A protest over the conditions inside the DeKalb County Jail led to arrest after demonstrators refused to stop blocking traffic.
The protest outside the DeKalb County jail has turned violent with arrests pic.twitter.com/YxIDWhio94
— Tia Mitchell (@TIAreports) May 15, 2019
The organizing group for the protest, Atlanta Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, has claimed the jail's conditions are unsanitary and unsafe.
"There are allegations ranging from mold to malnutrition to abuse by guards to being put in solitary confinement for no reason and medical neglect,” said Meg Dudukovich of AIWOC to Fox5 Atlanta. "It's been happening for a long time. And I think it's time someone does something about it."
Though DeKalb County Sheriff Jeffrey Mann denies the allegations that facilities are unsafe in any way, he does admit, in an interview with Fox5, that mold is a problem on the premises that is being worked on.
"It's totally without credibility," Mann said. "It is proven by the fact we are one of the well-renowned, safest and most accredited correctional facilities in the country."
Inmates within the prison, however, have released pictures and a video on a jail-issued tablet pleading for support from the public.
Atlanta Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee has announced plans for a second protest Thursday.