As if we needed more reasons to distrust America’s carceral system: officials in Florida are accused of allowing violent prison guards to stay on the job even though they’re unapologetic white supremacists, the Associated Press reports.
Multiple whistleblowers inside the state’s jails as well as detailed letters from prisoners who witnessed or have been assaulted by openly racist guards have been ignored, the report says. In one case, a crew of racist guards was planning a hit on a Black prisoner before they were caught by the FBI.
Sounds like at least a few of Florida’s prison guards should actually be inmates.
From the Associated Press
Some Florida prison guards openly tout associations with white supremacist groups to intimidate inmates and Black colleagues, a persistent practice that often goes unpunished, according to allegations in public documents and interviews with a dozen inmates and current and former employees in the nation’s third-largest prison system. Corrections officials regularly receive reports about guards’ membership in the Ku Klux Klan and criminal gangs, according to former prison inspectors, and current and former officers.
Still, few such cases are thoroughly investigate by state prison inspectors; many are downplayed by officers charged with policing their own or discarded as too complicated to pursue.
“I’ve visited more than 50 (prison) facilities and have seen that this is a pervasive problem that is not going away,” said Democratic Florida state Rep. Dianne Hart. “It’s partly due to our political climate. But, those who work in our prisons don’t seem to fear people knowing that they’re white supremacists.”
Of course they don’t. American law enforcement, including the ranks of prison guards, has been infiltrated by white supremacists for years. The FBI issued a bulletin about it as far back as 2006, yet there’s still no national attempt to clean house.
Meanwhile, Black folks keep catching hell from racist cops and guards, Congress still hasn’t passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but it did find the time to pass some new benefits for cops.