Federal inmate killed in Florence, third such U.S. prison death in a month

WASHINGTON — A national captive astatine a high-security penitentiary successful Colorado died Monday successful an altercation with different inmate, marking the 3rd clip an inmate has been killed successful a U.S. national situation successful the past month.

Jamarr Thompson, 33, was pronounced dormant Monday day astatine USP Florence, soon aft situation unit members responded to the fight, the Bureau of Prisons said.

Thompson’s decease was the latest information contented for the national situation system, which has been plagued by chronic violence, superior misconduct and persistent staffing shortages. His decease besides comes arsenic the Justice Department is facing mounting unit from Democrats successful Congress to instrumentality enactment to betterment the agency.

Last month, a 61-year-old antheral died aft an altercation astatine USP Tucson successful Arizona. And a 32-year-old antheral was killed past week aft a combat with different captive astatine USP Canaan successful Waymart, Pa.

The Bureau of Prisons said unit members were called to respond to an altercation betwixt Thompson and different inmate astir 2:30 p.m. and “promptly initiated life-saving measures,” but Thompson was pronounced dormant by exigency aesculapian crews. The different inmate progressive successful the combat was treated for insignificant injuries, officials said.

Thompson was serving a condemnation of much than 5 years for attempted slope robbery and had been held astatine the situation — which is location to much than 700 antheral inmates — since March.

The situation analyzable successful Florence is location to respective national prisons, including the alleged supermax, which houses immoderate of the country’s astir notorious prisoners.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the president of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called connected Attorney General Merrick Garland to occurrence Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, saying helium has failed to adequately code the myriad crises plaguing the agency.

In doubling down connected his telephone for Carvajal’s firing past week, Durbin, D.-Ill., pointed to a bid of caller convulsive incidents wrong the national situation system, including an onslaught successful November astatine FCI Fort Dix, a low-security situation successful Burlington County, N.J., that is tally by the aforesaid warden who was successful complaint of a Manhattan national jailhouse erstwhile financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. An inmate was stabbed successful the eyeball successful that attack.