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August 28, 2015

U.S. Attorney's Office Joins Investigation into Death of Samuel Harrell 
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And the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has
announced it is joining the investigation into the death of Samuel
Harrell, a 30-year-old African-American man who died in April after as
many as 20 corrections officers kicked, punched and dragged him down a
flight of stairs while he was incarcerated at the Fishkill Correctional
Facility in Beacon, New York. Harrell was diagnosed with bipolar
disorder. The group of the officers who assaulted Harrell are known as
the "Beat Up Squad." In Poughkeepsie, New York, residents staged a
protest Thursday to demand criminal charges be brought against the
officers. Margaret Kwateng of the Hudson Valley Black Lives Matter
Coalition spoke out.

Margaret Kwateng: "We're here today to get justice for Samuel Harrell's
family. We're here to demand that DA William Grady of Dutchess County
press charges on all of the officers involved in his fatal beating. The
officers continue to work in the facility, and they continue to harass
and dehumanize the prisoners that are there. This is for Samuel Harrell
and to make sure that his life matters and to make sure that he is
brought into this Black Lives atter movement as a prisoner whose life
often doesn't seem to be counted in the same way."

Samuel Harrell died in the hospital after the guard beating.

 

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