It was during his incarceration that he became a revolutionary. One of the first things that happened to him at Leavenworth was a beating by prison guards. As Dix described in a letter to his attorney, "Sgt. Davis told me to stand in a yellow square and face the wall, which I did. Specialist Bartlett approached me from the right and questioned me as to why I wasn't standing at the position of parade rest." Dix hadn't received an order to stand at parade rest and said so. This led to what Dix described as an unprovoked assault from both guards during which he "was struck in the back several times" and thrown "to the floor". Dix was then charged and sentenced by prison officials with "assault on a guard and disobeying an order to stand at parade rest."