The state has now confirmed that six people imprisoned at Red Onion in southwest Virginia burned themselves, and some have required hospitalization. Department of Corrections Director Chadwick Dotson dismissed the incidents, blaming advocacy groups for trying to – in his words -- score cheap political points.
Governor Glenn Youngkin also spoke out -- telling reporters the state had looked into cases where inmates stuck wires or Q-tips into electrical outlets, creating small fires they used to injure themselves.
“They have been fully investigated by our Department of Corrections, and I do think that part of the investigation is to understand how they’ve happened and why they’ve happened.”
Inmates said they had been threatened by guards or were desperate for public attention to abusive behavior at the prison.
We spoke with one – Demetrius Wallace – who got into an argument with guards.
“Next thing you know they slammed me on my face, kicked me, kneed me. One of them put his knee on my face so I couldn’t move my face.”
He was placed in solitary confinement, and when he returned to his cell, he made a distressing discovery.
“My TV is broken, and I’m missing most of my property.”
Feeling desperate, he told RadioIQ that he burned his foot.
“I just got overwhelmed – my back was against the wall. I’m thinking that alright, if I go to this extreme somebody will want to figure out why this man just set his foot on fire and come try to talk and do some type of internal investigation.”
Today, he claims, nothing has changed. Governor Youngkin said there really wasn’t much that could be done:
“We don’t want to see inmates in our correctional system harmed. In some circumstances self-harm is a difficult thing to combat sometimes, when it’s perpetrated in a way that is part of the basic infrastructure of the facility.”
Prisons Director Dotson says the system has zero tolerance for any form of abuse and investigates all allegations. He claimed some victims had a history of engaging in self-harm and said the six had been referred for mental health treatment.
He invited state lawmakers to tour Red Onion, noting it is home to the most violent offenders and argued the facility was needed to keep Virginians safe. Wallace is serving 12 years for armed robbery.
