Sheriff Designed Chair Now Reportedly Used On Gitmo Inmates

[Pat McCotter]

So I clicked on an ad iin the Underground forum (I do that once in a while to help out ) for Personal Protection stuph like pepper spray and stun gun. While in there I see a link to "Laws concerning stun guns" or some such thing and I get a list of states and cities that restrict stun guns.

Well, next to "Denison/Crawford County, IA" is a comment that says "according to Sheriff Tom Hogan"
So, me being me, I "google" Sheriff Tom Hogan" and I find this article - having nothing to do with stun guns.

NOTE: You may want to have that barf bag handy when you read this.


Sheriff Designed Chair Now Reportedly Used On Gitmo Inmates

Iowa Sheriff Says He Never Intended His Invention Be Used This Way
POSTED: 7:25 pm CST February 12, 2006
UPDATED: 8:46 am CST February 13, 2006

DENISON, Iowa -- An Iowa sheriff said he is concerned over how the U.S. military is using restraint chairs he invented and manufactures out of Denison.

The New York Times reported that the chairs are being used to force-feed prisoners of the United States who are on hunger strikes. Crawford County Sheriff Tom Hogan said he invented the device in his garage in a quiet Denison neighborhood. According to the New York Times report, Hogan's restraint chair is being used in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The report says that "lawyers who have visited clients in recent weeks criticized ... the use of the restraint chair ... as abusive."

"They would strap people to a chair, strap them all up, put a mask, basically, on them. I'm told, hold their head back and force tubes in and take them out again after each feeding," said an attorney for the detainees, Tom Wilner.

That's the last thing Hogan had in mind when he invented the chair 12 years ago, he told KETV NewsWatch 7.

"I pray that our chair is not used for torture, or toturous means. I really hope that," Hogan said.

In fact, with its padded seat and back rest, Hogan designed the chair with inmates' comfort in mind.

"The reason we want them comfortable is because a lot of people who are violent or acting out are not doing it because of something they've done. They have a medical problem, they need to get medical help, but they need to be restrained while that happens," Hogan said.

The chief military spokesman at Guantanamo Bay told CNN that a restraining system is used to feed hunger-strikers. But he denies any allegation of inhumane treatment.

The White House has weighed in, as well, saying torture is not engaged in or condoned by the U.S.

Hogan has sold 2,000 restraint chairs to sheriff's departments, hospitals and mental health institutions nationwide and abroad. His first request came from the U.S. military a year ago. The first shipment went to Guantanamo Bay in December.

"I hope it's used by good men and women in the military to carry out legal and moral orders. If it's used for that purpose, I'm proud they're using our chair for that. If it's used for torturous means, I would certainly be ashamed of that," Hogan said.

Hogan said he would like to know exactly how his chair is being used. Meanwhile, he'll have to decide whether to continue shipping his product to Guantanamo.

[Russell Kanning]

if it is being shipped to gitmo ... it is to be used by bad men and women to carry out immoral orders

[JonM]

Maybe he should put an End User License Agreement on the chair that it can't be used for such purposes.  It would be fun to see the government abuse the DMCA.

[Russell Kanning]

yea ... at least that would be something