EchaSez
Hope is the thing with feathers.
Inmate pepper spray spree stirs chaos in Rikers Island as critics bemoan violence in city jails, blame de Blasio administration
07/05/17
An accused murderer grabbed a pepper spray can off the belt of an unsuspecting correction officer and shot it at other inmates during a melee on Rikers Island.
Darryl Buchanan first aimed the can directly at another detainee Thursday night as the officer appeared to walk away from the chaos in Otis Bantum Correctional Center.
Buchanan then took the pepper spray to an upper tier in the housing unit and began to spray inmates below, according to photos obtained by the Daily News.
One inmate is seen trying to get away as he rubs his eyes.
Buchanan was apprehended by an emergency response team after several minutes, jail insiders say.
“These incidents are indicative of a larger picture that has occurred under the de Blasio administration,” said Mark Cranson, the city’s former acting jail commissioner. “The jails are out of control. And the emphasis is not on security.”
A Correction Department spokeswoman vowed that Buchanan would be rearrested and hit with additional charges. But a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney’s office said the incident remains under investigation and no new charges have been filed.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has vowed to take a tougher stance on inmates who act out. She has created a special unit on Rikers Island to expedite cases.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nyda...e-stirs-chaos-rikers-island-article-1.3301402
