Hosted by Prisoners Solidarity Committee and Peoples Power Assembly
Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Harford County Sheriff’s Office
45 S Main St PO Box 150, Bel Air, Maryland 21014
On November 9th, at noon, we will be gathering with the Barnes family to demand transparency and accountability from the office of Harford County Sheriff, Jeffrey Gahler. This picket is a follow up of our action outside the Harford County Detention Center in October.
Marlyn Barnes was a father of 5 and 30 years old when Harford County Detention Center mysteriously claimed that he had committed suicide after spending 1 night behind bars.
Marlyn got to HCDC on April 9th, 2019. Law enforcement told his mother, Marilyn Barnes, that he would be released the very next day. At 2:50 pm on April 10th, 2019, Marlyn Barnes died. According to the authorities he had committed suicide.
With no history of mental illness, depression, or other suicide attempts, Marlyn’s supposed suicide makes little sense. A day before his death, Marlyn called his mother and told her that he didn’t want any trouble while in jail. He told his mother and fellow inmates: “I just want to get out.”
It took until July 22 – over 2 months after Marlyn’s death – for the Medical Examiner’s Office to release autopsy results to his mother. The autopsy was conducted on April 11th, but the Chief Medical Examiner did not sign the autopsy report until June 20.
Marlyn Barnes is not the first person in recent years to allegedly kill himself at Harford County Detention Center. Since 2008, 8 people allegedly died by suicide there. HCDC and Maryland jails have a suspicious history of abuses against prisoners and prisoner deaths.
The Barnes family’s many requests for a meeting with Sheriff Gahler have been continually denied. More than that, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office has a long history of racism, ICE cooperation, and general non-cooperation with the public it claims to serve. Join us to demand truth for the Barnes family and justice for all prisoners!
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