Complaints of alleged uses of critical race theory jumped from school board meetings to prison cells this month when two Capitol riot suspects claimed they are being “force fed CRT” in jail.
Ryan Nichols of Longview, Texas, and Robert Morss of Pennsylvania made the claim in a letter attached to a motion for modification of bail submitted Nov. 1, said NBC News.
Nichols was 30 when he was arrested earlier this year for participating in the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6 and Morss was 27. Both have been charged with multiple offenses for their actions at the riot – including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon – and are being held in the District of Columbia jail.
“We are force fed CRT (critical race theory) propaganda on tablets,” as well as “reeducation propaganda” and “anti-white racial messaging,” they wrote.
Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the critical race theory term. She explained that the term should be used as a verb, not a noun.
“It cannot be confined to a static and narrow definition but is considered to be an evolving and malleable practice,” said the American Bar Association. “It critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers.”
CRT is typically taught only in graduate-level classrooms.
According to the motion, “the jail also prevents him [Nichols] from having reasonable access to reading materials while simultaneously streaming anti-white messages and critical race theory propaganda across his tablet. This is psychologically damaging.”
In the letter Nichols penned with Morss, the two inmates wrote a list of 77 grievances. They claim that they are sent to a “Hole” if they express their political views, that they have to beg for medical aid and water, and aren't allowed religious services.
“We are Political Prisoners on American soil who have been unjustly an[d] unfairly incarcerated,” the pair wrote. They also requested to “spend our precious and limited days in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, where the enemies of the United States of America are treated better than us group of January Sixers, who have merely been accused of crimes.”
Investigators found photos, screenshots and videos depicting Nichols taking part in the riot, according to arresting court documents. He plead not guilty to the charges against him in April.
In the motion for modification of bail, Nichols asked the court to be released on personal recognizance or to be released to the custody of his wife and committed to the supervision of a High Intensity Supervision Program with GPS monitoring.
The Hill had reached out to the D.C. Department of Corrections for comment as of Thursday.
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