Investigative reports allege inhumane treatment at Thomson Prison

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UPDATE: Jon Zumkehr, the president of AFGE Local 4070 at USP Thomson, sent a statement to Local 4 News early Friday in response to the reports.

“The dedicated men and women of USP Thomson have unfortunately been subjected to unwarranted scrutiny, criticism, and attacks from radical organizations and irresponsible journalism,” Zumkehr said. “These groups have made outrageous and baseless accusations against the hardworking staff at USP Thomson, even going so far as to claim that the staff has engaged in torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment of individuals under our custody. These allegations hold no merit whatsoever and are completely devoid of factual basis. It is truly disheartening to witness the unjustified assault on the law enforcement officers at USP Thomson without any factual evidence. Such actions not only undermine the trust of the American public but also disregard the principles of the rule of law and the efforts of law enforcement personnel across the nation.”

EARLIER UPDATE: New reports from the Marshall Project/NPR and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs reveal more shocking allegations at the federal prison in Thomson, Ill.

The Marshall Project/NPR report alleges “rampant racism and unnecessary restraint”-in the Special Management Unit (SMU), which is a high-security section of the prison. The SMU was originally housed at Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania, and even then it had a history of high rates of violence among prisoners and shackling by staff, the report says. The SMU in Thomson was closed in February 2023 and about 350 prisoners wee moved to facilities nationwide.

According to the Marshall Project/NPR report, abuse allegations at the prison in Thomson include:

  • Prisoners being beaten by officers while in shackles
  • A “dangerous dearth of mental health care”
  • A system that makes it difficult if not impossible to file complaints against staff, such as denying access to forms or throwing away documents
  • Inmates forced in cells with other inmates who were known to be dangerous
  • Five men died by suspected homicide in SMU.

Many individuals, for fear of retribution, didn’t report the abuse until after they were transferred, the Marshall Project/NPR report says. The report alleges that people who had contacted their attorneys before the transfer suffered retaliation, including having their property destroyed or being forced into shackles, leaving scars on wrists, ankles and stomachs that happened so often, it was called a “Thomson Tattoo.”

The Marshall Project/NPR report shows that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) spokesperson Emery Nelson said he can’t comment on the allegations but said there are “no plans at this time” to reopen the SMU. BOP Director Colette Peters said in a statement that she was committed to “swiftly” investigating the misconduct. “Allegations of employee misconduct will continue to be met with rigorous investigations and decisive action,” she wrote. “A culture not representative of the agency’s core values will not be tolerated.”

A representative from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents staff at the prison, declined to comment to the Marshall Project or NPR.

The union has said in the past that the prison is understaffed, and guards are attacked by prisoners, the Marshall Project/NPR report says.

In its report, the Marshall Project/NPR began investigating the SMU in 2016 when it was still at Lewisburg Penitentiary before being moved to Thomson in 2018.

Staff from the Washington Lawyers’ Project conducted interviews/calls with more than 100 people and received information from more than 120  people in the SMU and published additional and more detailed findings.

According to the Washington Lawyers’ Project, during the time of the investigation, more than 165 staff members participated in violence, abuse or other inhumane treatment at Thomson. More than 35 staff members were involved in four or more separate violent incidents. Other allegations include:

  • BOP and Thomson officials regularly held people in the SMU for far longer than the expected 9-12 month duration of the program; in some cases, for almost four consecutive years.
  • 241 acts of physical violence by guards
  • 178 uses of excessive restraints
  • 136 separate incidents of retaliation against 50+ people
  • 82 people assaulted/violently restrained by guards
  • 39 assaulted while in restraints
  • 28 assaulted or restrained multiple times
  • 13 who were left in four point restraints for 24-96 hours straight
  • 41 people forced into at least one forced-ceiling arrangement (intentionally arranged cell assignments to incite violence.)

The Washington Lawyers’ Project alleges that one SMU staff member locked a Jewish man in with two alleged white supremacist/anti-Semitic gang member inmates. These two people kicked/beat the man unconscious while guards watched, the Washington Lawyers’ Project alleges. He died three days later.

A “trans” (transgender) woman was placed in a cell with an openly anti-LGBTQ+ prisoner who threatened violence until she died, the Washington Lawyers’ Project alleges. When she complained, staff ignored her concerns. She later attempted suicide, the report alleges.

Additionally, the Washington Lawyers’ Project says staff filed false disciplinary charges against inmates for allegedly showing their private parts through cell doors. The inmates then were labeled as sex offenders by staff and the rest of the unit was informed of this. These individuals had no history of this behavior in any of their records and had not been identified as sex offenders prior to being placed in the SMU, the report alleges.

The Washington Lawyers’ Project alleges that staff members opened incoming legal mail, delayed outgoing legal mail and destroyed legal mail people kept in their cells, in violation of both federal regulations and BOP policy.

According to the Washington Lawyers’ Project report, as of September 2022, the BOP had almost 8,000 open employee misconduct cases and only 60 Special Investigative Officers to conduct investigations. The BOP had not imposed discipline in 2,279 other cases where the allegations of misconduct were sustained, the report shows.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois,) chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Thursday released a statement after the reports were published. “Throughout my congressional career, I’ve sought to address injustices facing incarcerated people and their families. Last summer, I was deeply disturbed by reports of abuses at USP Thomson. I called for an investigation, which the Justice Department Inspector General agreed to undertake. The deeply disturbing allegations detailed in today’s reports emphasize the need to expedite this investigation and refer any crimes that may have been committed to the Justice Department for prosecution. Anyone who violated the civil rights of individuals incarcerated at Thomson should be held accountable.

“I strongly supported the BOP Director’s decision to remove the Special Management Unit, or SMU, designation from Thomson. Thomson is a safer prison and BOP would be a safer system – for both incarcerated people and staff – without the SMU. That’s why I am urging BOP to abolish the SMU. I will also continue to press BOP to make sure Thomson reaches its full potential as a safe and secure facility with a focus on rehabilitation and entry.

“I will continue my effort to reduce the use of restricted housing throughout BOP, and I plan to question Director Peters about this issue when I hold another BOP oversight hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee this fall.”

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