I Thought I’d Die Inside ADX, America’s Supermax Prison | Eric King

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 103 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Eric King was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after trying to firebomb a government building with Molotov cocktails, but the real story is what happened once the cell door slammed shut. In this episode, he breaks down how a politically motivated arson case turned into nearly 8 years in solitary confinement, brutal clashes with staff, and a fast-track transfer into America’s most notorious federal supermax, ADX. From the mindset it takes to target the government, to the moment he realized he might never see general population again, Eric gives an unfiltered look at control units, isolation, and life in a place built to break you. If you’ve ever wondered what actually happens to “the worst of the worst” once they disappear into the federal system, this conversation is your inside look at the cost of that choice. _____________________________________________ #ianbick #prisonlife #truecrime#prisonstories #inmatelife #jailstories #justicesystem #worstprisons _____________________________________________ Buy Eric King's Book: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1872 _____________________________________________ Thank you to AVA for sponsoring this episode: Take control of your credit today. Download the Ava app and when you join using my promo code LOCKEDIN, you’ll get 20% off your first year—monthly or annual, your choice. _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 I Was Tortured for Taking On the System 01:08 Growing Up in Poverty, Trauma & Survival Mode 02:43 No Father, No Guidance: My Teenage Meltdowns 03:35 Boxing, Catholic Guilt & My First Taste of Activism 04:44 Why I Risked Everything to Become an Activist 05:51 How Poverty Warped My Mind and My Choices 07:06 Parents, Control & My Teenage Rebellion 07:59 I Almost Became a Monk… Then Walked Away from Religion 08:52 Travel, Drugs & Radical Activism Overseas 10:44 My First Arrest: Direct Action, Violence & Consequences 13:10 Looking Back: Was the Violence Worth It? 15:26 Study Abroad: The First Time I Really Felt Free 16:47 Squatting, Dumpster Diving & Living Completely Off-Grid 18:00 Depression, Death & How I Handled Losing People 21:19 Sponsor: Fix Your Credit with Ava 22:51 Ferguson Protests, Solidarity & the Firebombing 26:11 Inside the Attack: Why I Did It and What Happened 29:56 The Arrest: Investigation, Raids & Serious Charges 32:01 County Jail: My First Real Clash with the System 36:16 Court, Facing Time & Walking Into Prison 39:07 Early Prison Life & Meeting Jared Fogle 43:32 Prison Gangs, Race Lines & Everyday Politics 46:09 Fights with Staff, Retaliation & Payback 47:41 Torture, Extreme Pain & Years of Solitary 52:38 Diesel Therapy: Shackled, Bused & Shipped Across America 55:21 Solitary Confinement: Surviving Years in the Hole 01:03:11 My Federal Trial: Beating the Odds in Court 01:06:12 ADX Florence: How I Ended Up in America’s Dungeon 01:11:20 Inside ADX Supermax: Notorious Inmates & Total Isolation 01:16:16 ADX Survival Guide: Food, Conditions & Staying Sane 01:22:01 Walking Out: Release After Years in Solitary 01:30:09 Cutting Ties with the Past & Staying Out of Prison 01:31:29 Family, Changing Views & What I Really Think of Cops 01:39:33 What I’d Tell My Younger Self About Prison & Violence 01:40:47 The Book, the Mission & What Comes Next Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's a little cell down there and it's got a steel bed on it. And they put me up against the wall and they take metal shears like scissors and a hook and they start ripping my clothes off. They rip them off and cut them off so I think they're gonna rip me or kill me. And then they sit me on the bed and they chain my ankles spread on the bed, like spread out. So I instantly lose feeling in my feet except except for radiating pain. And then they spread you out.
0:22.7	So now your hands are cuffed to each corner of the bed. And they're cuffed so tight that like you lose feeling in your hands. But your body is just radiating in pain. It is pain that I can't describe. I mean, that's how forward pointing. A forward point with me. In this episode, you're going to hear what really happens when you take on the U.S. government, and they decide they're going to break you. Eric King went from a 10-year sentence for trying to firebomb a government building to spending almost eight years in solitary and getting shipped to EDX, the federal Supermax built for the worst of the worst. He's going to walk you through the mindset it took to do it.
0:56.6	The moment he realized he might never see another prisoner again
1:00.6	and what that kind of isolation actually does to a human being.
1:08.1	Where'd you grow up, Eric?
1:09.5	I grew up in Kansas, Missouri.
1:11.7	And we grew up in, like, poor mixed-race neighborhoods, stuff like that.
1:17.5	So that influenced, like, essentially my entire life was coming from that background.
1:23.3	What'd your parents do for work?
1:25.0	I have no idea what my dad did.
1:26.7	I stopped seeing them when I was like one, one or two.
1:29.8	And then my mom, she worked for a food processing company.
1:34.2	So they would do like bids to send, like, food to prisons and schools, like selling them their menu shit.
1:40.7	So she would work like 50 hours a week and I'd have to sleep under her desk and stuff like that.
1:46.8	She's successful as shit now, but, you know, we're just just poor, poor family.
1:51.4	Did your dad walk out or did they just split?
1:53.8	He was really physically abusive.
1:56.3	Like, so after a while, my mom tried to leave him and he wouldn't abuse of men.
2:04.0	And then my grandpa had to step in.
2:05.7	And so they went their separate ways.
2:08.5	And I did not see him ever again.
2:10.1	Did you have any type of father figure growing up?
	...

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