Connect with us

Arizona

Prisoners use locks as weapons in video that appears to show fight in Arizona prison

Published

on

Prisoners use locks as weapons in video that appears to show fight in Arizona prison


play

  • A video appearing to depict a fight within an Arizona prison, involving makeshift weapons, has surfaced on social media.
  • Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry officials have stated they will address inquiries about the video next week.
  • The incident’s location and date remain unconfirmed.

A video capturing a fight in what appears to be an Arizona prison was posted on social media, showing a man bloodied and being followed by two others with makeshift flails — metal locks hanging from the ends of tethers.

Representatives of Arizona’s prison system declined to immediately comment on the 3-minute video.

Advertisement

The combatants were dressed in orange pants and shirts with “ADC” stamped on them.

It’s not clear when or where the video was shot. It follows a fight between one man and two others that moves from inside a building, through a doorway and outside into a prison yard. No correctional officers or prison personnel are visible at any point in the footage that appears to be shot on a cell phone.

Cell phones are considered contraband in Arizona prisons and are prohibited. How the person filming the video obtained the device was unclear.

Arizona’s prison system is run by the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry. Reached by email on May 16, department officials said they would respond to The Arizona Republic’s inquiries about the video, including whether they could confirm it had been filmed in an Arizona prison, next week.

On April 4, three men were killed inside the Cimarron Unit at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson. The Department of Corrections identified Ricky Wassenaar, a violent repeat offender serving 16 life sentences for a 2004 attempted prison escape that turned into a hostage crisis, as the sole suspect in the triple homicide. Saul Alvarez, 51, Thorne Harnage, 42, and Donald Lashley, 75, were the men killed.

Advertisement

The incident prompted strong criticism from state lawmakers, including House Judiciary Chair Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, who demanded accountability from the department and questioned why Wassenaar was placed in a lower-security unit despite repeated warnings and past disciplinary violations.

3-minute video shows conflict move through multiple prison areas

The video begins with two men on the ground, legs interlocked, wrestling away from each other.

One man, with long black hair, stands up holding an orange tether. At the end of it swings a metal combination lock — he holds it like a weapon.

Advertisement

Another man, with short black hair, still on the ground, pushes himself backward. His face and clothes are bloodied.

In the background, voices can be heard.

“Joseph, give me the password.”

“Get the (expletive) out of here.”

“You want the password?”

Advertisement

“Let him go. Let him go, man.”

The bloodied man stumbles to his feet and backs out of the frame. The man with the makeshift flail follows, and another man, also in orange, holding a tethered lock, joins behind him.

The room comes into view: white cinderblock walls, waist-high dividers, rows of bunk beds and two long, rectangular windows letting in sunlight.

The second man with a flail steps forward and feigns a move. The man with short hair picks up a chair, trying to shield himself.

Heavy breathing fills the audio. Someone off-camera says, “Go on, get out of here.”

Advertisement

The camera dips behind a wall and then shows the scene again. One man holds his lock by his shoulder, ready to strike. The other crouches behind the chair, blood on his face and shoulder.

“You want me to leave or not? Move,” says the bloodied man.

“Leave right now,” one of the men replies, pointing.

Then to the other: “Bro, just get the (expletive) over here, on this side. Hurry up.”

“There — go,” the man with long hair says, motioning at the man with the chair.

Advertisement

“Alright. Password?” the man with the chair asks, holding his hand up.

“I don’t give a (expletive),” comes the response.

The bloodied man walks away through an open doorway, and the long-haired man with the flail follows.

“Leave. Leave, (expletive),” the man with long hair yells, walking out the door.

The camera follows them outside.

Advertisement

A cement walkway cuts between blue buildings on one side and a tall metal fence on the other.

The two men face off again. The bloodied man, still carrying the chair, suddenly throws it and runs.

The man with the flail catches him. Grabs him. The second man with a weapon rushes in, swinging his lock. It hits.

The bloodied man falls, a trail of dust lifting as he rolls away.

He gets back up near the metal fence, barbed wire above him, then takes off along the edge.

Advertisement

“(Expletive) the rat,” someone says off camera.

The bloodied man walks off into the distance. The two men stalk after him.

