Bomber Terry Nichols on hunger strike in prison

Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols claims he has begun a hunger strike to protest unhealthy prison meals.

“Mr. Nichols is prepared to die if necessary because he is done allowing his body to be defiled by those refined … (and) dead foods,” he wrote in a notice filed in his federal case about his prison food.

Nichols, 54, is at the maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo., for the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

He sued the Federal Bureau of Prisons in March, demanding 100 percent whole-grain foods, more fresh raw vegetables and fruit, a wheat-bran supplement and digestive bacteria and enzymes.

Nichols contends he needs a better diet for medical and religious reasons. He contends that eating refined foods defiles God’s holy temple, the human body.

He wrote in his lawsuit he has been dealing with chronic constipation, bleeding and hemorrhoids for more than 30 years. The lawsuit is pending.

In his five-page notice filed Thursday, Nichols wrote he began his hunger strike Feb. 5.

He wrote he acted because he is fed up with the “silly games” prison officials have been playing with his meals in retaliation for his lawsuit.

He predicted in his notice that he will be force-fed for refusing meals. “Mr. Nichols is already very weak and lost several pounds,” he wrote.

Nichols has been on a hunger strike before, in 2001 while held at the Oklahoma County jail.