Steve Bannon begins prison term, here's what his life will look like
Steve Bannon
In a few hours, conservative firebrand Steve Bannon will join hundreds of political prisoners who have been wrongfully incarcerated during the Biden administration when he turns himself into the Federal Correctional Institution Danbury, a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut.
Some suspect the former White House chief strategist will be housed in protective custody of the Sentencing Handling Unit, or SHU, of the Danbury prison as have been other high-profile celebrity inmates.
But FCI Danbury, which houses over 1,000 inmates, most of whom are sex offenders, doesn't have individual cells. Instead, inmates are housed in open pods.
A Jan. 6 political prisoner, who has been transferred to 26 correctional facilities while in pretrial detention, described what life will look like for Bannon behind the gates of the Connecticut prison.
"If Bannon were to be sent to a U.S. penitentiary, he would be killed, but the low security prison in Danbury is where most prisoners would prefer to do their time," political prisoner Ryan Samsel told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview on a surveilled call from MDC Brooklyn, a prison where inmates are regularly stabbed to death.
"Danbury and Fort Dix are the two best places to do your time. Bannon will be in the best of the best facilities, besides a camp."
Ryan Samsel
Bannon's pending criminal case in New York over the border-wall campaign makes him ineligible from serving his sentence at a minimum-security prison camp, where many nonviolent offenders serve their time.
"His day is going to consist of waking up at 5:30 am, he will live in a big dormitory. There will be about 50 bunk beds. He will share the room with about 50 other inmates. He will have his own personal space, a locker and commissary," he explained. "He will also be able to walk around outside on the yard for an hour a day."
The interior of Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, Connecticut
When the "War Room" host walks into the prison on Monday, he will be walking into a racial group and will be forced to adapt to the prison culture in which prisoners segregate themselves by race or gang affiliation.
"Steve is going to be considered a member of the 'independent white group' in the prison. He is what's called 'a good standing white boy' now in prison," Samsel explained.
"So if he needs something he will have to ask the head of the independent white group for permission, regardless of what his status is on the street. Because he is a celebrity, people are going to be very happy to help him."
Bannon, Samsel and former Trump aide Peter Navarro, who is serving a 4-month prison bid for refusing to comply with the House Select Committee's subpoena, all retained prison consultant Sam Mangel to help them have the best setup inside prison.
J6ers have put the word out across the Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, to make sure Bannon is taken care of when he arrives in the prison.
Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury, Connecticut
"He is going to be set. A couple of good people will check on him when he gets there to give him extra sweats and clothes," Samsel said.
Samsel offered Bannon a few safety tips heading into prison as a celebrity, and offered the conservative firebrand a few words of encouragement.
"Steve cannot walk up to a cop by himself and speak," he said. "When he approaches a cop, bring a witness so that he avoids being accused of being a snitch or telling on another person."
Steve Bannon talks to news media as he surrenders himself to the FBI on Monday, Nov. 15, 2021.
"When you take a shower, have somebody that you trust standing outside the shower for protection. He is going to have to make friends with somebody and should do these things because he is a public figure."
"If he observes shady activity amongst other inmates smoking paper, using drugs, using cell phones in the prison, he better not talk about it on the jail phone, or he will be in danger and considered a rat."
With conservative leadership under attack and the election of our lifetime months away, Bannon contends he is serving his country during the prison bid and if it will institute reform its for the best, saying:
"It's not going to stop until you make it stop. The only way you stop it is reciprocity. You have to go on offense. If my going to prison has to be what has to be the turning point of ending Nancy Pelosi's reign of terror" "allow that decrepit old man to occupy the 1600 Pennsylvania and actually pretend to be the commander in chief ewhn eits upsposed to be very bright lines. We have no eartly idea how decisions are being made.
Bannon with one of his last addresses to the WarRoom Posse before he reports to prison on Monday.
The message is clear: TOTAL FOCUS ON VICTORY pic.twitter.com/mV6Pp0QAkh
— VISH BURRA
(@VishBurra) June 29, 2024
Samsel agrees there's a silver lining amid the unprecedented lawfare.
"I am glad this is happening because this is how we are going to usher in prison reform. All the black men in here support Trump, they support Bannon and they support the January 6ers. With Bannon in prison, more people will see what we've been going through, what I've been going through. Many of our lives have been destroyed, years taken from our lives over misdemeanors. Because of Bannon, Congress and people with power are coming to these places and seeing these conditions – the rats and roaches, people getting killed, the getting killed – this is how we are going to change things and reform."
The prison at which Bannon will be housed may be safer than other Bureau of Prison facilities, but FCI Dansbury is also known as "Klansbury" over racial conflicts between the prison's management and staff.
According to a report assessing "overall operational climate at FCI Danbury" by BOP investigators, minority staffers in the prison regularly face racial threats, are targeted with in discipline cases, discriminated against and racial slurs are written on their lockers as the prison is grapples a critical staffing shortage.
In 2020, Bannon was arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud connected to the "We Build the Wall" campaign to construct a wall along the southern border.
Trump pardoned Bannon on his last day in office, but he was later charged in New York State with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in another case still pending.
Then, the politically weaponized Justice Department indicted Bannon on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify before with the partisan, illegal Hollywood-produced January 6 House Select Committee.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!