There is an escalating outbreak of COVID-19 at the Clayton County Jail, which the Sheriff refers to as the “toughest para-military jail in Georgia.” The declarations we’ve received from current and former detainees at the jail are keep-you-up-at-night horrifying. Thread:

WLM is 57 years old. Like everyone else at the jail, he stays in his cell at least 23 hours a day. Due to overcrowding, there are 3 people in 2 person cells. Someone sleeps on the floor near the toilet. When WLM arrived, he was put in a cell with a man who was already sick.

Here, he describes the anxiety and fear that come with being caged with someone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. He knew it was only a matter of time until he caught it.

The jail refused to give him, or others, masks at the time. He began experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. He still had to line up, close to others, to get his daily medication. He knew he was endangering others, but staff just ignored him.

“The two weeks after my COVID-19 test, including the time we were under lockdown, were some of the darkest days of my life. I began to experience severe symptoms and excruciating pain.”

“One night during those 2 weeks stands out as the most terrifying night of my life...I couldn’t breathe. I began to bang on my cell door because the emergency call button in my cell does not work...I believed I was going to die that night.”

Here’s our plaintiff Rhonda Jones. She is 58 and has been hospitalized for pneumonia twice in the last year. She also has COPD. The jail gave no information to her about COVID-19.

Here is a declaration from another plaintiff, who is 72 years old. When he experienced COVID-19 symptoms and went to the medical unit, he sat side by side near 12-13 others. He had to barter soup packets in exchange for a “mask” made of underwear.

This jail is also know for being “hands on” when it comes to use of force. Toilet paper has to be folded into a V, for Sheriff Victor Hill. If you accidentally get in the wrong line at lunch, you can be tased (read this. Please.)

Another person who was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and was ignored. They were eventually released without ever having been tested.

This former detainee only heard about what the symptoms of COVID-19 might look like from friends and family on the outside. So, she knew what to be looking for when her cellmate began to show those exact symptoms. Including coughing up blood.

She tried to take care of her cellmate. Fanning her to help with fever. Making her as comfortable as possible. Trying to get her help, to no avail.

Then, her symptoms began.

Imagine dealing with the horror of having COVID-19 while caged in a jail that shows you, daily, that they don’t care one bit about you. Then, add a violent SRT team that periodically burst into cells unannounced, aggressively strip searching you.

There’s so much more of this. Literally hundreds of pages. Every declaration is more horrifying than the last. ATL, I need you to get fired up about this! This is happening in our back yard! You can read them all here: https://www.schr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Exhibit-D-Declarations-of-12-Current-or-Recent-Detainees.pdf

I’ll also just leave this here. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsbtv.com/news/local/clayton-county/fbi-conducting-search-warrant-clayton-county-sheriffs-office-sources-say/LW5LZM2HRNDDBDJDZ3XH7YP4IE/%3FoutputType%3Damp

https://twitter.com/codycutting/status/1288172292372127745?s=21 https://twitter.com/codycutting/status/1288172292372127745

https://twitter.com/codycutting/status/1288172293525516289?s=21 https://twitter.com/codycutting/status/1288172293525516289