An excerpt from my journal

An excerpt from my journal: December 10, 2017 I witnessed the craziest shit last night. An inmate I know beat down a correctional officer right in front of me. To make matters worse, the inmate used a lock-in-a-sock and then took the officers mace and sprayed him with it. It all started when I came in from chow. As I made my way through the dayroom, Bama stopped me. He quickly said that he was about to beat the polices ass and to tell his bunky that he was sorry for taking his lock. At first none of it made sense, but nothing else mattered because I was still reading his body language in order to see if he actually looked as if he was about to whoop the police. Bama is a big ol' boy from Alabama I assume. White guy with long hair. Cool calm and collected. Never bothered anyone. Just hung back with his bunky and watched tv a lot. However, his face was flush, and he was very excited. My first instinct was to try and stop him. So I tried. I called him back, but by then it was too late. I stood by and watched. It was like the scene was in slow motion. Bama walked up to the officer and as he did, he slowly pulled at a piece of cloth in his pocket. At the instant he approached the officer, he pulled the cloth all the way out. On the end of it was a lock. All of a sudden, he started hitting the officer. The sounds of the lock hitting the officers head were loud. Bama kept on hitting him until he had him on the ground. Then he really started laying it on him. My heart couldn't take it anymore, so I tried to stop Bama. I yelled at Bama to please stop, he's done. Bama listened, but then as the officer laid there sprawled out on his stomach attempting to use his radio and call for help, Bama quickly took notice and yanked his radio away from him. The officer tried to hang on to it, but Bama had the microphone part and pulled the long cord ripping it clean away from the officer. Then Bama started kicking the officers head really hard which made me plead with him to please stop. As I looked around to see if anyone had alerted the police, Bama by then had took the officers mace off his belt and began to spray him with it. The officer, bleeding really bad, began to get to his feet. However, the blood and mace blinded him and he just stumbled around as Bama continued to use the mace on him. Finally the officer made it to the exit, but the door was closed. Instead of opening it, the little lady up in the bubble began to use her mace, spraying it down in Bamas direction hoping to deter him some. But Bama kept going to the officer, who at this time was slouched against the wall, and totally gassed. As the officer pressed the button, Bama continued to mace him. Then Bama kicked him between the legs several times. There was so much blood, I really thought the old man was gonna die. I knew the mace was burning his wounds and he couldn't breath. If Luna wouldn't of opened the door when she did, the officer might of died. Come to find out, Mr Ross was hit twenty-three times in the head with a lock. He suffered severe wounds and is recouping in the hospital. As for Bama, its hard telling. After the damage was done, and the officers finally responded, they cuffed up Bama and took him away. The situation was crazy. It took ten-fifteen minutes before anyone responded to the officers call. Meanwhile, he took a beating. I was the only person who came to his aid. If it weren't for me, he may of died. Now were locked down, and of course, I'm not feeling all that well. Crappie flopped all night. Now I can't sit still. I'm just miserable, but thankfully the Good Lord is on my side. As for when were coming off lockdown is anyones guess. That situation that unfolded last night was the worst thing I have ever seen. It was really bad, so we may be locked down forever. Travis Kirkman Miami Correctional Facility Indiana