Jail Inmates Barricade Library, Triggering Two-Hour Standoff

Milwaukee County Jail. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Conditions at the Milwaukee County Jail reached a boiling point in early August when a standoff occurred between more than two dozen inmates barricaded in a library and jail corrections officers.

On Aug. 12, 27 men incarcerated at the jail barricaded themselves in the library of their pod. The pod is a two-story unit, with cells on both levels. The library was on the second floor with glass doors and windows overlooking the space, according to a description given by a detective with the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO). Once the barricading occurred, 34 others in the pod were removed and a roughly 2-hour standoff commenced wherein jail staff tried to flush the men out with pepper spray and broke through the glass windows of the library.

All 27 inmates have been charged with obstruction and disorderly conduct.

News of the incident first leaked out a day after the lockdown. The local Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) announced on Facebook on Aug. 13 that there was a lockdown at the jail.  The group quoted an inmate they were in contact with who described the lockdown but thought it occurred in a women’s pod at the jail and was related to cases of self-harm. An attempt to reach the organization in August went unanswered. The anonymous person said the jail has been employing “extended lock-ins” and that people have been hurting themselves as a result.

The MCSO released a statement Thursday on why it believes the barricading occurred. “The barricade was preceded by the occupants in question collectively expressing dissatisfaction with their gymnasium time coming to an end and expressing that, generally, they wanted more ‘open’ recreational time,” it said.

A criminal complaint filed Thursday by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office states that at roughly 1 p.m on the day of the incident, jail staff noticed the barricaded men and, within minutes, a full facility lockdown was initiated.

By 1:45 p.m., the MCSO’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) arrived. “Jail staff continued to negotiate with the barricaded inmates in an attempt to get them to leave the library and return to their cells voluntarily and peacefully, but none of the barricaded inmates complied, despite continuing commands from correctional officers and sheriff’s deputies,” according to the criminal complaint.

Among those negotiating with the men was new Jail Commander Joshua Briggs.

At 2:30 p.m. a sheriff’s deputy stuck a can of pepper spray at the bottom seam of the library door to spray it into the room and force them out, the complaint stated. The men responded by damaging the library’s sprinkler system, which flooded the room.

At 2:45 p.m. Briggs ordered those under his command to remove the men from the room. The sheriff’s deputy who previously employed the pepper spray then punched a hole through the glass window and once again discharged pepper spray into the room. After this, the jail and MCSO staff managed to get into the room, and, according to the criminal complaint, one inmate “turned towards” a deputy with a “closed fist” and was beaten with a baton. One correctional officer was later treated for a “soft-tissue injury.”

“Kudos are due to the responding officers for their professionalism and efforts to resolve the situation with minimal disruption to the operations of the MCJ and the lives and wellbeing of occupants and jail staff alike. Jails, generally, can be difficult settings for both workers and occupants. It is important for the safety of all that order is maintained,” the MCSO said.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, an activist group that has been organizing opposition to the MCSO and deaths occurring in the jail, released a statement criticizing the agency following news coverage of the incident.

“The conditions inside the Milwaukee County Jail and the MCSO are fully responsible for both the incident on August 12th and the 6 in-custody deaths that have occurred in the last 14 months,” the group said. “When the people who are supposed to be in the care of the MCSO witness several deaths, are restrained to 23-hour lockdowns, are forced to pay high rates for phone and video calls, are crammed into small quarters amidst COVID outbreaks, and are denied visitations, they will resort to these kinds of actions.”

Read the full complaint on Urban Milwaukee.