Help Me,
Don’t Hurt Me.
101 Stories of Abuse, Neglect, and Death of Black Men in the Chatham County Jail
Stories Compiled By Jomo Kenyatta of BLM Savannah.
SERVICE BY SACRIFICE…
Copyright © 2017
All rights reserved.
For Demilo Glover.
You are not forgotten. God has heard your cry.
The names of the individuals who had these experiences have been withheld to prevent any revenge or retribution. These stories do not need names or an introduction. They need our tears, our action, and our advocacy.
- Jomo Kenyatta
Tazed and Confused…
March 2016
I was taken to the county jail for a D.U.I. Looking back, I knew I was wrong and was someone belligerent with the intake officers. I gave them the business before they processed me and put me in the holding cell. I passed out, only to be awoken to the sound of “Get yo ass up tough guy!” Still weary from being hungover, I stalled hesitated, and asked the officer what he was saying. This is when both men, picked me up, slammed me against the wall and said. “Talk that shit now.” That is when I felt a hot current in my leg. I was tazed. I screamed and said, “what did I do.” I was laughed at and left in the cell. It seemed the officers came to the jail just to fuck with me.
“Inmates Lives Matter Too”
May 2016
I am a 17 year old black male. One day, in the jail, I was by the window working out with my friend. We were talking and watching TV talking about Black Lives Matter march. We starting playing around and screaming out to the other Black inmates – Black Lives Matter! I saw a white Officer come inside and overheard our conversation. He came to us and said, Black Lives may matter, but Niggaz lives don’t. Count time.” I was like, what the fuck? But I learned that that officer does that shit all the time. But fuck what he said, Black Lives Matter, and inmates’ lives matter too. We are people too.
“Hurting, Not Heinous…”
March 2015
I suffer from and was diagnosed with being bi-polar. I have to take medication 2-3 times a day to control it. So when it comes time for medication, I MUST take it or its gonna be a rough night. One night, during pill call, a fight broke out because of an attempted pill/drug transaction gone bad. All of sudden, it was lock down, and no one got there medicine for 3 hours. I almost went crazy and became angry, irritated, and agitated because I could feel myself changing. When I screamed at the glass for my medication, the officer told me if I did it again, I would be placed in solitary confinement. I said why, I need help! That was when he radioed for assistance, and I was taken into solitary for a day without my medication. That was one of the worst nights of my life.
The Book(ing) of Matthew
Play
FROM NBC NEWS
A jailhouse nurse charged along with two sheriff's deputies in the death of a mentally ill Georgia man — who was Tasered while restrained — caught a break on Friday when the trial judge tossed an involuntary manslaughter charge.
Prosecutors had argued that Gregory Brown failed to check on Mathew Ajibade every 15 minutes while he was in isolation — but it turned out the state's investigator got the policy for medical staff wrong,NBC affiliate WSAV reported.
Brown still faces charges that he falsified public records and made false statements — and the two deputies who are his co-defendants are still charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Ajibade, 22, died after being taken into police custody on New Year’s Day in the midst of what his family described as a bipolar episode.
Mark O’Mara, best known for his successful defense of Georgia Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, is representing the Ajibade family, who are weighing a civil suit.
“It is nothing less than torture,” O’Mara said of the video. “It’s sadism.”
The Hanging Tree
March 12, 2017
Savannah man Demilo Glover apparently hung himself in his cell shortly before 7 a.m. Jail staff attempted to give Glover CPR until an ambulance arrived, but he couldn't be revived. The question should be asked, “why the fuck come he wasn’t being monitored?” Glover had been an inmate at Chatham for only one week and was being held on a DUI charge.
That Was My “Guy”
Guy Leonard was also found hanging dead in the county jail after being arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. His body was discovered by another inmate hanging in the jail just four hours later, at 6:40am. It would seem as if an inmate is overtly intoxicated and elderly, that special attention might be given to him. The only special attention Guy was given was a toe tag with his name on it.
You couldn’t tell by this picture, but Guy Leonard was an extremely kind, caring, and compassionate man. He battled alcoholism for years, but friends would say he would give you the shirt of his back if he needed it. Guy was also a child of God, made in the image of God, and loved by God. He didn’t deserve to die the way he did.
END OF SAMPLE
FULL BOOK TO BE EMAILED ON 9/9/17:
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