By Jeff Rainforth:
Triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian 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.
Brian was recently released from prison to home confinement. The Bureau of Prisons contracts NGOs to manage individuals who are allowed to be on home confinement.
One of the stipulations for his home confinement is that he wear an ankle bracelet. The only problem? Both of Brian’s legs were blown off along with the lower part of his right arm.
Brian was told by an NGO employee that the only choice he had was to put the giant ankle bracelet on his last remaining limb, his left arm.
This is absolutely cruel and unusual punishment. There are watches that can be used in place of ankle bracelets. Why wasn’t Brian given that option? It’s egregious.
Brian sent me a text and told me the problems the ankle bracelet is causing.
“It’s horrible, like having a brick duct taped to your hand. Since it’s my only limb, it’s constantly getting in the way of my wheelchair when I try to roll. It’s caused me to fall multiple times when it interferes with my hand grip when transferring out of my wheelchair. It’s a disgrace, is what it really is; they should be ashamed to do such a thing.”
Follow Brian on Instagram. Follow him on X.
I showed my good friend, combat Marine vet Ron Givens who is good friends with Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice in President Trump’s administration. Givens was appalled by what Brian is being made to go through.
Givens told me that it is cruel and unusual punishment and that he will be in contact with Dhillon to see what her office can do about it.
Everyone should be furious about the treatment this war hero is being subjected to. Be sure to contact your member of Congress and ask that they inquire why a triple-amputee war veteran is being treated like this.
I’ve been heading up public relations for Brian since he was wrongfully imprisoned for getting privately funded border walls built. I was the photographer and news editor for his border wall non-profit, We Build the Wall, and I have been employed by Brian on and off since 2015. I began covering his life story in 2013.
Below is the original article detailing Brian being freed from prison and being placed in home confinement, and also how the prison system was unable to care for his medical needs.
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I am massively excited to announce that triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage has been freed from prison. He is back in his home state of Florida. Brian arrived in Florida by plane on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.
He is on home confinement and still needs a pardon from President Trump. The Obama-appointed judge who sentenced Brian also ordered him to pay close to $3 million in restitution. That amount will be impossible for Brian to pay off, and most likely was meant to harm him financially.
🚨BREAKING! Triple-Amputee Vet Brian Kolfage @kolfage88708, who Democrats imprisoned for building border walls, has been FREED! Airman Kolfage is Now Free and at Home! YES! HERO! 💥💪🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I've worked with Brian for about 10 years on all of his projects and filmed the… pic.twitter.com/LEi5oLWqVh
— Jeff Rainforth (@liberty_clarion) August 16, 2025
Having headed up the movement to get Brian released, I knew Brian would be freed on this date for about a month, but he told me we couldn’t say anything because leftists would try to screw up his release. It was a tough secret to keep I’ll tell you that.
The Substack we used to advocate for Brian’s freedom is here. We will be using that for official announcements and stories. Be sure to go subscribe.
Brian emailed me from prison a few days before letting me know it was all a go and that he would indeed be freed from prison.
Below is the original article about Brian’s deteriorating health caused by his imprisonment:
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE SUBSTACK
Also follow Brian on X here.
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.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE SUBSTACK
Also follow Brian on X here.
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 shit 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!
SUBSCRIBE TO THE OFFICIAL FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE SUBSTACK
Also follow Brian on X here.
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’s service to 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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
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.
Follow me on Facebook HERE
Subscribe to my YouTube HERE
Follow me on X (Formerly Twitter) HERE
FREE BRIAN KOLFAGE!
