John Ginter may be contacted c/o Cheryl Welsh at (916) 758-1626 or
welsh@calweb.com
Story starts
How the M.I.N.D. Device Works
A National Security Issue
A Credibility Issue
San Quentin
Government Cover-up
CIA Scientist Debunks Government Documents
An International Human Rights Issue
From military officers to prison inmates, the ranks of ordinary Americans who claim to have been the unwilling subjects of mind control research continue to grow.
I was a victim of psychological behavior modification experimentation because of my political beliefs. I want people to know about my experience so that they may realize that the U.S. government is developing mind control technology on U.S. citizens without their consent. The National Security Act is being used to cover up abuses of U.S. citizen's rights under the law.
This experimentation took place at San Quentin in 1967, after I had been in the prison system for ten years. It lasted for seventeen months, twenty-four hours a day nonstop and used a sound projection that simulated environments. I was tested psychologically and the experiment was designed to study my fears, weaknesses and my reactions in order to develop a means to control people.
This is hard to believe but a good comparison is the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments on black men that the National Institute of Health funded up to the 1970s, (Jones, Bad Blood, 1981). The blacks were not given a cure even though it was available. In my case, they unethically experimented on my mind rather than my body.
John Akwei, a victim but not a prisoner, has filed a court case that described alleged "remote neural monitoring and electronic brain link technology" (Washington, DC. Civil Action No 92-0449). The theory behind mind control technology is that the brain emits electromagnetic energy like an eeg that can be detected and analyzed. Computers can correlate behavior and speech to the brainwave signals and the mind can be remotely deciphered. This theory also works in reverse. In stimulating or controlling behavior, the brain communicates via electromagnetic signals and certain frequencies create and correspond with specific mood states and behavior. The brain cannot differentiate a foreign signal from it's own. By targeting the subconscious mind with messages as hypnotists do, the technology can remotely target the subconscious and it becomes a very potent mind control weapon.
This is a simple explanation of complex technology but with President Bush proclaiming the 1990s the Decade of the Brain, it is well within the realm of reality. One of the best books on this topic is Dr. Becker's The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and The Foundation of Life, 1985.
Using mind control technology, the experimenters knew what I was thinking and feeling. I filed a court case in 1968 and it stated, "...a brain device at San Quentin is being used upon him to alter or destroy his brain." and "The machine emitted electromagnetic waves which stimulated petitioners brain." They could communicate directly with my mind. At one point, they kept me awake for twenty-seven days and nights.
Dr. Schmidt, the chief psychiatrist of San Quentin later told me that they had used a M.I.N.D. device or magnetic integrated neuron duplicator on me as well as General Erwin Walker. Walker was the target of a missed gunshot by Oswald at the time of the JFK murder. General Walker, like myself was known for his strong political opinions.
I think that the goal of the behavior experiments performed on myself and General Walker were to develop the computer-brain technology for political purposes and as an intelligence tool. They used pavlovian conditioning with negative psychological stimulus, and in this way, they can change your behavior. For example, my political views would be degraded all day long for days on end.
The court case, Orlikow v U.S. 682 F.Supp77 (D.C.C.1988) describes the Canadian court case of brainwashing and details a history of mind control experimentation by the CIA. In these experiments, which have relevant similarities to my experience, a Grid Room was used. "The subject's brainwaves were beamed to a nearby reception room, voice analyzers..." (Thomas, Journey Into Madness The True Story of Secret CIA Mind Control and Medical Abuse, 1989).
At about the time that I was experimented on, my mother, who never lost faith in me, saw a CBS television show, The 21st Century and an episode called "Miracle of the Mind". The show described experiments around the country and the direction of research was control of the mind, such as implanting animals with electrodes and manipulating their behaviors. David Krech, a scientist warned about ominous abuses of the technology that could occur.
