A Black Tennessee man went viral from his jail bed — but not for reasons one might assume. Derrick McDonald went live on Facebook to showcase the “deplorable” conditions inside the Shelby County jail. After his post garnered the attention of outraged social media users, authorities responded with a move many are calling the height of state-sponsored pettiness.
In November, McDonald was pulled over by police and arrested on outstanding warrants for drug charges, local news station WREG Memphis reported. During his four-day stay at the jail — known as “201 Poplar” after its address — McDonald said his cell phone was returned to him in a bag after “they put me straight in that little housing area,” laid him there and left.
McDonald, who has been paralyzed for a decade following a car wreck, used said phone to go live on Facebook to expose the facility’s medical unit’s “deplorable and inhumane” conditions.
“201, them folks got a thousand roaches under the table, mane,” McDonald said. He added how he had “been down here two days and ain’t got changed, no nothing. I asked medical, ‘Could they change me?’ And medical told me ‘no.’”
McDonald claimed the jail was roach infested and covered in black mold. He even alleged no one was monitoring a blind man who he said was left wandering around the facility. McDonald was released after four days and his charges were dropped, according to the outlet.
“After I made the live video, they like put me up outta there,” McDonald said.
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