Iowa Peace Network: A Call to Reconcile

By Frank Cordaro

Except from Frank's "Road Trip Report: Oct 2022 National CW (Catholic Worker) Gathering Mustard Seed CW 50th Aniv, Worcester MA" https://groups.google.com/g/National-CW-E-mail-List/c/ah4jfrVCDAU; reprinted with permission

My workshop was titled “Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya’s Witness against the Dakota Access Pipeline” In it, I tried to place Jess and Ruby’s Witness in the context of the CW (Catholic Worker) & Plowshares movements by telling the story of how Jess and Ruby came to do their actions as members of the DMCW (Des Moines Catholic Worker).

I gave an overview of their five-year saga between witness and prison. I covered directly the betrayal between Jess and Ruby plus the need to address the domestic terrorism enhancements in their sentencing.

First off, the betrayal is real. Ruby cooperated with the feds and also made up lies about Jess, the DMCWer’s and many other real and unreal people. That is the problem with Ruby’s defense and cooperation. It did her no good. She got the same sentence if she had not cooperated & participated in the "rat system" with the Feds.

Ruby is clearly a victim of the Federal Prosecutors and Judges and a criminal legal system that is rotten to the core. Betrayal is built into the system. You can’t get guilty pleas from 95 % of the criminal cases in the Fed system without a lot of “Rats!”

Talking to Jess on the phone regarding Ruby’s betrayal, I told her “You know how I live for a good line and your no Jesus, but what Ruby did to you is a real betrayal” I also told Jess she was going to need to forgive Ruby sooner or later. I told her she did not have to do it right away, “Take a month, take a year, take a couple years … sooner or later you will need to forgive Ruby.”

At the workshop I called for CWers to embrace Jess and Ruby’s case in two ways:

1. As CWers we should help bring about reconciliation between Jess and Ruby. Healing for Ruby. Strength for both of them to survive. No! For more, for them to thrive in imprisonment and we be welcoming communities when they are set free.

At the moment I have no idea how this is going to happen. Reasons why we need to pray. We will need some time. We will need to seek ways to reach out to Ruby and Jess and help set the stage for reconciliation. I call on any and all CWer who can, reach out to Jess and Ruby and help start the process.

2. Join the larger campaign to get the Domestic Terrorism Enhancements dropped from their Fed records.

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Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya News – Feb. 2023 L.A.C.W. Agitator

We request that you please write to Jessica Reznicek, who is serving an eight-year sentence for damaging the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017, and her codefendant, Ruby Montoya, who is serving six years.

Jessica Reznicek #19293-030

FCI Waseca, P.O. Box 1731

Waseca, MN 5609

Ruby K Montoya #25915-508

FMC Carswell, P.O. Box 27137

Fort Worth, TX 76127

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Free Jessica Reznicek email add <freejessicareznicek@gmail.com>

Free Jessica Reznicek Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/freejessrez

Free Jessica Reznicek Web Page https://supportjessicareznicek.com/

2022 Jessica Reznicek postings

https://frankcordaro.wordpress.com/2022/05/14/2022-jessica-reznicek-postings/