MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross addressed the shocking conditions by opening with a heartbreaking clip of 16-year old Kalief Browder talking about being “scared all day” and being punished by correction officers who denied him meals. He was also beaten by them. Even more heartbreaking is that Browder spent three years at Rikers, for allegedly stealing a backpack, without ever being tried. After charges were dropped and he was released, Browder committed suicide, two years later.
Not much seems to have improved, even though New York City voted to close Rikers Island nearly two years ago. Cross described the current situation at Rikers as “a spate of inmate deaths, cellblocks unguarded, staggering staffing shortages caused by guards who have essentially gone AWOL, detainees are being deprived of food just like we heard Kalief Browder say.” Last week, an inmate became the 11th to die there, just this year.
“WTF is happening at Rikers and what does it say about us as a society that we are standing by, allowing this happen?” Cross asked.
Guest and New York State Sen. Jabari Brisport confirmed the horrors. He said when he visited one of the housing units at Rikers, “I had to wade through trash and dead roaches and talked to incarcerated inmates who were cleaning up, themselves, and asking the warden for more cleaning supplies.”
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