Last week, the New York Times reported that inmates at the Clinton County Correctional Facility in Dannemora claimed they were beaten and choked with plastic bags following the escape of David Sweat and Richard Matt as officers sought information to recapture the inmates.
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Samuel Harrell, who suffers from bipolar disorder, was taken to a nearby hospital after Fishkill Correctional Facility officers stated he “went unresponsive and into cardiac arrest”, according to The Syracruse. “A classification of homicide is a medical term that indicates the death occurred at the hands of other people, but it does not necessarily mean a crime was committed”, the New York Times report said. This prompted a violent “confrontation” with correction officers, who “threw” him to the floor, and handcuffed him.
The autopsy report indicated homicide as the manner of death.
According to written accounts from inmates, they heard officers shouting racial slurs at Harrell, who was black. One inmate said that he lost front teeth and was hospitalized after being beaten up by the officers. Several tell the Times they have been placed in solitary confinement after speaking out about Harrell’s death at the prison with a storied past of violence.
In its statement, the Correctional Association said Harrell’s death is “a reminder that the entire prison system is out of control and irreparably broken”. In 2012, The New York Correctional Association issued a damning report about the facility’s treatment of people with mental illness.
Building 21 of Fishkill, where Harrell was incarcerated, has long been riddled with reports of violence and abuse. Another inmate said that he saw Harrell “bent in an impossible position” after officers dragged him down a staircase. Interviewed a little more than a week after he was released from prison, Mr. Rodriguez, who was serving time for attempted murder, was still covered with cuts and bruises, and the white of his right eye was stained red with blood.
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The Times notes that numerous inmates who provided affidavits said they would only do so on the condition that their identities be protected, as they fear retaliation from corrections officers. Get The NewsOne Flip App for iPhone: Flip, Skip – Or Send Us a Tip!
