This Is How the Federal Government Force-Feeds Detainees

The Intercept Briefing

The Intercept

Politics, Unknown, Daily News, History, News

4.8 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2022

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2019, Ajay Kumar, an asylum-seeker from India, began a hunger strike while in ICE detention to demand his release. In response, the U.S. government force-fed Kumar. The Intercept accessed footage of the force-feeding, a practice widely condemned by international organizations. This week on Intercepted, Travis Mannon, a video producer with The Intercept, breaks down what took place during the force-feeding and why this video is so significant: This is the first public video of a federally sanctioned force-feeding by the U.S. government. Mannon reports on Kumar’s time in ICE detention, the force-feeding he experienced, and the ethical questions surrounding the practice. Jose Olivares, lead producer for Intercepted, co-reported this story. join.theintercept.com/donate/now

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Intercepted includes disturbing material.
0:04.4	Listener discretion is advised.
0:11.4	Dressed in a blue immigration jail outfit,
0:14.0	AJ Kumar was lying in a hospital bed in the detention center clinic.
0:19.0	His beard was bushy and his arms thin.
0:23.0	He had been on hunger strike, along with three others for over a month.
0:28.0	It was August 14th, 2019.
0:32.0	At 3.45 pm, five correctional guards in riot gear entered the room.
0:37.0	At this time, we woke her up to the medical infirmary
0:40.0	where the canine Kumar Ajay has been out there.
0:44.0	Can you rate him?
0:46.0	He is.
0:47.0	That's right.
0:48.0	Kumar, an asylum seeker from India,
0:50.0	had been in the custody of immigration and customs enforcement,
0:54.0	or ICE, for over a year.
0:57.0	He was on hunger strike, demanding his release.
1:00.0	I need you to comply with with our staff, my team,
1:05.0	to go ahead and do this medical procedure.
1:08.0	So many people came and grabbed my legs and arms.
1:13.0	I couldn't move anything.
1:15.0	They were well equipped with helmets and jackets,
	...

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