From the archives: Guards allowed attack, Ferguson says

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 25, 1994.

Colin Ferguson, his nose bandaged and eyes swollen from a beating by four inmates at the Nassau jail earlier this week, said yesterday that guards witnessed and tacitly condoned the assault.

Ferguson, 35, a Jamaican immigrant accused of killing six people and wounding 19 on a Long Island Rail Road train Dec. 7, spoke to reporters for the first time since his arrest. He limited his comments largely to his beating on Tuesday, but added that he fears being assassinated and that white corrections officers insult him racially.

Guards were in the lobby just a few feet from the scene of the beating, Ferguson said, and the corrections officer who should have been constantly observing the jail tier was not there.

"He was not on the guard walk. He was nowhere to be seen," Ferguson said. As for the other guards, he said, "Not only did they witness it, but they knew exactly what was going on."

Ferguson appeared badly beaten, with a bandage on his nose, which was broken. His left eye was swollen shut, and his right eye was bruised. He apologized for having difficulty speaking during a jailhouse interview, as he had to breathe through his mouth.

On Tuesday, he had come back from the infirmary, and even though Ferguson said he was balking out of fear, a corrections officer forced him into the tier.

"I was forced . . . by a corrections officer who was aware of the fullness of the consequences," he said.
Ferguson said he saw men whose hands were wrapped in strips of linen or towels waiting for him. "I had to face up to it," he said.

"I said to the men, 'I am not here to fight. Let us discuss this.' That was rejected," Ferguson said. " 'Let there be no violence' is basically what I was saying."

Ferguson declined to identify his attackers. Three of the alleged attackers are white and one is Hispanic, according to law enforcement sources.

Authorities said they were close to bringing criminal charges against the inmates who they suspect assaulted Ferguson. Arraignment of the four, who were not identified yesterday, could come today.

Lt. Robert Anderson, a spokesman for the jail, said an investigation would determine whether the allegations by Ferguson and his attorneys were true. "I would hope that the allegations that they are making are incorrect and wrong," Anderson said.

Thomas DeStefano, head of the union representing correction officers, has dismissed the allegations as ridiculous.

Ferguson said another inmate had warned him of the attack four days before he was beaten. Although he is locked in his cell as much as 22 hours a day for his own protection, he was attacked when placed in an open area with 22 other inmates after he was transferred to another building because of a leaky roof.

He said guards ignored his complaint that the attack was imminent. But he declined to label his assailants as racists.

"I would not want to unfairly brand anybody. Without an analysis of the situation, I would not want to assume it was racist in motive. I would have to analyze it carefully first to see why it took place," he said.

But Ferguson said he feared for his life. "I have no doubt in my mind there is an assassin of sorts in this place just waiting for the opportune time or to be given the opportunity by corrections officers."

One of Ferguson's lawyers, Ron Kuby, said yesterday that the actions of jail officials before the attack made it clear that they not only knew it was imminent but approved of it in advance. Jail officials received two faxes from Ferguson's attorneys warning of an attack.

Ferguson yesterday also spoke about the judicial system. "We live in a great nation called the United States of America in which due process is afforded to each and every person here, and that's what separates us from the rest of the world," he said.

In often rambling comments, Ferguson also complained about a lack of good reading material in the jail and said he longed for magazines such as National Geographic. He also talked of his future.

"If I ever become wealthy, I would volunteer my services to those who are internationally subjected to poverty," he said.