Thread by @SoniaChangDiaz

Shocking, damning report out from @MassAGO on incident at Bristol County detention center last spring, under direct supervision of Sheriff Hodgson.

@SheriffHodgson, your past testimony before legislative committees about the sanctity of the #ruleoflaw is ringing pretty hollow.

https://twitter.com/CommonWealthMag/status/1338905263982653445

"The report found the sheriff’s office used 'excessive force' against the detainees and acted 'with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious injury or harm to the detainees and their health.' The report also found the sheriff’s office violated its own...

...rules covering the use of force, canines, and restraint equipment."

"Corrections officers and detainees described in interviews with investigators from @MassAGO how Hodgson became visibly agitated when some of the non-English speakers asked for clarification and tried to express their worries."

"Several officers claimed in their incident reports that Hodgson never touched the man, but later admitted in interviews with @MassAGO that they weren’t physically present in the room."

"One officer decided to disperse 10 rounds of pepper spray in less than a minute....

"Several detainees inside the unit made calls, including one who told his wife that he was afraid for his life and another with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, who told an advocate that he could not breathe and needed medical help, according to the report."

"Over the next hour, Hodgson and his response team didn’t communicate with the two ICE officers overseeing the unit in what is called “the bubble room,” who would have been able to tell them that the situation was much calmer inside the unit and didn’t warrant the use of force...

"...according to @MassAGO report. Instead,jail Superintendent Souza told the response team that detainees were rioting and preparing make-shift weapons. A sweep of the unit later found no weapons,while video surveillance showed a few detainees passing around 1 metal pipe briefly.

"At 7:15 p.m., according to the report, officers in gas masks went in with a flash bang grenade, more pepper ball launchers, shotguns with beanbag rounds, and two battering rams. K9 units were also brought in, and most of the dogs did not have muzzles."

"At least 30 rounds of pepper-ball were fired at several detainees, even after most were restrained.

Healey’s office deduced the use of force violated 'at least some of the detainees’ rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.'

"During interviews, one detainee said he was already in flexi-cuffs when a corrections officer stepped on or kneeled on his neck. Another detainee remained unconscious on his back for several minutes before officers began to address the “gurgling noise” coming out of...

...his mouth in small gasps, and had to eventually administer chest compressions to revive the man. He was assessed by a staff nurse in the parking lot and sent to solitary confinement instead of the hospital."

“'At no point was the detainee taken to a hospital or evaluated by a medical doctor, notwithstanding his apparent cardiac arrest,' said the @MassAGO report, calling the situation 'most shocking.'...

"He was also never assessed for potential injuries to his ribs or chest from the administration of chest compressions. One officer told Healey’s office that he thought the man was 'faking it.'"

"Officers removed detainees’ masks and gloves during a pat search before putting them all in solitary confinement, disregarding the fact that 10 detainees had previously exhibited COVID-19 symptoms."

"Of the 22 men put into solitary confinement, 3 were stripped of their clothes and put in cells as a part of an unsupported or documented mental health watch and given suicide blankets instead, something @MassAGO found to be unwarranted and a violation of segregation rules."