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20-Year-Old Emanuel Sullivan Becomes 22nd Rikers Island Prisoner to Die Since 2021

HeadlineMay 31, 2022

In New York, another prisoner at the Rikers Island jail has died. New York’s Department of Corrections says 20-year-old Emanuel Sullivan was found bleeding from the nose and unresponsive in his cell on Saturday afternoon. The cause of death is reportedly under investigation. Sullivan is the 22nd Rikers prisoner to die since 2021 and the sixth Rikers prisoner to die this year. In response, community organizer and Rikers survivor Edwin Santana said in a statement, “This tragedy should show every judge, prosecutor, and elected official who has ignored this truth before — Rikers is a death sentence. We don’t need plans to create plans, we need action, and that action must include releasing people from the custody of an agency that cannot or will not keep them alive.”

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