LOOKIT! New York authorities have issued fresh images of escapees David Sweat and Richard Matt. You might wonder where they got photos more recent than the last mug shots, which was the last time the prison break fugitives were in custody. Plus the news coverage has been unequivocal that authorities haven't seen the wayward prisoners since. It turns out the latest images are called "PROGRESSIVE PHOTOS" depicting how the convicted murderers are supposed to look at ten days into their freedom quest. Authorities are assuming they haven't reached razors, so each has a ten-day shadow; and police artists have Photoshopped t-shirts over the original penitentiary vestments. But the photo manipulation didn't stop there. The original mugshots were taken in identical environments, but these renditions feature distinct atmosphere changes, both darker. The younger David Sweat is now lit with harsh florescent lights as one might encounter him in a convenience store or in YOUR GARAGE. Sweat's pores are exposed like one might observe from inappropriate intimacy. Sweat's receding hairline now looks more like hair plugs, as if his first stop after Dannemora was to a hair club for men. Sweat's original friendly demeanor has been replaced with a calculated desperation. I'm guessing police artists have a PS morph tool labeled "John Wayne Gacy". Sweat's brother-art-thou, alleged lothario Richard Matt, is now bathed in the incandescent light of YOUR BEDROOM. I'm sure wanted posters have always afforded sheriffs the discretion to paint fugitives as menacing as needed. Photo manipulation is another animal altogether. It's not poetic license, it's character assassination. And it's extrajudicial. Sweat and Matt are guilty of a nonviolent jailbreak. Until we can offer them justice -- run boys run.
Tag: Richard Matt
New York prison victims need your help
AT THE VERY LEAST people living near New York State's now infamous prison break could be getting fresh air in defiance of their governor's ludicrous warnings to hide from the dangerous felons. Neighbors can exercise their property rights to spectate as they please and take strolls where they can to muck it up for the K9s hounding fugitives David Sweat and Richard Matt. Fellow freedom-loving itinerants could also converge upstate to force multiply the sightings of vagabond pairs crisscrossing the woods around the Clinton Correctional Facility, known in the industry as "Little Siberia". But most certainly, lawyers of any conscience should assail the Clinton County DA's office in defense of poor Joyce Mitchell, the prison sweatshop supervisor who may have helped the escapees, whom authorities were waiting to charge until after she'd cooperated with interrogators. Lawyers should be livid that neither authorities nor reporters bat an eyelash at Ms. Mitchell's lack of proper counsel. Media coverage while constant is marred by omission. Are fugitives Matt and Sweat dangerous? The media doesn't want to detail their criminal histories other than to repeat they are murderers. David Sweat and an accomplice plead guilty to first degree murder of a sheriff's deputy when Sweat was 22. (Who pleads guilty to first degree murder?) The deputy had interrupted a burglary, other accomplices were not charged. When Sweat was 17 he served time for attempted burglary. While in his twenties Richard Matt killed his boss. Why and what was their line of work? The media won't say. Matt's previous record was as a juvenile. Both appear to be examples of the failure of the correctional industry in handling juveniles. This prison break was the only hope either men had for escaping its clutches. The escape was nonviolent and fears that either men mean harm to others are not grounded in anything but hyperbole about how "evil" they are.
Are escapees Richard Matt and David Sweat hardened criminals? Maybe, but they’re only dangerous if you’re a cop.
New York State authorities are warning the pubic that prison escapees David Sweat, 34, and Richard Matt, 48, are hardened criminals and extremely dangerous. However, they didn't kill anyone while making their escape from a maximum security prison, and unless you are Matt's former boss, who he killed, or a Sheriff's deputy who stood in their way, such as Sweat plead guilty to co-killing, there's no past record to suggest the pair mean you any harm. Having the police tell everyone "if you see something, say something" does make everyone the fugitives encounter a potential snitch. NY law enforcement should be held accountable for what the pair might be forced to do as a result. Freedom for prisoners. Abolish all prisons. Now we need homeless vagabonds to head to New York state in pairs to assist the manhunt.