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NEW: As COVID-19 spreads, there are signs of unrest in jails & prisons. Incarcerated people are scared for their lives—and so are the officers.
Here’s my latest story, based in part on contraband phone footage of something officials said didn’t happen. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/04/02/coronavirus-restrictions-stoke-tensions-in-lock-ups-across-u-s
Here’s my latest story, based in part on contraband phone footage of something officials said didn’t happen. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/04/02/coronavirus-restrictions-stoke-tensions-in-lock-ups-across-u-s
I started reporting this last week, after advocates sent me a tip that officers at one Texas prison had turned off the electricity to individual cells, and were not letting the guys out to shower or go to rec.
They'd allegedly been locked in their dark cells for days - common room lights were on, but not the cell lights or wall outlets (which they need to power fans - because this is Texas and it’s hot).
I called prison officials and the spokesman told me that was false, that people were making it up.
Then someone else reached out to me with the some problem - but this time they had video.
Then someone else reached out to me with the some problem - but this time they had video.
The videos I got - which I’m not publishing because the angle would be enough to identify the source - is taken from inside a prison cell, looking out into a common area that’s empty except for officers in the bubble.
“It’s a nonviolent protest going on right now because the officers, in the middle of the coronavirus, have refused us electricity for several hours, no showers or anything," a prisoner narrating says.
One clip shows smoke, which the narrator told me was from guys lighting their cells on fire.
(That’s a thing people do on some of the locked-down units when they’re trying to get the attention of capts/majors they want to come resolve a situation.)
(That’s a thing people do on some of the locked-down units when they’re trying to get the attention of capts/majors they want to come resolve a situation.)
As the smoke wafts across the unit, the officers appear to ignore it. A prisoner later told me they just let it burn out on its own - and eventually officers turned the power back on.
Sometimes, prisoners set fires in protest even when there's not a pandemic, but now - with no visits or programs - they’re all on edge & more ready to protest.
The things that anger them, & spark unrest - no showers, no electricity - matter a whole lot more right now
The things that anger them, & spark unrest - no showers, no electricity - matter a whole lot more right now
This was one incident, but it highlights a bigger problem: As prisoners face more restrictions & more anxieties, the risk of unrest grows.
Already there have been some escapes (cc @Ajzionts for great coverage of this in South Dakota) https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/warden-of-south-dakota-women-s-prison-in-pierre-resigns/article_78ca10cb-0ba9-5d15-90ba-51fa8b6e95b2.html
Already there have been some escapes (cc @Ajzionts for great coverage of this in South Dakota) https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/warden-of-south-dakota-women-s-prison-in-pierre-resigns/article_78ca10cb-0ba9-5d15-90ba-51fa8b6e95b2.html
In Alabama, there was an incident in Etowah County where men apparently threatened to kill themselves because they’d been housed with people they believed had COVID. (The sheriff said they didn’t, and felt it was all staged.) https://www.facebook.com/HugMyNuts/videos/10158056872892612/UzpfSTczOTAyMjYxMTozMDYwNjExMjk0OTk0MTQ6MTA6MDoxNTg1NzI0Mzk5OjQwMTg4MzI4MDI3NjUzNDAxMjk/
In Houston, inmates penned a letter about their fears.
“It is impossible to stay calm, people are panicking and nobody wants to die in jail,” they wrote. https://twitter.com/keribla/status/1245037980831670275?s=20
“It is impossible to stay calm, people are panicking and nobody wants to die in jail,” they wrote. https://twitter.com/keribla/status/1245037980831670275?s=20
But it’s not just the prisoners who are worried at this point. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/04/01/as-a-mom-working-in-a-prison-i-worry-about-bringing-coronavirus-home
In DC, officers announced that they’re going to “shelter in place” - at work, refusing to make rounds or interact w/inmates because they don’t have enough protective gear. https://twitter.com/keribla/status/1245428291768631305?s=20
In BOP, all the prisons are locked down, but officers are still worried about lack of PPE and about what happens if too many staff start falling ill; a lot of prisons are already desperately understaffed, pre-pandemic.
In Nebraska & Texas & NY, officers are worried that they could get forced to stay and quarantine at work, in prison.
Oversight officials are afraid that could mean they just stop showing up.
Oversight officials are afraid that could mean they just stop showing up.
"There won’t be anybody to guard the place,” one expert told me. “The governor better send in the National Guard.”
