Stop the Torture Coalition protests Wisconsin prisons in five counties

Kerrie Hirte, whose daughter died in the Milwaukee County Jail, and Jeffrey Watson, who was previously incarcerated at the Green Bay and Waupun prisons, joined a protest outside the Brown County Courthouse late Sunday afternoon, as similar protests around the state demanded change in Wisconsin’s correctional system. | Photo by Andrew Kennard for Wisconsin Examiner

A small group of protesters gathered by the Brown County Courthouse late Sunday afternoon, demanding change in Wisconsin’s correctional system.

“I don’t want any other mothers to suffer the way I am,” Kerrie Hirte said.

Hirte’s daughter, Cilivea Thyrion, died in the Milwaukee County Jail and her death was ruled a suicide, FOX6 News Milwaukee reported . Hirte believes that if her daughter had been in a mental health facility instead of a jail, she would still be alive.

At the protest, she said that “our jails are breeding grounds for inhumanity, and the conditions inside have amounted to torture and death.”

“Just by me telling me and Cilivea’s story …  and by all of us telling our stories, then the message will spread more,” Hirte told the Examiner. “Because people will begin to understand, they’re not the only ones.”

Groups of protesters demonstrated in Brown, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties on Sunday, according to Dant’e Cottingham, a founding member of the Stop the Torture Coalition who used to be incarcerated in Green Bay Correctional Institution.

“[People] also spoke about how important it is for the [district attorneys] and the judges to be accountable for the sentences that they hand down,” Cottingham said. “Look, we know the judges and the DAs have a job to do. But we also want the judge and the DA to be accountable for keeping our loved one safe no matter if they made a mistake or not.”

The protests come after a Waupun warden and eight others were charged last month with crimes related to the treatment of incarcerated people. Advocates, formerly incarcerated people and former staff testified about problems in the prison system before the Assembly Committee on Corrections on July 9.

In a letter to the committee, Wisconsin Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy gave examples of operational changes made over the last several months to ensure the safety of staff and incarcerated people, such as enhancing training and frequency of security rounds. He also said the department is in contract negotiations with a consulting and management firm for a third party review.

“While the past several weeks have been challenging, there have been countless occasions where I am reminded of how our dedicated staff and the individuals in our care remain at the heart of our mission,” Hoy said in the letter.

Jeffrey Watson, who also attended the Brown County protest, said he was previously incarcerated at the Green Bay and Waupun prisons. He hopes the protests raise awareness.

“I left [Waupun] in 2019,” Watson said. “So I know how they deal with mental illness… [with] someone even just calling out for help.”

Hirte called for the closure of the prisons in Green Bay and Waupun. She also advocated for “[confronting] the root causes of mass incarceration” and reducing the prison and jail population so that it becomes unnecessary to build new facilities.

“[Children with mental illness] should not be put in jails, in prisons, when they can be helped outside, in our communities,” Hirte said. “That only happens if the communities come together and fight for our children.”

Cottingham hopes for protests in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. Another protest will take place in the middle of next month.

“Part of the strategy of the protest is to get statewide and then, ultimately, national attention,” Cottingham said.

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