FARMINGTON, N.M, (AP) - A riot at a northwestern New Mexico jail sparked by demands for more COVID-19 testing and hot meals left one inmate injured and damage to the jail, officials said.
The disturbance at the San Juan County Adult Detention in Farmington, New Mexico, began Monday after 35 inmates - armed with shards of porcelain from broken toilets - barricaded themselves and started a fire, according to authorities.
Investigators said inmates also wrapped books and magazines around their torsos as makeshift body armor and used a bunk as a battering ram before the riot was put down by multiple agencies called to the scene.
One injured inmate was taken to a nearby hospital, authorities said. His injuries are unknown.
According to San Juan County authorities, inmates started demanding Sunday afternoon to speak to an administrator about their concerns for more hot meals and more coronavirus tests. County spokesman Devin Neeley said inmates have been receiving only one hot meal a day due to a lack of available detainees to cook the meals.
“Detention Center staff are currently following New Mexico Department of Health guidance for testing,” the county said in a statement. “Only detainees who have previously tested negative are being retested.”
However, there is no provision in the state’s notification system for informing people who are in custody of test results.
Officials said there were 345 people in custody at the San Juan County jail on Monday, and 147 have tested positive for coronavirus. The positive detainees have been quarantined in five pods.
The jail is near the Navajo Nation, where the coronavirus has especially hit residents hard with more than 8,000 cases.
COVID-19 outbreaks in New Mexico jails and prisons have generated concern among advocates who charge state and federal officials aren’t doing enough to stem the virus in facilities. The Otero County Prison Facility in Chaparral, New Mexico, for example, has confirmed more than 450 cases.
On Wednesday, New Mexico health officials reported an additional 330 COVID-19 cases in the state, bringing the statewide total to more than 15,800 since the coronavirus outbreak began. Health officials also reported six additional deaths, bringing that total to 557.
New Mexico has been added to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut’s quarantine list because it’s among states where infection rates have been growing.
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