Colin Kaepernick has pledged to fund the independent autopsy of a Black man who died from allegedly inhumane living conditions while incarcerated in Georgia last year.
The body of Lashawn Thompson, 35, was riddled with bites from bedbugs and insects when he was found dead last September in a psychiatric wing at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail, according to a statement from civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Crump, who will represent Thompson’s family in a forthcoming civil lawsuit, thanked activist and former NFL star Kaepernick for paying for the autopsy at a news conference held outside of the jail on Thursday.
“We’re going to get an independent autopsy done and Colin Kaepernick has told the family that he will pay for it no matter what so we can get to the truth,” Crump told reporters on Thursday.
Thompson spent three months in Fulton County Jail after being arrested for a misdemeanor simple battery in June 2022, according to CBS News.
Due to mental health issues, he was transferred to the jail’s psychiatric ward during his sentence. He was eventually found dead in a filthy jail cell after being eaten alive by insects and bed bugs,” said family attorney Michael Harper, per CBS.
An investigation into Thompson’s death is now underway, led by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, according to NPR affiliate WABE.
Per the report, the sheriff’s office added that $500,000 in funding has been approved to mitigate pest infestations at the jail, which authorities said is “dilapidated and rapidly eroding.”
“It is completely unacceptable to force inmates to live in appalling conditions where they are subjected to insects, grime, and infections. No one should be treated that way,” Crump said in his statement.
This will be the latest autopsy funded by Kaepernick as part of The Autopsy Initiative, a service of his Know Your Rights Camp. The initiative allows family members and close associates of someone who died after contact with law enforcement while being taken into custody to request an autopsy.
“We know that the prison industrial complex, which includes police and policing, strives to protect and serve its interests at all costs,” Kaepernick told the Associated Press. “The Autopsy Initiative is one important step toward ensuring that family members have access to accurate and forensically verifiable information about the cause of death of their loved one in their time of need.”
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