Vaughn Correctional Siege Over; One DOC Employee Dead
We will be following #netDE and #VaugnRebellion throughout the day on the Twitter.
All is quiet now at #VaughnCorrectional office. At other end of prison, officers shoo away those who approach #netde pic.twitter.com/tNsWxoAckD
— Karl Baker (@kbaker6) February 2, 2017
Worth noting: this whole notion of the #vaughnrebellion was brought up. Officials said they were unfamiliar with it
— Brittany Horn (@brittanyhorn) February 2, 2017
From WDEL:
Two Delaware Department of Correction employees have been released while two are still being held hostage inside the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna.
“We don’t know the dynamics of the takeover,” admitted Delaware Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety Sec. Robert Coupe, who was the former DOC Commissioner, in the department’s latest update that aired live on WDEL just after 8 p.m.
From the News Journal:
An unknown number of prisoners inside James T. Vaughn Correctional Center took control of a building Wednesday morning, injuring one corrections officer and taking three others and fellow prisoners hostage.
As the standoff continued into the early hours of Thursday, there were no signs it would be resolved anytime soon.
Among the inmates’ demands were prison reforms and better living conditions.
From Delaware Public Radio:
Two prison guards have been released from an ongoing hostage situation at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, but two correction employees still remain hostage in a standoff that began Wednesday morning.
Gov. John Carney (D), Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps, and Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Rob Coupe updated the situation at the prison Wednesday night.
“Our focus throughout the day has been on the safety of our correctional employees. It will continue to be our focus,” Carney said.
From Delaware State News:
An inmate takeover of Building C at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, which houses over 100 inmates, was still ongoing Wednesday night. The takeover began at approximately 10:30 a.m. when the inmates took four correctional officers hostage.
Two of the four hostages were released from Building C Wednesday along with 27 inmates. The first hostage released Wednesday afternoon was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Officials said they were unable to comment on how many, if any, inmates were being held against their will in addition to two remaining hostages.
Ugh. Damnit. This whole thing is awful.
Apparently the inmates were protesting Trump, as well as their treatment.
Kind of a coincidence that there has been a lot of talk about “nutraloaf” lately…I hope that a big batch of that stuff is being prepared as we speak.
Yeah, FBH, let’s keep treating human beings worse than our pets. That’s probably a great solution. You’re a real strong thinker.
Seriously? You think eating a bland food loaf is harsh punishment for some of these people…Plus there has been debate on this topic lately, and apparently the Democratic Party controlled State of Delaware agrees with the policy or it wouldn’t still be in effect, would it?
Oh, the Democratic Party agrees. Well then.
I think we should treat human beings humanely, yes.
The whole “nutaloaf ” argument is trivial. The main human rights violation that I can see, that also is a violation of the Constitution, is the fact that the State can’t guarantee that people serving their time will be safe from harm.
For a court to sentence someone, knowing that they will most likely be assaulted or possibly raped, is cruel and unusual punishment.
Fair point. I agree.