Until White Capitol Rioters Complained of Conditions in D.C. Jail, No One Cared: Activists

It took complaints from the recently arrived Jan. 6 defendants, most of whom are white, to get the authorities to focus on the plight of detainees at the jail, almost all of whom are Black.

Landwebs Landwebs
Nov 14, 2021 - 08:00
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Until White Capitol Rioters Complained of Conditions in D.C. Jail, No One Cared: Activists

Local Washington D.C. officials expressed frustration during a recent public hearing that, despite longstanding problems at the District of Columbia jail, and years of complaints, it took the arrival of a small group of largely white Capitol riot defendants to finally get anyone to care, reports the New York Times. The roughly 40 Capitol rioters housed at the jail are only a fraction of the roughly 1,400 inmates, but have received the majority of publicity with complaints of squalid conditions, denial of the right to conduct religious services, and a lack of basic hygiene necessities.

In response to an investigatory request to the DOJ by Federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth, prompted by the complaints of a white Jan. 6 detainee, the U.S. Marshals Service, which oversees federal detainees, opened an inquiry into the jail and soon determined, among other things, that there were sewage and water leaks inside and that corrections officers often antagonized their charges, sometimes withholding food and water for “punitive reasons.” Activists in Washington expressed concern that officials who appeared at the public hearing were feigning ignorance about the longstanding predicament of detainees at the jail, almost all of whom are Black. Amid their expressions of outrage, it was never mentioned that the jail had been plagued with problems long before the Jan. 6 defendants got there.

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