North Charleston, SC – Monday, December 29, marked the three-year anniversary of the death of D’Angelo Brown, and organizers with the Lowcountry Action Committee (LAC) honored the day by gathering in remembrance of him and the more than 20 other lives stolen by Al Cannon Detention Center.

Brown, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder, was murdered by medical neglect at the jail in 2022. His death was ruled a homicide and, according to LAC members, is part of a larger pattern of abuse and neglect at the facility.

“Over 20 people have died at Al Cannon since 2015 and most of them have been Black and struggling with mental health issues like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or addiction,” said Erica Veal, co-founding member of LAC. “Mental health is not a crime, but for people detained at Al Cannon it’s a potential death sentence. That’s not right and we want to see the jail shut down immediately.”

At the vigil, organizers poured libations and read the names of 24 people who died at Al Cannon. One of the names was that of Jamal Sutherland who was tasered to death by corrections officers on January 5, 2021 after being transferred to the jail from a mental health facility. In the aftermath of his murder, which was also ruled a homicide, LAC members formed part of the Justice for All Coalition to demand accountability.

Brown and Sutherland were both Black, but the jail’s most recent victim was white. Mary Brucato was murdered at the detention center on August 11, 2025 and it took nearly six months for her death to be ruled a homicide due to medical neglect and complications from withdrawal. Brucato had been struggling with substance use disorder.

“Mary Brucato, D’Angelo Brown and Jamal Sutherland should still be with us today,” said Shaquille Fontenot, a co-founding member of LAC. “We are here to honor lives taken by police violence and to speak the names the system tries to erase. This vigil is not an ending, but a checkpoint in a longer struggle for justice and community control.”

Alfred Peeler, LAC Solidarity Network member explained to the crowd that community control means the community determining how they are policed and by whom. “The community decides if it wants to shut down a jail that is under DOJ investigation for medical neglect while there are still people literally right to this day dying from medical neglect in it.”

He went on to say that the community “should have a say if it wants a portion of the police budget to instead go to attacking real material concerns like food deserts and afterschool care,” all of which are known to reduce violent crime, according to Peeler.

On the same day as the vigil, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office announced they would no longer publicly release information on inmates who die in the county jail from natural causes. “It just screams coverup,” said LAC Solidarity Network member Matt Colburn. “Hopefully this will push more families to open up and trust in us to support them in their demands for justice for their loved ones. Accountability is not symbolic,” Colburn said. “True community safety requires honesty, transparency and consequences. We will continue to fight until these families find justice.”

#NorthCharlestonSC #SC #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #Jail #LAC #Incarceration

Madison, WI – On Tuesday, October 10, nearly 100 concerned Wisconsinites came together in Madison, joining Wisdom Wisconsin, a non-profit organization bridging the faith community with prison reform efforts, in order to demand an end to inhumane lockdowns that have been enforced in correctional facilities across the entire state.

National attention has focused on the deplorable conditions inside the Waupun Correctional Institution, which has had two deaths since a lockdown began in March. During the lockdown, the incarcerated population has been locked inside their cells for 23 to 24 hours per day, in-person visitations have been canceled, and showers have been reduced to one per week.

Pastor Joseph Jackson of Milwaukee Inner-city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) said, “The conditions inside the jails and prisons in the state are immoral, inhumane, unjust and unacceptable.”

The people incarcerated inside correctional facilities across Wisconsin are demanding improved conditions, such as a minimum of one hour per day for recreational activities, two free phone calls separate from the one hour for recreation, video calls, in-person visitations, restored access to libraries, and a minimum of three showers per week.

Eugene Nelson of Project Return, an organization addressing the high rate of recidivism in Milwaukee, spoke about the need to end “crimeless revocation” of probation. As Nelson said, “They tried to send me back to prison for cutting hair. I received my state certification in barbering and cosmetology at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.” Crimeless revocation is one of the main driving forces behind the increased incarceration rates in Wisconsin.

Many of the speakers challenged elected officials to take action on these demands and pass legislation that would prevent further deaths inside prisons and jails and treat the people housed in the facilities with dignity. After the press conference, many in attendance split by districts in order to speak with their assigned representatives. Members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression accompanied Kerrie Hirte, mother of Cilivea Thyrion who died inside the Milwaukee County Jail, to speak with the office of Michael Shraa, chair of the Committee on Corrections.

The particular conditions inside the Milwaukee County Jail are part of a more general trend across the state, and elected officials must take action. Hirte lost her only child, and there were many others in attendance at the event who have also lost or feared losing a loved one currently in the system. The conditions in Waupun, Green Bay, and Milwaukee aren’t the result of staffing issues or budgeting shortages. The narratives elected officials promote around staffing shortages in jails and prisons and crime obfuscate how the decades of increased public spending on law enforcement and corrections have diminished public services that could actually keep people out of these institutions. As the people in attendance at the event explained, elected officials need to get creative in how they respond to these issues rather than simply throw more money at the problem.

#MadisonWI #PoliceBrutality #Incarceration #ProjectReturn #MAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, September 28, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors held a Committee of the Whole meeting. Among the agenda items for discussion was an informational report by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) regarding conditions in the County Jail and a possible audit.

During the meeting, the MCSO gave an overview of their budget, chain of command and roles, as well as daily procedure in the jail. After an overview of the scope was given, there was an opportunity for public comment. Individuals who spoke, spoke to the urgent need for transparency and accountability in the jail. “It has been very hard to come back here and fight for what should have been done a long time ago. At [this rate], there is a death in the County Jail every two months. We are losing our loved ones,” said Kerrie Hirte, mother of Cilivea Thyrion. Cilivea died in the Milwaukee County jail from suicide in 2022.

Other members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) called for the support of victims' families. “We need to explore different options and keep talking about this issue for the sake of seeking good practical solutions,” said Alan Chavoya, outreach chair for MAARPR. After the public comment portion, the MCSO continued the presentation on procedures in the County Jail. Most of the data that was gathered focused on statistics of the populations in the jail and some policies.

County supervisors were also able to ask questions about the MCSO’s presentation and report. Some supervisors questioned why the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department handles investigations for incidents involving the MCSO. The answer given by the MCSO was that this procedure was fair and impartial and offered no “quid pro quo.”

“We keep saying money because we need it. What is going to make our jail a better and safer place is more money,” said a chief staffer of the County Jail. During the MCSO presentation, the office staff continued to point towards the issue of understaffing and inability to offer competing wages as the main problems facing the County Jail. County Supervisors Felesia A. Martin, Willie Johnson, and Sheldon Wasserman supported the rationale for more funding. Wasserman stated, “We have a problem here, the officers are not to blame. You have correctional officers working $26.34 an hour with dozens of murderers and rapists in one room!”

Following comments from the Committee of the Whole, there was a motion made to file the audit, and the majority ruled in favor of filing the audit. Progressive county supervisors supported the measure in hopes that the full board may be able to keep the subject open to prospective committees. There is still more work to be done, such as issuing a comprehensive audit of the MCSO, but it would be an intermediary step to true accountability and transparency in the County Jail. In order to ensure true accountability and transparency, groups like MAARPR have been pushing for an elected Civilian Accountability Council with the power to hire and fire the Sheriff, control the MCSO budget, create and change MCSO policy, and have full access to investigations pertaining to the County Jail.

#MilwaukeeWI #MAARPR #Incarceration