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Compared to a zoo and “treated like animals.”
That’s what military veteran Sean Cory said happens behind prison walls. He was arrested last summer for allegedly discharging a firearm in a Yigo neighborhood and for drug possession.
Cory shared he’s a disabled vet who struggles with drug addiction and suicidal ideation.
“They don’t segregate. I’m a veteran with PTSD. I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody. But I wouldn’t want to kill myself either because what they did to this guy was so inhumane,” Cory said.
He spent about twenty-five days in quarantine at the Department of Corrections (DOC) facility in Hagatna a few months ago.
There, he said, he met a scared 21-year-old prisoner named Charles. “Me and my cellmate, we opened up to him and said, ‘Hey man you’re okay with us. We’re not going to hurt you.’ My wife was chuukese and we’ve been married for over 23 years. So I started to sing to him in chuukese and made him laugh. He laughed and everything was okay. He seemed to be fine,” Cory shared.
Later that night, he woke up in shock to find what Charles was doing.
Cory explained, “He got this rope and there’s some sort of string from a blanket and wrapped it around his neck three times. And he was turning purple and blue. And I said, ‘Oh god, not on my watch.”
Cory and his cellmate jumped into action, saving the 21-year-old’s life. Despite calls for help, he claimed it took guards about 15 minutes to respond but it’s what they allegedly said in response that made him worry even more.
Cory said, “They asked me a question that made me feel like, ‘Man, the people of Guam need to know this. This ain’t right. We’re not animals.’ They said, ‘Why didn’t you just leave him and let him kill himself?’ and I said, ‘Why would I do that? We’re still human beings.’”
Cory claimed the guards stripped the prisoner down to his underwear and left him on the ground the whole night.
“They said, ‘Leave him alone, he’ll survive.’ I said, ‘Man, he needs medical attention! He has rope burns, he’s spitting up his saliva, and he went into convulsions. Check him out.’” He said.
Cory said guards told him the medics were on their way but they apparently never came.
Charles made a second attempt.
While he survived and was released from quarantine soon after, the incident left Cory questioning the prison system.
“The message that I have for all DOC guards is that could be your brother, that could be your nephew. The constitution or the way we live, we’re all innocent until proven guilty. So they got to treat us humanely. We’re not animals. We’re not criminals yet. We haven’t been sentenced,” Cory expressed.