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Oct 30, 17

Report from Unit F3 at McCormick Correctional Institute

The following report was sent to us from prisoners about conditions in McCormick prison in South Carolina, the site of ongoing uprisings and strikes by prisoners, and violent repression from guards and prison staff. 

McCormick prison has been on lockdown status for weeks and the prisoners have not been given a direct or adequate reason. Families are being told its because of a shortage of staff. But the shortage of staff have been filled with the search team (burgundy team) as well as employees from near by institutions working overtime to give assistance.

These extra employees have assisted from the very beginning of the lockdown working day and night. Mccormick prisoners have not been permitted to come out their cells at night like other institutions for at least over a year now.

“Officers serve the food with guns drawn and pointed in the direction of each cell they open to pass the food.”

Prisoners are not receiving showers on a daily basis because the institution is only allowing 1 cell at a time to shower, this causes a prisoner to receive only 1 shower a week. Cells have not been permitted to be cleaned since the lockdown began. This alone is unsanitary, inhumane, and violates their very policy of sanitation and environmental hazard prevention. Food from the cafeteria is being brought to the cells and served on styrofoam trays without an adequate amount of food on the trays and not served at a sufficient time between meals.

Officers serve the food with guns drawn and pointed in the direction of each cell they open to pass the food. Guns are only suppose to be present on the cellblock in extreme situations such as an existing riot or if the officers can’t contain a situation.

“Prisoners are receiving one 8 oz cup of beverage to drink a day and one 8 oz cup of milk which is sour 65% of the time and they will not replace it.”

Broadriver is also on lockdown status, but is operating on a more smoother plane.The officials at Broadriver actually collect the prisoners ID cards, shopping bags, and shopping list to go to the institutions canteen to shop for the prisoners and deliver the items to them that they may need to make it through the lockdown, such as hygiene items, food, writing materials, envelopes, etc. As of Thursday, October 26, the cell blocks at McCormick have not had working lights inside the cells for the pass 48 hours. Prisoners are receiving one 8 oz cup of beverage to drink a day and one 8 oz cup of milk which is sour 65% of the time and they will not replace it.

Today, Thursday, October 26, a prisoner was taken a shower but did not take it as quickly as ordered to after not washing for a week’s time. The officer assigned to work that cellblock called back-up. The back-up arrived 10 deep, aimed 2 shot guns at the shower and ordered the prisoner to get out the shower.

When he did step out he approached a Lt. and began speaking to him but never resisted, attacked, or refused to return to his cell. A nearby employee pointed his finger in the prisoner’s face and then shot him in the chest. As the prisoner walked away in the direction of his cell another officer shot him again on general purpose, they then cuffed him and took him away. Totally excessive force. Using gas was not even attempted and the Major over the institution stood and watch all this take place, as well as other high ranking officials.

The cell block has cameras that will back up my account of these events. McCormick has allowed the Prison industries to continue operating because all prisoners who work prison industries reside in the institutions only character unit which is the only unit out of 4 that’s not on a complete lockdown status.

This is not only discrimination but it psychologically pit prisoners against prisoners. Prison industries is how SCDC makes money from cheap labor making it next to impossible to compete with them in the free market. Prisoners are paid by cents and it is the only labor the prisoners are paid anything for.

Prisoners are hungry, smelly, aggravated, frustrated and extremely stressed out. All this goes against the most recent Mental health lawsuit that SCDC just lost and settled out of court.

– Anonymous Prisoner In Unit F3 At McCormick Correctional In South Carolina

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This submission came to It's Going Down anonymously through itsgoingdown.org/contribute. IGD is not the author nor are we responsible for the post content.

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