Lawyer Says Guards Beat and Pepper-Sprayed Detainees at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

Source: US News & World Report/AP

April 15, 2026, at 11:35 a.m.


ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees at a state-run immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades this month, according to a lawyer for two detainees. The guards targeted Katherine Blankenship's clients and other detainees at the facility after they complained about not having phone access on April 2, Blankenship said in a court declaration.

The phones, which weren't functioning, are the primary way for detainees to communicate with family and their attorneys while in the detention center. The guards began taunting the detainees, who were in a cell, then became “more aggressive and were yelling and threatening to enter the cage,” Blankenship wrote.

When one detainee approached a guard, he was punched in the face. The guards then started beating other detainees in the cell. One of Blankenship's clients was punched in the right eye, thrown to the floor and beaten by several guards. He was kicked in the head and his shoulder and arm were injured. A guard put his knee on the detainee's neck while restraining him, according to the attorney's declaration, which included a photo made during a video call almost a week later showing the detainee with a bruised eye.

“The officers beat several people during this incident and broke another detained individual’s wrist,” Blankenship wrote. The detainee whose wrist was broken is not one of her clients. Phone service was restored the next day without any explanation for why it was cut off. The Florida Department of Emergency Management didn't respond to questions emailed Wednesday about the incident.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2026-04-15/lawyer-says-guards-beat-and-pepper-sprayed-detainees-at-floridas-alligator-alcatraz