Oklahoma Corrections Officer Guilty of Facilitating White Supremacist Attack on Black Inmates
HORRIFYING
Matthew Ware transferred the inmates to an area where he knew white supremacists were detained and then ordered the cells to be unlocked, the Justice Department said.
A jury in Oklahoma found a former supervising corrections officer guilty of facilitating an opportunity for white supremacist inmates to attack Black inmates, the Justice Department announced Friday. Matthew Ware, 53, was convicted for violating the rights of D’Angelo Wilson and Marcus Miller in 2017 by transferring them to an area at the Kay County Detention Center where he knew white supremacists were detained. Testimony revealed that Ware ordered subordinate officers to unlock the cells so the racist inmates could assault Wilson and Miller. Both men were injured, and Wilson needed seven stitches to treat a cut to his face. The jury also found Ware guilty of using excessive force on a third inmate in 2018. The DOJ reports that Ware faces up to 10 years in prison and could be fined $250,000 per violation. “The defendant abused his power and authority,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said. “The Civil Rights Division will continue to hold corrections officials accountable when they violate the civil rights of detainees and inmates.”
