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WILKES-BARRE — On the day before the third anniversary of his son’s brutal murder, Don Williams said Wednesday’s passage of the legislation that carries his son’s name signifies a start, not a finish, for improving the safety of all corrections’ officers.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the measure without opposition, sending it to President Barack Obama for final approval.
The U.S. Senate had unanimously approved the bill in December. The act ensures that correctional officers have a basic tool to defend themselves — non-lethal pepper spray.
“As Eric’s parents, Jean and I are thrilled,” Don Williams said shortly after the House vote. “It’s an honor to have something like this in his name, his memory. But beyond Eric, there is a great satisfaction that all our efforts to get this bill passed have been rewarded.”
Don Williams said the immediate impact of the bill’s passage will be the increased safety of all corrections officers.
“It took a tragedy and then a hard push to make it happen, but Congress finally got on board and made it happen,” Williams said.
Passage of the legislation, Williams said, sends a positive message to all corrections’ officers and law enforcement in general.
“There has been a lot of push-back lately about law enforcement,” Williams said. “With all the years that have gone by trying to get safety measures passed, today is the day that the law enforcement community knows that their voices are being heard and that legislators care. This is a vote of confidence that has been badly needed for them.”
Williams said it’s been a long three years to get to this day. He said when he first began the journey, he was told there was only a one percent chance that the bill would ever pass.
“We fought through that,” he said. “Some bills never make it at all.”
Don and Jean Williams founded “Voices of Joe” — a political advocacy group whose primary purpose is to lend a voice to the families of corrections workers, as well as corrections workers themselves, to identify on-the-job safety concerns, promote and support legislation pertaining to their safety and to raise awareness of the dangers encountered in working within our prison systems.
The letters of J-O-E stand for Jose Rivera, Osvaldo Albarati, and Eric Williams, three former corrections employees who were targeted and killed because of their positions in the prison system.
Basking in the victory of the bill’s passage, Williams knew that the joy he felt Wednesday would turn to sorrow on Thursday — the third anniversary of Eric’s death.
Jessie Con-ui, 38, is scheduled to stand trial in September on charges he attacked and then murdered Williams of Nanticoke. Williams was armed with only handcuffs, skills, common sense, keys and a radio on Feb. 25, 2013, when he was the only corrections officer working a cell block at the U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Wayne County.
Prosecutors claim Con-ui blindsided Williams as he ascended a staircase, then kicked him down the flight of stairs before beating and stabbing him to death. Con-ui had tossed Williams’ radio aside in an attempt to keep him from calling for help, prosecutors allege.
Con-ui, who prosecutors say is a member of the violent New Mexican Mafia prison gang, was serving an 11-year sentence at the time. Con-ui is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree murder of a U.S. corrections officer, and possessing contraband in prison. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Legislators comment
The bill, introduced in 2014 by U.S. Senators Pat Toomey, R-Zionsville, and Bob Casey, D-Scranton, to help protect other officers from Eric’s fate.
“Today, Congress acted to ensure that our correctional officers have a basic tool to defend themselves — non-lethal pepper spray,” Toomey said. “This bipartisan effort was made possible by the tireless efforts of Eric Williams’ parents, Don and Jean Williams, who turned their family tragedy into a national effort to protect other officers.”
Casey said Williams’ tragic death illustrates the risks corrections officers take every day just by going to work.
“It’s a service to the memory of C.O. Williams and a tribute to the dedicated advocacy of his family that the House acted today to ensure that staff in the most dangerous prisons will now have access to a non-lethal means of self-protection,” Casey said.
Pennsylvania is home to seven federally operated prison facilities and thousands of federal correctional officers.
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, was a co-sponsor of the House version from Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia, along with Rep. Tom Marino, R-Lycoming Township, and Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic.
“The inmate knocked Officer Williams down a flight of steps and then stabbed him more than 200 times with a homemade shank,” Barletta said. “If Officer Williams had been equipped with pepper spray three years ago, he might have been able to defend himself against that cowardly, ambush-style attack. And perhaps he’d be alive today.”
Barletta said the bill tells the Bureau of Prisons to supply pepper spray to prison officers or other employees who could be involved in emergency situations with inmates.
“This will give correctional officers that fighting chance that Officer Williams did not have,” he said.
Marino described Williams as a promising young man and a dedicated public servant.
“He served day-in and day-out in some of the dangerous environments within our criminal justice system,” Marino said. “Corrections officers need the use of pepper spray to protect themselves and other inmates from violent inmate attacks. His death, and that of every officer lost due to the lack of proven protection tools like pepper spray, should further solidify the crucial nature of this legislation.”
