"God Can't Help You Now"

by Will Grigg
Jun. 02, 2014

“God can’t help you now,” spat the contemptuous guard into the face of the agitated prisoner, who had pleaded – then prayed – for medical attention. Within a few minutes the mentally troubled 19-year-old would be violently extracted from his cell and savagely baptized in caustic chemicals, then strapped to a restraint chair, where he would die of asphyxiation several hours later.

If this homicide had taken place in Cuba, few informed people would have found it surprising. This extra-judicial killing, however, occurred in the Clay County Jail, located about 500 miles north of Havana in Green Cove Springs, Florida. Daniel Linsinbigler was not accused of a violent crime. After having a breakdown he tore off his clothes and ran through a nearby hotel, screaming Bible verses.

The deputies who killed Lisinbigler in March 2013 remain on the staff of Sheriff Rick Bessler, who found that the torture-death of the non-violent inmate didn’t involve any violation of “established policies and procedures.”

“They were calling him a `Jesus freak,’ a `God freak,’ yelling and screaming,” testified Linus Farr, who was incarcerated in the same jail at the time.

The US has the largest prison population in the world, which provides ample career opportunities for pathologically sadistic people.