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| Officials Defend Actions of Officers In Prison Confrontation |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/17/2001 |
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Massachusetts prison officials defended the actions of officers who forcibly removed seven prisoners from their cells recently after they refused to return plastic lunch trays. A group representing the prisoners at MCI-Cedar Junction said the inmates were severely beaten and tear gassed after complaining about being served rotten vegetables. ''One prisoner was beaten and strangled so badly that he went unconscious. He had marks on his neck from the officers' stranglehold,'' the American Friends Service Committee said in a written statement. The prisoners also said officers fired tear gas and refused them medical attention during the Nov. 26 incident. A Department of Corrections spokesman denied the allegations. The prisoners had to be removed from their cells because they refused to return heavy plastic food trays, which can be honed into weapons, according to spokesman Justin Latini. They were not served rotten food, he said. Ten prisoners initially refused to return the trays. After they were warned, three complied, he said. The remaining seven had to be taken out of their cells forcibly. That included the use of pepper spray, Latini said. ''The amount of force is the minimum amount needed to remove,'' he said. ''There were some bruises, some injuries.'' He said medical personnel were present. The prisoners were among 130 in a special section for inmates who have assaulted other prisoners or staff or ''who have been unable to follow the rules and regulations of the department,'' Latini said. |
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