent back to jail. But when he was released in February 1932, Clyde rejoined Bonnie and they stole a car, committed a string of robberies. That April, Bonnie was caught and jailed for two months. 

And when she was released, she and Clyde embarked on their infamous crime spree, rampaging through Depression-era America with an ever-changing team of accomplices.  They robbed banks and convenience stores, murdering anyone who got in their way. 

In the summer of 1932, the couple travelled with Clyde’s boyhood friend Raymond Hamilton, although he was later jailed.  That August, while Bonnie was visiting her mother, Clyde and Raymond were drinking at a country dance. Sheriff Maxwell and his deputy Eugene Moore approached them in the car park. 

Clyde opened fire, killing the deputy.  As their crime spree continued, they became known as the Barrow Gang. In March 1933, Clyde’s brother, Buck Barrow, was released from prison. He and his wife Blanche joined Bonnie, Clyde and their gang. 

The Barrow Gang committed a string of daring robberies and made headlines across the country, particularly Bonnie - an unlikely criminal.  Bonnie and Clyde even posed for playful photos, brandishing guns. However, the notorious lovers were almost caught in April 1933, when police raided their hideout. 

Bonnie provided cover with a hail of bullets from her automatic rifle as the gang shot their way out.  Two police officers were shot dead as the gang escaped. But the criminal couple had to leave behind most of their possessions in the hideout - including a roll of undeveloped film, containing photos subsequently released to the media. 

They included the now-infamous snap of Bonnie beside a car, cigar clenched between her teeth, and pistol in her hand.  Photos of the outlaws were front-page news. In June 1933, Bonnie suffered terrible burns to her right leg during a high-speed car crash. 

Clyde had missed a detour sign, flipping the car into a ravine, and acid from the crushed battery melted Bonnie’s flesh to the bone.  Her burns were so severe that, from then on, she limped, hopped or was carried by Clyde. 

The following month, they were almost caught during a second raid on a hideout in Missouri.  Buck was killed during the shootout, Blanche arrested and later jailed. But Bonnie and Clyde continued their life of crime. 

In January 1934, they attacked Eastham Prison Farm in Texas, freeing five prisoners, including Raymond Hamilton.  Several guards were shot, one killed by the escaping prisoners - using automatic pistols Clyde had hidden in a ditch. 

As the prisoners ran, Clyde covered their retreat with bursts of machine-gun fire.  After this, Texan prison officials hired special investigator Captain Frank Hamer to track down the couple. 

Hamer soon traced the duo, set up an ambush. Before dawn, on 23 May 1934, Hamer and four police officers hid in bushes along a country road near Sailes, Louisiana. 

When Bonnie and Clyde appeared and attempted to drive away in their stolen car, the officers opened fire - killing Bonnie and Clyde instantly.  Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and the Barrow Gang were responsible for at least 13 murders, including those of nine police officers. 

And while their violent story has been romanticized - their bullet-riddled car is still on display at a hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada - they take their place as one of history’s most dangerous criminal couples. 

The Movie Take

The 1967 double-Oscar-winning film Bonnie and Clyde starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Some criticize it as romanticized, glorifying the couple’s cold-blooded crimes. 

In the film, they meet when Bonnie thwarts Clyde’s attempt to steal her mother’s car. But Bonnie’s mom said they met over a mug of hot chocolate at a friend’s.  Clyde was portrayed as impotent, but was actively heterosexual. 

Beatty invented this to give his film character more depth. However, Clyde really did chop off two toes in prison!  In the film, the gang are ‘Robin Hood’ types, stealing from rich banks, soft on ‘regular folk’. Yet, in truth, the gang’s main targets were small-town stores and saving banks. 

And, unlike real life - with the pair imprisoned for stints - the film takes place over one long, murderous spree.  But, like all retellings of this infamous due - their story ends the same. The couple die in a hail of bullets. 

[aidenwaites]

Sorry but I AM still thinking about Bonnie Parker's poetry. It's the fact that of the four poems of hers that are online, two of them are directly about her or Clyde, and two of them are stories of other characters that carry similarities with herself. Three of them end with a direct reference to death, and even the one that doesn't still ends with a kind of promise to hold out "Now 'till the last." (The Street Girl being a poem about a woman who will never marry then person she loves because of her rough past).

