A spate of attacks, killings and severe injuries, coupled with a wave of indictments, has come to engulf the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, home to many high-profile inmates, including Sean “Diddy” Combs. Incidents in recent weeks have shed light on the increasing chaos inside the walls of the federal jail and the attempts being made to reimpose order.
That is where Edwin Cordero was brutally murdered in July 2023. Inmates Jamaul Aziz, James Bazemore, and Alberto Santiago were later charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy in that killing. The next month proved no different, and Uriel Whyte was stabbed to death inside his cell. Andrew Simpson and his cellmate at the time, Devone Thomas, were arrested and charged with murder for the death of Whyte.
Aside from them, the other inmate was critically injured since he had been attacked with the homemade icepick. In all, nine inmates were charged with crimes ranging from murder and right down to assault-a fact that underlined the level of violence at MDC.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace had this stern warning: violence would not be tolerated within federal jails. He emphasized that anyone who committed crime inside the prison bars and anybody abetting such crimes would be brought to book.
All that is not it at MDC, which is inmate violence.
Leon Wilson, a correctional officer with more than two decades of service, has been accused of violating civil rights, assault, and reckless endangerment after a high-speed chase back in September 2023. Wilson chased a BMW sedan through the streets of Brooklyn in a government-owned vehicle without any regard for traffic rules, putting him and everybody on the street in danger. The high-speed action ended with Wilson firing his Bureau of Prisons-issued gun into the car and hitting one of the passengers.
After the incident, Wilson returned to his station at the MDC and made no report about the chase or the shooting. His actions were part of an endemic pattern of misconduct by staff at the MDC, with very serious legal consequences. He becomes the seventh staff member from MDC-Brooklyn to be indicted in the past five years.
These alarming conditions have inspired the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons to take action. Some detainees, advocates, and even judges have referred to the treatment of people in custody at jail as “dangerous, barbaric conditions”. A senior team of Bureau of Prisons officials works toward bettering the staffing levels and repairing failing infrastructure within the facility. But in spite of all such efforts, MDC still remains a deeply troubled institution where the authorities try to push the perpetrators to face the aftermath of the crime and improve the safety conditions inside.
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