Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sided with imprisoned former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort saying he should be released from solitary confinement — though he is not currently in solitary confinement.
“Paul Manafort is being sent to solitary confinement in my district – Rikers Island. A prison sentence is not a license for gov torture and human rights violations. That‘s what solitary confinement is. Manafort should be released, along with all people being held in solitary,” the New York Democrat said.
Paul Manafort is being sent to solitary confinement in my district – Rikers Island.
A prison sentence is not a license for gov torture and human rights violations. That‘s what solitary confinement is.
Manafort should be released, along with all people being held in solitary. https://t.co/9rERLDSzrD
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 5, 2019
The freshman congresswoman quickly clarified that Manafort should still be held in protective custody but not in solitary confinement.
Yes – released from solitary.
NYT used the term solitary confinement, & that’s what I am commenting on.
“Protective custody” IS a separate practice, but does not necessarily exclude solitary. If he is in fact not being held in solitary, great. Release everyone else from it too.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 5, 2019
Manafort, 70, who was convicted last year of financial crimes, is set to be sent to Rikers Island to serve a federal prison sentence.
Ocasio-Cortez comment was in response to a New York Times article outlining how Manafort could be sent to Rikers jail in New York where he could be put in solitary confinement.
Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, is serving a federal prison sentence in a minimum security prison in Pennsylvania after being convicted in federal court of bank and tax fraud.
He is set to be moved to New York where he will face state charges in court as soon as next week. High-profile inmates in New York’s Rikers Island are usually held in isolation from the general prison population.
Rikers Island is a network of nine jails that hold roughly 10,000 inmates. Rikers has become famous for corruption and violence with prison guard use of force nearly doubling in the past few years.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio promised he would close Rikers Island within the next decade and replace it with “at least a few new facilities.”
Manafort was set to be transferred after a New York State judge ordered the move at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Federal officials agreed to honor the request.
Trump’s former campaign head is facing 16 state felonies in New York, including allegations that he falsified business records to siphon off millions of dollars in loans. Manafort could be transferred as soon as Thursday.
