By Kira Maddox
Syracuse Media Group
MARCY, N.Y. — Inmates at a Utica-area correctional facility are speaking out, claiming officers brutally beat and in some instances sexually assaulted them during a two-hour raid, according to a recent report by The Marshall Project.
Inmates said the raid, which happened July 6, came as payback for an earlier attack on a Mid-State Correctional Facility officer on July 3, according to a report by the non-profit that appeared in The New York Times on Tuesday. The Marshall Project is a non-profit outlet that covers criminal justice issues.
A lawyer for the inmates, Edward Sivin, has given the State’s Court of Claims notice of his intent to file a lawsuit over the raid on behalf of 32 inmates, according to the report.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is currently investigating the correction officer’s injuries and the raid that followed.
On Nov. 2, the correctional facility suspended Superintendent Joseph Ward and Deputy Superintendent for Security Joseph Corey, and it is believed to be related to the pending state investigations, according to Time Warner Cable.
Corrections officer Nicholas Kahl was found unconscious on a floor inside the facility, bleeding from a head injury, according to the Utica Observer-Dispatch.
An initial investigation ruled that the attack was an intentional gang-hit, with one inmate striking the officer and leaving a large gash on his face with a makeshift weapon -- an aluminum can top with a pen handle taped to it -- while others kept lookout, according to radio station WIBX 950.
The two inmates believed to be behind the attack were put in solitary confinement at the time, according to the Marshall Project report.
Even though the incident happened close to four months ago, neither of the two inmates have been charged or had any disciplinary actions taken against them, according to a New York state corrections department spokesman. One of the inmates was transferred to a different facility.
Inmates told state investigators the gang-hit theory isn’t the true story, according to the Marshall project report. Inmates said Kahl cut his head after falling from a rickety, unstable reclining chair, the report states.
Fourteen inmates who were either interviewed in person for the Marshall report in The New York Times or had their testimony handed over for the report by Sivin said that on July 6 nearly 40 officers came into their dormitory hall and began beating close to 30 inmates, with several later saying they suffered injuries and broken ribs.
The Marshall Project said a 58-year-old inmate said he had his head slammed against the wall so many times it broke through the sheetrock. The group also reported a 41-year-old said he ended up with a broken nose from having a metal door repeatedly slammed into his face.
At least three inmates reported being sodomized by officers, according to the report.
“Inmates Say They Paid a Bloody Price for a Guard’s Injury” is the original story by The Marshall Project.