Irina Park
Messiah Nantwi, a 22-year-old Black man incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility, was beaten to death by a group of corrections officers, according to inmates at the central New York prison. The facility is near the one where Robert Brooks was tortured and beaten to death. Messiah was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital on March 1. His death occurred amidst a wildcat “strike” as members of the National Guard were conducting security checks in a housing area.
According to inmates at Mid-State Correctional Facility, who described Messiah’s death in “unusually graphic detail” to The New York Times, Messiah Nantwi became distraught when the National Guard was beginning their counts and refused to go to his cubicle and left for the showers. National Guard members told corrections officers about this, who, already wielding batons, went after Nantwi. Inmates reported hearing physical blows to Messiah’s body and his screams as 7 to 15 officers beat him. National Guard members stood by, watching. Several inmates reported that a sergeant turned his back to the beatings so his body-worn camera would not catch it. Following the beating, Messiah was handcuffed and shackled and dragged down the hall and a flight of stairs. Inmates were ordered to clean up the blood.
On March 4, Governor Kathy Hochul stated that she and the Department of Correction and Community Supervision had placed 15 people in connection with the killing of Messiah Nantwi on leave. She noted that “this tragedy is a reminder of the need for systemic change within our correctional system—beginning with policies I implemented such as mandating the use of body-worn cameras, expanding whistleblower hotlines, and bringing outside experts for a systemwide culture review.”
Surveillance and militarization are not tools of protection but are instruments of violence, control and oppression. The deployment of the National Guard and Governor Kathy Hochul’s so-called “policies to implement system change” do not prevent the tortures and death of people, but reinforce a culture of violence, domination and fear, perpetuation abuses and state-sanctioned violence. It did not stop the killing of Robert Brooks, the deaths of several inmates at Auburn Correctional Facility and Sing Sing, and Messiah Nantwi’s killing at Mid-State.
Photo: Messiah Nantwi
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
