The man who received the harshest federal sentence in connection with 2020 protests against police brutality has been in solitary confinement for more than 250 days. Last Friday, Malik Muhammad ended a nine-day hunger strike undertaken in protest of his solitary confinement at Oregon State Penitentiary.
At the height of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Muhammad, a disabled Army combat veteran diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, had traveled from Indiana to protests in Kentucky and Oregon.
According to court documents, Muhammad participated in firearms training in Kentucky and later threw a Molotov cocktail at police in Oregon. In 2022, at 25 years old, he pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and received a 10-year prison sentence.
“This is the tier where they put the screamers and the shit smearers.”
“We are talking about a conditions-of-confinement issue,” said Muhammad’s attorney, Lauren Regan, director of litigation and advocacy at the Civil Liberties Defense Center. The group advocates for civil liberties for political prisoners and took on Muhammad’s case last month. “Malik is designated 100 percent disabled as a combat veteran because of extreme PTSD. And the Department of Corrections knows that.”
Despite his conditions, Muhammad has been in solitary confinement for more than 250 days.
Oregon State Penitentiary public information officer Stephanie Lane said she could not comment on many details of Muhammad’s hunger strike and other medical-related issues because of privacy laws, but added that for detainees with disabilities, the prison followed the Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines. She said Muhammad’s detention designation had changed in July, though both units are in the prison’s Special Management Housing.
His solitary confinement followed an incident where Regan said Muhammad asked to speak to a supervisor, and instead guards tased and beat him, then threw him in the hole.
The officers moved Muhammad to another housing unit known as the “torture tier,” Regan said. “This is the tier where they put the screamers and the shit smearers.”
Sleight of Hand
The time in solitary has been part of Muhammad’s concurrent 10-year federal and state terms in Oregon state prison. The only comparable sentence to come out of 2020 protests in Portland was for Alan Swinney, a member of the far-right Proud Boys gang who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Swinney was convicted at trial for charges related to pulling a handgun on protesters and firing a paintball gun, injuring a demonstrator’s eye.
The use of solitary confinement has been shown to exacerbate mental health issues. Human rights organizations and civil liberties groups widely consider the prolonged use of solitary confinement as a form of torture.
The Oregon Department of Corrections limits consecutive solitary confinement to 90 days — which is long compared to other states like California, which has a 10-day maximum, or New York, which caps use of solitary at 15 days. At least 17 other states have recently considered limits between 10 to 15 days.
The Department of Corrections, however, restarts the clock when a person is transferred between different categories of housing, Regan said, which is why Muhammad has been kept in solitary for longer than the 90-day limit.
“The way that the DOC is attempting to sort of sneak this under the radar is that they have multiple different segregation designations,” Regan said.
Lane, the prison spokesperson, said Muhammad is currently in the Behavioral Health Unit of Special Management Housing. “The BHU is not the same as the Disciplinary Segregation Unit (DSU), although both units are within our Special Management Housing,” she said.
Muhammad was enrolled at the BHU on September 7, 2024.
The reality of Muhammad’s situation contradicts the official narrative: despite being moved from one segregated housing unit to another, he remains confined to the same solitary cell, as noted by Regan.
While the Oregon Department of Corrections refers to it as “disciplinary segregation,” the harmful effects of solitary confinement have been acknowledged, with efforts to limit its use.
A recent report highlighted the overuse of punitive measures, including excessive solitary confinement at a women’s prison in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Despite attempts to improve prison conditions, Muhammad’s prolonged solitary confinement demonstrates a failure in these efforts, according to Regan.
Muhammad recently ended a hunger strike and progress has been made towards returning him to the general population housing.
Muhammad’s solitary confinement began after an incident where he was tased by prison staff through his cell door.
The treatment Muhammad received during this incident led to several grievances being filed against corrections staff by other incarcerated individuals.
As a veteran with PTSD, Muhammad’s mistreatment in prison will likely exacerbate his mental health issues and hinder his reintegration into society.
The deliberate punishment inflicted on him by the racist prison system contradicts their stated goal of rehabilitation.
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