Prison hunger strike supporters mingle with Trayvon Martin protesters
SACRAMENTO -- California’s prison hunger strike continued in its 24th day Wednesday with 498 inmates refusing meals, state prison officials said.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, supporters of the prison protesters converged with those demonstrating against the verdict given the man who killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Delfina Brockway, whose two grandsons are confined to isolation cells at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi and are participating in the protest, said some rally participants at first had mixed feelings about commingling the issues.
“Not me,” she said. “The blacks and Hispanics are trying to get along together. If the inmates can do it, we can do it too. We can get along together.”
A spokeswoman for the court-appointed office running prison healthcare programs reported five inmates at the Tehachapi prison required medical attention Wednesday. All were returned to their cells, said Liz Gransee.
The protest began July 8 and, coordinated by prison leaders housed at Pelican Bay State Prison, is largely over conditions within isolation units where inmates accused of gang ties are housed, sometimes indefinitely. In a federal lawsuit, prisoners contend the treatment amounts to torture.
Corrections officials counter that they must keep inmates affiliated with gangs isolated in order to reduce violence systemwide.
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