I visited him at Shock today. It was wonderful to see him, but he seemed stressed. He's very, very easygoing, very strong, and almost unbelievably resilient. So to see actual signs of distress is troubling. I asked him some general questions about what it's like; how crowded, the food situation, is he able to sleep, etc. He said the setting isn't bad, and the food is terrible, but he doesn't care about that. So I asked him how it was overall compared to the other three places he's been, and he said, "It's the worst." When I pressed for details, he told me he didn't want to tell me the things that go on. Of course then I pretty much forced him to tell me. And it sounds horrifying. He has seen, in the ten days he's been there, several incidents involving DIs (they have drill instructors as well as COs) striking inmates with their fists. He witnessed three DIs beat a young black inmate unconscious because the inmate raised his hands in a gesture the DIs claimed was "threatening". He said the gesture was conpletely innocent and not a threat- he saw the entire incident, including the DIs kicking this kick after he was down on the floor. They then dragged his unconscious body away, and he hasn't been seen since.
I asked him if he feels safe, and he said no.
I can't begin to express how much this is affecting me. I know he is a grown man, and he is smart, and he is big (6'4), but I feel sick and disgusted that this is going on. Even if he is not the victim of this abuse, he is still witness to it. He said that during the above incident, the other guys were totally silent, looking the other way. No one wanted to be the next victim, so they all just kept quiet.
Is there anything to be done, or is this another instance of just staying out of it? I can't stand this. It's disgusting.