A powerful and revealing new series about Kalief Browder premieres tonight on SpikeTV
He spent more than 1000 days in Rikers Island on suspicion of stealing a backpack
Premiering tonight on Spike TV is the documentary TIME: The Kalief Browder Story. The series is produced by Jay Z and is about a teenager from the Bronx who was held in pretrial detention in Rikers Island for almost three years, two years of which he spent in solitary confinement.
When he was 16, Browder was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack, a charge that was eventually thrown out in court. He was held on $3000 bail and because he and his family could not afford to pay it, and because he refused to take a plea bargain, he spent more than 1000 days in jail awaiting trial.
The most heartbreaking part of this story is his struggle with depression brought on from harassment and beatings from correctional officers, and spending much time in solitary confinement. In 2015, after he was released from jail, he tragically took his own life. He was 21-years-old. This multipart documentary series highlights just a few of the many ways our criminal justice system lacks equality for people of color, and how it ultimately failed to provide justice for Kalief Browder.
Time: The Kalief Browder Story begins tonight at 10/9c on Spike TV.