Orlando Guards Brutally Beat and Gas Detainees
- Guards at a state-run immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees after they complained about non-functioning phone access on...
- The incident occurred at the Collier County facility after detainees protested the lack of working phones, which are their primary means of contacting family and legal counsel.
- One detainee who approached a guard was punched in the face.
Guards at a state-run immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees after they complained about non-functioning phone access on April 2, 2026, according to a lawyer representing two of the individuals involved.
The incident occurred at the Collier County facility after detainees protested the lack of working phones, which are their primary means of contacting family and legal counsel. Lawyer Katherine Blankenship stated in a court declaration that guards initially taunted the detainees before becoming “more aggressive and were yelling and threatening to enter the cage.”
One detainee who approached a guard was punched in the face. Guards then began beating other detainees in the cell. Blankenship’s client was punched in the right eye, thrown to the floor, and beaten by several guards. He was kicked in the head and sustained injuries to his shoulder and arm. A guard also placed his knee on the detainee’s neck while restraining him.
The declaration included a photo taken during a video call nearly a week after the beating, showing the detainee with a bruised eye. Another detainee, not represented by Blankenship, had his wrist broken during the incident.
Phone service was restored the following day without explanation for why it had been cut off. The Florida Department of Emergency Management did not respond to emailed questions about the incident.
Blankenship’s declaration was submitted as part of a court filing accusing state and federal officials of failing to comply with a federal judge’s preliminary injunction from last month. That order required detention center officials to provide access to timely, free, confidential, unmonitored, and unrecorded outgoing legal calls.
The facility, located in a remote area of the Everglades, has been referred to by critics as “Alligator Alcatraz” due to its isolation and conditions. Reports of the abuse emerged in mid-April 2026, drawing attention to ongoing concerns about migrant detention conditions in Florida.