Kaley Johnson ☀️

Freelance journalist covering criminal and social justice in Texas | As seen in the Guardian, the Marshall Project & Texas Monthly [email protected]

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

Two weeks ago, I published an investigation into systemic sexual abuse and coverups at a North Texas prison.
Today, congressman @RepVeasey called for a Judiciary Committee hearing and federal investigation into misconduct at FMC Carswell.
https://t.co/RnCAcdlIz6

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

“I went through a living hell. I can’t even describe.”

Carswell has a history of sexual assault investigations. Now, eleven women at the federal prison in Texas say they've been subjected to rampant sexual abuse by staff members in the past seven years.
https://t.co/K7SOh4509n

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

Women are sent to this federal prison for dialysis. They say its killing them.

Women at FMC Carswell in Texas describe missed treatments, dialysis machines that break down mid-treatment or that lacked enough clean water, and other routine problems.

https://t.co/gpFsE2qAl3

[Emily Brindley @em_brindley]

Firearms (not car crashes) are the leading cause of death among adolescents in the U.S.

This is the story of just one shooting, and the grief that has ricocheted through a dozen families. https://t.co/N3X7dJEfYS

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

The LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention group The Trevor Project said in a statement it had "an approximately a 125% increase in crisis contact volume" on Election Day through Wednesday morningcompared to typical days.

[Alanna Vagianos @AlannaVagianos]

BREAKING: Deep red Missouri votes to repeal near-total abortion ban and codify abortion until viability into the state constitution. https://t.co/lSZGBL0ifm

[ACLU of Texas @ACLUTx]

AMAZING: Voters in Amarillo, Texas, have rejected the city’s abortion travel ban.

This victory comes after months of local organizing.

The message is clear: Texans want to protect reproductive freedom — and will do so when given the opportunity.

[Ariana Tobin @Ariana_Tobin]

Birth certificate. Eyeglasses. Cell phone. Teddy bear. Sewing machine. Hep C medication. Breast pump. Bible. Urns of ashes.

@propublica spoke with people across the US about what they lost during encampment sweeps. Please spend time with this. https://t.co/Ai4xadcUlJ

[Christopher Salas @ChristopherS_DC]

We’re a three man crew now. My coworker, David, rescuing a cat who took shelter under our car from Hurricane Milton. I’m glad someone walking by told us they heard meowing.

[Nicole Foy @nicoleMfoy]

We had these networks. They existed. Until hedge fund execs & CEOs only interested in lining their own pockets decimated them.

[Nicole Foy @nicoleMfoy]

3 years ago Gannett often sent reporters (like me!) to help smaller newsrooms report on Ida & other disasters

Today nearly all those journalists we went to help are gone, including longtimers who were the ONLY reason I produced anything coherent about a place I’d never been

[maybe: k*rk @a_dose_of_wx]

Some thoughts and observations to the state and federal response to historic flooding in Western NC from Hurricane Helene

Its not sinking in to outsiders, or it’s just so hard to comprehend that the countless roads in Western N.C. , simply no longer exist.

The state and federal response has been ongoing, with over 1,000 personnel, including National Guard assets, deployed according to FEMA. Disaster Declaration for NC have been expedited, approved, but…

Those crews cannot traverse over collapsed bridges, 100+ foot ravinesthat weren’t there before.

Main interstates I-40 and I-26 have collapsed.

Primary state routes are scoured.

The secondary roads into neighborhoods are effectively eviscerated, for miles. Survivors *can’t* get out, help *can’t* get in.

It’s hard enough to get into Asheville. 30 minutes drives take 8-12 hours with the roads not existing, the remaining gas stations swamped. To get into the towns in villages in the mountains is a days journey if possible at all. National Guard trucks with food and water have to stop and collapses. The tools and supplies for SAR aren’t getting in via road.

Similar to Hurricane Katrina, where boats and helicopters were the only viable means of aid delivery in the first days, air support is currently the most effective way to connect Western NC to the outside world. There’s a limited amount of helicopters operating. Although the water has receded, the roads are still impassable.

This is still very much an active search and rescue mission not a recovery. There is a high number of missing (in the thousands per state media) because people can’t get in touch with loved ones. We saw this after Hurricane Ian as well, that number will drop significantly when phone service/internet returns. For death toll and recovery, the final number will not be known for at least a month in the region.

The lack of media presence on the ground isn’t due to neglect—reporters can't get into many areas, for the same reason help can’t. Even if they could, there is phone and internet do not exist.

This is not going to be a quick recovery for anyone. Some rural parts of Western NC may not be rebuilt.

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

You may not have heard of Aafia Siddiqui but she’s a household name in Pakistan.

Hers is a story filled with government conspiracy, an alleged frame job and terrorism accusations.

A Texas-based prison is at the center of renewed debate in her case.
https://t.co/xB4Xg0WUK6

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

@omarsuleiman @YYossifor “The goal is to get her out of there and shut this place down,” said @mariakari1414, one of Siddiqui’s attorneys.

“From what I know now, Carswell is not fit for any woman, let alone a woman as deeply traumatized as Aafia. It's just a huge stain on our justice system.”

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

Pakistani citizen Aafia Siddiqui is incarcerated at a federal prison in Texas.

Her attorneys have filed a suit alleging Carswell subjected her to “intolerable” conditions including sexual assault, medical neglect and physical attacks.
story w/ @keratx
https://t.co/xB4Xg0WUK6

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

@omarsuleiman @YYossifor Carswell has a documented problem with sexual abuse. From 2014 to 2018, 35 women at Carswell reported they were sexually assaulted by a staff member — the most of any federal women’s prison.
I investigated sexual abuse claims at Carswell in 2022 - https://t.co/M5Jmz1H6D5

[Haley Samsel 🍂 @haley_samsel]

Sharing what I'm calling my magnum opus - the story it feels like I've been writing for four years. As I'm closing out this chapter of my *career*, writing about the impact of natural gas drilling reminded me of why this coverage is important. https://t.co/DXD02TwwG7

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

Last summer, I reported on dangerous heat conditions at FCI Seagoville prison, where some buildings had no AC and topped 100 degrees.

Based on this work order, looks like the Bureau of Prisons is finally installing nine new AC units in the facility.

[Kaley Johnson ☀️ @KaleyAJohnson]

forgot to stop the otter recording and transcribed myself trying to cut my cat’s nails - his middle name is James and it comes out when he is In Trouble