“If they want to act like animals, they would be treated like animals.” Former lieutenant Matthew Ware said that when he ordered guards to move Black pretrial detainees to a row that held neo-Nazis.
Ware was known for his other violent punishments, including handcuffing incarcerated people at this Oklahoma jail to a bench in a stretched-out position, like they were on a crucifix.
Now years later, Ware will be going to prison himself.
But other dangerous guards still have power in prisons. And people who try to speak out about it get punished. That tracks for an inherently anti-Black system.
The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office said Ware’s conviction “is a prompt reminder that no one is above the law.” But isn’t the law itself violent? How many people get stripped of their power for what they did, let alone face accountability?
Just because this prison officer received a 46-month sentence doesn’t mean the system “works.” They might treat us like animals, but we’re not dogs they can throw a bone. Ware is part of a bigger problem, and that’s a problem that needs to be abolished.