THOMSON, Ill. — Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin paid a visit to the USP Thomson federal prison on Friday following conduct allegations made against Warden Thomas Bergami.
Durbin spoke with staff, inmates, and management as he was given a tour of the facility to assess conditions after Thomson's staff union reported instances of inmate abuse and death and called it one of the deadliest federal prisons in the country. The press was not allowed to join the tour.
Following the tour, Sen. Durbin spoke to the press, but refused to comment on the union's allegations, saying, "I'm not gonna engage in that conversation."
The union's report followed an NPR report and Marshal Project investigation from earlier this spring that discovered several instances of inmate abuse and at least 5 homicides.
Durbin, however, said that he didn't see evidence of that.
"I can't say that it's an extraordinary situation. I would say in terms of the standards that are being used to protect the inmates and the staff, I think this is a reasonable situation from what I saw today," he said when asked about the safety of USP Thomson.
The Senator said he will be continuing to monitor the prison and its challenges going forward.