After a recent, random inspection of a D.C. jail, a federal judge recently demanded the release of Christopher Worrell, one of the January 6 defendants. The judge based his request upon the the mistreatment received by the detainees while being held in federal custody.
U.S. Marshals surprised the jail with a visit in the past month, though the details of their inspection findings were not released to the public until Wednesday.
As a result of the findings, U.S. District Judge Royce Lambeth declared that he has “zero confidence” that the D.C. jail “will provide the treatment correctly and not retaliate against Worrell.”
Worrell is suffering from cancer, as reported by CNN on Wednesday.
The judge also shredded the general conditions of the jail, asserting that they are “beyond belief” and “deplorable.” Lambeth also ordered for Worrell to be transferred to another jail immediately, as well as subsequently released back home in order to start cancer treatment, as detailed by the report.
Approximately 400 more prisoners are being moved out from the jail after additional “deplorable” conditions in the prison were revealed.
Per CNN, water had been shut off across multiple cells due to “punitive reasons,” with the shutdowns oftentimes lasting days on end, leading to clogged toilets and other issues. In addition, another inmate that had been subjected to pepper spraying could not “wash the spray off for days,” which ultimately led to an infection.
Moreover, staff members at the D.C. Department of Corrections engaged in “antagonizing detainees,” as well as “directing detainees” to eschew cooperation with U.S. Marshals throughout the inspection. One staffer ordered a detainee to “stop snitching.”
In the past month, Lambeth has requested for the Department of Justice to commence a civil rights investigation into the current conditions of the jails housing various detainees from January 6. Thus far, two officials have been held in contempt of court for the delay in vital medical treatment to Worrell, as reported by The Daily Beast.
The conditions faced by detainees entail far “more than just inept and bureaucratic shuffling of papers,” Lambeth declared, “Does no one care? Does no one follow up?”
“I find that the civil rights of the defendant have been abused,” Lambeth proclaimed.
Throughout the hearing, Lambeth also observed that various jail officials did not turn over critical information regarding necessary “surgery for the accused rioter’s broken wrist,” in spite of the tact that “the medical procedure was recommended four months ago.”
Lambeth also indicated that it remains unclear whether or not civil rights were violated since the detainees took part in the events of January 6.
Nonetheless, he believes “this matter should be referred to the attorney general of the United States for a civil rights investigation” regarding the egregious violation of January 6 defendants’ civil rights, as well as “other cases” that involve potential violations.
After an investigation, the FBI concluded that the January 6 breach on Capitol Hill was likely not part of an elaborate, organized plot to overturn the results from the 2020 election cycle.
As noted by a Reuters report, the FBI does not believe that violence on Capitol Hill was “centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of [Trump].”
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