Arendt, Christopher - short clip - AttackedpByADetainee

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-	So we got the toilet paper, (smacks lips)	0:00
	I - I gave it to him, but well I actually when I put it	0:03
	in the cell, I was kind of - like, you know - frustrated	0:05
	and he'd kind of won, and I was just like really just	0:07
	super embarrassed, like, burning face, like, ya know	0:11
	the anxiety prickles, just like, I just felt like	0:13
	a super shithead that this is what I'm doing	0:16
	with my life right now is having this conversation	0:18
	about toilet paper. And so I finally get, you know,	0:20
	like gave him the toilet paper.	0:23
	Just wanted the situation to be done.	0:24
	And with his one good arm, he just grabbed my whole wrist	0:26
	and then just dropped right down to the floor.	0:29
	And so like pulled me all the way into the cell, up you know	0:30
	up to my shoulder. And I'm like smashed against the window	0:33
	like looking down at him	0:36
	and he's screaming obscenities at me.	0:38
	And nobody from the rest of the block has come.	0:40
	They're all up front bullshitting.	0:42
	They've left me to the, to watch this whole block of	0:44
	I mean, presumably - in Oscar block - if, if, if these are	0:48
	the worst of the worst, which Guantanamo was supposed to be,	0:52
	Oscar block is, more or less, the worst of the worst	0:56
	of the worst of the worst.	0:58
	So it's like, this is the,	0:59
	this is the final stop for the behaviorally challenged	1:01
	in Guantanamo Bay where they - it's the ultimate form of	1:05
	like " so you don't want to get along in the camps? Okay.	1:08
	Sit in this hot little box by yourself all day long.	1:11
	See how you like that."	1:14
	And they'll put people in there for months, and it is hell.	1:15
	I mean, it is hell inside that place. Uh so.	1:18
-	What happened to you, being pulled down?	1:22
-	He finally just let me go. And, and I stood there	1:25
	for a couple of seconds and I was like, "what do I do now?"	1:28
	'Cause I knew that if I went and told the guards	1:30
	that it would be - he he'd probably be Ir Fed. I knew that,	1:33
	I knew that the next step would be to IRF them.	1:37
	And there was a sick little moment that happened where	1:41
	I really wanted to get some vengeance, 'cause I felt	1:44
	like such like this guy had made such a fool out me that	1:47
	I wanted to, like, you know, I - I kinda wanted to	1:49
	to buy in on that violence.	1:53
	And everybody was so excited for it.	1:54
	Everybody wanted it. We knew what an IRF was.	1:56
	We knew that that's how to beat up detainees.	1:58
	And everybody was like - chomping at the bit to get	2:00
	that first one. And I was like,	2:03
	"Am I going to be the first person to like have, like,	2:04
	have to instigate these things?"	2:07
	and just had this kind of gross little moment.	2:08
	Before I could even figure it out myself, he kind of	2:11
	settled it for me, and he's like "yeah, why don't you go	2:13
	tell all your friends that you just got beat up by the	2:15
	one-armed dude in that back that's sitting in a cell.	2:17
	Like, what they'll probably love that.	2:20
	And then he called me a bitch a couple of times.	2:22
	And I was just like, "Wow, that's a good point	2:24
	that you bring up. I can't really go tell people	2:26
	that. It's not going to improve my reputation at all.	2:29
	If I go and tell them that the one-armed detainee	2:31
	inside of the isolation cell, just beat my ass from	2:34
	through a hole (laughs) that I compromised myself	2:37
	and did exactly what I shouldn't have done	2:41
	which is put my hand inside the cell."	2:42
	And then I just realized that there was	2:44
	like a dozen different ways that I'd handled	2:46
	the situation that would lead back to me being at fault.	2:47

Item Info

Title:

Arendt, Christopher - short clip - AttackedpByADetainee

Date:

April 30, 2011

Interviewer:

Honigsberg, Peter Jan

Interviewee:

Arendt, Christopher

Role:

Description:

This interview may include descriptions of violence.
Prison Guard
Christopher Arendt, male, age 27, was stationed as a guard in Guantanamo for 10 months beginning in January 2004. After finishing his tour in 2008, he gave public testimony about the mistreatment of detainees in Guantanamo.
Description was provided by Witness to Guantanamo.

Subject:

United States

Format:

oral histories

Language:

English

Extent:

2:31:30

Digital Collection:

Witness to Guantanamo

Source Collection:

Witness to Guantanamo Video Collection, 2009-2017

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Rights Note:

Unless otherwise noted, copyright is held by Peter Hongisberg. Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license, you are free to use and share these materials subject to the following conditions: You must attribute Peter Hongisberg as the rights holder. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. You may not distribute any modifications to the materials. For other uses, including commercial uses, please contact Rubenstein Library at http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/ask.

Identifier:

f654df36e55cdce0baa44ce62a2f877d
witnesstoguantanamo
ark:/87924/r4280cj05
122021d2-c6b5-48c8-b3e2-88f9e9ee5742

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4280cj05

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Arendt, Christopher - short clip - AttackedpByADetainee

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