Detention center protesters hit by truck
Correctional officer on admin leave as RI officials investigate
A correctional officer has been placed on administrative leave while state officials investigate after a truck drove into a group of protesters blocking an entrance to a Rhode Island correctional facility used by ICE to hold immigration detainees.
At least two people were injured in the incident Wednesday night outside the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, according to the Jewish youth movement Never Again Action.
According to a statement from the facility, “Captain Thomas Woodworth has been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the independent investigation being conducted by the Rhode Island State Police, and the Wyatt’s internal investigation.”
The statement does not identify who was driving the truck, but adds that the warden, Daniel Martin, is conducting a top to bottom review of the incident and that the detention center “supports the First Amendment right of citizens to peacefully protest on public property surrounding the facility.”
In a video released by the protest group, a man can be seen driving into a group of protesters sitting on the pavement blocking an entrance to the detention center. The driver stops, and his truck is surrounded by the group.
“One of our #JewsAgainstICE protestors is still on the ground after being run over …,” the group tweeted. “We are still here, we are not moving, ICE is a plague and they must be shut down at all costs.”
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said, “I share the outrage Rhode Islanders are feeling about the incident depicted in the video at the Wyatt Detention Center. Our state and our nation were built on the idea that everyone has a right to express their opinion publicly and peacefully.”
The protest group said in a statement that about 600 people gathered at the prison and about 30 protesters blocked entrances to the facility for several hours leading up to the confrontation with the truck driver. At least two people were injured.
Separate videos shared on Twitter show officers using pepper spray in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
According to its website, the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility was established in 1993 as the nation’s first publicly owned and privately operated adult correctional facility, and was developed for use by the U.S. Marshals Service and was later extended to include ICE from 2005 to 2008.