The Virginia Department of Corrections accused five inmates of attacking guards at Wallens Ridge in early May. Four of those prisoners were said to be gang members from El Salvador, but a fifth may be a U.S. citizen who grew up in Virginia. His sister, Jenny Olivar, says she received a letter from another prisoner, telling her what had happened to Moises Alfaro.
“The officers at Wallens Ridge took Moises to a room where they began beating him and yelling racial slurs," she reads from the letter. "The officers bust his face open, and he feels like all his fingers are broken.”
He and the other suspects were transferred to Red Onion – placed in solitary confinement. Olivar was not able to reach him, but the letter indicated he was denied his personal property, soap, toothbrush, clean clothes and food. Security cameras, the letter suggests, might show guards passing a covered tray into Alfaro’s cell.
“The officers are giving him empty trays with no food, so it appears that they are feeding him, but it’s fake," Olivar concludes.
She says this news has devastated the prisoner’s 69-year-old mother.
“My mom is literally crying on a daily basis, not knowing what’s happening with her son. Not knowing if her son is getting medical attention. Not knowing if her son is eating. It kills her. She doesn’t sleep at night.”
She’s now looking for a lawyer who could help the family file suit, but there may be competition. One group that advocates for inmates says it’s had reports of at least four people being brutally beaten at Red Onion and Wallens Ridge. Among them, Usamah Woodley who says he feared for his life after guards attacked his cellmate. Woodley burned his own leg, hoping for a transfer. Instead, he says, the wound got infected, and when he asked to be taken to the prison nurse, correctional officers allegedly punched him in the head and groin, then placed him in solitary confinement where he was sprayed with mace.
Meanwhile, about 18-hundred men have been on lockdown for 46 days this year – unable to exercise or even leave their cells (the size of a parking space) except for occasional showers.
“Every three days is what the policy reads. They bring the trays to the door. I mean you’re not leaving your cell. Communication is completely cut off. You cannot call your families. You cannot send e-mails, and they cancel video visitation.”
Allison Chaffin says her partner had nothing to do with the attack on guards at Wallens Ridge, but the state cited security concerns in confining all inmates to their cells at both correctional centers.
“They’re just sitting idle – no programs, no education, no communication with their loved ones.”
A group of families with relatives at Wallens Ridge wrote to the Department of Corrections to report abusive and humiliating behavior by guards and to request an investigation. They say officers have used aggressive and violent tactics, are not wearing their body cameras, have used dogs and shot rubber pellets at inmates to maintain order. All of which worries Allison Chaffin.
“We see reports of people going on hunger strikes, people burning themselves. We get very, very worried when we can’t hear from them.”
The Department of Corrections said it could not respond to vague assertions of inmate beatings but has zero tolerance for abuse or excessive force of any kind, adding that such incidents are investigated. It refused to explain the use of extended lockdowns for all prisoners, claiming an explanation would jeopardize the security of inmates and staff.
