Press Conference: Tenelanda Lawsuit vs. Butler County, Sheriff Jones, Sgt. Rowe
Today we held a press conference about the lawsuit against Butler County, Sheriff Jones, and Sgt. Corneal Rowe on behalf of Luis Tenelanda, a compassionate and brave man who was assaulted while detained in the Butler County Jail for ICE. If you missed it, you can watch the recording and read a summary and transcript here, as well as download the complaint, Luis' statement, and other materials.
We filed a different lawsuit against this jail in 2020 and, through civil rights complaints, community organizing, and public pressure, ended the jail's first ICE contract in 2021. We are working to do it again. Butler County Jail is not a safe place for any person, including immigrants.
Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, said "Since Sheriff Jones started talking about getting his ICE contract back, I said this was going to happen. Sheriff Jones is the type of person who goes into law enforcement because he wants to bully others, and thinks he can get away with it. He doesn't think people in his jail have human rights, and encourages his staff to act the same way. But they're wrong. Everyone has rights, and we know exactly what is happening in that jail. The County Commissioners and prosecutor have to be tired of defending Jones from these lawsuits. The racist assaults. Gross medical neglect. At some point, somebody is going to die. I don't understand how they can live with themselves, letting this happen. Are they really that afraid of the sheriff? Leadership is about doing what's right, not pretending something isn't happening."
That’s why we are urging community members to call Butler County Commissioners Rogers, Carpenter, and Dixon between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday, at 513-887-3000, and tell them to END THE ICE CONTRACT.
Said Gabe Davis, OJPC CEO, a member of the legal team, “People shouldn’t be put in jail and then assaulted because of their immigration status, race, or ethnicity. Our government must respect basic human rights without exception. This is a strong and united family that is now going through a tragedy because of Luis’ deportation, compounded by his physical injury affecting his ability to work."
Added Whit Froehlich of Norris Law Group, another attorney on the case, "Sgt. Rowe's assault of Mr. Tenelanda constitutes a violation of his Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. Jail, and therefore County, authorities were responsible for preventing it through adequate training and supervision of Sgt. Rowe and everyone else that Mr. Tenelanda interacted with, and who defined his incarceration experience at the jail. Mr. Tenelanda is seeking to hold Sgt. Rowe accountable, because the Jail, the Sheriff, and the County did not. And this is far from the first time that the Jail has had problems with violent assaults on inmates. We've represented other detainees who've been victimized by its guards and its systematic failure to hold them accountable. We currently have two pending cases, Bayong v. County of Butler, and Benty versus Butler County et al, regarding other racist assaults at the jail. This pattern is deeply concerning, and must end."
Watch the press conference, and read a summary, here.
