Incarcerated Individuals Hunger Strike for Better Conditions at Supermax Prison

Luca Powell Jan 11, 2024

Seven incarcerated individuals at Red Onion State Prison are refusing to eat in order to raise awareness around prison conditions they say are abusive.

“There are currently seven inmates in hunger strike protocols at Red Onion State Prison,” said Kyle Gibson, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Corrections. “These hunger strikes are isolated, meaning each inmate has a particular reason for the hunger strike.”

At a news conference Wednesday, the prison rights organization Virginia Defenders sought to bring the hunger strike to the attention of lawmakers in Richmond.

A Facebook town hall held by former incarceree Kenneth Hunter outlined some of those reasons. They include alleged abuse by guards, the use of dogs to “threaten and intimidate,” and alleged continuing of solitary confinement, a practice that the prison system said it abolished years ago and received contentious reform in the 2023 legislative session.

Last year’s reforms required prisons to allow four hours per day of recreation for offenders in cells now known as “restorative housing units.” Hunter said that mandate is not being met.

“We are not looking to cause trouble,” said Hunter, who is a member of prisoner advocacy group Virginia Justice Alliance. “We are looking to change the conditions that our loved ones are incarcerated under.”

The strikers are also seeking to draw attention to the death in custody of Jowell Le Gendre. Le Gendre died on Aug. 24. His mother, Jeanette Le Gendre, says she does not believe the official explanation for his death: a fall from a six-foot bunk bed.

Medical examiners would not release Jowell Le Gendre’s cause of death. Tracie Cooper, an administrator for the Roanoke medical examiner’s office, said the office was asked not to release Le Gendre’s cause of death and referred questions to the Dickinson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. That office did not return questions regarding the cause of death on Wednesday afternoon.

Cause of death information is typically released unless law enforcement believes it might be “detrimental to their investigation,” said Cooper.

Gibson said the department was still processing answers to questions regarding Le Gendre’s death and any investigations into alleged abuse by guards. An investigation by the news site Insider documented the Virginia Department of Corrections reliance on guard dogs. The agency has said the dogs are used to protect staff.

Reached Wednesday, Gibson did not immediately clarify state hunger strike protocols.

Federal hunger strike protocols typically involve intense monitoring. They are triggered when a person does not eat for 72 hours, or refuses nine meals. Guidelines from the Bureau of Prisons allow doctors to require “involuntary sustenance”, or force-feeding, if deemed to be medically necessary.

Red Onion State Prison is one of two supermax facilities in Virginia. It’s located in Wise County, in the southwest corner of the commonwealth. Supermax facilities have the tightest security protocols of any in the state.

Solitary confinement conditions at Red Onion were highlighted in a 2016 documentary, “Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison. The documentary portrayed conditions there prior to those reforms.

One of the prisoners involved in the strike is Kevin “Rashid” Johnson. Johnson was transferred to Red Onion from Sussex in October. Johnson, a member of the Black Panther Party, has been vocal about prison reform and prisoners’ rights. Johnson was being treated for prostate cancer, he told the Times-Dispatch last year.

At a news conference on Jan. 10, the prison rights organization Virginia Defenders sought to bring the hunger strike to the attention of lawmakers in Richmond.

“We stand in solidarity with them who would stand against solitary confinement,” said Joseph Rogers, an organizer with the Virginia Defenders. “We want to make sure that their voices are heard here.”

The group says they will ask the General Assembly to create more oversight of the Virginia Department of Corrections. They registered dismay with last session’s solitary bill, which was watered down in a split legislature uncomfortable with capping the use of solitary confinement at 15 days.

But the group does see hope in a legislature helmed by Speaker of the House Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth, who served eight years in federal prison.

“That’s a person that we should be able to pressure with his understanding of the system to actually enact the changes that we are talking about,” said Rogers. “We’re not going to go with half measures anymore. We’re not going to accept legislation that has no teeth.”

Ana Edwards, a local historian known for her work tracing the slaving trade through Shockoe Bottom, outlined some of the strikers demands. Those include releasing prisoners from restorative housing, restoring their visitation rights, and the transfer of Rashid Johnson to a location better able to treat his cancer.

“These are conditions which we would not tolerate outside, and which are being absolutely tolerated inside,” said Edwards.

The facility is currently under a quarterly lockdown, which limits outbound communications and visitations. The lockdown began on Jan. 3.

This article was originally published by Richmond Times-Digest.