PITTSBURGH — A disturbing video circulating on social media has a jail employee on suspension.
Channel 11 confirmed the man seen waving a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and heard using a racial slur is a corrections officer at the Allegheny County Jail.
“I’m really afraid to think of whether or not that bat has been used before,” Tanisha Long told Channel 11.
Long is a community organizer for the Abolitionist Law Center and an advocate for jail safety and the protection of inmates.
She’s talking about this video that has been shared hundreds of times on social media — it shows the man holding a bat wrapped in barbed wire, using racial slurs, and telling the camera he wants to beat up black people.
“We need to remember that jail is 65% black. 65% black and you have a corrections officer proudly waving a bat with barbed wire that says ‘N-word beater’ on it,” Long said.
Since the video was posted online, the employee has been suspended, and officials are investigating.
Late this afternoon — we heard from the President of the Prison Employees Union — who told us in part:
“The video is troubling, and violates the county policy... We hold an obligation of fair representation to members, despite the severity of charges until the HR investigation wraps up.”
Long tells Channel 11 that the employee needs to be fired.
“Anything short of firing him will be unacceptable. This man should not be anywhere near the jail, nor anywhere near black people. And I hope the county knows that.
We also heard from Bethany Hallam, who is a county council person and on the jail oversight board — she said she wants every grievance filed against the CO to be investigated.
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