In the background, a loud banging sound — like wheels hitting seams in the concrete — echoes as the camera trails far behind and the video ends.

Video reflects known dangers in Arizona prisons, advocate says

Maria Morris, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, reviewed the video and said it reflected troubling patterns reported by incarcerated people in Arizona, including assaults involving improvised weapons such as locks in socks.

Morris, whose work focuses on solitary confinement, said many people are placed into general population units despite warning staff that they do not feel safe.

Advertisement

Prisoners often feel unsafe after they opt out of prison gang affiliation by signing what’s known as an “Integrated Housing Program agreement,” which indicates a willingness to be housed with people of any race, Morris said. In Arizona prisons, that decision can mark someone as a target.

Often, prison staff tell them they must go into the general housing unit anyway, she said.

“They are told that they need to stay on the unit until they are threatened or assaulted,” she said.

Afterward, they’re typically moved into solitary confinement — sometimes for months — before the cycle repeats, Morris said.



Source link

Advertisement

Arizona

Autopsies show Arizona teens were both shot in the head while camping

Published

on

Autopsies show Arizona teens were both shot in the head while camping


play

  • Two teenagers were fatally shot while camping northeast of Phoenix in May 2025.
  • Both Evan Clark, 17, and Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, were shot in the head, autopsy reports said.
  • A 31-year-old man was arrested and indicted on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths.

A 17-year-old boy who was fatally shot while camping with a female classmate northeast of Phoenix died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to the first page of his autopsy report.

Evan Clark, 17, and Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, were camping just off State Route 87 near Mount Ord when the two were shot and killed. Investigators discovered their bodies, which had been moved into nearby brush to conceal them, on May 26, 2025.

Advertisement

The first page of Clark’s autopsy report, which The Arizona Republic obtained March 3, found that his death was a homicide with multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The first page of Kjolsrud’s autopsy report also ruled her death a homicide with her cause of death being gunshot wounds to the head and upper body.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detectives ultimately arrested Thomas Brown, 31, of Chandler on Oct. 2, 2025, in connection with their deaths. Brown was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and remained in jail on a $2 million cash-only bond.

Detectives found Brown’s DNA on gloves inside Clark’s SUV that had Kjolsrud’s blood on them as well, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Partial autopsy reports made available following legal fight

While The Republic has obtained the first pages of both Clark’s and Kjolsrud’s autopsy reports, the remaining pages appeared to remain sealed as of March 3 since Simone Kjolsrud, Pandora’s mother, petitioned to have the autopsy reports sealed or redacted. Simone Kjolsrud argued that various details about her daughter and aspects of her personal life, potentially included in such documents, should remain private and outweigh the public’s right to know.

Advertisement

A Sept. 25, 2025, motion that sought to block the report’s release argued the report could contain information law enforcement hasn’t yet shared and could impair the ongoing criminal investigation.

“Simone Kjolsrud fears that, if released, her daughter’s Medical Examiner’s Report may end up on the internet or be broadcast on the news, which would undoubtedly cause additional trauma and even jeopardize her constitutional right to justice in this case,” the motion stated.

Kjolsrud asked that Clark’s autopsy be sealed as well, arguing that it would likely contain details similar to her daughter’s.

Matthew Kelley, an attorney representing The Republic and other Arizona media outlets, previously objected to the autopsies being sealed and asked that the temporary protective order be vacated.

Advertisement

“To be sure, these killings are particularly traumatic for a surviving family member,” Kelley wrote in his objection. “But the pain felt by a family member cannot override the public’s right to inspect public records reflecting the performance of law enforcement and other public agencies entrusted with investigating such crimes. A veil of secrecy only raises unnecessary speculation about such public performance.”

It was not immediately clear whether Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Fish, who initially ordered the autopsies remain sealed as he reviewed their contents, would unseal additional pages in their entirety or with redactions.

Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Arizona

No. 2 Arizona tops Iowa State to win outright Big 12 title

Published

on

No. 2 Arizona tops Iowa State to win outright Big 12 title


TUCSON, Ariz. — Jaden Bradley scored 17 points, Motiejus Krivas had 13 and No. 2 Arizona clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season title with a 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night.