(An interesting note, Bonnie never married Clyde, but she did die wearing a wedding band. It was that of her former husband's who she'd never actually properly divorced from. He himself was in prison for a large part of the remainder of their lives, and died soon after Bonnie herself in 1933 during an escape attempt. Before his death, he was quoted saying he was glad Bonnie and Clyde went out the way they did, for it was better than getting caught.)

(Another side note, Clyde's reasoning for remaining on the run, and for preferring to shoot before risking arrest, came from his own experiences in the Texas prison system. Particularly, in the notoriously ruthless Eastham Prison farm.)

There's just something so heavy in the fact that they were so sure of how their lives were going to end. In The Tale of Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie writes "They don't think they're too tough or desperate, // They know that the law always wins; // They've been shot at before, // But they do not ignore // That death is the wages of sin." Outlaws is all about comparing Clyde to Billy the Kid- an outlaw of the late 1800s who was shot dead by the law at the age of 21.

(Bonnie was 23 when she was killed. Clyde was 25.)

[strictlyfavorites]

THIS DAY IN HISTORY MAY 23 Police kill famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde

On May 23, 1934, notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana.

Bonnie Parker met the charismatic Clyde Barrow in Texas when she was 19 years old and her husband (she married when she was 16) was serving time in jail for murder. Shortly after they met, Barrow was imprisoned for robbery. Parker visited him every day, and smuggled a gun into prison to help him escape, but he was soon caught in Ohio and sent back to jail. When Barrow was paroled in 1932, he immediately hooked up with Parker, and the couple began a life of crime together.

After they stole a car and committed several robberies, Parker was caught by police and sent to jail for two months. Released in mid-1932, she rejoined Barrow. Over the next two years, the couple teamed with various accomplices to rob a string of banks and stores across five states—Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico and Louisiana. To law enforcement agents, the Barrow Gang—including Barrow’s childhood friend, Raymond Hamilton, W.D. Jones, Henry Methvin, Barrow’s brother Buck and his wife Blanche, among others—were cold-blooded criminals who didn’t hesitate to kill anyone who got in their way, especially police or sheriff’s deputies. Among the public, however, Parker and Barrow’s reputation as dangerous outlaws was mixed with a romantic view of the couple as “Robin Hood”-like folk heroes.

Their fame was increased by the fact that Bonnie was a woman—an unlikely criminal—and by the fact that the couple posed for playful photographs together, which were later found by police and released to the media. Police almost captured the famous duo twice in the spring of 1933, with surprise raids on their hideouts in Joplin and Platte City, Missouri. Buck Barrow was killed in the second raid, and Blanche was arrested, but Bonnie and Clyde escaped once again. In January 1934, they attacked the Eastham Prison Farm in Texas to help Hamilton break out of jail, shooting several guards with machine guns and killing one.

Texan prison officials hired a retired Texas Ranger, Captain Frank Hamer, as a special investigator to track down Parker and Barrow. After a three-month search, Hamer traced the couple to Louisiana, where Henry Methvin’s family lived. Before dawn on May 23, Hamer and a group of Louisiana and Texas lawmen hid in the bushes along a country road outside Sailes. When Parker and Barrow appeared, the officers opened fire, killing the couple in a hail of bullets.

All told, the Barrow Gang was believed responsible for the deaths of 13 people, including nine police officers. Parker and Barrow are still seen by many as romantic figures, however, especially after the success of the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty.

[authoralonwy]

I have so many opinions about these two human beings and, while some of them might be controversial, I’m not ashamed of them. Please keep in mind that I do not condone their actions. I simply believe that they weren’t the monsters people make them out to be.

I’ve researched Bonnie and Clyde extensively and what I am about to say comes as a result of that research. They did things that were admittedly horrible, but I don’t think that makes them horrible. When I look at this picture - as well as others - I see two scared kids and I think that is an accurate statement.

We know that Clyde Barrow didn’t have an easy time of it in prison. He was a small man, both in stature and muscle, and was barely out of his teen years when he was put in one of the worst prisons of that era. Clyde stood between 5′5 and 5′6 and was never more than 130 pounds. Eastham State Prison - which was nicknamed ‘The Bloody ‘Ham’ had a reputation. Prisoners were beaten and often overworked. Many people - including myself - believe that Clyde was repeatedly raped by an older inmate by the name of Ed Crowder. His family stated that it was like he’d ‘transformed from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake’ while in prison and this fits the bill of someone who had been repeatedly abused in some way. Now, even if he wasn’t raped, it’s highly likely that he was at the very least beaten. When he was finally released from prison, Clyde told people that he would die before being sent back and I fully believe that this was a driving force behind the ‘crime spree.’ He was terrified of being sent back to a place where he’d been tortured.

