Video: NYC Assemblyman Staying Over at CNY Prison Causes Disturbance

A Manhattan area Democratic Assemblyman observed conditions at Marcy Correctional Facility by staying overnight at the facility, got into a heated exchange with a sergeant and caused a dangerous situation according to union members for the Corrections Officers, NYSCOPBA.

Assemblyman Edward Gibbs, who is the first-ever person elected into the NY legislature after serving a sentence in prison, has been calling for the closure of Marcy Correctional since the December incident that took the life of inmate Robert Brooks.

In the video posted by the Albany Times Union, the sergeant is making her rounds and walks by Gibbs. Gibbs confronted her for walking by without addressing him and he continued to argue with her. "You walk right by me you didn't say hello," Gibbs said to the sergeant. "I have no reason to talk to you," the sergeant responded and Gibbs then called for someone to "call the super(intendent)." Following the exchange, inmates cheered the Assemblyman and negative chants ensued following the incident.

The union representing the Corrections Officers claims that Gibbs is creating an unsafe situation in the prison which could lead to an altercation.

Gibbs was allowed by the Corrections Department to spend the night with inmates in order to experience the treatment of inmates at the local institution.

The video shows Gibbs taunting the Marcy Sergeant as she was walking by on rounds, followed by inmates cheering his actions. The sergeant is then heard reporting the incident. NYSCOPBA says the Assemblyman's actions were inciting the inmates.

Watch the video here.