Wrongly Incarcerated Youth, Scarred at Rikers Prison, Commits Suicide
After enduring severe mistreatment in Rikers Island prison, Kalief Browder wanted to share his story in order to help others avoid similar fates
A young man who spent three years in Rikers Island prison without trial--almost two of them in solitary confinement--after being arrested at age 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack committed suicide Saturday at age 22.
Kalief Browder's case, brought to light by New Yorker journalist Jennifer Gonnerman in an October 2014 profile, helped raise awareness about New York City's dysfunctional criminal justice system. Browder claimed to have endured beatings by guards as well as other inmates--allegations supported by surveillance footage that emerged earlier this year. While in prison, he attempted suicide multiple times before prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against him in May 2013.
"He wanted the public to know what he had gone through so that nobody else would have to endure the same ordeals," Gonnerman wrote on Sunday of Browder's desire to share his tragic story with the world. "His willingness to tell his story publicly--and his ability to recount it with great insight--ultimately helped persuade Mayor Bill de Blasio to try to reform the city's court system and end the sort of excessive delays that kept him in jail for so long."
But even as his revelations led to changes at the institutional and citywide level, Browder continued to grapple with personal trauma.
"People tell me because I have this case against the city, I'm all right," he told the New Yorker last year. "But I'm not all right. I'm messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that's not going to help me mentally. I'm mentally scarred right now. That's how I feel. Because there are certain things that changed about me, and they might not go back."
As Browder's attorney Paul Prestia said in a phone interview with the LA Times on Sunday evening: "I think what caused the suicide was his incarceration and those hundreds and hundreds of nights in solitary confinement, where there were mice crawling up his sheets in that little cell. Being starved, and not being taken to the shower for two weeks at a time...those were direct contributing factors....That was the pain and sadness that he had to deal with every day, and I think it was too much for him."
Blogger Shaun King, writing at Daily Kos, was even blunter: "The state of New York is responsible for this young man's death," King wrote. "Officials [at Rikers] ruined this boy's life. Hardly old enough to drive when they locked him up, they destroyed his soul in that prison."
In The Atlantic, Ta-Nehesi Coates agreed that Browder's story is one of systemic cruelty and racism.
"The numbers which people like me bring forth to convey the problems of our justice system are decent tools," Coates wrote on Monday. "But what the numbers can't convey is what the justice system does to the individual black body."
He continued: "Kalief Browder was an individual, which is to say he was a being with his own passions, his own particular joys, his own strange demons, his own flaws, his own eyes, his own mouth, his own original hands. His family had their own particular stories of him. His friends must remember him in their own original way. The senseless destruction of this individual must necessarily be laid at the feet of the citizens of New York, because our servants did it, and it was done in our name."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
A young man who spent three years in Rikers Island prison without trial--almost two of them in solitary confinement--after being arrested at age 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack committed suicide Saturday at age 22.
Kalief Browder's case, brought to light by New Yorker journalist Jennifer Gonnerman in an October 2014 profile, helped raise awareness about New York City's dysfunctional criminal justice system. Browder claimed to have endured beatings by guards as well as other inmates--allegations supported by surveillance footage that emerged earlier this year. While in prison, he attempted suicide multiple times before prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against him in May 2013.
"He wanted the public to know what he had gone through so that nobody else would have to endure the same ordeals," Gonnerman wrote on Sunday of Browder's desire to share his tragic story with the world. "His willingness to tell his story publicly--and his ability to recount it with great insight--ultimately helped persuade Mayor Bill de Blasio to try to reform the city's court system and end the sort of excessive delays that kept him in jail for so long."
But even as his revelations led to changes at the institutional and citywide level, Browder continued to grapple with personal trauma.
"People tell me because I have this case against the city, I'm all right," he told the New Yorker last year. "But I'm not all right. I'm messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that's not going to help me mentally. I'm mentally scarred right now. That's how I feel. Because there are certain things that changed about me, and they might not go back."
As Browder's attorney Paul Prestia said in a phone interview with the LA Times on Sunday evening: "I think what caused the suicide was his incarceration and those hundreds and hundreds of nights in solitary confinement, where there were mice crawling up his sheets in that little cell. Being starved, and not being taken to the shower for two weeks at a time...those were direct contributing factors....That was the pain and sadness that he had to deal with every day, and I think it was too much for him."
Blogger Shaun King, writing at Daily Kos, was even blunter: "The state of New York is responsible for this young man's death," King wrote. "Officials [at Rikers] ruined this boy's life. Hardly old enough to drive when they locked him up, they destroyed his soul in that prison."
In The Atlantic, Ta-Nehesi Coates agreed that Browder's story is one of systemic cruelty and racism.
"The numbers which people like me bring forth to convey the problems of our justice system are decent tools," Coates wrote on Monday. "But what the numbers can't convey is what the justice system does to the individual black body."
He continued: "Kalief Browder was an individual, which is to say he was a being with his own passions, his own particular joys, his own strange demons, his own flaws, his own eyes, his own mouth, his own original hands. His family had their own particular stories of him. His friends must remember him in their own original way. The senseless destruction of this individual must necessarily be laid at the feet of the citizens of New York, because our servants did it, and it was done in our name."
A young man who spent three years in Rikers Island prison without trial--almost two of them in solitary confinement--after being arrested at age 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack committed suicide Saturday at age 22.
Kalief Browder's case, brought to light by New Yorker journalist Jennifer Gonnerman in an October 2014 profile, helped raise awareness about New York City's dysfunctional criminal justice system. Browder claimed to have endured beatings by guards as well as other inmates--allegations supported by surveillance footage that emerged earlier this year. While in prison, he attempted suicide multiple times before prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against him in May 2013.
"He wanted the public to know what he had gone through so that nobody else would have to endure the same ordeals," Gonnerman wrote on Sunday of Browder's desire to share his tragic story with the world. "His willingness to tell his story publicly--and his ability to recount it with great insight--ultimately helped persuade Mayor Bill de Blasio to try to reform the city's court system and end the sort of excessive delays that kept him in jail for so long."
But even as his revelations led to changes at the institutional and citywide level, Browder continued to grapple with personal trauma.
"People tell me because I have this case against the city, I'm all right," he told the New Yorker last year. "But I'm not all right. I'm messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that's not going to help me mentally. I'm mentally scarred right now. That's how I feel. Because there are certain things that changed about me, and they might not go back."
As Browder's attorney Paul Prestia said in a phone interview with the LA Times on Sunday evening: "I think what caused the suicide was his incarceration and those hundreds and hundreds of nights in solitary confinement, where there were mice crawling up his sheets in that little cell. Being starved, and not being taken to the shower for two weeks at a time...those were direct contributing factors....That was the pain and sadness that he had to deal with every day, and I think it was too much for him."
Blogger Shaun King, writing at Daily Kos, was even blunter: "The state of New York is responsible for this young man's death," King wrote. "Officials [at Rikers] ruined this boy's life. Hardly old enough to drive when they locked him up, they destroyed his soul in that prison."
In The Atlantic, Ta-Nehesi Coates agreed that Browder's story is one of systemic cruelty and racism.
"The numbers which people like me bring forth to convey the problems of our justice system are decent tools," Coates wrote on Monday. "But what the numbers can't convey is what the justice system does to the individual black body."
He continued: "Kalief Browder was an individual, which is to say he was a being with his own passions, his own particular joys, his own strange demons, his own flaws, his own eyes, his own mouth, his own original hands. His family had their own particular stories of him. His friends must remember him in their own original way. The senseless destruction of this individual must necessarily be laid at the feet of the citizens of New York, because our servants did it, and it was done in our name."