From guest contributor Jeff Rainforth:
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for the outpouring of support for Brian Kolfage. He appreciates it greatly. I drove 500 miles on the way to the border, so I’m going to post the health update from Brian without adding a lot of photos or videos. The prior update is below this one.
This update is also on the official Free Brian Kolfage Substack site where I release all info from him.
From Brian:
I want to thank everyone so far for all the letters & prayers. My health here is in a continually worsening phase.
Brian Kolfage/Image: Jeffrey Rainforth
Because they have no adaptive exercise equipment for me to do cardio exercises, my body is becoming diabetic. I barely eat any food because I’m trying to keep my weight down, and when I do eat, it’s just some bran cereal. However, my A1C levels continue to rise. They are causing me permanent damage to my body on top of everything else I have going on.
They have been unable to address my horrific sciatic nerve pain because I’m sitting all day in a wheelchair; my spin is crushing that nerve, and it’s something that happens a few times a week.
When I was home, I had the proper regimen to rest my spine, which allowed this pain to only happen maybe twice a year. It’s excruciating, and the fact I’m being put through this is wrong; they are not able to care for my needs here.
My only remaining limb has inflamed tendons and many issues due to the overuse of it. My hand was reconstructed back at Walter Reed National Medical Center after I was originally wounded in Iraq. Those surgeons have told me repeatedly to not abuse my hand as it is being abused here, or it will essentially fall apart. I can barely lift my arm up, and my fingers lock up and don’t bend or stay bent. It’s not good.
I want to thank Deborah, Diane, Karen, and Taylor, and it looks like an “Andrew,” but I can’t decipher the signature. I have read your letters, and they are pinned on my bulletin board. Thank you! The staff here have been trying to help me get out through the proper networks; however, the bureaucrats in DC control everything. I’ll keep everyone posted on any developments.
Thank you,
Brian
Hello, everyone. Jeff Rainforth here. I got an update from Brian Kolfage that he asked me to pass on.
Thanks to everyone helping, those who pledged support, and the outlets helping spread the word, like Jim Hoft’s Gateway Pundit.
The official site for the movement to Free Brian Kolfage is here. This update from Brian is there, too. All communications from him will appear there. I’m posting on my site for now in order to reach more people.
Here’s the message from Brian:
Hey, this is Brian, I want to thank everyone for their incredible support through this difficult time. I’m in severe pain every single day.
The FBOP lied to the judge at my sentencing and stated they would have no problem giving me the meds that I take for pain. When I arrived and checked myself in last August, 15 months ago, they threw my meds in the trash and said it was against their policy to give them for pain.
In addition to that, nothing is accessible for me here, even though it’s a medical facility. I feel like I’m in a third-world gulag, having to use plastic pails to go to the bathroom for both urination and defecation. I haven’t even showered since I arrived here; this is inhumane and uncalled for after having given 3 limbs for this country.
I have a home that was built for me with all accessibility, from the restroom to the shower; it makes no sense why I have to be here when the feds could have placed me on home confinement since they are unable to care for me properly and humanely.
The warden and the doctor have requested that I be let out to serve my sentence at home, as they know the lack of treatment here is not okay; however, the bureaucrats in DC deny them every time.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers and share this Substack with anyone who may be able to help.
Part of the original article is below with Brian’s first letter from prison, where he explains he is slowly dying. There are also instructions how to contact him at the bottom. Thank you again, everyone, for supporting war hero Brian Kolfage!
Triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage is slowly dying in a federal prison. The lack of proper care for this war hero is shocking, egregious, and infuriating.
Kolfage was wrongfully imprisoned by the infamous SDNY Democrat operatives over being paid an approved salary for his part in getting miles of privately funded border wall built in Texas and New Mexico.
Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months by the same DOJ operation that targeted Trump. Stephen K. Bannon was pardoned by President Trump for these same charges. Following the pardon, Alvin Bragg charged Bannon through the state of New York.
Kolfage founded We Build the Wall to build border walls when the government would not because of Democratic Party obstruction.
I’ve worked with Brian since 2015, and he brought me on to We Build the Wall as the photographer and news editor. I filmed construction of our border wall from start to finish. Below is a short clip from when we were about a third of the way done.
Kolfage sent me the following message to share with the public. Because he is a triple-amputee veteran, and the “most severely wounded Airman to survive any war,” he requires special attention to his medical needs, which are not being provided in the prison.
