Aaliyah Straite, a Black trans woman, wrote a letter on 11-24-23 detailing an assault that happened at Nash CI. Below are her words. The only person’s name who isn’t redacted is Warden Lee. Someone has to be held accountable for the way transgender people are mistreated under the state’s care…
“This is Aaliyah, boy, I got beat up, bruises on my left arm, pepper spray on my bra. I’m in Raleigh Central Prison suicide watch. I came off of it on 11/22/23 I’ll start from the beginning on 11/21/23 at 6:25 I went into the hallway to talk to Sergeant [redacted]. He’s cool. Before I could even talk to him, Sergeant [redacted] came out of the office waved me off. I said that I need to talk to Sergeant [redacted] I turned around and went back into C-block. He came and stormed in behind me saying “Straite, that’s my word, I’m gonna get you I see you in this hallway today.” I said “Please leave me alone. It’s my first amendment right, I’m not disrespecting you.” He left the block and came back in the block. Sergeant [redacted] said “Come on out here in the hallway.” I put my hands behind me. He told Officer [redacted] to put cuffs on me and I walked into the office. Officer [redacted], grab my left arm, squeezing the cuffs into my skin, and bending my arm. I said, “Please stop being aggressive with me”, he said, ‘Shut up faggot.” I sat down because he was hurting me 6:35am he was dragging me down the hallway while I was on the floor.
Once he dragged me through the slider doors, Sergeant [redacted] came out of the office and said “Get your bitch ass up”. We went outside in the rain, I’m being called “faggot”. Sergeant [redacted] came running up the sidewalk. He then said “Shut the fuck up faggot”, and punched me in the back of the head, I fell to the ground. Officer [redacted] still had me by the arm, grabs my breast, and started groping me. Sergeant [redacted] grabbed my butt and squeezed and yanked me up. Sergeant [redacted] came rushing out, out the Unit #1. I yelled Sergeant [redacted] “Help!” Sergeant [redacted] lied and said “He spit on me, mace him”. I yelled, “Liar!”. He mace me in the face and in the mouth. I hit the ground. Sergeant [redacted] said “Tase him.” while it was raining, then dragged me through the mud. But before Sergeant [redacted] came out of Unit #1, Sergeant [redacted] said “Rip his bra off he ain’t no real woman”, grabbed my shirt, pulling releasing mace down my shirt all on my breast. Camera will show me without a shirt jacket on and a coat jacket. So I have to explain how mace got on my bra.
I was taken to seg by Sergeant [redacted]. I said “Sergeant [redacted] you are the only one who seen what happened you know I didn’t spit on him, please tell the truth.” He said “Straite, I told you to stand up”. And he left it at that. Mind you he wrote a statement on my behalf, when Sergeant [redacted] wrote me up one time, I beat the write-up. I’m facing an a A99 assault on an officer. Boy I go home next year. Why would I do something stupid like that? Officer [redacted] said “Straite I know you didn’t do it”. I went on suicide watch, they sent me to Central Prison in a turtle suit…Nobody took pictures of my wounds. Nurse [redacted] came to segregation at Nash and wrote down the wounds on my left arm and my eye, left eye. I had my glasses on when I was maced, all of it poured down into my eyes.
Once they took me to shipping and receiving to transfer me, Unit Manager [redacted] came in with Nurse [redacted]. He took pictures with his cell phone, not a state camera, like he was supposed to do, so that is probably erased. No incident report was written. I wrote on an eight page grievance on my assault. Please assist me in anyway you can. I go home next year…, what the hell I look like spitting on someone. Oh the Warden, Ms Lee, came to see me and shipping and receiving. I was trying to tell what happened, she said “Straite, all that’s incorrect. I saw the camera.” But there’s no cameras outside. I said “Ms Lee. I thought you were cool, you mad because you turned me against because you couldn’t turn me against Ashlee Insoe. She said “You are being served an A99 assault on an officer and you’re leaving my prison.”