THREAD: Just spoke with an incarcerated man who says he watched officers beat Michael Smith to death inside Alabama's Ventress Prison last week. "This happens every day. They beat people every day & they're dying. You've got folks scared for their life." 1/12 
He says he and others heard a commotion and then watched through a window as at least 3 officers beat Mr. Smith in a prison lobby. Smith was only wearing his underwear, according to the witness, & was in the lobby because prisoners in his housing area "put him out." 2/12
"The Sgt. grabbed a chair and swung it, hitting him repeatedly. From what I saw, he (Smith) wasn't swinging, he wasn't disrespecting them. Two officers went to stomping on him and everybody started beating on the doors. We were yelling 'hey man, get off him!'" he says. 3/12
"They carried him out on a stretcher and he was not moving," he says. ADOC has since confirmed that Mr. Smith died from his injuries at a hospital & the agency is investigating the incident. Commissioner Jeff Dunn ordered 2 officers involved to be placed on mandatory leave. 4/12
Dunn did NOT take this action after the October beating death of Steven Davis by officers at Donaldson Prison. I recently reported on the case and @ALCorrections told me one officer involved resigned, the other was still working for the agency. bit.ly/38kRpjO 5/12
Dunn has called for measures to mitigate violence including an internal task force to investigate excessive force by officers. The man at Ventress told me ADOC investigators took photos of the lobby where Smith was beaten, but did not interview any inmate witnesses. 6/12
"We're trying to get this out in the free world because we need help. I've seen a whole bunch of deaths. You've got people sleeping on the floor. The police come in and count, see folks on the floor and just walk right over us. Nothing is being done. This prison is corrupt." 7/12
Mr. Smith's is not the only shameful death in an Alabama prison in the last week. Mr. Willie Scott died from injuries sustained in an incident at Holman Prison. My sources say he was beaten to death by other prisoners. ADOC says it's investigating his death. 8/12
In addition to the killings of Mr. Smith & Mr. Scott, ADOC last week announced investigations into 2 other prison deaths. In 2019, 23 people have been murdered, or died from overdose or suicide in Alabama prisons. That's how many WE KNOW ABOUT. It's an extraordinary number. 9/12
In April, @TheJusticeDept confirmed that Alabama prisons are the most violent in the nation. For evidence, see photos that were leaked from inside one particularly rotten prison, St. Clair Correctional. No one can claim that they just didn't know. 10/12 bit.ly/2sXgXmN
In the 7 months since the DOJ findings, at least 6 ppl have been killed, one has committed suicide, at least 5 have overdosed. @GovernorKayIvey's study group is holding meetings and ADOC is in talks with the DOJ about remedies, but we don't get to know those details. 11/12
If this was happening to ANY community outside prison, leaders would treat it like an emergency, but that's not happening. Nothing has changed. The whole world knows Alabama prisons are a human rights disaster, but it still feels like business as usual and THAT is shameful. 12/12
