Fbi To Investigate Violence At Texas Jail Videotape Shows Guards Kicking, Stunning Inmates

A videotape showing guards kicking inmates in the groin, siccing dogs on them and shocking them with stun guns has sparked an FBI investigation into possible civil rights violations.

The videotape, shot by a Brazoria County sheriff’s deputy for training purposes, emerged from a lawsuit filed by one of the inmates and was broadcast on television Tuesday.

“The conditions in Brazoria County, from what I hear, were appalling,” Gov. George W. Bush said. “The law will rule. Let’s get the facts on the table.”

The videotape has led Missouri to terminate its contract to house 415 inmates in the Brazoria County Detention Center in Angleton, about 40 miles south of Houston.

The tape showed a dog attacking at least two inmates, one of whom screamed in pain as he was bitten on the leg. It also showed a stun gun being used on at least one inmate, deputies in riot gear dragging an inmate with a broken ankle by his arm, and at least one prisoner kicked in the crotch while crawling.

The officials - deputies and at least one private guard - shouted and cursed the inmates: “Get out of the bunk; get on the floor,” and “Crawl faster.”

FBI spokesman Rolando Moss acknowledged Tuesday that the agency is investigating the Sept. 18, 1996, incident, but refused to elaborate. The FBI will give its findings to the U.S. attorney’s office, he said.

The 32-minute videotape was reportedly made by a sheriff’s deputy for training purposes after a jailer said he smelled marijuana in a prisoner housing area

Charles Wagner, chief deputy at the jail, said although the inmates in the video don’t appear to be resisting, they had threatened to riot earlier in the day.

“I grant you, that film depicts a lot of unprofessional actions,” Wagner told The Brazosport Facts newspaper, which obtained a copy of the videotape. “There’s not any real brutality.”

Attorney Otto Hewitt, who is representing the sheriff’s department in the lawsuit, predicted that the department would be cleared.

“We expect (the) defendants to be fully vindicated in the court’s final judgment, no civil rights violations having occurred or being established,” he said.

Guards in the portion of the jail used for the out-of-state inmates are supplied under contract by Capital Correctional Resources Inc.

At least one of the men seen in the videotape was wearing a CCRI uniform, and a company employee was suspended indefinitely, said Dennis Walker, a CCRI security supervisor.

The others involved in the incident were county employees, Walker said.

Meanwhile, the tape has reignited anti-private prison sentiment in Texas.

Allan Polunksy, chairman of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice board, said although he’s seen only portion of the videotape, it bolsters his opposition to the way private jails are run in Texas.

“It’s the latest example of why there needs to be very strong controls and oversight over the operation of private jails or county jails holding out-of-state prisoners,” he said.