From Kolfage:
I have to sh** in a plastic pan that’s not even a bedpan. I can’t use the toilets because they are too unsafe and I have fallen off them. I have to urinate into a plastic jug too.
They have nothing for my body to stay physically healthy, they have never dealt with a triple amputee like myself. Because of their inability to care for me long-term, I’m now pre-diabetic, my livers are inflamed, my blood pressure is high, and my cholesterol is also now high. Everything they are doing to me is fucking me up internally and my organs are all having problems. The doctor here last week said I’m at a high risk for a heart attack now. This is 100% on them. I came in here healthy.
I was told I needed to see a hand surgeon now. They have ruined my last remaining limb. Like the government hasn’t taken enough of my body, they want my last remaining limb. The overuse of my hand here has destroyed it, my fingers get stuck and don’t bend. If my tendons rupture, my hand will never work again like it should. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
The doctor here had me taken to Mayo Hospital a few months ago because I’m in the wrong wheelchair, and it’s causing my daily excruciating sciatic nerve pain. The Mayo doctor said I needed a certain wheelchair, and the FBOP physical therapist who came with me told them right there on the spot “We don’t have funds for that”. They won’t even let me use my VA insurance to get what I need. This pain is so excruciating, it feels like when I lost my limbs in Iraq. To this day, they haven’t done anything except get me a different wheelchair cushion.
I haven’t had a proper shower in over a year since I arrived, I use baby wipes. This is also because they do not have the appropriate shower accessibility for a triple amputee. This is unacceptable!
They haven’t given me the proper meds for my pain; they said it’s against their policy, so they feed me highly addictive Oxys instead, which still don’t work. However, they give these specific meds to other inmates who have drug problems. So they wanted me to lie and say I did have a problem just to get the correct medication, which I’m not going to say.
These people are not able to care for me and my internal health is going to shit. They are way out of their league. This shouldn’t be a death sentence on my life, but slowly it’s turning to that!
The official site for the movement to get Kolfage freed is freebriankolfage on Substack.
Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar has been fighting for Kolfage’s freedom from day one. Gosar made this statement to then-House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2022.
Below is a 2022 drone video I took of the border wall we built. Subscribe to my YouTube for exclusive We Build the Wall footage with Kolfage and my latest work on the border.
Gosar’s epic speech in defense of Kolfage is a must-read:
Mr. GOSAR: Madam Speaker, I rise today to expose the shameful treatment of Iraq war veteran Brian Kolfage by the U.S. Government. Airman Kolfage lost three limbs defending our country in the Iraq war. While serving a second tour of duty in Iraq in 2004, a rocket shell exploded 25 feet from him. Due to his tenacity and determination, he shocked his doctors and left Walter Reed after only 11 months. He earned a Purple Heart and is the most wounded airman ever to have survived a war in the history of our country.
Brian Kolfage being helped up the steps of a building on the property where the wall was built. Sheriff Clarke assisting. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Brian Kolfage’s service to the country did not end with his military valor. Incredibly, he ran a private organization that helped build 3 miles of border wall along the Rio Grande river, a place where construction is difficult due to the great potential for erosion.
The border wall in Mission, Texas that Kolfage had We Build the Wall invest in – Drone photo by Jeff Rainforth
So how do our corrupt elites treat this hero? They respond like they did to the many peaceful protesters on January 6, to the pro-life protesters facing over 10 years for trying to save the unborn, or to anyone who disagrees with their globalist, America-last agenda. They persecute them; they make their lives a living hell; they ruin them.
Below is a short video I took of Brian at the top of the wall after we had finished construction.
Finishing up the first release from triple amputee vet, Airman Brian Kolfage, who is languishing in prison because Democrats hate that he built a border wall. This is the effort to free him. This is video I took right after we finished construction of project 1. MAGA pic.twitter.com/wq63SvD1ec
— Just Jeff From Cali (@liberty_clarion) October 4, 2024
Rep. Gosar’s speech continued:
As our ruling elites were not happy that the illegal hordes could not continue to stream across the border, they activated their deep-state machinery and sent their secret police to arrest Airman Kolfage.
