New York: Protesters Rally Outside Bedford Hills Prison Demanding Justice for Political Prisoners

Katya Yindra

On June 14, dozens of demonstrators gathered outside Bedford Hills Correctional Facility—New York State’s only maximum-security women’s prison—to show solidarity with political prisoner Reverend Joy Powell and the women imprisoned alongside her.

One protester who has been supporting Powell’s case told a volunteer with The Worker that Powell has spent 19 years imprisoned in retaliation for her years of activism against police violence and state terror. Prior to her 2006 arrest, she had been organizing and demanding criminal charges against Rochester, NY police officers and reported threats and assault in retaliation for her activism. Not long after, she was convicted of burglary and assault despite alibi witnesses proving otherwise. Years later, while already imprisoned, she was charged with a decades-old murder based on a jailhouse informant’s word and rap lyrics.

The protest began with a speak-out at the nearby train station, where organizers and attendees framed the rally within a broader context of political repression and mass imprisonment. “The dark dungeons of reaction are increasingly filled with the rebelling masses in the US today,” said one speaker, linking recent uprisings against ICE raids to the economic crisis and the rising number of political prisoners nationwide. Another speaker described how many of the women at the Bedford Hills prison ended up there for fighting back against domestic violence, only to end up facing similar conditions within the prison walls from the correctional officers (COs).

Participants then marched to the prison, chanting slogans like “People’s justice for Joy Powell!” and carrying signs denouncing state terror and the old state’s prisons. Passerbys showed support and a group of children playing soccer raised their fists in solidarity.

Upon reaching the prison, demonstrators continued chanting and giving speeches as prison staff lined up outside to monitor the protest.

One speaker began reading off names of prison staff accused of physically and sexually abusing the prisoners. “This is the woman-beater team!” the organizer said, as the crowd shouted “SHAME!” and denounced the COs.

An organizer announced that Reverend Powell and other women inside the prison would be calling in to share their experiences. Powell’s voice crackled through the phone line as she addressed the crowd, describing dire medical neglect and ongoing abuse. “They’re abusing elderly people,” she said. “I had a heart attack about 3 weeks ago. I didn’t even know I had a heart attack until I saw a cardiologist… [there’s] a lot of medical abuse in here.”

Powell shared the call with a few other women inside, who also testified about the violence inflicted on them and other women by the COs.

Powell affirmed the demonstration was audible inside, prompting cheers and louder calls from the crowd. Shortly afterward, Powell was abruptly called by prison staff to get off the phone, telling the protesters before leaving, “That’s because y’all out there putting fire under their feet and they don’t know what to do about it”.

The action highlighted not only present-day state terror but also the prison’s history of resistance. In 1974, the August Rebellion saw over 200 women rise up and take over parts of the Bedford Hills prison after guards repeatedly assaulted a prisoner and put her in solitary confinement for protesting her conditions. The rebellion led to expanded prisoners’ due process rights and improvements to their conditions.

Photo: Protesters gather outside Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, NY on June 14, 2025.

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