Prison revolt on 5/30/20 at Waupun CI
“The guards and prison administration are treating us as if this lockdown is disciplinary and not due to a worldwide pandemic. They’re angry because now they have to do all of the many jobs that they took for granted when it was the prisoners’ duty to do them, such as cook, clean, pass out the food, the phones, toilet paper, etc, and they’re taking it out on us, the prisoners. They only give us one shower a week, they aren’t giving us daily cleaning supplies in the northwest cellhall. We haven’t had recreation in I don’t know how long. They’re restricting our communication to our families and the media. Certain staff have told us, blatantly, that they don’t care whether we ( prisoners) catch coronavirus and die or not. We (the prisoners) are desperate to know what is going on and why we are being treated this way, when we’ve done nothing to deserve this type of treatment and or isolation. Its so bad that the prisoners in the northwest cellhall began to revolt, on 5/30/20, and started setting fires and throwing fire bombs in an attempt to get the outside world to take notice of what’s going on in here, but the effort was suppressed by the WCI administration.” [ Message received by Milwaukee IWOC on 6/1/20]
5/31/20 Black Lives Matter chants at Waupun Correctional:
“On 5/31, Sunday, at Waupun Correctional 75 incarcerated people were chanting “Black lives matter! George Floyd-Say his name!” Guards threatened to shut off the blowers, people incarcerated continued chants for at least an hour. Guards have shut off the antenna for local station, the only way they’re getting news is through court tv. The North has no electronics or phones. ” [ IWOC informed of this via phone call between IWOC outside volunteer and person inside WCI on 5/31/20, chanting heard over the call.]
5/31/20 retaliation against prisoners at Waupun:
“I’m housed at Waupun Correctional Institution.
Today at approximately 2:45pm some officer in the front office hit the switch that cut off all the phones in the entire institution for no reason. Then the sergeant came over the intercom and announced, “phone pick up.”
The officers collected the phones, not the inmate workers.
There is no reason they needed to collect the phones, nor have they ever did this before.
I believe this was done to upset us because they are upset about the white officer was charged with murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis. As they know we as predominant African Americans in this prison are happy to see him charged. So they are trying to steal our joy and cause us anger.
I need you all to call this institution and demand we receive the phones because they are planning to not give us the phone back, and are not giving us any answers.” [ Messaged received by IWOC 5/31/20]
On 6/4/20, Milwaukee IWOC received the followinng update from inside Waupun CI: “They are passing our phones back out now. However, they are housing inmates with Covid-19 in general population.”
Please join the phone zap to protest against prison neglect and retaliation at Waupun Correctional here: https://wisconsinprisonvoices.org/uncategorized/phone-zap-covid-19-in-waupun/
Find more ways to support inside organizing here: https://wisconsinprisonvoices.org/help-the-work-along/
An injury to one is an injury to all.