THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Because when you do, he will make regret it even if you have nothing to do with it. The inmates at Dannemora were retaught this lesson after the escape of two murderers last spring.

Inmates at the Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York said the guards who beat them in the days after a brazen escape in June wore no name badges and did not identify themselves.

But one guard, the inmates said, stood out. He had a large tattoo of the American flag down his left arm and was known around the prison as Captain America.

No officer has been publicly implicated in any wrongdoing since an investigation by The New York Times nearly two months ago found what appeared to be a campaign of retribution against dozens of Clinton inmates after the escape at the prison.

Now, through interviews with inmates, The Times has identified Captain America as Chad Stickney, a gang intelligence officer and onetime steward in the state corrections officers’ union.

The inmates’ willingness to come forward and be named speaks to their growing frustration with the pace of the investigation into their allegations. Amid worsening violence at the prison, some inmates said they had been subjected to further harassment after speaking out.

The escape from the Clinton prison by convicted killers David Sweat, left, and Richard W. Matt set off a nationwide manhunt that ended with Mr. Matt being killed and Mr. Sweat being captured. Credit New York State Police
In the frantic days after the prison break, inmates said in letters and interviews with The Times that guards handcuffed them, took them for questioning into areas of the prison with no cameras, punched them and slammed them against the wall. One inmate described having a plastic bag pulled over his head and being threatened with “waterboarding.”...

Four months after two convicted murderers, Richard W. Matt and David Sweat, escaped through the tunnels under the prison in Dannemora, N.Y., Clinton remains a tense place. There have been at least three major brawls among inmates, with officers using tear gas and, in one case, live ammunition to bring the prison under control, according to the corrections department.

The state’s inspector general is expected in the coming months to release a report detailing security lapses that led to the escape. And the corrections agency has promised to investigate inmates’ claims of abuse.

Asked at a recent news conference whether there was a problem with brutality by guards in the state prison system, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said that while there might be a few isolated incidents, officers were doing a “good job.”

Most of them really do perform well. The problem is that whan they go bad, they really go bad. And they have a captive audience to work with.