ATLANTA — This week, the Department of Justice released its findings on the deplorable conditions at the Fulton County Jail.
The investigation was launched in mid-2023 after Lashawn Thompson was found dead in a jail, eaten alive by bed bugs.
The nearly 100-page report recorded over 300 stabbings and more than 1,000 assaults behind the walls.
Those with loved ones incarcerated at the Rice Street facility gathered to pray for them on Saturday.
Bishop Wheat said his loved one, Desmond Lindley, has been locked up for two years.
"Jail is supposed to be a place of correction. You come here, get rehabilitated, and learn I don't want to be here anymore. It's not a place of survival. You shouldn't come here with a traffic ticket and wind up with a death certificate," Wheat said.
Wheat shared how Lindley described the conditions inside.
"He [has] told me, 'deplorable -- not fit for an animal to even live in,'" Wheat said.
The DOJ's findings called the jail a death sentence. It describes the conditions as hazardous and unsanitary. Inmates were found to be in danger because of inadequate healthcare, drugs, understaffing, and unwarranted excessive force, to name a few.
Tamika Hicks said her son, Rowen Barrett, is behind bars at the jail. She said she was disgusted by the new findings.
"It made me sick to my stomach because, number one, if a person has mental issues, this is not the place for them to be in," Hicks said.
The investigation showed inmates with mental health issues or who are a minor or a member of the LGBTQ+ community are especially vulnerable.
During a news conference this week, Sheriff Patrick Labat and chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners Rob Pitts shared that they are happy the findings were released, are pleased with their progress, and are cooperating. Labat said he plans to fix things by renovating and tightening up the rules.
Activist L.A. Pink said Labat is a day late and a dollar short.
"The tighten-up should have happened when they dug a wall in this jail, the tighten-up should have happened when you found a security officer with an inmate having sex," Pink said.
Sexual assault was also a part of the report. The DOJ said it couldn't truly identify the volume of sexual assaults due to lack of reporting, but it only mentions inmate-on-inmate cases, not staff on inmates.
Pink said she wants Labat and other county leaders to be held accountable.
"This is just not a call of action for Sheriff Labat, but this is a call of action for Fani Willis as well," Pink said. "Do your job."
Pink said the Fulton County case with President-elect Donald Trump, and the resources in the DA's Office that it has drawn, can wait. One point of contention with the jail overcrowding has been whether the DA's Office is moving quickly enough to clear cases as inmates remain at the jail with their cases pending.
Labat said he's already decreased the amount of inmates sleeping on the floor, released 1,400 non-violent offenders, and is working on hiring and retaining staff.
Labat and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners have frequently been at odds in the past couple years over where the fault lies for the jail's persisting problems and how exactly to find solutions. There has been tension over the sheriff's desire for an entirely new facility and the board determining to more immediately fund renovations.
During a media briefing this week, representatives with the DOJ said there isn't a timeline for the county to clean up its act.
Labat said there are 109 remedial opportunities the jail will tackle. Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts adds that they've identified issues at nine of the 11 housing units that will be addressed by the end of the year.