Phone Zap for Jeffrey Kyle Wilson

Call for a phone zap campaign for North Carolina prisoner, Jeff Kyle Wilson to demand that he be taken off house arrest.

Hillbilly (Jeff Kyle Wilson) is a formerly incarcerated organizer who was detained on a parole violation on Monday 04/26 in HIllsborough for exercising his right to legally protest.  He was recently released from the Dept. of Public Safety’s “COVID motel” in Durham and has since been speaking out about the failure of DPS to meet the basic needs of folks staying there.

Upon his release from jail on 4/29, Hillbilly was placed on electronic monitoring (an ankle monitor) and 24/7 house arrest in his microtel room in Hillsborough.  Hillbilly lives with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and part of his care plan is regular exercise.  He has experienced extremely painful swelling (to the point where he ankle monitor has started to malfunction and cut into his skin), as well as chest pains and trouble breathing.  He could die if he is not allowed to follow his doctor’s orders to get out to exercise (orders that his doctor has communicated to his PO in writing).

On Monday, May 24, we are asking members of the public to call Hillbilly’s PO and her superiors in the NC Department of Public Safety to demand that Hillbilly be taken off of house arrest.

Who to Call: On Monday, please call Probation/Parole Officer Renee A. Westmoreland on her cellphone at 336-932-3180 and at her office number 336-719-2705; NC Judicial District 17 Manager David King at his officer number 336-634-5661; and Parole Board Chairman Willis Fowler at his home number 919-231-0361 and his office number 919-716-3010.

Repeat calls are welcome and encouraged, as we are trying to block up these numbers for the day.

What to Say:

Hello, I am calling on behalf of Jeffrey Kyle Wilson OPUS number 0447680.  Mr. Wilson, who has Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, is experiencing an acute medical crisis because his home confinement and electronic monitoring do not allow for him to go outside to exercise, according to his doctor’s orders.  Moreover, Mr. Wilson was only ever placed on house arrest for exercising his first amendment right to participate in a protest.  We demand that Mr. Wilson be allowed to leave his home, as his doctor has ordered in writing.  Nothing can justify your office endangering his health and safety by keeping him on home confinement when his doctor has explicitly ordered otherwise.

photo: Sam Loyd via Unsplash