I think it’s easy to see Bonnie’s point of view. Bonnie was known to be a woman who valued loyalty. She stood behind the people she loved no matter what the circumstance and she loved Clyde. People who knew them speak of the love they shared and, to me at least, that speaks volumes. She was the type of woman who loved fiercely and that, at least, is something to admire.

And it wasn’t just Bonnie that was devoted to Clyde. Clyde was equally as devoted to Bonnie. After the accident in which Bonnie’s leg was ruined, Clyde risked his freedom - remember, he stated that he would do whatever it took to stay free - in order to make certain that Bonnie would survive. He remained near to her during her recovery - the start of which took place in Dallas where they were most wanted - and made no attempt at leaving her behind which is exactly what you’d think he do, right? But he doesn’t leave. He risks his freedom, taking part in small-time robberies to keep them afloat while she healed enough to be able to leave again.

While I don’t condone any of the lives they took, I don’t think they were guilty of as many crimes that were blamed on them. Think about it, the police had an easy scapegoat in Bonnie and Clyde. If a crime took place that they couldn’t solve, they could easily blame it on Bonnie and Clyde and the public would be none the wiser. I’ve spoken to quite a few people that agree with me here, so I’m not exactly special in this respect.

So, there it is. I could probably write a whole non-fiction book about this subject, but I’ll leave it here for now. Does anyone have anything to add?

[westdallasgang]

Clyde Barrow's hand-made belt and necklace he crafted in prison sometime around 1930-32 for his sister Marie.

[gynoidgearhead]

[Image caption: tweet by Bree Newsome reading: “Slavery never ended. They turned the plantations into prisons. Never forget.”

This is followed by a retweet by Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) reading:

“Ellis plantation -> Ellis Unit Prison, TX Ramsey plantation -> Ramsey prison, TX Angola plant. -> State Pen., LA Parchman plant. -> Smith prison, TX Eastham plant. -> Eastham prison, TX Cummins plant. -> Cummins prison, AR Caledonia plant. -> Caledonia prison, NC”

End caption.]

Literally didn’t know this

[bxnnienc1yde]

Crossing Paths

Clyde met Bonnie through a mutual friend, and their friendship would grow quickly to what would turn into romance. It's not quite clear exactly how or when they met but, people say that they met on January 5, 1930, at one of Clyde's friends' house. Clyde was 20 at the time and Bonnie was 19. "Parker was making hot chocolate, while Barrow dropped by the house." People say that their feelings were obvious, and it was like "love at first sight". But of course, it would be interrupted by, an arrest of Clyde.

How the government failed to protect their prisoners:

Even back then, the government had many many flaws, I still think that the government gives little care or thought to their prisoners and no view of a second chance for them. During his imprisonment in Eastham Prison Farm, Clyde was repeatedly sexually assaulted. I do not think that anyone should go through this, victims do not ask for it and they do not wish for it either. Clyde got his justice by killing his assaulter with a pipe in the jail, although he did not take the death in his hands but left it to someone else to carry.

[aidenwaites]

ABSOLUTELY

The thing about Bonnie, Clyde, and other members of the Barrow gang is that many of them were first pegged as criminals when they were teenagers- the collection of the crimes themselves ranged from petty theft to car burglary. From the point of the first arrest onward, it's a very common story between them that they ended up in this cycle of arrest-escape-arrest. And for Clyde at least, it didn't seem to make a difference if he finished his sentence or not. After he stole his first car at age 17 (a rental car that, upon return, the rental agency apparently didn't want to press charges), every time a stolen car was reported in West Dallas, he'd be brought in for questioning. Enough so that it cost him any attempts at holding down a job.

This is the late 1920s, the economy is on the brink, and the Texas prison system exists in a time of its own kind of turmoil. Production is down, money is being lost, escapees and escape attempts are high, and crime itself is rising. The public opinion of the justice system is very low. It passes between general managers who don't want to take the role. "Spot killings" aren't uncommon, in which an inmate is killed by guards and the death is passed off as due to an escape attempt. Brutality, overcrowding, overworking on the prison farms, every kind of awful conditions a prison could have.

