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Mock-Graveyard At Capitol Created To Demonstrate Inmate Deaths From COVID-19

WFSU | By Blaise Gainey

Published August 23, 2020 at 11:37 AM EDT

A mock-graveyard on the Historic Capitol grounds created by the Florida Prisoner Solidarity.

The grounds in front of the historic capitol were transformed into a mock-graveyard Saturday. The group, Florida Prisoner Solidarity created the demonstration to mark lives lost from COVID-19 in Florida prisons.

One of the group representatives spoke to the media during the event: “It represents the 85 people that are documented having died due to COVID-19 under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Corrections. So as you can see each body bag has a toe tag with the day they lost their life."

The group is calling on Governor Ron DeSantis and other officials to take immediate action to further reduce the state’s prison. The asks include granting parole to some 4,000 eligible prisoners, as well as authorizing compassionate and early release programs to all state prisoners.

Research from John Hopkins shows prisoners are 550 percent more likely to catch COVID-19. More than 15,000 inmates throughout Florida have contracted the disease.