A Rikers Island inmate reportedly tried to hang himself in front of a group of politicians touring the New York City facility, the New York Post reported on Monday.
Around a dozen state and local officials, including Queens Democrat State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, toured the “overcrowded” prison compound where a man purportedly tried to hang himself, according to the Post.
“We were in the intake area, which is completely overrun and completely crowded, stepping over pools of piss,” Gonzalez-Rojas said, the Post reported.
“A man called me over and pointed to someone who jumped up on the bars and tried to use a bedsheet to kill themselves … I called a guard over. I think [the inmate] was OK,” Gonzalez-Rojas added, according to the Post.
MONDAY: Elected officials will tour Rikers Island and then hold a press conference to discuss the jail’s illegal and unsafe conditions, and the urgent need to immediately decarcerate.
More: https://t.co/IrWHJsMdiK pic.twitter.com/bX4ymyyY74
— The Legal Aid Society (@LegalAidNYC) September 10, 2021
The unnamed inmate’s condition wasn’t reported and the Department of Corrections didn’t comment on the incident, the Post reported. A prison source reportedly told the Post that “suicide attempts are a regular occurrence” at the facility.
The politicians have advocated for inmates to be released from the “inhumane” and “dangerous and illegal conditions” after reports surfaced detailing chaotic conditions at the facility, the Post reported. Some of the officials recalled feces and rotting food on the floors and dozens of people locked in small cells.
“It was hellish,” Democratic Bronx State Senator Alessandra Biaggi said, according to the Post. “There were people being kept in showers instead of cells because a lot of the cells are broken.”
Inmates reportedly bombarded Biaggi and screamed about not having access to adequate food or water, according to the Post. (RELATED: Rikers Island Inmates Partying, Brawling, Fatally Overdosing Amid Staffing Crisis: REPORT)
“There is all sorts of gunk on the floors everywhere from dead cockroaches to fecal matter to food sitting there rotting for a long time,” Ramos said, the Post reported. “It’s all because the incarcerated men and women on that island are being treated unfairly and the corrections officers are working under very deplorable conditions themselves.”
The politicians called on Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve the “Less Is More Act” that would allow inmates who were incarcerated for technical parole violations, according to the Post.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
