The 2023 WVPB Writers Contest is underway!
Programs & Resources
On Demand
On Demand
Watch locally produced documentaries & more.
On Demand
On Demand
Mountain Stage
West Virginia Morning
Inside Appalachia
Us & Them
The Legislature Today
Send us your comments and questions.
Stream our board meetings.
Come and meet us!
Check out the latest WVPB news.
Meet the WVPB staff.
WV Educational Broadcasting Authority, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB.
Come work with us!
Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates.
Sponsor impactful and engaging media and entertainment
Use your IRA to make a gift to WVPB
Become a member with your gift of $1,000 or more
Make WVPB part of your legacy
Manage your membership account
A black West Virginia inmate says in a federal lawsuit that he was attacked by a member of the Aryan Brotherhood while state prison guards either did nothing or helped facilitate the assault.
Lermon Russell, 44, filed suit last week over the attack at the Mount Olive Correctional Center, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.
Russell says in the suit that Jacob Samples attacked him more than a year ago, stabbing and punching him while he was shackled. Court filings including a statement from Samples that says guards knew about and encouraged the plan to attack Russell.
Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Lawrence Messina said division officials only would comment on the case through court filings.
Defendants in the lawsuit include the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation as well as multiple officials within the agency, correctional officers and nurses.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for pain and suffering and seeks to have the agency adopt policies to prevent similar incidents.
