South Carolina Prisoners Were Left in Cells as Florence Descended

South Carolina officials are coming under fire for refusing to relocate prisoners in mandatory evacuation zones even as Hurricane Florence barreled down on the state. Prisoners were instead put to work behind bars making sandbags to prepare for the storm’s arrival. We speak with Kymberly Smith, a community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She has been protesting South Carolina’s choice to not evacuate prisoners during Hurricane Florence.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! as we continue to look at, well, South Carolina officials also coming under fire for refusing to evacuate thousands of prisoners in mandatory evacuation zones as Hurricane Florence barreled down on the state. This is South Carolina Governor McMaster announcing a mandatory evacuation of the state’s coast.

GOV. HENRY McMASTER: This is a real hurricane that we have coming, and our goal is to protect lives and property. Now, we know that this evacuation order that I am issuing is going to be inconvenient for some people. It is going to be inconvenient, but we do not want to risk one South Carolina life in this hurricane.

AMY GOODMAN: Prisoners at MacDougall Correctional Institution in Berkeley County and Ridgeland Correctional Institution in Jasper County were forced to remain in the prisons when Hurricane Florence hit, despite evacuation orders. For more, we are joined by another guest in Columbia, South Carolina, Kymberly Smith, community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. She has been protesting South Carolina’s choice not to evacuate prisoners during the hurricane. Kymberly, welcome to Democracy Now! Explain what happened.

KYMBERLY SMITH: What happened, to begin with, after the Lee Correctional incident in April ’15, we have having ongoing demonstrations to bring light of what is going on and how those incarcerated are treated in Columbia and South Carolina in general. One…

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