Virginia’s Black Legislative Caucus is calling on the governor and the state Department of Corrections to launch an independent investigation into allegations of abuse and poor conditions at a supermax state prison.
At least six inmates at Red Onion State Prison in western Virginia reportedly burned themselves to death to protest what they called abuse and “intolerable” living conditions, according to Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, an inmate at Red Onion, who broke the story in October brought out. via Prison Radio, a news channel that focuses on the stories of prisoners.
Johnson said two cellmates set themselves on fire in September, citing “racism and abuse.” Johnson added: “the harsh and inhumane conditions at Red Onion were so intolerable that he and others set themselves on fire in desperate attempts to be transferred out of prison.”
Johnson recalled that one of the men, Ekong Eshiet, said his action was not an act of protest but an “act of desperation.”
Another inmate claimed he had not received care for chronic heart disease. That inmate, Charles Coleman, “suffered repeated physical, verbal and psychological abuse and refused treatment by Red Onion guards and medical staff,” Johnson said.
According to Christian Martinez, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s press secretary, the men burned themselves using makeshift devices created by tampering with electrical outlets. They were treated for electrical burns and allowed to return to the facility.
Virginia Department of Corrections Director Chad Dotson, in a statement Wednesday, called the stories coming out of Red Onion “bad faith efforts to try to score cheap political points by prison abolition advocacy groups and policies that would make Virginians less so. safe.”
Youngkin said at a news conference Tuesday that he was aware of six cases in 2024 in which Red Onion inmates burned themselves.
The burns “have been fully investigated by our Department of Corrections. And I think part of the investigation is understanding how they happened and why they happened. We have been in discussions with the Department of Corrections regarding these circumstances,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin did not address reports about poor treatment of prisoners and poor living conditions at Red Onion.
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus urged further investigation into prison conditions in a post on X on Tuesday. Ceci Cain, legislative director of the caucus, told NBC News that while at least six men have set themselves on fire since September, as many as 12 men have done so. have been harming themselves in this way since May 2023.
In a statement, the caucus cited circumstances that inmates had shared in the past: “People incarcerated at Red Onion State Prison describe being regularly subjected to racial and physical abuse by correctional officers, medical neglect, including withholding medications, excessive stays in solitary confinement with one report of 600 consecutive days, inedible food covered in maggots and officer spit, and violent dog attacks.”
Dotson, the corrections director, said the department had invited lawmakers to visit Red Onion and other state facilities to observe conditions for themselves. Dotson also said all six inmates who recently burned themselves have a history of self-harm.
In June, Johnson wrote in The Virginia Defender that he and six other inmates went on a hunger strike in December 2023 to protest the use of solitary confinement at Red Onion. The prison has also been investigated over the years by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for alleged human rights abuses.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
