News 12

"Despite the Department of Corrections citing progress on some safety concerns, several groups came together today to rally once again for the closure of one of the city’s most controversial jails: Rikers Island. [Watch the video for coverage of the rally, including members of Freedom Agenda]"

The Intercept

"'The system constantly punishes people with the least power, which is incarcerated people and their loved ones, without actually taking any accountability for the Department of Correction themselves,' said Ashley Conrad, an organizer with Freedom Agenda..."

Gothamist

"Well-resourced schools and more economic opportunities are also effective ways to reduce the jailed population, said Darren Mack, co-director of the advocacy group Freedom Agenda."

Queens Daily Eagle

"Ashley Conrad, a community organizer with Freedom Agenda, said...that the proposed change to the mail system..."will continue to punish incarcerated people and their loved ones in the way that this system always has,” Conrad said. “I assure you, mail variance or not, drugs and contraband will make its way onto Rikers Island – through officers, as they mostly do.'"

El Diario

"'Edgardo Mejía recibió una sentencia de muerte sin juicio', dijo Darren Mack, codirector de Freedom Agenda, grupo de defensa de personas encarceladas."

Amsterdam News

“'Edgardo [Mejias] was delivered a death sentence without a trial,' said Freedom Agenda Co-Director Darren Mack. 'What will it take for judges, prosecutors and police to stop churning people through this death trap, and for the mayor to stop encouraging them?'"

92Q Jams

"'Why do we just say we’re going to throw our hands up and say nothing changes, and send more people here to die?' Sarita Daftary, co-director of Freedom Agenda, asked City Council members."

Gothamist

"'Why do we just say we’re going to throw our hands up and say nothing changes, and send more people here to die?' Sarita Daftary, co-director of Freedom Agenda, asked City Council members."

NY Daily News

“Edgardo Mejia was delivered a death sentence without a trial,” said Darren Mack, co-director of the Freedom Agenda, an advocacy group for people impacted by incarceration.“What will it take for judges, prosecutors, and police to stop churning people through this death trap, and for the mayor to stop encouraging them?”

AM NY

"'Now is the time to invest in housing, treatment, and everything we know creates safety, and stop sending people to Rikers to die,'” Freedom Agenda Co-Director and former Rikers Island inmate Darren Mack said in a statement."