Official says hunger strike over at south Mississippi prison
JACKSON, Miss. - An official says a hunger strike is over at a south Mississippi prison.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections made the announcement Tuesday, eight days after officials said 11 inmates had begun refusing meals. Relatives supporting inmates said they were protesting conditions at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville. Corrections spokeswoman Grace Simmons Fisher said an inmate caught with contraband encouraged unrest.
At least two inmates whom supporters identified as protesters have been transferred to Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in recent days. Fisher says they were moved because officials deemed them security threats.
Officials say guards searched for contraband in two smaller units at the Leakesville prison Tuesday, finding relatively few banned items.
Fisher says a guard was injured while "enforcing grooming standards." She couldn't immediately provide details.