MILWAUKEE — A total of 27 inmates barricaded themselves in a library room and refused to come out in the Milwaukee County Jail on Aug. 12, 2023, forcing authorities to make a breach by using pepper spray and a CERT response team, they said.
The 27 inmates, who were all already facing some kind of charge, are facing fresh charges in connection to the barricade incident, according to a criminal complaint released Thursday.
The complaint states the inmates barricaded themselves in Pod 6c, which contains a room with furniture and another room known as the "library." Authorities say another 34 inmates were in the same area at the time but did not participate in the barricade.
During the incident, the inmates placed paper over the windows preventing deputies and correctional officers from seeing inside the library. The inmates also ignored commands from staff to leave the library and return to their cells.
The incident started around 1 p.m. Around 1:05 p.m., Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Mary Sawczuk ordered "a full facility lockdown and activated the Jail’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT)," the complaint states. As part of that lockdown, those 34 inmates not participating in the barricade were evacuated from the pod to another part of the jail.
Around 1:47 p.m., about 47 minutes after the incident started, the CERT team arrived. The inmates had still not complied with officers' commands to leave the library and end their barricade.
Around 2:30 p.m., authorities used "oleoresin capsicum" spray (otherwise known as "pepper spray") underneath the door of the library. Instead of complying, inmates damaged the sprinkler system, causing water to "flood the room."
Around 2:45 p.m., authorities punched a hole in the window of the library and sprayed more pepper spray. The CERT team then entered the library, secured the 27 inmates inside, removed them from the area and treated them for pepper spray exposure.
During the CERT team's breach of the library, authorities saw that inmates had pushed a table up against the door. Inmates inside also covered their faces with clothes, presumably to stop pepper spray exposure.
The criminal complaint did not state why the inmates started the barricade.
We're told all inmates were treated and some sheriff's deputies walked away with injuries.
"We're frustrated that something major like that happens and it just goes unreported," Alan Chavoya said.
Chavoya's with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, a group that's been actively rallying for change inside Milwaukee's jail.
Chavoya said the Milwaukee Alliance didn't know about this incident until TMJ4 showed them the complaint.
"That tells us how deeply felt the conditions are in there that people are on the brink of doing these types of things because they need support there. The conditions in there can't continue," Chavoya said.
For months, the Milwaukee Alliance has been asking for transparency about what's going on inside the jail walls and now some county leaders are too.
"That office can do essentially whatever they want with their policy and yet they refuse to do the things that would improve the conditions that people are uprising about in the first place," Milwaukee County Supervisor, Ryan Clancy, said.
Earlier this month, the sheriff's office released a detailed report of needs to improve the county jail. The office identified staffing, mental health resources and overpopulation as primary challenges.
Some leaders now saying it's not enough.
"It is incredibly frustrating that the sheriff continues not to take these issues seriously," Clancy added.
On Aug. 25, community members gathered outside the Milwaukee County Jail to protest against inmate deaths. The event featured a press conference with County Supervisor Ryan Clancy, according to TMJ4 reporting.
Since 2018, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office says 13 people have died while in custody, with 6 being ruled as suicides.
TMJ4 made multiple attempts to reach out to different people at the sheriff's office Thursday. Late in the afternoon, we received a statement reiterating the complaint detailed above.
No one from the sheriff's office made themselves available to answer our specific questions about what happened or how they're working to prevent it from happening again.
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