Browder was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. His family couldn't pay bail so he stayed in jail, reportedly enduring beatings and solitary confinement before his case was dismissed in 2013.
He was 16 years old when he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. Because his family was unable to raise his $10,000 bail, Browder languished at Rikers Island for three years awaiting trial.
The teen says he endured beatings by officers and other inmates. He tried to commit suicide and spent more than 400 days in solitary confinement.
Eventually, in 2013, his case was dismissed. The publicity surrounding his case led to a plan to try to curb the violence at Rikers. But as Browder told the New Yorker, he emerged from the ordeal broken.
“People tell me because I have this case against the city I’m all right,” he told the magazine. “But I’m not all right. I’m messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that’s not going to help me mentally. I’m mentally scarred right now. That’s how I feel. Because there are certain things that changed about me and they might not go back.”
So upsetting that the colour of one's skin and the money their parents make determine's who stays behind bars in the USA!
