90.5 WESA: “A man who says he was assaulted by Allegheny County Jail corrections officers has filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated by the facility’s ‘culture and policy of using excessive force.’

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Wednesday, Kush Wilkerson accused multiple corrections officers of carrying out a brutal beating that left him with extensive injuries that persist nearly two years later.

Former ACJ warden Orlando Harper and two top deputies are defendants in the suit, as are 10 correctional officers. Wilkerson claims Harper and other jail administrators failed to adequately train, supervise and discipline the officers, resulting in the assault and ‘rampant use of unlawful force on people incarcerated at ACJ,’ particularly those with psychiatric disabilities.

Wilkerson has been diagnosed with PTSD, paranoid schizophrenia, and multiple other mental health disorders, the filing says, and prior to the assault was experiencing auditory hallucinations of deceased loved ones. Along with the claims of excessive force, Wilkerson alleges he faced discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Wilkerson was in custody facing charges of robbery and aggravated assault on July 12, 2023, when the lawsuit alleges that corrections officers punched and kicked him in the head and torso and tased him multiple times in the torso, groin and anus, even after he was handcuffed and on the ground.

‘After he was tased in the anus, Mr. Wilkerson heard one correctional officer ask, “is he breathing?” the complaint says. Later, ‘One correctional officer stated, “We’ll kill you.”’

When Wilkerson was returned to a cell and strip-searched, an officer kept a taser pointed at his face while others ‘made threats to “shoot him up the ass” and give him a “water plunge” and made jokes about his “cavity,”’ the complaint says.”

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