Press Releases
Family of Fishkill Prison Inmate Samuel J. Harrell, III, Who Died After an Assault by State Corrections Officers, Will Appear at National Action Network’s House of Justice with Reverend Al Sharpton on Saturday to Call for Justice
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For Immediate Release
September 11, 2015
Contact: Liz Kenigsberg/Dominic Hawkins
Phone: 202-464-9522
Family of Fishkill Prison Inmate Samuel J. Harrell, III, Who Died After an Assault by State Corrections Officers, Will Appear at National Action Network’s House of Justice with Reverend Al Sharpton on Saturday to Call for Justice
NEW YORK – On April 26, Samuel J. Harrell, III, an inmate who had a history of mental illness linked to bipolar disorder, got into a confrontation with corrections officers. During the incident, state corrections officers allegedly shouted racial slurs while repeatedly kicking and punching Samuel J. Harrell, III while he was handcuffed. The family of the late Samuel J. Harrell, Reverend Al Sharpton, president and founder of National Action Network (NAN) and the community will join together to call for justice and to hear the details of a newly filed legal complaint against the New York State Department of Correctional Services, Commissioner Anthony Annucci, the New York State Office of Mental Health, New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
The deadly assault was detailed by The New York Times in an August 18 article:
“As many as 20 officers — including members of a group known around the prison as the Beat Up Squad — repeatedly kicked and punched Mr. Harrell, who is black, with some of them shouting racial slurs, according to more than a dozen inmate witnesses. ‘Like he was a trampoline, they were jumping on him,’ said Edwin Pearson, an inmate who watched from a nearby bathroom.
“Mr. Harrell was then thrown or dragged down a staircase, according to the inmates’ accounts. One inmate reported seeing him lying on the landing, ‘bent in an impossible position.’
“An autopsy report by the Orange County medical examiner, obtained by The New York Times, concluded that Mr. Harrell, 30, had cuts and bruises to the head and extremities and had no illicit drugs in his system, only an antidepressant and tobacco. He died of cardiac arrhythmia, the autopsy report said, ‘following physical altercation with corrections officers.’” [1]
WHO:
Reverend Al Sharpton, President and founder of NAN
Diane Harrell, widow of Samuel J. Harrell, III
Cerissa Harrell, sister of Samuel J. Harrell, III
Jonathan Moore, Attorney for the family
Michael A. Hardy, NAN General Counsel and EVP
WHAT:
The family of Samuel J. Harrell, III will stand with the NAN community in an appeal for justice
WHERE:
National Action Network’s House of Justice
106 West 145th Street (Cross street Malcolm X Blvd.)
New York, NY 10030
The broadcast and live rally will air on WLIB 1190 AM and on live stream at www.nationalactionnetwork.net
WHEN:
Saturday, September 12, 2015 – 9:30 a.m.
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[1]Winerip, Michael, and Michael Schwirtz. “Prison Guard ‘Beat Up Squad’ Is Blamed in New York Inmate’s Death.” The New York Times 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Sept. 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/nyregion/fishkill-prison-inmate-died-after-fight-with-officers-records-show.html?_r=0.