Puente Human Rights Movement held a rally to demand the release of Valentina Gloria and Breanna Gonzales, who are both held in Lower Buckeye Jail, outside of Maricopa County Attorney’s office Monday.
Gloria, 19, and Gonzales, 17, who both have a mental illness and are survivors of sexual assault.
Gloria has been detained in Lower Buckeye Jail since February because of spitting at a male officer while being chained down to table during a mental health episode. Gonzales has been detained in the same jail since April and is being charged with one count of deadly assault by prisoner and one count of aggravated assault temporary disfigurement, according to theMaricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
The women’s mothers Vangelina Gloria and Julieann Gonzales are asking the new Maricopa County Attorney to drop all charges and release both women before their birthdays this month.
“Do Bill Montgomery and Paul Penzone understand that these conditions are inhumane and a human rights issue, no teenager with mental health issues should have to go through this or be punished behind a cell,” Julieann Gonzales said during the rally. “No one should have their dignity denied.”
This is the second time Puente has held a rally outside the office.
“We are here today because we see a pattern of disgraced of human life, this county attorney’s office time and time again has put our people behind bars instead of providing proper treatment,” said Jovana Renteria, the legal director for Puente Human Rights Movement.
The rally drew a small crowd of concerned residents.
Among them was, Taylor Miskowski, a 20-year-old student at Phoenix College, and Paris Moore, a 17-year-old student at North High School. Both Miskowski and Moore came to show solidarity with the two women.
“There’s a lot of stigma surrounding mental health. A lot of people commit crimes because of mental health issues, it’s sometimes hard to grasp reality.” Miskowski said. “I’m a mentally ill person and it sucks. I don’t think there is enough conversation around mental illness, especially in the criminal justice system.”
Phoenix New Times published a video of Gloria being chained down to a table, while having a mental health episode. During this video Gloria spits at one of the male officers. Moore said that she saw the video of Gloria and thinks what’s happening is horrible.
According to Phoenix New Times, Bill Montgomery announced he signed a contract with Southwest Behavioral Health and Services to provide treatment for certain felony offenders diagnosed as seriously mentally ill, which began on August 12. Vangelina still doesn’t know if Gloria qualifies for the new program.
Michael Smith, a volunteer at Healthcare Rising Arizona, a grass root healthcare advocacy organization said Arizona is horrible for its mental health treatment in jails.
“The medical facilities are a joke, in all departments of corrections, in all prisons … They don’t care about people’s mental health,” he said. “It’s practically nonexistence, they don’t care.”
Since media outlets have reported on Gloria’s condition, her family has received backlash from people on social media.
Gloria’s 13-year-old sister said that many people have sent her messages saying that her sister deserves to be in jail.
“We can’t control Valentina’s mental illness, we are there to support her as a family … these incident didn’t occur at home, they occurred when she was out in a facility … and to take the backlash that we have been taking is ridiculous due to a broken system,” Vangelina said.
According to Vangelina, Gloria is being charged with three felonies and doesn’t understand the charges. Since being in jail she has cracked her head eight times and tried to hang herself two weeks ago with her sheets.
Analise Ortiz, the campaign strategist for ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice said she just can’t believe the heartache that Vangelina is going through.
“I think anyone who sees the video can’t help but to be shocked. The more people who come together to fight for Valentina and all others who are being harmed by our justice system, the closer we can get to achieving true justice,” she said.
Tasha Menaker, co-chief executive officer at the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic violence said the reason why Gloria spit on a correctional officer while being chained down was because it was her only recourse and it must be understood as a trauma response.
“We need to re-evaluate our responses to survivors and stop criminalizing mental illness, disability and normal responses to trauma,” Menaker said. “There’s a video from inside the jail where we see a barely dressed Valentia having her legs forcedly spread apart by male officers, this experience can be extremely triggering for a survivor of sexual abuse.”
During the rally Puente dropped off a petition with 1,000 signatures to release Gloria and Gonzales at the office for the next Maricopa Court Attorney to read and consider.
The next hearing for Gloria is Sept. 20 and for Gonzales is Sept. 17.
Contact the reporter at jpbeltra@asu.edu.
