Thread by @JimmyJenkins

EXCLUSIVE: I obtained Special Operations training materials and documents from Arizona Department of Corrections servers containing images that experts liken to Nazi and gang symbolism azcentral.com/story/news/loc…

Among the files were images of a skull with a sword going through it, accompanied by a lightning bolt and shotguns. The images were saved with filenames that suggest they were the possible designs for a uniform patch and a challenge coin

This picture, used as a feature image for a training video, proves at least one patch was made using the skull imagery - you can see detailed stitching as the design was transferred onto material

The training materials include PowerPoint presentations featuring the skull and sword emblem, as well as definitions of the imagery.

“Skull = Death before dishonor”

The slide defines the shotguns in the emblem as “tools of the trade” and the eyes of the skull, embellished with gun sights, are said to indicate “We are always watching you.”

The training materials also include videos - this one used the skull emblem as a screen wipe transition

We had to remove the music to publish it, but this video featured "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns N' Roses as the soundtrack for graphic imagery celebrating Special Operations units responding to riots at Arizona prisons

The training videos seem to have been created to glorify harsh tactics used by the special operations units - these screenshots show incarcerated men being ziptied and threatened with dogs

Unfortunately, none of this is news to the people who have lived in Arizona prisons. As Anthony Navarro told me:

"Special operations guys are the ones who get a kick out of beating the shit out of inmates.”

The Arizona Department of Corrections declined multiple requests for comment on this story, and the Corrections union said it was unaware of any such symbols being used on patches or challenge coins. But a simple internet search shows otherwise . . .

The FOP Arizona Lodge 44 website lists a Challenge Coin described as “celebrating the largest special unit at the Arizona Department of Corrections, the Tactical Support Unit (TSU)." The coin appears to show a skull wearing a riot mask with crossed shotguns behind it.

The Lodge 44 Facebook page also contains an image and description of the coin.

A public Facebook post made by a Commander at the Correctional Officer Training Academy in Arizona shows several Arizona Department of Corrections special operations unit patches featuring a skull and crossed shotguns and a skull with nightsticks

A 2010 photo obtained by The Republic shows members of an Arizona Department of Corrections Tactical Support Unit wearing shoulder patches on their uniforms and hats with the number one and an asterisk.

Department sources who worked on the unit say this was coded language for “One ass to risk,” which is a reference to the perceived dangerous nature of working in special operations. The COTA commander's collection also includes a patch with the “One Asterisk” imagery.

Carl ToersBijns worked in New Mexico and AZ prisons for more than 25 years. He was a member of a Tactical Support Unit in AZ for 12 years, and then oversaw a TSU for five years as an administrator.
“You want a patch to be clear and concise as to the mission statement,” he said.

ToersBijns says the skull imagery sends the wrong message:

“The patch is ambiguous and seems to run contrary to the mission of the ADCRR. The wording of the mission is counterproductive. It is directly opposite of reentry and rehabilitation.”

ToersBijns noted the similarity to that of prison gangs.

“The patch and the definition has elements of gang-related issues: loyalty, death. The knife is the favorite weapon of the prison gangs. The skull is a symbol of death. They are trying to evoke fear."

Mike Brady served in a number of leadership roles in California prisons. He says the actions of specialized prison units often result in significant and expensive litigation.

“You get those rogue groups of officers that become self-appointed enforcers,” he said.

Brady also noted the connection to prison gangs:

“Lightning bolts are connected with the Aryan Brotherhood. You’ve got a skull and shotguns — frankly, it’s disturbing and offensive. It looks like an ‘SS’ patch. This is not an image that Corrections should embrace.”

“What it tells me is that these officers are out of control,” Brady said. “If this was sanctioned by the Department — it shouldn’t have been. And if it’s an unsanctioned patch, whoever is involved should be disciplined.”

Lola N’sangou, executive director of Mass Liberation Arizona, was incarcerated in the Perryville women’s prison for 10 years. She says Tactical Support Units were used frequently at Perryville, often overseeing routine operations like quarterly compliance checks

“They are living out military fantasies,” she said. “You’ve got these men with dogs screaming at you to get on your knees, putting their boots on women's backs & pushing them to the ground. This was during a compliance check to make sure we didn’t have extra pairs of underwear.”

N’sangou says the DOC emblems are a part of the same culture of policing that was demonstrated when the Phoenix Police Department distributed a challenge coin that mocked the injury of a protestor. abc15.com/news/local-new…

“There is no difference in the way they are celebrating violence,” she said. “Policing was originally designed to treat human beings as property and to return enslaved people to their abusive captors by any means necessary. This is the same system at play.”

“The Phoenix Police challenge coin had a slogan on it that was linked to Neo-Nazism,” she said. “And here in the prisons, we potentially have a unit that is using imagery linked to white supremacist groups. The fact that those things are so closely related is not a coincidence."

N’sangou: "They are the same people. They are of the same mindset. And they are all carrying out this same wicked fantasy of causing harm and oppression with impunity.”

Thank you to the sources who shared this information.
If you have tips about Arizona Department of Corrections challenge coins or patches - contact me:
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