Reports reveal guards at Alligator Alcatraz detention center wear intimidating skull and grim reaper patches, raising concerns about human rights, detainee treatment, and official oversight.
Guards at Alligator Alcatraz, the infamous migrant detention center in the Everglades west of Miami, wear patches with skulls and sinister messages on their uniforms. One design shows a grim reaper with a scythe over an alligator skeleton next to the text: “Alligator Alcatraz” and, in English, “You Can’t Hide,” surrounded by small skulls and with a background that resembles prison bars.
The use of the patches came to light last week when a guard gave one to Courtney Prokopas, an activist protesting outside the center. Prokopas told EL PAÍS that she was with other people, holding a sign that read “Shame,” when she saw the guard come out. He approached her and told her he had been fired for getting into a fight with another guard. She saw the patch and asked to take a picture of it. Then he ripped it off, which was attached with Velcro to the sleeve of his uniform, and gave it to her. “You can keep it,” he said. “I have them made and give them to people.”
The badges have added a disturbing new element to the controversial center, which has been cited in reports by Amnesty International and other organizations for human rights violations, dehumanizing conditions, and treatment that amounts to torture.
A man who was detained at the center for months said that most of the guards wear some kind of patch, sometimes several at once. The designs, which he estimates to be about 15 different ones, share a common theme: grim reapers and skulls. According to the man, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, the guards use them to show off in front of the detainees and intimidate them: “They tell you they are your executioners, that you won’t get out of there alive,” and that “you’ll never see the light of day again. It’s like hell.”
It is unclear whether the patch design was officially approved or if it reflects internal messages from security personnel. Critical Response Strategies, the Jacksonville-based security firm contracted by the State of Florida for which the guards work, did not respond to a request for comment. The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), which manages the facility, and the Department of Homeland Security also did not respond.
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