While imprisoned together, Clyde at the age of 21 and Ralph Fults at the age of 19, Clyde witnesses guards provoke, then beat, Fults. In Fults' biography, this seems to be the moment that Clyde begins to really feel a sense of indignation and injustice towards the system, and then two begin plotting together. Fults, it should be noted, wasn't as phased- he'd already been disillusioned somewhere around the age of 16, when he was living in a reformatory school and given upwards of 30 lashes with a weapon referred to as "the bat," a heavy strip of leather soaked in oil, as a punishment for whispering to another boy during a church service.

Clyde's first murder happens in prison, when he kills a fellow inmate for repeatedly assaulting him. Another inmate who was already bearing a longer sentence took the fall for Clyde.

Ralph and Clyde have a plan that once they're free of the Eastham Prison Farm, they'll return to break other inmates out. It's a promise they eventually follow through on. Clyde at some point has another inmate cut toes off of his foot so that he can be sent to a medical facility and won't have to return to Eastham's fields, a story not uncommon to Eastham.

The crime-spree era/public enemy era of Bonnie and Clyde, the time leading up to their deaths, is largely made up of existing on the run for days or weeks at a time. The robberies they commit are, in actuality, fairly small. It's the early 1930s, the nation is in the heart of the depression, the public's view of the government is extremely distrustful and wary. A journalist had been working to publish an exposé on the awful conditions of the prison system by this point. Criminals of the likes of the Barrow gang are becoming something of celebrities for the general public- for the gang themselves, their lives are nothing but staying on the run. President Herbert Hoover is in a bad place publicly and the FBI, not yet called as such, is in need of a win. Crimes are committed and attributed to notorious criminals without any real proof, and it isn't until years later that all of those timelines are really straightened out.

Clyde Barrow holds true to his goal of returning to Eastham to help fellow inmates escape. In the attempt, a guard is killed (though not by Clyde), and a target is painted on Bonnie and Clyde's backs. The public opinion on them shifts after the death of a grocery store clerk during one of their hits.

The ambush of Bonnie and Clyde, aged 23 and 25, is considered a major win by the FBI- their car, dubbed the "death car," remained in FBI possession and on display for many years. Raymond Hamilton- another associate of theirs- is executed at the age of 21, in part for a murder he could not have committed. Clyde's brother, Buck, dies of gunshot wounds sustained during a shootout. Those who lived past this point, such as Blanche Barrow (who was half-blind from injuries sustained during this time), Ralph Fults, and family of Bonnie and Clyde reported that even up to the 80s, long after they'd completed sentences for any criminal charges, they regularly recieved phone calls from Texas police to let them know they were keeping tabs on them. This quote from Blanche Barrow's memoir/biography, edited and written in part by John Neal Phillips, sums it all up pretty well.

The thing about Bonnie and Clyde is the more you learn about Bonnie and Clyde (and the rest of their acquaintances) the more it becomes a story about the state of law enforcement in the midwest during the great depression, the abuse of inmates, and the public image of the fbi

[hummingzone]

Covid-19: Prisons to require proof of vaccination for visitors

Covid-19: Prisons to require proof of vaccination for visitors

Corrections has introduced it would require visitors to prisons to be totally vaccinated towards Covid-19 earlier than 9 December. Prison fencing at Paremoremo. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly In a press release Corrections in the present day introduced it would require all non-public visitors to prisons nationwide to have had their first vaccine earlier than 13 November and be totally…

[leftpress]

All Hands on Deck: Get Malik Washington out of Ad-Seg!

Comrade Malik | It's Going Down | July 4th 2018

The post All Hands on Deck: Get Malik Washington out of Ad-Seg! appeared first on It's Going Down.

Update and call to support IWOC member and long time prison organizer, Malik Washington. Several weeks ago, friends and supporters of incarcerated freedom fighter Comrade Malik Washington were overjoyed to hear that he was getting released, finally, from Administrative Segregation (solitary confinement) at Eastham Unit in Texas–until TDCJ pulled a fast one, falsely claiming that he refused […]

→ READ MORE ←

Get your Latest News From The Leftist Front on LeftPress.News → Support Us On Patreon! ←

[ourstaffordshirenews]

Kaiden’s Film Corner June 2021 - The Highwaymen

Kaiden’s Film Corner June 2021 – The Highwaymen

Our Article Sponsor Please Show Your Support A 2019 American period crime drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by John Fusco. The film stars Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson as Frank Hamer and Maney Gault. In 1934, after two years on the run, criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow break several associates out of Texas’ Eastham Prison Farm. Texas Department of Corrections Chief…