A prison inmate in Louisiana was allegedly choked by a sheriff’s deputy after asking for medical assistance.
On Thursday, April 16, 2020, Buzzfeed reported that an inmate at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison had been assaulted after experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Bradford Skinner began coughing and having chest pains when he told prison officials that he was in need of medical attention.
He was initially given tea, but that did not help his symptoms. When Skinner attempted to get additional help, he was threatened with a riot incitement charge and additional deputies were called. While handcuffed, he was later choked and restrained by a sheriff’s deputy and other prison facility employees.
In a statement provided by his lawyers, Skinner said, “I am being punished for being sick. If this wasn’t on camera, it would have been swept under the rug and fell on deaf ears.”
Skinner was tested for COVID-19 on April 14, but he has yet to receive his results. Prison systems across the nation have been hit hard by COVID-19.
In Louisiana, 60 inmates and 52 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 thus far, according to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
State officials will begin to release nonviolent offenders in Louisiana, according to The Advocate.