Mind control technology is still classified and I have absolutely no remedy under the law. Evidence of the highly classified status of electromagnetic technology can be found in publications such as The International Review of the Red Cross. An article by Louise Doswald-Beck and Gerald C. Cauderay on Nov.1, 1990 called "The Development of New Antipersonnel Weapons", page 19-20 under Directed Energy Weapons states: "In spite of the rarity of publications on this subject, and the fact that it is usually strictly classified information, research undertaken in this field seems to have demonstrated that very small amounts of electromagnetic radiation could appreciably alter the functions of living cells." And also, "Some research seems to have confirmed that low-level electromagnetic fields, modulated to be similar to normal brainwaves, could seriously affect brain function."
Mind control research may have begun in the 1950s and evolved into a full fledged competition between the world powers as in the nuclear arms race. Several independent sources support this claim. Just two examples include the CIA's STARGATE Report describing Russia's interest in psychic research for military purposes and the U.S.'s subsequent programs of psychic research. Another article in Chemical and Engineering News, 2-5-96 describes a Hong Kong professor who is suing the U.S. government. The court case "names the University of Science and Technology on grounds that it was involved in continuing mind control work."
When I tried to commit suicide the experiment changed as suddenly as it had begun, as if their goal had been met. Apparently, looking for my breaking point, the mind-benders found it. Their fear tactics temporarily changed my anti-Zionist views to Marxism, and I wrote to the East German government for asylum. I still have the reply I received. Since then, I have told everyone I meet about the M.I.N.D. device. I even filed a complaint with the FBI and was interviewed for about an hour. That yielded me no benefit, however, nor did the Freedom of Information Act request I filed.
The overt, aggressive forms stopped, but the experimenters continued to monitor my actions to see what other changes might result.
Now other prisoners are describing an experience similar to mine. There are also many articles to support the reality of a M.I.N.D. device. The Los Angeles Times,March 20, 1976 article entitled "Mind-Reading Machine Tells Secrets of the Brain" by Norman Kempster states "Since 1973 a little-known Pentagon agency has been studying ways to plug a computer into an individual's brain waves... The Advanced Research Projects Agency say the $1 million a year program has passed its initial laboratory tests and is ready for determination of its military uses. Contracts with UCLA, Stanford and MIT, among others were listed.
Several independent sources describe Russian mind control technology in defense publications such as Defense News, Jan 11-17, 1993. It states: "Known as acoustic psycho-correction, the capability to control minds and alter behavior of civilians and soldiers may soon be shared with U.S. military, medical and political officials, acording to U.S. and Russian sources."
The Russian authors of a paper quoted in the story wrote:
As far as it has become possible to probe and correct psychic contents of human beings despite their will and conscoiusness by instrumental means...results having been achieved can get out of {our} control and can be used with inhumane purposes of manipulating psyches...World opinion is not ready for dealing appropriately with the problems coming from the possibility of direct access to the human mind.
Although U.S. sources said government officials and leaders from the business and medical communities will consider Russian offers to place the mind control capability under bilateral controls, it is not hard to imagine intelligence agencies racing to find computer-brain weapons before the other side gains the advantage.
But it has been incredibly difficult for me to convince people that scientists would attempt to conquer the mind even after the development of the nuclear arms race, genetic engineering, nanosecond computers, satellites and other advanced technology. The U.S. government and other governments are motivated to develop the deadliest toxins and germ warfare and why not exploit the mind?
After thiry years of classified research, the U.S. government is starting to openly use electromagnetic warfare technology in police forces, prisons and the military. Articles in the last five years include Stolitsa, Nov. 2, 1992 "MC-Ultra Program, Use of mind-control equipment by armed forces...," Herald Glascow May 26, 1995, "Brainwash killers still in use", (more citations upon request). Many articles are describing nonlethal electromagnetic behavior control weapons and related topics such as USA Today, Feb. 1996 discussing a South Carolina lawmaker proposing to use the Global Positioning Satellite system to track parolees.
