The Trials of Billy Joe, White Supremacist

Witness statements obtained by the Weekly tell a different story. "Once Billy was restrained, the guards began to beat him severely," reported one inmate. "Somebody put a chokehold on Billy and others were beating, pummeling and twisting his body. At one point, they pulled Billy by his feet [off the ground] so that his face was dragged and scraped across the cement ground."

Another inmate called it the worst beating he'd ever witnessed. He said that 30 minutes after the incident, deputies asked him what he'd seen. He asked why. A deputy allegedly said, "Because depending on what you saw determines whether you will be committing suicide." A short time later, three deputies encircled him and asked if he'd had time to think over what he'd witnessed. This time he told the guards that he "didn't see shit." He said the deputies smiled and walked away.

BJ Johnson: White Power with a magenta hue

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More About

• Billy Joe Johnson
• Rey Ochoa
• Huntington Beach
• Prisons
• Criminal Sentencing and Punishment

"I was just flabbergasted when I saw what the deputies did to Billy's face," said Ochoa. "His head looked like cauliflower. I think that's why they hid him in the hospital for four days. They didn't want anyone to know what they'd done."

rscottmoxley@ocweekly.com