A group of Florida correctional officers excoriated a dead inmate on social media, saying that the 27-year-old prisoner — who suffered from a genetic blood disorder and died after being gassed by officers — deserved what he got.
The officers, writing on a private Facebook page for Florida corrections officers that has 6,000 members, called the inmate a “bitch,” an “a–hole,” and other expletives in a lengthy thread that followed the posting of a story published in the Miami Herald last Wednesday.
The Miami Herald could reach only two of those whose names were attached to the comments. One, who said he recently left the Florida Department of Corrections, acknowledged his post.
The Herald story detailed an ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit, brought last year on behalf of the late inmate’s now-13-year-old daughter.
Randall Jordan-Aparo, who was serving a short stretch for credit card fraud, suffered from a rare disease, one that was noted in his medical file. After he asked for medical attention and it was denied, he became agitated, and was placed in confinement, where he pleaded urgently to be taken to the hospital. The officers sprayed him with chemicals to subdue him, then left him unattended, state records show. He was found dead on the floor, dusted in orange chemical residue.
Jordan Aparo’s ailment had flared up in the weeks and days before his death, causing him to experience severe breathing problems, a subsequent investigation by the Miami Herald found.
When a story was published last week in the Herald on the status of the lawsuit, it was posted on the Facebook page for corrections officers. The responses flowed. Some ridiculed the dead inmate, while others lamented that outsiders don’t understand the difficulties of maintaining control in a compound filled with violent offenders.
“I guess if he wasn’t acting like an ass, he probably wouldn’t have been gassed in the first place,” said one post. The apparent author is in the Florida Department of Corrections employee database. The Herald is not identifying him and others who could not be reached for comment.
“Who the f— cares!!! Cost of incarceration = $32,000…money WELL saved!!!” said another person, described in his Facebook bio as working at the University of New Hampshire. A university spokeswoman said no one by that name has ever worked there. The name does appear on the FDC employee database, but it is a relatively common name and the Herald could not reach him.
“Hey, it’s good for a laugh,” said another commenter, listed as a corrections sergeant in the database.
“I am outraged,” said Julie Jones, secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections.
“I am immediately launching a full investigation into any current staff member who made an inappropriate remark, and have engaged human resources and our legal office to ensure the strongest possible personnel action, up to termination of employment, can be swiftly taken,” she said.
After the Herald’s investigation, the agency instituted a policy mandating that all inmates who are sprayed with chemicals be placed in decontamination showers to remove the residue — a policy to which one officer commenting on the Facebook page objected.
“So this is the pr-ck responsible for us having to force a bitch into a shower after spraying … do they want us to overlook these pieces of sh–t when they show their asses, get high or refuse to behave like f—–g human beings,” says another comment, posted by the Facebook account of Chris Philipp.
For full story visit: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/florida-prisons/article188085574.html