A video uploaded to social media shows an inmate being beaten by a guard at South Mississippi Correctional Institute

The video is one of many that have been leaked from inside the deeply troubled Mississippi Department of Corrections

The murder of a member of the Gangster Disciples at SMCI was the first of multiple deaths within MDOC that caused a statewide prison lockdown

Inmates of the Mississippi Department of Corrections continue to leak videos to social media showing serious violations of their constitutional rights. One of the latest videos shows an inmate beaten by a guard at South Mississippi Correctional Institute.

Video Of An Inmate Beaten By A Guard At SMCI

In the minute-long video, an inmate is seen being pushed down a hallway by a correctional officer. The officer is seen placing the inmate in a chokehold as he pushes him against a set of bars. The inmate can be seen attempting to hold on to the bars as the officer pulls him to the ground.

Once the officer is on top of the inmate, he appears to punch him close to a dozen times. Two other guards are eventually seen leisurely walking towards the confrontation but offer no assistance, suggesting the situation was not escalated to the point of warranting such violence towards the prisoner.

The Deeply Troubled Mississippi Prison System

The video is one of the latest to be uploaded to social media since the start of the year. MDOC entered 2020 with a statewide lockdown of their prisons following a “major disturbance” at SMCI. During the disturbance, Gangster Disciple member Terrandance ‘Kaboom’ Dobbins was stabbed to death by a member of a rival gang, the Vice Lords.

Following the death of Dobbins, four more inmates were killed in a matter of days. Walter Gates, 25, Roosevelt Holliman, 32, and Denorris Howell, 36, were all murdered in Parchman. Gregory Emary, 26, was murdered at Chickasaw County Regional.

Adding to the deaths, on Saturday Gabriel Carmen hung himself in Unit 29 Holding at Parchman. Guards were not able to reach Carmen for almost 40 minutes because he had jammed the door shut with a pipe from the toilet. On Tuesday, MDOC confirmed two more inmates had been killed at Parchman in an “isolated incident.” The identities of those inmates have yet to be made public.

Former MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall is named in a lawsuit with Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Marshall Turner. The lawsuit was brought together by artists Jay-Z and Yo Gotti for violations of the inmate’s constitutional rights. The third lawsuit of its kind against Parchman in specific for the inhumane living conditions and extreme violence provided for inmates.

Tommy Taylor Named As Interim MDOC Commissioner

Hall resigned from her position just before MDOC began receiving national attention for a still-growing list of atrocities. Governor Tate Reeves announced the formation of a search committee to replace Hall. The committee is made up of current and former sheriffs, district attorneys, a judge, Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs, and a former parole board member. Flaggs told WLBT that resumes have flooded in from across the nation.

In the meantime, Reeves has appointed Boyle Mayor Tommy Taylor as the Interim MDOC Commissioner. Taylor said he is “going to find out first hand” what is happening inside the deeply troubled Mississippi prison system. Taylor believes the prisoners need to be given positive things to do while serving their time.

That always has been one of my priorities in corrections is if you give an inmate something to do to keep them occupied and help them even if it’s–we use an innovative approach. It’s not written in the books–but we use our own good ideas that can help them, to keep them busy you’ll have less problems of them thinking about something to get into. Interim Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Tommy Taylor Via WLBT

Another issue adding to the problems inside MDOC is a lack of transparency. Reeves called for transparency in the two most recent deaths at Parchman on Tuesday. Taylor also believes MDOC must be transparent when handling issues and answering questions from the public.