(COLUMBUS, OHIO 12/11/2020) – On Thursday, December 3, CAIR-Ohio rallied in front of Butler County Jail last Thursday alongside coalition partners and community leaders to protest the ongoing abuses at the facility. The event was part of a campaign surrounding a lawsuit filed on behalf of two African immigrants from Columbus, Bayong Brown Bayong and Ahmed Adem, who is Muslim.
Bayong and Adem were subjected to repeated acts of violence, slurs, and anti-Muslim abuse by Butler County Jail corrections officers. Bayong suffered serious physical injury, including a lost tooth, for which he has yet to receive medical care. During one of the assaults Adem suffered, a corrections officer took his prayer rug and attempted to throw it into the toilet.
CAIR-Ohio Civil Rights Associate Maryam Abidi read a statement from Bayong at the event,
“I came to the U.S. seeking safety, security and peace, but that is not what I have found…I fear for my life and the safety of my fellow immigrant detainees here.”
Speakers connected the violence at Butler County Jail to abuses to broader issues of immigration and racism, including Maryam:
“We must understand that the unjust immigration system, Islamophobia, and anti-Blackness that we see from our immigration and policing, are all part of one system. We must fight all of them together. Otherwise, we won’t be able to protect the Bayongs and Ahmeds of today, nor of tomorrow.”
Shortly after the lawsuit’s filing, ICE transferred key witness Mory Keita and scheduled his immediate removal.
CAIR-Ohio is working with coalition partners across the state to raise awareness of this case and support the plaintiffs. We ask our community members to call the offices of Representative Joyce Beatty (202-225-4324); Senator Rob Portman (202-224-3353); and Senator Sherrod Brown (202-224-2315) and ask them to prevent the deportation of key witness, Mory Keita. We will continue to update the community about this case
Listen to Maryam Abidi’s statement here.
Watch the full livestream of the event here.
Learn about how to take action against the abuse here.
Learn about deportation of key witness and how to take action here.
