in Atlanta, Georgia, where over 600 prisoners are being transferred from the Fulton County Jail after the family of a Black prisoner said he was “eaten alive” by insects and bedbugs in his cell there last year. The family of 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson, who was being held in the jail’s psychiatric wing, is demanding a criminal investigation and that the jail should be shut down. On Monday, several of the jail’s executive staff resigned, including the chief jailer, assistant chief jailer and members of the criminal investigative division. Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said in a statement, quote, “It’s clear to me that it’s time, past time, to clean house.” In an earlier statement, the sheriff said, quote, “it’s fair to say that this is one of the many cases that illustrate the desperate need for expanded and better mental health services.”
This Thursday, the family and community members will rally outside the jail as awareness about the conditions there and this case grow. Photos shared with Democracy Now! by the lawyer for Lashawn Thompson show filthy conditions in what’s believed to be Thompson’s cell, where he was found dead on September 19th last year. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report said Thompson’s cell was in, quote, “extremely poor condition with insect infection and other filthiness around him”
— source democracynow.org | Apr 18, 2023