Summary

Incarcerated individuals at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison have reportedly burned themselves in protest of alleged inhumane conditions, including racial abuse, excessive solitary confinement, and neglect.

The Virginia Department of Corrections confirmed six incidents but denied reports of self-immolation, while others claim 12 men were injured.

Protesters and advocacy groups, including the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, demand an independent investigation, citing reports of maggot-infested food, physical abuse, and poor medical care.

Incarcerated journalist Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, who exposed the protests, was placed in solitary confinement, allegedly as retaliation.

  • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    I didn’t say nobody wrote an article about it, I said nobody promoted it, it’s not on anyone’s front page, nor was it included in the physical edition of my local paper over the last week.

    • ggppjj@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      As a Virginian living in the area, it’s all over NPR. Dunno what to tell you.

      • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        “No, no, you see, when I said “anyone’s”, I meant the physical edition of national papers and also my local one. State’s biggest newspaper and a shitload of local stations published it? Doesn’t count. Needs to be outside the state. Augusta Free Press? Too small. NBC? Not a physical paper. This is totally what I meant when I said ‘any US-based source promoting this story’. Checkmate, libshits!”

        .ml is a plague of intellectual dishonesty.

        Edit: of fucking course they’re pro-Assad, lmfao. “A dictatorship indiscriminately attacking civilian areas with sarin gas and then trying to cover it up I can handle, but clearly there’s a cover-up (that I don’t approve of) afoot when not more than one massive national news outlet puts a spotlight on bad conditions in this prison.”

            • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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              3 days ago

              A strawman is when you attack arguments nobody made.

              I said “the story received no promotion”. I didn’t see it in the national news section of my local paper, and the national online news didn’t cover it for a month and aren’t even putting it on the front page a month later.

              That’s borderline a blackout for something that should be a national shame.

    • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      🎵 Makin’ shit up 'til it gets called out 🎵

      🎵 Got outlets to scold, gotta move all my goalposts 🎵

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      You said that you haven’t seen a US outlet covering it. I said that they are covering it, and the fact that you haven’t seen it is only due to your personal media consumption habits.

      • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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        3 days ago

        Yes, because I, like most people don’t dig past the front page of online news, and most people don’t even do that much.

        This is still a reflection on the relative lack of promotion such a visceral story should receive.

    • frunch@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      If a tree falls in the woods and alcoholicorn wasn’t there to witness it and his newspaper never reported it, is it fake news?