Uprising at DeSantis' Infamous "Gator Gitmo"

Guards at Florida's “Gator Gitmo” immigration jail deployed tear gas and engaged in a mass beating of detainees to quell a mini-uprising.  The allegations, made by at least three detainees in phone calls to Miami’s Spanish language news channel Noticias 23, come as authorities race to empty the camp in compliance with a judge’s order to close the remote tented camp in the Everglades. 

The incident took place after several migrants held there began shouting for “freedom” after one received news a relative had died. A team of guards then rushed in and began beating individuals indiscriminately with batons, and fired teargas at them, the detainees said.

“They’ve beaten everyone here, a lot of people have bled. Brother, teargas. We are immigrants, we are not criminals, we are not murderers,” one of the men reportedly told Noticias 23 in a call.  The detainees claimed a fire alarm was sounding continuously, and a helicopter was heard circling overhead.  Reports of “inhumane” conditions and brutality at the camp, where migrants are held in metal cages as they await deportation, have become commonplace. 

Kathleen Williams, a federal judge in Miami, last week ordered Alligator Alcatraz to close within 60 days for breaching environmental laws, and on Wednesday refused a motion by attorneys for the state of Florida and the Trump administration to stay her order.

Protesters who have maintained an almost constant presence at the jail’s gates since its July 2 opening said they were unaware of any incident amounting to an uprising, but have chronicled other reports of abuse taking place there.  “People held inside the facility were on hunger strike for more than 14 days, despite the DeSantis administration denying it. “[An uprising] would not surprise me given the abuses that people have experienced.”said Noelle Damico, director of social justice at the Workers Circle.