Twenty Prisoners Sign Affidavits Saying They Witnessed Guards Beat Inmate To Death

You are here: Home » Cover-Up Nearly Twenty Prisoners Sign Affidavits Saying They Witnessed Guards Beat Inmate To Death August 18, 2015 5:36 pm· A full 19 different inmates locked up in New York’s Fishkill Correctional Facility have signed sworn affidavits that say they witnessed guards brutally beating Samuel Harrell to death. Michael Winerip and Micahel Schwirts of the New York Times write that the inmates described nothing short than what Shaun King of the Daily Kos says was “a living hell on earth not just for Samuel, but for so many of their peers who are locked far away in poorly managed prison.” Last April 21st, 30 year old Samuel “J-Rock” Harrell was killed – beaten to death by prison guards. King days that Harrell was “often out of touch with reality, and five years away from his sentence ending.” He didn’t understand the situation he was facing, day-to-day, behind bars. “Samuel packed a bag and told the guards his beloved sister was there to pick him up,” King explains. “Of course she wasn’t, but sincerely didn’t seem to know that.” Not long after, he got into a confrontation with corrections officers, was thrown to the floor and was handcuffed. As many as 20 officers — including members of a group known around the prison as the Beat Up Squad — repeatedly kicked and punched Mr. Harrell, who is black, with some of them shouting racial slurs, according to more than a dozen inmate witnesses. “Like he was a trampoline, they were jumping on him,” said Edwin Pearson, an inmate who watched from a nearby bathroom.Mr. Harrell was then thrown or dragged down a staircase, according to the inmates’ accounts. One inmate reported seeing him lying on the landing, “bent in an impossible position.” The inmates say the guards were immediately trying to cover their tracks and construct and agreed upon alibi. http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/08/nearly-twenty-prisoners-sign-affidavits-saying-they-witnessed-guards/