Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
New Video Shows Teen Beaten On Rikers By Fellow Inmates
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 23, 2015
Modified Apr 23, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 23, 2015
Modified Apr 23, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Bronx teenager Kalief Browder spent three years of his life on Rikers Island, nearly two of them in solitary confinement, for a petty charge that was ultimately dismissed. Browder's ordeal was the subject of a gut-wrenching profile in The New Yorker last fall, and today the magazine has released surveillance footage documenting two beatings Browder received at the hands of Correction Officers and his fellow inmates.
The first clip shows Browder being escorted out of his cell by a Correction Officer. After exchanging a few words, the officer throws Browder to the ground. “I just felt him tighten a grip around my arm,” Browder told The New Yorker's Jennifer Gonnerman, who played the footage for him. “In my head, I was wondering why he tightened it so tight, like he never usually does, and that’s when he swung me and kept trying to slam me.”
The second clip shows Browder, who was never in a gang, being spit on by a gang leader. Had he not retaliated and punched the gang leader in the face, Browder told Gonnerman it “meant they could keep spitting in my face. I wasn’t going to have that.”
Roughly ten other teenaged inmates pounce on Browder, while two Correction Officers try in vain to pull them off. Browder finally escapes into a separate room, and has an exchange with another inmate, who eventually kicks open the door; a slew of inmates pour in and continue to beat Browder while the overwhelmed Correction Officers scramble to restore order.
Last summer, the U.S. Department of Justice released the results of their two-year investigation of minors held on Rikers Island and found “a deep-seated culture of violence," where Correction Officers used beatings to "control the adolescent population and punish disorderly or disrespectful behavior.”
The report stated that the environment on Rikers for minors like Browder was "more inspired by Lord of the Flies than any legitimate philosophy of humane detention."
Mayor de Blasio and his Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte have assured the public that they're taking steps to reform the jail, including tripling the number of cameras in the jail to 10,000, outlawing solitary confinement for juveniles, and reducing the jail's overall population.
Many violent incidents on Rikers occur in areas without cameras. Last July, two Correction Officers and a Captain were charged with beating an inmate in a stairwell with a baton, knowing that the area lacked cameras.
Tagged
Rikers Island
doc
kalief browder
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
MTA’s Lieber reiterates opposition to ‘fast and free’ buses after violent incident
A Mamdani spokesman said an incident where a man was tackled for suspected fare evasion “would not happen in the first place if bus fare was eliminated.”
By
Carol Chen
Published Oct 15, 2026 at 4:43 p.m. ET
Avila Chevalier insists her beef is with NYPD Commissioner Tisch, not Mamdani
The Democratic nominee for Congress maintained that she and Mamdani remain close allies.
By
Jimmy Vielkind
News
Avila Chevalier insists her beef is with NYPD Commissioner Tisch, not Mamdani
The Democratic nominee for Congress maintained that she and Mamdani remain close allies.
By
Jimmy Vielkind
$500M, 30-year lease for a new Newark school moves forward
By
Michael Sol Warren
Police are looking for pickpockets who keep targeting this LES bar
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Citi Bike finishes expansion into 7 areas, including parts of North Bronx, Eastern Brooklyn
By
Stephen Nessen
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .