TPI is posting advocacy letters we have written to provide examples of violence against persons in prison, primarily against trans and queer persons in Texas prisons. Personal identifying information has been removed for all incarcerated persons, and named staff or other persons causing harm is removed on a case by case basis.
Content warning: Some of these letters describe threats and incidents of violence that may be disturbing. We will note whether each letter is considered a low, moderate, or high risk for being disturbing. We consider this letter to be moderate risk.
The person we are advocating for in this letter, a trans woman, provided a detailed description of being assaulted by a ranking officer and guards after a disciplinary hearing. The Captain mentioned in this letter as an assailant has been reported to TPI an number of times as being disrespectful, unprofessional, and an instigator or perpetrator of violence against persons in TDCJ custody, particularly LGBTQ+ persons.
TDCJ staff have a saying: “we protect our own.” Although there may be descriptions of this statement that have more honorable justification, what this statement often means is that staff will cover up violence against incarcerated persons committed by other staff.
In responding to this report, TDCJ’s “independent” ombudsman simply parroted the statement from staff at the unit who claimed that the person “attempted to head butt an officer.” No attempt to verify the veracity of that statement was made, and no video or audio recordings were reviewed. It is common for staff to claim that there was some “attempt” to do do something as an excuse for violence, in this case being used to justify assaulting someone who was in hand restraints and could not defend themselves. Any use of force is generally considered improper against someone in hand restraints.
It may be worth noting that in the 2021 Texas legislative session, HB 1598 and SB 1980 proposed creating a new independent ombudsman separate from TDCJ as an oversight agency. TDCJ seems to have responded by creating their own “independent” ombudsman office, probably to make the argument that an actual independent agency is not needed because they already have a supposedly independent oversight group. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of TPI’s responses from the “independent” ombudsman simply repeat the findings (and excuses) of staff at the units where the incidents occurred.