2019 Jan 7 Protest and press conference

On Tuesday January 8th, at 12:00pm the Coalition to Stop the Inhumanity at the Cuyahoga County Jail will hold a protest and press conference in downtown Cleveland outside of the Cuyahoga County Jail at 1215 W 3rd St., to demand an immediate response from the County Executive, Armond Budish, and the County Council members regarding the horrors inside the jail.

In the time since the coalition delivered the community’s demands to County Council Meeting on December 11th, another detainee has died in the jail. After what is now 8 deaths and 55 suicide attempts inside the walls of the Cuyahoga County Jail in the last four months alone, as well as a host of other disturbing human rights violations, we demand immediate action! It is unacceptable for Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, County Council members, Sheriff Pickney, and Judicial Officers to allow this to go on.

“People are dying,” said a community organizer with the coalition, “While Budish and Council Executives celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with their families, another poor person in Cleveland lost their life while inside the Cuyahoga County Jail. How many more of us have to die before we declare this an emergency? Is 8 deaths in 4 months enough for people to care? Or are we waiting for more people to die before we see Budish do something? Has the Cuyahoga County Jail become the new morgue?”

The coalition includes Puncture the Silence, Cleveland Lead Safe Network, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, Black Lives Matter Cleveland, Showing Up for Racial Justice Northeast Ohio, Refuse Fascism, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Ohio Student Association and the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. They invite all concerned citizens to join together for the press release and rally this Tuesday at 12:00pm in Downtown Cleveland.