The following story has been updated, after a representative reached out to clarify that “Ms. Ke’Nya Hill has never worked at Wheeler Correctional Center and Ms. Amelia Commodore hasn’t worked at Wheeler since last year.”
Joshua Sharpe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ALAMO, Ga. — Two Georgia Department of Corrections workers allegedly joked about assaulting and abusing inmates as part of the #FeelingCuteChallenge tearing through Facebook.
The tongue-in-cheek “challenge” requires users to post a self-portrait with a caption saying something to the effect of: “Feeling cute, might (insert action here) later…” The challenge has drawn scrutiny to some government employees who’ve allegedly made insensitive remarks.
A Facebook user named Ke’Nya Hill, who claims to work at a Georgia prison, wrote that she “might shoot your baby daddy today,” according to the website America’s Policing Problem. In another post from a prison worker, Amelia Icesis Commodore allegedly said she “might put your baby daddy in the shower for six hours…”
The site, which publishes stories about inappropriate behavior by law enforcement, said it obtained screen shots of the posts, as well as a cache of similar posts, from a private Facebook group for correctional officers.
A spokeswoman for the state department of corrections said it was aware of the posts. “The alleged actions of these individuals do not reflect the conduct expected of any GDC employee, and will not be tolerated,” Joan Heath said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
The statement didn’t elaborate on what action, if any, the agency would take.
Also in Georgia, a Columbus water department worker apparently got spooked after his post saying he “might cut your water off” went viral. He deleted the post, and an agency spokesman told the Columbus Ledger-Inquirer conversations were ongoing about employees’ use of social media.
In Texas, prison officials are investigating whether officers went too far with the fad, including one post that mentioned gassing inmates, according to The Houston Chronicle.
Messages sent to the workers weren’t immediately returned.
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©2019 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)