Prisoners sustain self-inflicted third-degree burns, calling out against ‘inhumane’ conditions

By Kaitlyn Schwanemann, NBC

Virginia’s Black Legislative Caucus is calling on the governor and the state department of corrections to initiate 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 have allegedly burned themselves in protest of what they call abuse and “intolerable” living conditions, according to Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, an inmate at Red Onion, who broke the story in October via Prison Radio, a news outlet that focuses on prisoners’ stories. 

Johnson said that two cellmates set themselves ablaze in September, citing “racism and abuses.” Johnson added, “the hard and inhumane conditions at Red Onion were so intolerable that he and others were setting themselves on fire in desperate attempts to be transferred away from the prison.” 

Johnson recalled that one of the men, Ekong Eshiet, said his was not an act of protest but an “act of desperation.”

Another prisoner alleged that he had not received care for chronic heart diseases. That prisoner, Charles Coleman, “suffered repeated physical, verbal and psychological abuse and denied treatment by Red Onion guards and medical staff,” Johnson said.

Keep reading to learn about the conditions at the prison.

Unfortunately, the a disproportionate number of Black men are in prison, in part because of the war on drugs.

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