A former Oklahoma corrections officer has been convicted by a federal jury in Oklahoma City for violating the civil rights of Black detainees by facilitating their assaults at the hands of white supremacist detainees.
In a Friday press release, the U.S. Department of Justice said 53-year-old Matthew Ware ordered subordinate officers under his supervision at the Kay County Detention Center in Newkirk, Okla., to move two Black detainees to the same cell row as known white supremacist detainees. Prosecutors say Ware then ordered the cells of the victims and assailants be opened, knowing it would result in an assault by the white supremacist group.
Ware was also convicted on a charge stemming from a separate incident in which prosecutors say he personally ordered, as acting captain of the detention center, the physical abuse of another pretrial detainee who had criticized the way he ran the jail.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Oklahoma City field office and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and the DOJ's Civil Rights Division.
"If we don’t hold our very own law enforcement officials accountable, those sworn to protect and serve, what hope will the American people have?" said FBI Oklahoma Field Office Special Agent In Charge Ed Gray in a statement. "Mr. Ware’s actions were impermissible and undignified, particularly given his leadership role. His conviction is a prompt reminder that no one is above the law.”
"Criminal conduct by any corrections employee violates the public trust and unfairly tarnishes the reputation of all corrections officials who honorably perform their important work each day,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma in a statement. “This verdict demonstrates our continuing commitment to protect the civil rights of all Oklahomans, including those in custody."
"The defendant abused his power and authority by ordering subordinate corrections officers to violate the constitutional rights of several pretrial detainees. The Civil Rights Division will continue to hold corrections officials accountable when they violate the civil rights of detainees and inmates," Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department said Ware faces up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each of his three charges.
Ware's El Reno-based attorney, Jason Perkins, declined comment on Monday. Reached by phone Monday morning, a receptionist for Lance Phillips, Ware's Oklahoma City-based attorney, said Phillips was unable to comment.
