ST. LOUIS — The chaos that boiled over in the City Justice Center on Saturday was an organized protest by detainees over inhumane conditions inside the jail, activists said Sunday.
Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) St. Louis held a virtual rally to express its support of the detainees and provide resources to families of those in custody the day after more than 100 in the city jail broke out of their cells, smashed windows and set fires on the fourth floor of the downtown building. A corrections officer was attacked by detainees and had to be hospitalized. He was treated at a hospital and released.
"They are demanding proper heat, they want proper (personal protective equipment), proper clothing and visits from families, who can visit them from the other side of the glass," EXPO St. Louis member Tracy Stanton said in the online news conference Sunday. "This was an act of courage that was staged to reinforce these issues because their needs are still not being met."
