By Hayley Feland
Two more corrections officers were assaulted in the last 12 days, with one sent to the hospital Tuesday morning for evaluation.
“At approximately 7:15 this morning, a Corrections Officer at MCF-Stillwater was punched by an inmate,” Aaron Swanum with the Department of Corrections (DOC) told Alpha News.
Other corrections officers had to intervene to stop the assault. “The Corrections Officer who was assaulted was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and has been released. The inmate involved in this assault has been moved to MCF-Oak Park Heights. MCF-Stillwater is currently on lockdown while the assault is investigated,” Swanum said.
Another assault took place July 27 at the Stillwater facility, with sources telling Alpha News that the officer involved received stitches for his injuries.
“The safety of our staff and everyone in our facilities is our highest priority,” said DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell. “The inmate who assaulted our staff will be fully held to account for these unacceptable actions.”
Swanum told Alpha News that this injury was the result of a fight among incarcerated men. “Corrections Officers immediately responded, with one officer being assaulted while stopping the fight,” Swanum said. “The injured officer was taken by ambulance for evaluation at a local hospital and was released later that evening.”
He told Alpha News that this assault is also under investigation and the inmate responsible was also transferred to Oak Park Heights.
He explained that the case will be considered by the Washington County Attorney’s office for felony-level charges.
These assaults come after a wave of 14 assaults took place earlier this year. Retired corrections officer Bryan Milliron previously described the prisons as “liberal mayhem” in an interview with Alpha News.
“They need to do something different. I just don’t know if we are going to get anything different than what we have right now,” Milliron said. In February, the DOC told Alpha News that it was in the process of moving the wardens.
“The moves are all made with thought and purpose to best align the strengths of each warden with the facilities’ various and ever-changing needs,” Swanum said.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