The Wildcats (28-2, 15-2) secured at least a share of the conference crown by using big runs in each half to beat No. 14 Kansas 84-61 on Saturday.

Arizona earned it outright by smothering Iowa State defensively to give Tommy Lloyd his 140th victory, most in NCAA history in a coach’s first five seasons.

“The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country,” Lloyd said while addressing the home crowd after the game, “and to win it by a couple of games, it’s pretty impressive. So take your hats off to these guys right here.”

Advertisement

Coming off their first home loss of the season, the Cyclones (24-6, 11-6) labored against Arizona’s physical defense, shooting 29% from the field, including 7-of-30 from 3-point range.

During his postgame news conference, Lloyd called out the narrative surrounding his team when discussing the Wildcats’ toughness and physicality.

“I think the narrative that we were soft is lazy. I mean, look at our stats, look at our analytics — we’ve always been a great rebounding team, we’ve always pounded the paint,” Lloyd said. “If you want to just be lazy and not pay attention and say we’re soft because we’re on the West Coast, be lazy, and I’d love to play against you.”

Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 17 points, but leading scorer Milan Momcilovic was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting. The nation’s best 3-point shooter at 51%, Momcilovic went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Advertisement

Neither team could make much of anything, due to good defense and poor shooting.

Iowa State shot 9-of-33 from the field and 4-of-20 from 3 in the first half.

Arizona labored most of the half as the Cyclones focused on defending the paint before the Wildcats closed on a 15-3 run to lead 37-25 at halftime.

It only got worse for Iowa State to start the second half. The Cyclones missed their first eight shots as Arizona stretched the lead to 16.

Iowa State briefly found an offensive rhythm, using a 10-1 run to pull to within 44-37, but didn’t hit a field goal for more than five minutes as Arizona stretched the lead back to 15.

Advertisement

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



Source link

Continue Reading

Arizona

Arizona NAACP responds to ‘Simon Says’ case, calls for police accountability

Published

on

Arizona NAACP responds to ‘Simon Says’ case, calls for police accountability


PHOENIX — The Arizona NAACP is responding to the violent arrest of Israel Devoe, a Phoenix man who was acquitted of all charges stemming from a 2024 traffic stop in which officers punched, kneed, and elbowed him.

Sarah Tyree, president of the Arizona NAACP State Conference, said the case is part of a broader and familiar pattern.

“What happened here reflects a pattern our communities know all too well. Time and again, we see policing tactics that are dangerous and deeply harmful to civilians, yet are later justified as ‘within policy’ through carefully crafted reports and the broad protections afforded under Graham v. Connor,” Tyree wrote in an emailed statement following an ABC15 investigation.

RELATEDPhoenix man to file lawsuit after dangerous game of ‘Simon Says’ with police

Advertisement

Phoenix police officials found all four officers involved in Devoe’s arrest to have acted within policy, records show.

After a two-day trial, jurors unanimously found Devoe not guilty on all four of the felony charges against him — including aggravated assault on officers and resisting arrest.

In her statement, Tyree said true accountability is not possible without changing state law.

“Accountability remains out of reach in Arizona because the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights continues to insulate misconduct from meaningful oversight, too often shifting blame onto the very communities most impacted by these encounters,” she wrote. “We also encourage Arizona voters to engage their state legislators and advocate for the repeal or amendment of the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights to ensure systems of public safety are truly accountable to the public they serve.”

Devoe’s case again highlights problems with policing in Phoenix, which has been under scrutiny following a Department of Justice investigation that found the city had a pattern and practice of using excessive force, discrimination, and weak oversight.

Advertisement

ABC15 is committed to finding the answers you need and holding those accountable.

Submit your news tip to Investigators@abc15.com

The push for federal oversight ended in 2025 after the Trump administration ended such efforts across the country.

Devoe’s civil attorney, Jesse Showalter, also represents Tyron McAlpin, a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was violently arrested by Phoenix officers in July 2024. Showalter has said both cases reflect what he described as an accepted norm of extreme violence within the Phoenix Police Department.

A Phoenix police spokesperson said the department declines to comment because Devoe is set to file a lawsuit against the city.

Advertisement

This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com). Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. 





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending