Sept. 20, 2021

Insanity

by Ronald W. Clark, Jr (author's profile)

Transcription

Date: 9/2/2021 3:54:19 PM

"INSANITY"

On Tuesday August 31, 2021 I had to go to Lake Butler RMC with stands for (Reception and Medical Center). I leave out of my cell at approximately 6 am. I'm sitting out there, about ten minutes go by, when several officers leave out of the main control room, and headed up to 2 north. A few minutes later a Lieutenant walks in heading in the same direction. Several minutes after that an officer comes in carrying a big riot shield. And then the nurse comes by. Follow by another officer who comes in from V dorm carrying a second riot shield. I'm thinking its a use of force. Which is out of place here on death row. We are the most laid back well behaved of any status in the FDOC. Now no one is rushing. Which is puzzling. Several minutes later the nurse walks back by heading back to the doctor's clinic. Several minutes after that, I'm hearing staff struggling at the stairs. And their down there a good five minutes, I can't see, but I can hear a lot of struggling going on. So all of a sudden all of them come by, and one of them is pushing a black inmate, (I'm not going to reveal his name) in a wheelchair. The inmates head isn't supported, its laying straight back, his eye's are open rolled back in his head. All you can see is the white of his eye's. His face has blood all over it. They push him down to the clinic, where the nurse went to several minutes earlier. A few minutes later the Nurse Lieutenant and several officer's come back by, the inmate is still in the same position in the wheelchair, they push him out the front door, for their headed up front to urgent care. His head is still unsupported, tilled way back in the wheelchair, which by my unprofessional opinion, had to have been restricting the flow of oxygen and blood. Last word I got was he's been placed in the outside hospital. This was handled wrong from what I witnessed. Staff before opening his cell door, should have been recording the incident. Since they went in and picked him up off of his cell floor, unresponsive and bleeding, they should have used a backboard and neck brace to support his neck and spine. And the nurse should have remained with him from the time she arrived at the cell, until she put him into doctors care. She should not have left that inmate unattended while he's unresponsive. Yes like everything else in the FDOC, rules regulations and protocols are only followed when it convenient for the staff. And no one would be the wiser had I not had been standing there witnessing this horrific event.
Now if that wasn't bad enough. I get into the van with 7 guys all in their 70's and the van stinks to high heaven from unwashed bodies. So I have to endure about a 20 minute ride. The old black man sitting next to me, had serious mental problems. I was trying to talk with one of our former law clerks that I hadn't seen in several years. And this old black man kept interrupting, he was giving out facts that wasn't correct. So between that and the smell it was an unpleasant ride. So I get over there, and death row gets placed in this tiny two and a half foot by two and a half foot holding cell. As the other inmates mingle in the larger area. And I'm wearing full restraints, handcuffs, black box, waist chains and leg irons the entire time approximately 10 hours. So I'm sitting in their listening and talking with the other inmates who's roaming around the big holding cell. I'm hearing stories about how officers are spitting tobacco juice in the food of the guys there at RMC in K dorm. I had a guy tell me about how an inmate housed in K 3221 was beaten really bad at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and how he's still in bad shape. And then I get to talking to this old white man who's 63 years old and is housed at FSP (Florida State Prison). He tells me a story about how staff jumped on him there on February 2, 2018 and beat him so bad that they knocked all his teeth out. I could tell he was mentally off. And the more I spoke with him, the more damaged I could see he was. He was so bad off, that he had some how got a hold of some nails and had jammed them deep into his arms. They were now infected and he was there to have them surgically removed. He was telling me how they were abusing him, he hadn't been to recreation in years. And they are constantly placing him on strip cell. And they've done that to him in the middle of the winter to torture him. One of the other guys spoke up and confirmed the use of strip cells. Which was something I experienced. I know all to well how they play when they don't like you, and you have no support out there. One of the other guys chimed in about guys cutting their guts open to get out of them cells. They do this trying to get transferred to something called TCU, which has more privileges and better over all living conditions. You its bad when your sitting in a cage harming yourself in order to improve those conditions. I've heard these stories so many times! I've witnessed the madness!! They were telling me about how medical doesn't want to treat them for self harming. We've got an inmate like that on 6 wing here in p dorm, he stuck metal object's in his stomach. And he's a young kid, who's now has a colostomy bag on the rest of his life, because this cage pushed him into the brinks of insanity!! Yes it ceases to amaze me at the horror stories that I hear every time I go over there. God knows we need change! And this is evidence of the much needed change. Because if this isn't human rights violations... then I don't know what is! I hope by sharing this, which Chaplain Michel Zoosman encouraged me to write, that it'll help open more eyes and put us on the path to change. God bless you all. And please continue to fight the good fight.
In Peace love and friendship Ronald W. Clark Jr. #812974
September 2, 2021

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