Where Is Aaron Campbell Now?
By: Erin Butts
Seven months ago, Aaron DeShawn Campbell, an inmate in FCI Elkton posted a video on Facebook using an illegal phone that showed the conditions inmates were being kept in during the pandemic. The Marshall Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, news organization said that the video went viral and VICE news stated in April that the video had been shared on Facebook over 6,000 times and viewed by 88,000 people.
The video shows what appears to be a cramped room with bunk beds. There is at least one other prisoner in the video, but Campbell also mentions that there is a man on the top bunk, right above him, who is dying due to COVID-19. The other man who is across from him is lying in bed, wheezing and coughing. He can barely talk. Campbell says that even though they are told to social distance, their living situation does not allow them to do that. Campbell stated that he felt fine in his video, but he also said that he had some of the symptoms. He could not taste or smell anything.
As a call to action to help him and others, and as a way to “fight for prison reform,” as Campbell explained, the 31-year-old man took the risk of recording the conditions at Elkton prison with an illegal phone and asked for help from anyone who was watching.
On April 3, Campbell said that he had less than a year before his release. The United States Department of Justice however, states that his release is set for 2023. Campbell also states that he meets the criteria for the CARES Act and for compassionate release.
The CARES Act is a law that is meant to help and preserve economic activity in America during COVID-19. This law also helps people currently in prisons and jails because it states that inmates who are highly susceptible to COVID-19 can serve the rest of their sentence on home confinement. Compassionate release allows federal prison wardens to release certain prisoners early.
Campbell was sent to prison for selling crack cocaine in West Virginia. In his video he states that he is not a gang member or a sexual offender, and he was not on death row so he should be able to qualify. However, both of his appeals were denied.
After Campbell’s video went viral, Campbell wrote to VICE and said that he was placed in solitary confinement. He said that the officials told him he would not be punished further if he made a statement saying that the video was fake, but Campbell refused. Two months after that, Campbell was still in solitary confinement.
Statements regarding Campbell and how he was placed in solitary confinement were reported on months ago, the latest report being in June.
A GoFundMe that was created on June 14 states Aaron Campbell as the organizer of the fundraiser. The goal to reach $500,000 has not been met and the last donation was two months ago. A letter allegedly written by Campbell is shown on the Gofundme page, and the statement under it says that Campbell is raising funds to hire an attorney to represent him and that,
“Since his video went viral, Aaron Campbell has been in solitary confinement facing additional federal charges for creating the video.”
No further reports or information on Campbell have been shared with the public.