Recordings appear to show ongoing 'pay for protect' scheme inside Fulton County Jail
Video captured of an inmate assault on Fulton County Jail floor, law enforcement said
FOX 5 Atlanta's Morse Diggs shares video and audio of jail assaults and threats that inmates say have been occurring in connection to "smaller inmates receiving threats from some of the prisoners with homemade knives telling them to call their family and get them to cash app funds to the account of the violent inmate."
ATLANTA - Family members of Fulton County Jail inmates continue to come forward and tell stories of intimidation and beatings of their loved ones by violent prisoners demanding money.
Those family members have been drawn into the sometimes ugly jail climate because they are the ones who are supplying funds in what they call extortion.
The purported scheme centers on the jail commissary. Each inmate can have an account.
A family can add money, so an inmate can purchase food, toiletries, and other items.
FOX 5 obtained two recordings. One is a video clip of an altercation between two inmates.
It cannot be said with certainty the confrontation stemmed from a demand for cash.
Fulton County Jail (FOX 5)
FOX 5 also obtained a phone call recording between a relative and a young inmate.
That young prisoner pleads for his relative to send money for the prisoner who can be heard in the background of the call.
"It is not going to stop," the relative can be heard warning his loved one.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office has both recordings. Sheriff Patrick Labat addressed the video saying his investigators tried to get to the bottom of it to see if criminal charges might be necessary.
Labat also said the incident points to a climate of "dangerous" overcrowding, adding it is one of the reasons he is seeking political support to construct a new, larger facility.