Driving down Gainesville Road toward Lowell Correctional Institution, Aniesha “Tatu” Austin’s stomach clenched and her eyes filled with tears.
Since her release from the prison in March, she’s returned half a dozen times. Nonetheless, as she approached the compound Saturday to protest alongside other ex-inmates and prison reform advocates, she found herself overwhelmed with emotion once again.
“You don’t notice how heavy the abuse is until you get out and look back,” said Austin, 47, who served 25 years at Lowell.
Tanya Pasternak, a 43-year-old Spring Hill resident, and Crystal Chisholm, a 28-year-old Jacksonville resident, hold up signs on the side of the road in front of the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala on Saturday, protesting the abuse of inmates by police officers. “It’s been going on for years,” Chisholm said. “And it needs to change and it needs to stop.”
Austin was one of nearly 60 women, men and children who traveled from all over Florida to Lowell, one of the largest women’s prisons in the nation. They gathered outside the prison, which is 40 minutes south of Gainesville, to protest inmate abuse and the beating of inmate Cheryl Weimar.
Weimar, a 51-year-old inmate who was assaulted by guards and left paralyzed on Aug. 21, is said to have a history of mental and physical disabilities, according to the civil rights lawsuit filed against the Florida Department of Corrections.
Dressed in powder blue T-shirts, protesters stood side-by-side in front of the compound holding posters and banners with photos of Weimar. Some stood silently with bright pink tape covering their mouths.
Janice Spears, a 49-year-old Bronson resident, and a former corrections officer at Lowell, speaks on her experience working in the institution and how the protestors have to advocate for those who go unheard.
Debra Bennett, a 51-year-old ex-inmate of the prison and the organizer of the protest, said she and others are hoping to bring awareness to the abuse at Lowell while also demanding accountability for Weimar’s attack.
The officers responsible for her beating have yet to be charged or fired, Bennett said.
“We are going on two months since the beating on Aug. 21. There haven’t even been names released,” Bennett said. “We’re not gonna let people forget what happened.”
Weimar is now being held at the Florida Women’s Reception Center, which is directly across the street from Lowell. Bennett said Weimar is being monitored by officers from the same agency as those who are accused of attacking her.
Joanna Macphelemy, a 35-year-old Leesburg resident, comforts Jordan Waller, an 18-year-old Ocoee resident.
The Alligator emailed and called the Florida Department of Corrections multiple times for comment but received no response as of Sunday evening.
This protest wasn’t the first that Bennett organized following the attack. On Sept. 7, protesters gathered outside the prison in a similar fashion. Bennett said that since then, their network of advocates has grown.
The majority of protesters were former inmates. Their loved ones, prison reform activists and former correctional officers also came to support Weimar.
Janice Spears, a 49-year-old resident of Bronson, Florida, was one of several former correctional officers who protested. Spears said she resigned from her position at Lowell about five years ago to pursue a new path as a caretaker.
“You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. The officers that are in [Lowell] — quit being the problem,” Spears said. “Please, stop abusing these women.”
Maureen Houston, a 59-year-old Saint Petersburg resident, protests Saturday outside the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala. She has been out of prison for 8 years.
