🚨MIAMI NOW: "I am Anthony Swain. I am 43. I am a parapalegic. Confined to a wheelchair. Trying my best to take care of myself in this pandemic, no different from you, no different from any other human being. But it’s impossible to do that at this jail. We inmates are scared." 
"The cell I am in houses the most medically vulnerable people in Metro West. People in here have AIDS, people recently coming out of surgery, people who are elderly. Despite that, there are no measures taken to protect us from new people who circulate through our cell every day."
In the Metro West Detention Center in Miami, Florida in cell 1D2: "We see people who are coughing, have fevers, and are otherwise ill, but they aren’t tested and we don’t know what they have."
"There was one individual who came in here w/n the last month who was feeling terrible. Took his temperature & found it was 103 degrees. Took Corrections almost a week to send him to hospital. During that time, he was mixed in with the rest of us, using the same things we use."
"Soon after that there was another person who came in w/ a sore throat. He told us that he didn’t feel well & told us to stay away from him. Sweating in his sleep, & within a day, couldn’t get up out of bed. Left him in our cell for 2 days before sending him to Jackson hospital."
From the Sworn Declaration of Anthony Swain, currently incarcerated at the Metro West Detention Center in Miami, Florida in cell 1D2: "There are about five people in my cell who are coughing, or otherwise complaining about being sick."
In West Detention Center in Miami, Florida: "Even staff in here are sick. A cart nurse who passed out our medication was working in our cell for almost a month. The whole time he was here, he was coughing and sneezing. He finally stopped coming to work, and is now in quarantine."
"On 4/1, an officer told my friend she needed his help. Told him that she didn’t feel well. Asked him to count trays for her in the hallway. Only God knows what she is sick w/. She was walking around without a mask. Guards don’t wear masks or gloves. Aren’t enough to go around."
"There are already people in Metro West who have coronavirus. The cell right next to mine, 1D4, is quarantined. Officers who work in my cell go over to 1D4 & come back. They told us that 1 inmate in there has coronavirus, & all people around him got sick & are quarantined."
Fear in Miami Metro West detention: "1D4 has about 60 people in it, & the last I heard, 22-25 people of them are currently sick. The officers told us there’s a lot of people coughing in there, & the inmates don’t have masks. None of the officers or nurses want to go in there."
"I’ve heard officers from my cell argue about who is going into the [infected] unit. They try to push younger officers. Then, those same officers come right back in here. Have contact with us. The other officers tell them, “don’t come near my desk, stay where you’re at.”
From the Sworn Declaration of Anthony Swain, currently incarcerated at the Metro West Detention Center in Miami, Florida in cell 1D2: "The way I hear the officers talk, it’s clear to me that they are in fear for their lives & don’t want to take the virus home to their families."
Specific Conditions in Metro West Detention Center in Miami: "This place is a petri dish for disease. We are in such close quarters. Less than 2 feet away from other people at all times. Four rows of beds with eight beds per row. All of us use the same toilets, the same sinks."
"One of the walls has sixteen beds of medical housing. People in medical housing are often coming in here coughing, hacking, and dirty. Medical housing isn’t separated in any way from the rest of the cell."
In Miami: "Corrections does not hire people to sanitize our cells. Instead, they have trustees who do it for free, aren’t provided with proper protective equipment. Aren’t giving masks or gloves. The cleaning supplies that we are given aren’t real cleaning supplies."
"We have people in this unit bleeding, yet we don’t even have bleach. I’ve seen blood on the floor because the supposed cleaning products they give us can’t even clean that up."
Ends:
"I can’t trust Corrections to take care of us if we do contract the virus.
This is a place where I wouldn’t want to catch anything."
"I can’t trust Corrections to take care of us if we do contract the virus.
This is a place where I wouldn’t want to catch anything."
This declaration was orally sworn to by Anthony Swain on April 3, 2020 because the Metro West Detention Center is currently not permitting documents to be exchanged for signature.
Here is a link to the full suit brought by @CivRightsCorps @Dreamdefenders @adv_project advancementproject.org/resources/comp…
