Ohio prison guards acted with callous indifference as a white supremacist attacked four black men handcuffed to a table, according to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this month in the Southern District of Ohio.
Two prison guards identified as, Faye and Dalton, laughed as four men were stabbed while handcuffed to a table, the lawsuit says. The attack was captured by surveillance cameras.
The lawsuit is on behalf of just two of the victims, Shamieke Pugh and Maurice Lee. The suit says the victims’ civil rights were violated, including suffering cruel and unusual punishment.
According to the lawsuit:
Pugh, Lee and two other men were strip searched before they were allowed out of their cells, and all four were handcuffed to a table.
Greg Reinke, identified in the lawsuit as a member of the violent white supremacist group the Aryan Brotherhood, was not strip searched before he was handcuffed to another nearby table.
Guards “gave Reinke a key” or “knew or should have known that Reinke” could unlock his handcuffs.
Reinke was armed with two weapons, an 8-inch blade used in the attack and another 12-inch blade in his sock.
The prison guards, Faye and Dalton, stood nearby behind a locked door and “laughed as Mr. Pugh, Mr. Lee and the other inmates were stabbed.”
One of the victims managed to escape his handcuffs and tackle Reinke, only to have guards pepper-spray him and not Reinke.
The guards did not immediately render aid to the victims, and 10 minutes passed before medical personnel arrived. One of the guards said, “We should just let them die.”
The lawsuit also says a prison guard later beat Pugh when he sought medical attention for chest pain.
Reinke, who pleaded guilty to the attack, was sentenced to 54 years. Reinke is reportedly on hunger strike for mistreatment.
Photo: “Jail Cell” by Andrew Bardwell is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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