A maximum security prison facility in Michigan is trying to keep the recent murder of a gay inmate as quiet as possible.
23-year-old Rodriguez Montez Burks was serving a 2-10 year sentence at the Alger Correctional Facility in Alger County, MI. He was up for parole in nine months when he was killed by his cellmate last week.
Related: Former inmate shares the horrors of being gay in prison
The attack happened on July 20 at around 11:30 in the morning. Speaking to Metro Times, inmate Todd Wentworth said he heard shouting from the men’s shared cell before everything went silent. Minutes later, he heard medics describing puncture wounds to the Burk’s lungs and saw blood trickling across the floor.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Prior to the killing, Wentworth said the cellmates, who had been living together for just two days, were having issues with one another.
“Old boy was like, ‘Hey I am not gonna be locked in here with a fag.’ And the guard was like, ‘It’s not our problem.'”
Wentworth said he heard both men request new bunk assignments, but guards failed to accommodate them. One guard, in particular, was especially unsympathetic.
“She was like, ‘You’re not here for convenience.’ Basically, we’re not moving you ’cause you wanna move — this ain’t the Holiday Inn.”
Another inmate, Edward Spear, corroborated these claims.
Related: The Surprising Reality Of Being Locked Up In America’s Only Gay Prison Wing
“This gentleman told [the guard] very clearly, ‘Look I’m gonna hurt this guy if you don’t move me out this cell,’ Burks also told [another staffer], ‘I can’t lock with this guy; we’re having issues, we can’t do this.'”
Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz issued a vague statement saying the prison was looking at “every aspect of the incident” and “if it [is] determined there was a work rule violated, an officer or any staff member could face repercussions.”
Emphasis on the word could.
In other words: the people investigating the situation are the same people being investigated.
Both Wentworth and Spear say they plan to file grievances against the guards who refused to intervene when Burks initially asked for help, though neither of them is confident it will make much difference.
Wentworth also told Metro Times that since Burks was murdered, another gay inmate has become “so scared for his life” that he’s requested to be placed in a protection unit.
Related: What is federal prison like for a gay man? This former inmate shares all the details
h/t: Metro Times
He BGB
I thought they segregated at risk inmates at prisons. Sounds like that guard was just hoping he would be killed.
BriBri
Pro tip, stay out of prison.
Kangol
Do you realize that the US <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exonerations-2015_us_56ac0374e4b00b033aaf3da9"/?had a record number of exonerations of wrongfully convicted prisoners in 2015? 149 people were wrongfully convicted that year, 139 in 2014, etc., and that’s only the ones whose cases have been carefully examined. Take the tragic case of teenager Kalief Browder, who was held in Rikers Island for 3 years without a trial, repeatedly beaten and abused, and confined to solitary for 17 months, then finally let out without a charge or conviction. It drove him to suicide. Also think about private prisons’ need for bodies to make a profit, a skewed “justice” system, etc., and you can see why so many end up behind bars when they shouldn’t.
Kangol
Correct link here.
o.codone
The killers name is Mohammed Salah, a Muslim. Any questions? (and you voted for Hillary. Shame on you).
Chris
This is one of those times when I favor putting the killer to death.
ErikO
I believe that if someone murders someone or they are a pedo and it’s without a doubt that they did these things they should be put to death. Rest in peace to the man who was murdered.
WayDifferent
The victim is also from a backwoods Michigan area where it’s common and accepted for them to have the likes of “I Need a Nig” on their Grindr profile picture (not in the details part either). They’re VERY outspoken in an area where it’s probably best to just lay low. No telling what actually happened here.
WayDifferent
And nevermind this either….we always forget this part…..
“Burks was serving time for third-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer and receiving and concealing stolen property from a motor vehicle. The offenses happened in Livingston County.”