Parchman Prison Update: Family Members Claim Gangs Run The Institution

Source: Hans Neleman / Getty

Parchman Prison Update: Family Members Claim Gangs Run The Institution

More details are being released surrounding those riots that left five dead in Mississippi prisons. Family members of inmates at Parchman Farm where three inmates died, claim that the institution is completely run by gangs. The family members spoke with CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann and told him that the Vice Lords and Black Gangster Disciples are thriving inside where Corrections Officers are limited and conditions are cruel.

“My little brother stabbed, beat up, just in a cell, and then they’re putting him in cells with the rivalry. How could you do that?” Angel Taylor asked Strassman.

An investigative reporter, Jerry Mitchell, looked into the claims and added that sixty-five percent of the state’s corrections officers are women putting themselves at risk “because men don’t want the jobs” that reportedly only pay $26,000.

He adds that gangs are indeed running the facility and are “in charge of where you sleep, where you eat, how much you get to eat.” “I mean you have towers that are empty, you know, that used to have guards that don’t have guards now. And what do you do?”

Still despite that Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is trying to calm nerves and is claiming that things are under control. He and other state officials admit the gangs are a problem but deny they’re out of control.

“We are going to stop it. We have it under control as best we can,” he said.

Sure.

CBS News has footage from inside, watch below.