Dozens gather outside Eddie Warrior demanding better care for inmates with COVID-19
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Deanna Ray is just feet from her daughter Hannah, one of the 700 women at Eddie Warrior Correctional Facility who have tested positive for COVID-19.
"This right here, that's my only child," she said. "Her dad is gone. She's all I have, and that's all I have. I feel so helpless because I can't do anything about this."
Ray is joined by dozens of others, calling for someone to be held responsible for the facility's outbreak, and for those inside to be cared for.
"It's not about a political thing, it's not about a religious thing, I'm trying to get them safety," said Tiffany Walton.
Walton organized Monday's rally. She's been outside the prison live streaming on Facebook for the last four days trying to draw attention to the problem, even hearing from the prisoners themselves.
"Even though they are in prison, they are still humans," Walton said. "They are here serving their time, trying to get rehabilitation, but how can they get rehabilitation in a place that is totally covered with COVID inside the ventilation system?"
This rally is not to call for everyone to be released, but for more support to be given to the women inside.
"We're calling on the governor and leaders to send funding out here to support these ladies," said Pastor Rodger Cutler with the Muskogee NAACP. "They're still human beings. We want to make sure their civil rights are not being violated, their human rights are not being violated."
They also want justice.
"When is somebody going to step up and do an internal investigation here?" asked Ray.
The main argument comes down to this: The people here know the women behind bars are supposed to be serving time to be rehabilitated, but they weren't supposed to do that while fighting a deadly pandemic at the same time.
