On April 12, 2020, an incident occurred on GHU at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility during night recreation. Staff refused to allow people to return to their cells after showering, or to clean their cells to stop the spread of Covid-19, and the Sergeant threatened anyone who questioned him. When the people caged on the unit attempted to make their grievances known to a superior officer, the Sergeant on the unit attacked them with rubber bullets. Then, the officers on the unit conspired to fabricate rioting charges against the dorm representative, Quentin Abbott #988177, and had him transferred to solitary confinement in the Secure Housing Unit, where he was held without clothes, bedding, or hygiene for several days. The full story in Quentin’s own words is below.
Please call & email IDOC Central Office to demand that the rioting charge (WVS20-04-0009) against Quentin Abbott from the incident on April 12, 2020 be dropped, because he is innocent of the charges and has been subjected to serious violations of his due process & civil rights.
Email IDOC Chief Counsel Robert Bugher: rbugher@idoc.in.gov
Call IDOC Central Office: (317) 232-5711, ext. 2, ext. 3, ext. 2
Sample Script:
“Hello, I am [calling/emailing] on behalf of Mr. Quentin Abbott, #988177, who is being held in the SHU at Wabash Valley CF on false charges for rioting. In case number WVS 20-04-0009, Mr. Abbott has been subjected to serious violations of his due process rights under IDOC Policy & Procedure 02-04-101, “The Disciplinary Code for Adult Offenders.” Specifically, the disciplinary hearing officer Ms. L. Wadhwan was not a fair or impartial tribunal. She disregarded all of Mr. Abbott’s presented evidence which pointed out all the fabricated facts and statements in the conduct report, and the officers’ witness statements, as well as all the inconsistencies therein. She also gave Mr. Abbott sanctions that were retaliatory in nature, in that out of the 25 or more people involved, Mr. Abbott is the only one given 6 months disciplinary time, even though he has by far the best conduct history over the past 6 years out of all involved. Also, he was denied the evidence he requested prior to the hearing in order to prepare an adequate and thorough defense to the alleged misconduct. Said requested evidence items were the Report of Investigation, Report of use of Physical Force, Sgt. Barker’s conduct history, IDOC Report of Incident, and a fully detailed video of the incident. They provided an edited version of the video of the incident, which excluded the officers’ conduct.
The incident involved violations of the incarcerated peoples’ 8th amendment rights, in that Sgt. Barker used unnecessary and excessive force, against people who were not being disruptive or exhibiting violent, or aggressive behavior until after the Sergeant shot them multiple times. The inmates simply wanted to speak to a superior officer about the threats Sgt. Barker had made towards the offender population and Mr. Abbott. The threats show his malicious intent to inflict harm.”
Quentin’s Account of the Incident
On the evening of April 12, 2020 at approximately 7:15pm, GHU upper right recreation line was released. During the first half of recreation, Sgt. Barker summoned offender Brett Madingly-Head, (of GHU 406) to the intercom and informed him that since the “offenders” had made ℅ Henderson leave the dorm the previous night, he was going to be hard on them.
I exited my cell (GHU 402) at approximately 7:45pm and immediately proceeded to the upper range middle shower (6) and took a shower. While in the shower I witnessed the officers’ refusals to open the cell doors for several people who were attempting to clean their cells, as well as those attempting to return to their cells after showering.
Mr. Dent #890623 of GHU 414 went to the dayroom intercom and spoke with Sgt. Baker, who informed him that he was the new Sergeant on the bracket, and this was how he was going to run the cellhouse. At the conclusion of their conversation, Mr. Dent went to his cell, which is located immediately next to the shower I was in. I asked Mr. Dent what he had discussed with Sgt. Barker, and Mr. Dent informed me of their conversation.
Upn exiting the shower I proceeded to my cell and verbally requested my cell door be opened so I could take care of my hygiene and put on my clothes. My request was denied. So I proceeded downstairs, where several I spoke with several people, including Brett Madingly-Head about the officers’ conduct and Sgt. Barker’s threats. Being the dorm representative, I approached the control booth and requested to speak with Sgt. Barker in an effort to resolve the grievances and concerns of the offender population, as my job description entails. Upon Sgt. Barker coming to the control booth’s window, I asked him if he had indeed conveyed such threats to the “offender” population via Brett Madingly-Head.
Before I could even complete my inquiry, Sgt. Barker confirmed that he was indeed going to be hard on the “offenders,” because they had made a female officer leave the unit the night before, and that was that. I then requested to speak with his superior officer, Lieutenant Coakley. Sgt. Barker stated that he was the “acting Lieutenant.” I again requested to speak with his superior, thenI went to my cell location where I got properly dressed, retrieved a bottle of water, and proceeded back downstairs.
Once downstairs, I sat at the table-dining area of the dayroom, to await Lieutenant Coakley and to wait for the “offender” population to be “secured,” so that I could perform my other job duties as one of the 2 Covid-19 sanitation workers (whose job description is to sanitize high-traffic areas at the conclusion of each recreation line). While I was waiting, ℅ J. Smith called me to the control booth’s window and asked me if he and I were good. I informed him we were, and asked him to call Lt. Coakley because of the Sergeant’s behavior and the threats he had issued. I then returned to where I was seated.
At that time, several other people also came and sat with me, and informed staff that they too wished to speak with the lieutenant. Shortly thereafter, I and all the other offenders seated took notice of Sgt. Barker, who was in the control booth’s window with a 40mm weapon. Upon seeing that he had a weapon, I and others retrieved various objects (property box lids, tray lids, trash can lids, etc) to take shelter behind. At this time, the offenders secured in their cells began yelling and banging. Almost immediately, I began to hear Sgt. Barker screaming something incoherent and simultaneously firing rubber bullets at the area where I and others were seated.
After Sergeant Baker had fired several rounds, which struck numerous people, some began throwing water bottles in an effort to get Sgt. Barker to stop shooting. He continued shooting us, firing until he ran out of ammunition. Then, he closed the control booth’s windows, and all offenders took this opportunity to return to their cells and secure.
A little whil
e later, Captain White, Sgt. Barker, Sgt. Eaton, and an officer unknown to me walked the unit and then came to my cell. I was ordered by Sgt. Baker to “cuff-up” and I was placed in restraints and escorted to the SHU administrative segregation unit, where I am currently being held pending a conduct report for “rioting.” The conduct report’s “Description of Incident” is fabricated and inconsistent with witness statements provided by Sgt. Ashton Barker and Sgt. Blake Eaton, there is video footage of the incident that will affirm all of my assertions and clearly dispute the officers’ conduct report and witness statements.
℅ Jesse Smith is the officer who wrote the conduct report, which is a class A103 for the offense of rioting. The “Description of Incident” reads as follows,
On April 12. 2020, at approximately 20:30 hours, multiple offenders on the right wing of GHU refused to lock up after recreation. After giving several orders for the offenders to return to their cells and all orders being refused, I, ℅ Smith, contacted Sgt. Baker for assistance. The offenders, including offender Quentin Abbott #988177, continued to refuse orders and used property boxes, trash can lids, and tables to hide behind while throwing bottles and other miscellaneous items at the pod. Sgt Baker then broke the lock for the GHU weapons box and deployed multiple rounds in an effort to disperse the offenders and get them to return to their cells . All offenders did return to their assigned cell and the unit was secured. It should be noted that offender Abbott was encouraging the disturbance by giving other offenders orders and directions.
Sgt. Blake Eaton’s witness statement reads as follows:
On 4/12/20 at approximately 8:30pm, I, Sgt. Eaton, did witness Sgt. Barker give orders to the offenders on the right side of GHU to look up after recreation to which they did not comply. After several warnings to lock up, the offenders began to hide behind property boxes, tables, and many other objects as they still refused to go back to their assigned cells. It was at that time, Sgt. Barker, used the 40mm weapon in GHU to gain compliance from the offenders. After multiple shots, the offenders complied and returned to their cells.
Sgt. Ashton Barker’s witness statement reads as follows:
On 4/12/2020, I Sgt. A. Barker was called to the right wing of GHU due to offenders refusing to lock up after recreation. I gave several orders advising the offenders to lock up, which were all refused. At the time I retrieved the 40mm gas gun once again ordered the offenders to return to their cells. Upon seeing the gas gun, the offenders began hiding behind tables, property boxes, and trash can lids, while throwing objects at the pod. I then discharged multiple rounds from the gas gun in an effort to gain compliance. After the discharging of the gas gun, the offenders then returned to their cells and the unit was secured.
Below are the numerous inconsistencies:
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Sgt. Barker’s and Sgt. Ashton’s statements contradict ℅ J. Smith’s “Description of Incident” report.
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Both sergeant’s witness statements vary and are fabricated; however the one consistency between the two statements is that the “offenders” took shelter behind various objects upon noticing Sgt. Barker armed with the 40mm weapon.
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Both ℅ J. Smith and Sgt. Barker fabricated lies in their statements, where they allege other “offenders” and I hid behind various objects and began throwing bottles and other miscellaneous objects at the pod, once noticing Sgt. Baker armed with the 40mm weapon. In fact, no offender threw anything until Sgt. Barker had fired several rounds of rubber bullets. Camera footage will confirm this.
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In ℅ J. Smith’s “Description of Incident” report, he states that he had to contact Sgt. Barker for assistance. If Sgt. Barker was not present, how is it you have multiple offenders’ statements and ℅ J. Smith’s witness statement stating he was present, plus imprisoned people alleging that he is the person who provoked and caused this entire incident due to the threats he communicated to the GHU right wing population.
Sgt. Barker not only provoked the entire incident, but he used unnecessary and excessive force. He used rubber bullets, not gas or chemical agents, on all twenty-five of the people involved, who were not acting violent, disruptive, or threatening. We simply requested to speak to his superior and remained seated at the dining tables until we saw Sgt. Barker armed with the 40mm weapon, at which time we took shelter out of fear of being shot and injured.
Furthermore, I am the only person who was removed from the dorm and placed in segregation, where from April 12, 2020 until April 15, 2020 I was not provided any hygiene or clothing even though I made several staff members aware I was without clothing, bedding, and hygiene. Also, on 4/16/20 I attempted to send my friend Kyle Moorehead several (6) messages pertaining to this incident via GTL’s email service, and on 4/17/20 I received notification that all of the messages were deemed inappropriate and not delivered. None of the messages contained anything that could possibly be deemed inappropriate or pose a security threat; they simply do not want this incident getting out to the public and the authorities.
