Meet Donnie: a talented artist trapped in a Texas county jail. In his calls and letters to @TxJailProject, Donnie told us about the medical negligence and excessive use of force he endured in Eastland & Erath county jails. These are the human stories of #COVIDtalesfromTXjails.
Donnie’s indigent. He faces a crushing $25,000 bond. Unable to pay, he is left with no choice but to wait another year in jail, during a pandemic, for a trial date or sign a plea deal for a non-violent crime he says he didn’t commit.
Over 65,000 people are currently being held in 241 county jails. Over 75% pretrial. Most can’t afford to pay their bail.
Donnie worked with a group of men inside Eastland county jail to send @TxJailProject letters about the conditions they’re enduring. They’re scared for their lives because of the lack of testing, inconsistent quarantine procedures and inadequate medical care.
Donnie contributed his beautiful art to the envelope.
“They refuse to test anybody. They just tell us that nobody has it.” TX jailers say COVID-19 tests are free and accessible in jails. But the lived experiences of those trapped inside contradict those statements. (Click for audio.)
Donnie was then thrown in solitary confinement after he dared to voice concerns about how frequently he was being moved across populations before the 14 day quarantine was complete. (Click for audio.)
In solitary, Donnie was tasered by jailers, dragged and left alone without medical attention for having the wrong color boxers in his cell. (Click for audio.)
After being tasered, Donnie was given a handbook of rules and punishments by the jailers. Nowhere in that handbook was a policy of tasering outlined.
Jailers ignored Donnie’s documented medical history of heart problems and serious injuries. Donnie has yet to receive medical attention for the metal debris in his arm. (Click for audio.)
Donnie asked us for $20 to buy colored pens from commissary to keep his art alive. We gladly obliged.
We are also filing an excessive use of force complaint on his behalf w/ the FBI + TX Rangers. Please help us bear witness to more stories like Donnie’s. Empower our work at texasjailproject.org/donate
Tasers are touted as lifesaving & humane, but for 14 years, we've been hearing of them used on people in jails to torture people who cannot escape. Jails are free to use what they want on humans in cages.
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