Prison reform advocates rallied outside Harlem’s Adam Clayton Powell State Office building last Friday, Mar. 7, after another Black New Yorker’s recent death in state prison. Early reports suggest “extremely disturbing conduct” probably was the cause of 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi being killed at Mid-State Correctional Facility earlier this month, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
In connection with the death, 15 staff members were placed on leave, following familiar patterns that led to the arrest of 10 prison staff members allegedly involved in killing Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility, which is across the street from Mid-State. Six currently are charged with murder. Body-worn camera footage showed a room full of corrections officers violently striking the restrained Black New Yorker shortly before his death.
The Rev. Kevin McCall, a spokesperson for Nantwi’s parents, organized the advocacy action and told the AmNews the family would like the young Harlemite remembered as someone trying to overcome a tough upbringing who was making strides to turn his life around while behind bars.
“You don’t know what was going to come out of him paying his debt to society, but he’s not here to tell his story,” McCall said by phone. “He’s not even here to even apologize to the victims. He’s not here to do anything because the corrections officers took that from him.”
Nantwi’s death also coincides with a recent illegal strike by corrections officers across the state. Those who did not return to work were fired, blacklisted, and kicked off their benefits.
Harlem State Senator Cordell Cleare said she was “torn between feelings of outrage and heartbreak” over the alleged killing of her constituent.
“Granted, Messiah Nantwi was convicted, found guilty, and sentenced to serve time, but that was all,” said Cleare by email. “[The corrections department] had no authority nor right to brutalize Messiah and take his life. No matter the crime committed, the act of incarceration is not and cannot be a death sentence. Today, because of the brazen, illegal, and barbaric acts of [corrections] officials, yet another family is grieving and mourning the death of their loved one.
“This culture of torture, brutality, and murder behind prison walls can only and must be eradicated by swift, systematic, and everlasting reform.”
Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs seemed lost for words during Friday’s rally. The East Harlem lawmaker is the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the state legislature and was once imprisoned at Mid-State.
“It’s horrifying, scary, and disappointing — as a New York state legislator, I feel like I’m freaking powerless to stop this nonsense,” said Gibbs. “We can offer legislation. We can put together the Robert Brooks package. In all actuality, what does legislation do?”
After all, hitting an incarcerated person is already illegal. McCall said New Yorkers need to keep the pressure on because incarcerated Black and Brown individuals continue to die.
Just a day after the Harlem rally, the advocates went to the Sing Sing correctional facility in Westchester’s Ossining to promote reforms and protect the HALT solitary confinement ban. “You have to organize,” said McCall. “At the end of the day, this hits home because it’s in New York City. The family is from New York City, from Harlem. That’s the reason why we went to Sing Sing … because it’s about what the impact [is] — that it hits home — and what is happening on a local level. The same thing that we did [for] Robert Brooks.”
NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III alluded to Brooks’ death in his statement, maintaining such violence “cannot continue.”
“Several months ago, I vowed that I would not allow violence to become normalized in our facilities,” Martuscello said. “My commitment to this goal has never wavered. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Messiah Nantwi, but thoughts and prayers won’t bring him back and they won’t change anything within our facilities. It’s on us to create a culture that isn’t based in violence and respects the lives of everyone in our care. We, as a department, are the ones who can and will make this change, and we are working with several organizations to assess and improve our culture, as well as the safety and security of our facilities.
“I will continue to operate in a transparent and accountable manner, and work with internal and external stakeholders to make impactful change to end this violence.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.
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