Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Drive-by protest on Tuesday at Westville Correctional over COVID19 outbreak

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The family and friends of inmates at the Westville Correctional Facility are inviting other concerned citizens to participate in a drive-by protest from 12 to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, “to communicate their disgust regarding the current conditions that prisoners in Westville are being forced to live and die in.”

On April 16, the Westville Indicator reported that COVID-19 cases at the prison spiked from 11 to 90, including one fatality, and that inmates are complaining “of going weeks without masks, lack of cleaning supplies, and conditions that could lead to an extensive outbreak.”

The organizer of the protest on Tuesday, Angela Grable, has received similar reports from an inmate who she and her husband have befriended, that the guards are wearing masks but none issued to inmates, that there isn’t hot water for bathing and hand-washing, and that 76 inmates in a dormitory of 77 tested positive for the virus.

The familes of other inmates are reporting sick inmates who have neither been tested nor isolated, and a general lack of concern and urgency among prison healthcare staff.

“This is a time of action in correcting the problems as we are aware of,” Grable said. “No one should be treated inhumanely, and not taking the virus and guidelines seriously has ramifications well beyond the prison: first for the staff and their families, and in turn for all of society as it continues to spread. A thorough investigation needs to be done, and accountability should be had by those involved.”

Folks are urged to contact Gov. Eric Holcomb at (317) 232-4567 or at Office of the Governor, Statehouse, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2797

Meanwhile, the Porter County Jail has reported 33 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among inmates there and the infection of two jail officers as well. Those inmates are in medical quarantine and the officers self-isolating at home.

 

Posted 4/27/2020

 
 
 
 

 

 

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