Prison in California during the 60s and 70s was vastly different from today. It reflected the hippie movement and President Kennedy's vision of Camelot and the radical Berkeley protester's disillusionment. Berkeley was a hotbed of intellectual thought on third world politics and the prison system was undergoing a social reform movement. Rehabilitating prisoners was in vogue. A book called The Rise and Fall of California's Radical Prison Movement by Eric Cummins described it best as my experience fit his factual account. I was sentenced before Angela Davis and her successful overturning of the indeterminate sentencing law. If not for her efforts, I could still be in prison today. There were many reasons for the anger and violence displayed by prisoners at the time. "On Jan 12-16, 1967, a massive prison disturbance brought the simmering situation in the institution to a boil." Black prisoners wanted better jobs and training and representation. I was in a cell next to George Jackson, a radical who would later be killed by the guards at San Quentin. And Caryl Chessman, whose world wide appeals were a lesson to the prison administration on how much trouble an educated prisoner could be, was nevertheless executed in 1960. I knew Carl and he got me interested in law.
Sirhan, in San Quentin for killing Robert Kennedy had the same chief of the prisons's psychological testing program that I did, Dr. Eduard Simpson-Kallas. Dr. Simpson-Kallas and Dr. Schmidt disagreed with Dr. Parks about Sirhan's sanity. Dr. Simpson-Kallas felt that Sirhan was hypnotized and did not plan the assassination. Dr. Parks stopped Dr. Simpson-Kallas from examining Sirhan and after a clean six year record with San Quentin, Dr. Simson-Kallas handed in his resignation over this disagreement (Turner and Christian, The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, 1978).
I was transferred to Vacaville Medical Prison, where they tried to give me shock therapy but my mother would not sign the papers needed. I believe that they wanted to discredit me so that I could never testify or stop their behavior control experiments. I have been out since 1977 working to reveal the existence of the M.I.N.D. device.
I hope to prove in court that Associate Warden Parks knew about this experimentation, but signed a national security oath. There has been a growing bureaucracy to enforce national secrecy among the many government and private research institutions and even when laws are violated, it is the overruling factor in court cases.
Mr. Parks worked at Vacaville Medical Prison when Dr. William C. Keating, Jr. and Dr. Ralph Urbino, a retired Air Force man formed the nonprofit, tax exempt and shadowy Solano Institute for Medical and Psychiatric Research. SIMPR may have been a front organization for funding my experiment by the CIA. Books have described illegal and inhumane experiments at Vacaville (Mitford, Kind and Usual Punishment, 1975 and Marks, Search For the Manchurian Candidate, 1979).
While a prisoner in 1965, I played bridge with Dr. Keating and high ranking officers from Travis AFB and professors and their wives from the universities. I made some enemies with my political views. Two years later, the mind control began.
I also hope to prove in court that Raymond Procunier, Director of the California Department of Corrections, an ex-Navy man and Reagan appointee had knowledge of the experiments with the M.I.N.D. device. He also would have had a security clearance.
In 1973, Ronald Reagan, governor of California announced a proposal by Dr. Louis Jolyon West, a well-known CIA consultant and chief of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute to establish a new "Center for the Study of Violent Behavior." It was to include the prison system. I believe that the public outcry against the proposal caused this related behavior research to go underground.
The Final Report Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, states that at Vacaville prison:
...CIA provided Dr. Hamilton funds to set up and operate a so-called "sleeper laboratory," whereby he could do his own research but would be available to do research for CIA at the agency's request. ...In contrast to the description in the 1965 document, Hamilton stated further that CIA never in fact utilized the laboratory before it was shut down.
But in light of my experience and the fact that Dr. Hamilton worked for the MKULTRA mind control CIA research and was a West Coast supervisor (Marks, p200), Dr. Hamilton could misrepresent facts in the name of national security.
Today, victims are organizing. David Fratus has fought to publicize his case in Utah. Perry Dardar of Louisiana describes the same type of experiment that I endured. And Gregory Lambros, another prisoner even has a law firm that is organizing a mind control database for victims. Betsy Russell-Manning has written a book called Mind Control in U.S. Prison System, 1996, Flatland Publishing.
Looking back to 1967 and I see great progress against tremendous odds. In prison, time takes on a new meaning; I learned that I had no choice but to be patient -- but persistent. I hope that victims will contact me so that we can make consistent progress as a group.