"For months, Friedmann, always carefully wearing a mask, posed as a laborer and entered the facility. He hid guns, razor blades, and tools in secret compartments throughout the building-one behind a mirror in a bathroom, another in a visitation room. The officer on duty at the time of Friedmann's arrest called the sheriff's office in shock."
"Friedmann was admired in criminal-reform circles, in part, because he had dramatically turned his life around. As a young man, he had been imprisoned for nearly a decade after being convicted on charges of armed robbery and attempted murder. In addition to his activism, he had become a PEN-award-winning playwright and had written a guest column for the Tennessean."
In 2019, a correctional officer discovered an unusual key ring at Nashville's newly constructed jail, leading to the discovery that someone had been breaking into the facility during construction. Investigation revealed that Alexander Friedmann, a prominent prison-reform activist and formerly incarcerated individual, had been posing as a laborer and repeatedly entering the building while wearing a mask. Over months, Friedmann hid guns, razor blades, and tools in secret compartments throughout the facility, including behind a bathroom mirror and in a visitation room. Police arrested him during another attempted entry. Friedmann's actions were particularly shocking given his respected status in reform circles, his transformation from a decade-long prison sentence for armed robbery and attempted murder, and his accomplishments as a PEN-award-winning playwright and consultant on prison reform.
Read at The New Yorker
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