Inmates at Angola Prison in West Feliciana Parrish, La. are uniting in protest of injustice and “inhumane” conditions inside the facility, and C-Murder is adding his voice to the fray. The 46-year-old incarcerated rapper, born Corey Miller, has joined fellow inmates in a hunger strike.
In a recorded statement to AllHipHop.com published Tuesday (Jan. 30), Miller, who was sentenced to life on a murder conviction, shed light on some of the deplorable conditions inside the Louisiana state penitentiary where “brutality” and “handcuffed inmates are a norm.”
“I am now on a hunger strike to fight these injustices against my peers and myself,” the Louisiana native said while calling out Angola’s warden Darrel Vannoy and assistant warden, Barrett Boeker. Miller said that he filed racial harassment charges against the assistant warden and was retaliated against by being placed in a “dungeon” segregated from other inmates. He also claims that the warden has an “abundant amount” of physical, harassment, and racial complaints filed against him by inmates.
“Only in Louisiana can a warden be arrested for rape…and continue to serve as an officer in this Louisiana Penal System,” Miller said in reference to Boeker’s 2016 arrest on a second-degree rape charge. Boeker was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his home, located on prison grounds.
According to The Advocate, Boeker was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. A grand jury opted not to indict him.
In 2017, Boeker’s accuser Priscilla Lefebure, who is also his wife’s cousin, filed a federal lawsuit against him along with West Feliciana Parrish, District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla, and Sherrif J. Austin Daniel. In the suit, Lefebure accused Daniel and D’Aquilla of colluding to protect Boeker from prosecution.
Later that year, a 13-year-old girl visiting Angola was reported to have been raped by an inmate after the two were seen leaving a bathroom at the same time during a prison rodeo. An investigation concluded that no sexual misconduct took place.
In 2015, Vannoy was announced as interim warden, taking over for Burl Cain, who held the position for two decades before retiring following an auditor’s report that revealed that he had prisoners working at his home, and reportedly used state funds for personal purchases.
Earlier in the week, a former Angola prison major was found guilty of conspiring to cover up the 2014 brutal beating of an inmate by falsifying records and lying under oath. Miller noted that the ongoing corruption at Angola calls for an immediate “internal affairs investigation,” as the inmates will not be able to survive in such “intolerable and inhumane conditions.”
“We seek help and assistance from our public and lawmakers,” Miller stated. “Angola is a disaster. In a moment’s notice we can die from voicing our opinion, but our voice must be heard.”
Listen to his full statement below.