Pat Labat, the Fulton County Sheriff in Georgia, thought he had done something clever when he conspired with District Attorney Fani Willis to bring Donald Trump down. Last week, he and his department were eager to have a “mugshot” ready for the former President.
Labat, however, should spend less effort trying to be cute or score political points on the left and more time putting his house in order. In a stabbing on Thursday that injured two other inmates, Labat became the fifth Fulton County Jail inmate to die since July. Nine inmates died in 2023.
WSB Radio reports that the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into three stabbings in the Fulton County Jail. Officials have confirmed that one inmate has died, and two other inmates are injured. The identities of the inmates have not been revealed.
The authorities refused to discuss the details of the stabbings, but CNN reported that the county medical examiner’s office had announced that they would conduct an autopsy on each inmate that died this year.
The Fulton County Jail is so bad, that the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the treatment of the inmates there in July.
WSB reported that the DOJ has announced it will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the conditions of the jail. This includes the conditions of living, the access to mental health care, the use of force, and the conditions which may lead to violence. They are also looking into whether the jail discriminates against incarcerated individuals with mental disabilities.
An investigation was launched after an inmate died in the mental health unit of the jail, who had been covered with bugs. Fox 5 Atlanta’s report in April showed that the conditions at the jail were poor. The reporter Morse Diggs described crumbling walls and standing water caused by leaks. Inmates were sleeping in hallways because the cells had become so disorganized.
Labat, it is interesting to note, accompanied Diggs during at least a part of his jail tour, and the Sheriff claimed that he was trying to fix the conditions in the jail.
Willis was blunt when reporters asked her about conditions in the jail at a press event on Thursday.
Willis said to reporters, “Since I was running for district attorney I stated… that we should have had new jails 15 years ago. We’re not going let people bury themselves in the sand, pretending they didn’t realize we needed new jails.”
She concluded, “We need to build a larger facility and we must make sure that it treats people with humanity.”
Labat should be concentrating on his own affairs, rather than trying to persecute or prosecute a former resident of the White House. The county should feel ashamed for how it treats the “least of these,” and perhaps Labat should be held accountable.
