Brandon Robinson: Brotherhood of Correctional Officers manipulates the press

“The press is getting played by the Brotherhood over and over again.”

Last week, after an altercation in the ACI, the Brotherhood of Correctional Officers once again released misleading information with the intent of sensationalizing conditions within the prison system. The repeated, incomplete press statements by the Brotherhood about incidents inside the ACI make it clear they have an agenda. The Stop Torture RI Coalition calls on the press to stop printing statements by the Brotherhood without first double-checking multiple sources.

“The press is getting played by the Brotherhood over and over again,” said Brandon Robinson, the Coalition’s Campaign Manager, who is currently getting his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Roger Williams University. Robinson has worked with OpenDoors on issues around reforming solitary confinement for the last three years and pushes back on the Brotherhood’s statements.

On February 19th, the Brotherhood was quoted in multiple articles saying that six officers had been injured after they were assaulted by individuals in the High-Security Center who were upset about not having access to tablets. The article said that all six officers required medical attention.

The attached photo shows what the article looked like based on the DOC statement:

The second photo shows the current article:

After the articles were updated and corrected with statements from the Department of Corrections (DOC), the full story was less sensational. Based on what the DOC stated later, two correctional officers were assaulted. A large amount of pepper spray was sprayed and other officers were hurt when one or more slipped due to the pepper spray. The incident was not due to tablets, but was, according to the DOC, related to individuals not wanting to go back inside after recreational time. Two of the officers continued working that day. All other facts – such as how serious any of the injuries were, how serious the altercation was, and what exactly caused it – are still unknown and are under investigation by the DOC.

The ACI says the incident is under investigation to determine if proper procedures were followed. The Providence Journal was the only publication that fully reported the details of the incident and indicated that the DOC and the Brotherhood provided conflicting accounts.

This dynamic recalls a similar situation where the Brotherhood provided biased and incorrect information to the press in May 2023 after the death of Brian Rodenas. Mr. Rodenas died after an extended period in solitary confinement, however, the Brotherhood of Correctional Officers immediately made statements to the press saying Mr. Rodenas had only been in disciplinary confinement for ten days. The facts came to light after his family released a letter he had written from solitary confinement back in March, demonstrating he had been held there for months and had just received a longer booking for a small infraction before his death.

Any injury to correctional officers must be taken seriously, and OpenDoors requests that the Brotherhood or the DOC provide more complete information about these injuries and the incident so we can better understand conditions in the ACI. The Brotherhood’s reports of increasing altercations must also be investigated and looked at in context.

“Is there an increase in violence or is there just an increase in the Brotherhood reporting and exaggerating incidents, as they did in this case?” asks Robinson. “At a minimum, it is essential to consider all facts, including the statement by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, before believing the Brotherhood. As someone who spent time in prison myself, I know for a fact that the Brotherhood is not above manipulating information to protect their interests.”

See also:

• Rhode Island corrections union President accused of intimidating solitary confinement reform witness

• In a document dump, a DOC employee violated the privacy rights of formerly incarcerated people for political purposes