The entire prison was just locked down for a week after an inmate killed his cellie, a Native American. He had asked the staff to move him, because he didn’t feel comfortable with his cellie. But staff ignored him. I heard him ask staff the week before this happened, and he was told, “You’re just going to have to try to maintain.” The guy just shook his head and walked off. I knew he wasn’t in a good state of mind. He kept asking to be moved to the unit for people with psychiatric problems. And then he shaved off his long dreads, which he’d had for a long time. None of the staff picked up on that.
After the killing, staff was afraid the other Native Americans would retaliate. So they locked us all down.
March 2025