Kolfage speaks at the event unveiling the wall construction. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Fifteen Federal law enforcement goons dragged him out of his house without a wheelchair, subjecting him to utter humiliation and pain in front of his family. No thought whatsoever was given to his disabled status. And in prison, the VA refused him pain medications, without which he suffers unbearable pain.
Kolfage on a border scouting trip in Arizona. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Mr. Kolfage had worked tirelessly, 12 hours a day, for several years to get this 3-mile section of wall built. He ran and operated the organization that got it done.
For taking a salary, the Federal Government arrested him, saying he had no right to get paid anything because his website said any money raised would go to build the wall. In my view, he was part of getting the wall built. There was nothing wrong with him getting a salary and saying the money would be used to build the wall. Without him, it would not have been complete, and no real American would object to a man getting paid to devote himself to a selfless project like this one and succeeding.
Kolfage operates a drone at night at the wall he had built. El Paso lit up in the background. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Airman Kolfage was just intimidated into taking a plea deal by our third-world, kangaroo-court judicial system. This veteran and activist should be celebrated as a hero in so many ways. Instead, he will rot in a Federal prison. A greater injustice is hard to imagine. To his wife, Ashley, and two children, my heart goes out to them. I am praying for them all. Please know that I will continue to fight against the injustice done to her husband.
Kolfage points at Normandy barriers during a border scouting trip in Arizona. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Kolfage cuts the wall unveiling day ribbon with Benton Stevens who sold hot chocolate and raised $6000 for the wall. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Rep. Gosar posted this on X in 2023:
“Brian Kolfage is a hero and should be celebrated as one. Instead, he will rot in federal prison. We will never forget what they’ve done to him.”
Brian Kolfage is a hero and should be celebrated as one.
Instead, he will rot in federal prison.
We will never forget what they’ve done to him. https://t.co/1589jiZUIR
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) April 29, 2023
In 2020, Rep. Gosar posted on Twitter (now X):
“More pardons are needed. I’ve expressed my support to @realDonaldTrump to pardon Rick Renzi, convicted by corrupt DOJ prosecutors who fabricated evidence, as well as anyone indicted with @WeBuildtheWall —a clear political persecution. Our DOJ is corrupt and inept.”
More pardons are needed. I’ve expressed my support to @realDonaldTrump to pardon Rick Renzi, convicted by corrupt DOJ prosecutors who fabricated evidence, as well as anyone indicted with @WeBuildtheWall —a clear political persecution. Our DOJ is corrupt and inept.
— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) December 24, 2020
As you can see, what is happening to this hero is sickening, and cannot stand. I will be organizing a movement to get Kolfage freed from prison. It will most likely be in the same vein as the rallies at Mexican consulates I organized to get combat Marine vet, Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, freed from the Mexican prison after he was arrested for accidentally crossing the border with a firearm.
Rallies to free Sgt. Tahmooressi
If anyone would like to get in touch with Kolfage, you can write him in prison. Do not disparage prison staff when writing. It was James C. Wills, the Assistant Director of the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and the Bureau of Prisons’ General Counsel who denied Kolfage’s compassionate release.
If you reach out to the Bureau of Prisons, please be polite and factual so as not to hurt Brian’s case.
How to write Brian:
Only use black ink on white paper, printed or handwritten.
Send correspondence to:
Federal Medical Center Rochester
Brian Kolfage 26978-017
PO Box 4000
Rochester MN. 55903
Brian Kolfage and I (Jeff Rainforth) at an event at the wall.
Join the fight to get Brian Kolfage released from prison so he doesn’t die in there! He gave three limbs for our country; that’s more than enough!
The official site for the movement to get Kolfage freed is freebriankolfage on Substack. I’ll be heading it up and releasing all communications from Kolfage there. I started covering Kolfage in 2012 and have worked with him on almost all of his projects, including We Build the Wall, where I was the photographer and news editor. Join us to free Brian Kolfage!
While heading up the movement to free Brian, I will be filming what’s going on on the border. You can follow my work on the platforms below.
Filming illegal aliens in Lukeville, Arizona, Oct-Dec., 2023
Follow me on Facebook HERE
Subscribe to my YouTube HERE
Follow me on X (Formerly Twitter) HERE
FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE!
Brian at the top of the wall he had constructed. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
Brian at the base of the wall he had constructed. Photo by Jeff Rainforth
The post New Health Update From Triple-Amputee Vet In Prison For Building A Border Wall—It’s Like Torture appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.