Report Written by Christopher Folk
Trigger Warning: Descriptions of torture and abuse of inmates
September 15th, 2024 – Ekong Eshiet and his cellmate Trayvon Brown set the lower half of their bodies on fire. Faced with conditions of absolute depravity and daily human rights abuses, self-immolation seemed like the best and possibly only way to get out of Red Onion State Prison (ROSP) – even if it was only a temporary reprieve for medical recovery. Ekong and Trayvon were not alone in their decisions as over one dozen Black men incarcerated at the isolated, Virginian Supermax facility spontaneously and independently found fire to be the only way out. These individuals were left untreated for days, then, without warning, were transported to the other side of the state to undergo emergency surgery all the while told by “correctional officers” that they would be facing hell once they returned to Red Onion.
These threats were made good on – Ekong launched a hunger strike upon his return to the facility. On the seventh day, he was beaten in retaliation by a gang of correctional officers so viciously he feared for his life and decided to relinquish his hunger strike. Every single inmate who self-immolated faced varying levels of torture from “correctional officers” upon their return to Red Onion – ranging from physical abuse, tear gassing, macing, death threats from guards, medical neglect, placement of foreign objects in food or the outright withholding of food via “ghost trays”, extreme isolation with no ability to communicate with the outside world, or the alteration of prescribed medication. It was by sheer luck that Ekong happened to be in the ROSP infirmary at the same time as prisoner-activist and long time Prison Radio contributor Kevin “Rashid” Johnson, who himself was in a weakened state as the result of a 71-day hunger strike, that Ekong was connected to activists, advocates, and media platforms including Prison Radio.
Since that point in time, three of the most outspoken individuals – Demetrius Wallace, Ekong Eshiet, and Kevin “Rashid” Johnson – have been transferred to prisons in other states hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Demetrius, who set himself on fire twice last September, was transferred to Maine State Prison where he has been able to access education programming and the ability to regularly communicate with his family. Ekong was transferred to Westville Correctional Facility in Indiana where he continues to languish in solitary confinement. While no longer subject to daily abuses from prison staff and gaining access to regularly communicate with loved ones on the outside, Ekong spends 23 to 24 hours a day in a tiny cell without access to educational or therapeutic programming and no end date for his solitary confinement besides his release date in 2029.
Donate to the Ekong Commissary Fund
Of the three, Kevin “Rashid” Johnson has received the most brutal treatment through his involuntary transfer to South Carolina’s Perry Correctional Facility. There Rashid has been subjected to and witnessed some of the most horrifying and savage treatment of inmates that he has experienced in his multiple decades in America’s Gulag Archipelago. Being held in the infamous Restrictive Housing Unit, Rashid was forced to sleep on a concrete slab without any form of bedding, hygiene materials, books, or his legal documents; fed woefully inadequate meals; and completely cut off from communicating with anybody on the outside, including lawyers, save for two letters a month. He continues to suffer a respiratory infection as well as a dental abscess that he has scheduled outside treatment for, but is being denied by the prison.
Use your voice to advocate for Rashid!
Meanwhile, the human rights abuses at Red Onion have not abated. A VA-based inside-out, grassroots activist organization, UPROAR, have gathered dozens of reports from inmates who are undergoing unfathomable torment. Treatment has ranged from severely limited if not altogether eliminated contact with the outside, such as is experienced by Frank Reid (#1063812) and Randy Lassiter (#1490582); withholding of food via “ghost trays”, i.e. food trays that are delivered without a meal, which Denis Rivera (#1125686) has been subjected to for speaking out; wide spread medical neglect for those with disabilities and even extremely contagious disease like MRSA, h.pylori, and scabies which have all been spreading in the facility; to sexual and transphobic abuse such as that which Raven Blackheart (#1918138), a trans-woman incarcerated at Red Onion experienced while being targeted by “correctional officers”.
In a situation that encapsulates why inmates are continuing to set themselves on fire at Red Onion and its sister facility, Wallens Ridge, Usamah Woodley (#2034732) describes witnessing his cellmate Bilal Coleman (#1999300) get severely beaten in their cell while both were handcuffed and subjected to racist epithets by a group of 5-6 prison guards. While Bilal was dragged away and Usamah was left waiting, terrified for his life, he self-immolated on his lower extremities. Usamah was denied any serious form of medical treatment for two weeks, and he was only removed from his cell after threatening to self-immolate again. However, instead of being removed from his cell for medical treatment, he was once again beaten, to the point of unconsciousness, by a group of prison guards in the medical facility then forced to wipe his own blood up with his socks. Other inmates describe having to clean up the residue left by the fire extinguishers used on the people, such as Justin Harrell (#1902762), who are choosing to, often repeatedly like Charles Coleman (#1399215), self immolated.
And on June 4th, 2025, Aubrey McKay was murdered by the VADOC and the “correctional officers” at Wallens Ridge. His death was the horrific result of multiple beatings while being held in full restraints. Aubrey was only weeks away from being released, and his family is left to mourn the death of their son.
Donate directly to Aubrey’s family here
Terrified of the outside world knowing what it is like inside their facilities, VADOC has decided to use collective punishment and retaliation to suppress resistance. Following the spate of self-immolations last fall, ROSP coerced inmates into signing “Safety Agreements” in which they had to promise not to hurt themselves or have electricity in their cells cut. On May 20, Red Onion’s Warden, Dave Anderson, issued a memo with the subject line “Red Line Compliance” authorizing the use of force, which includes the use of live ammunition, to keep inmates behind red lines painted on the ground. The station at which prisoners can file grievances is behind these red lines. On May 23rd, Timothy Anthony (#1830842) was shot multiple times by prison guards for stepping beyond a red line to greet a friend. Access to commissary, JPay – the app which allows inmates to send emails to the outside, food trays, and electricity are routinely restricted for those who complain or simply refuse to comply with the demands of the prison. More recently entire units within various facilities are being subjected to the same depravations as a form of collective punishment, as reported by UPROAR.
Meanwhile, the independent investigation that was promised by the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) in December 2024 has yet to materialize, and if anything, has been used to discredit the experiences and testimony of inmates. NPR was able to successfully use the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to exchanges between the OSIG and Red Onion prison administration in which the prison administration was allowed to form its own investigation team which reported back to the OSIG that there was “no staff misconduct”. Ekong Eshiet reported that on July 9th he spoke with Tony Nelson from the VA OSIG for more than 15 minutes, describing in detail the horrific conditions at the facility that led him to self immolate. Nelson displayed visible disinterest and at the end of the conversation asked, in a tone that dripped with condescension, what really made Ekong set himself on fire.
Human rights violations are the norm at Wallens Ridge and Red Onion. One thing is clear above all – these facilities must be shut down! In the meantime, your voice can be a powerful tool. Making phone calls, submitting formal complaints, writing to officials and representatives and holding the government oversight boards’ feet to the flames, and keeping these facilities and the appalling treatment of the people within their walls in the public light are all things we can each do right now. Visit UPROAR’s website to find the dozens of ways you can get involved and use your voice to protest these horrors.
