BY LAURA GARZA
HOUSTON - A videotape of prison guards brutalizing inmates in the Brazoria County Detention Center in Angleton, Texas, has evoked widespread condemnation. The tape was shot for possible use as a training video and depicts a shakedown of inmates in a search for alleged drug violations on Sept. 18, 1996. In the video riot-clad guards kick prisoners lying prone on the floor, including in the groin, and force them to crawl while hitting, kicking, and using an electric prod and a dog on them.

The video was released after an inmate filed suit over this treatment. The inmates involved were housed in a section of the prison that was rented out for use by the state of Missouri and run by a private corporation, the Capital Correction Resources, Inc. In the wake of the video being widely shown on television on August 18 and 19, Missouri canceled its contract to house 415 inmates at the prison and began busing them out.  
 
 
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