Two incarcerated individuals at the Broome County Correctional Facility are facing felony charges after separately attacking corrections officers.

The first incident took place on Feb. 16 and involved Michael J. Fiore, 41, a Binghamton resident arrested earlier that day. During the initial booking process, Fiore allegedly refused to comply with a required medical screening “used to assess the health and well-being of each incarcerated individual entering the facility,” according to a spokesperson for the Broome County Sheriff’s Office. Video footage released by Sheriff Fred Akshar shows Fiore ignoring several commands before removing his shirt.

The Sheriff’s Office said that the officers were then attacked, with Fiore “kneeing one officer in the face and causing injury.”

Two days later, Aaron J. Raymond, 35, of Dickinson, New York, was ordered by officers to remove “clothing that was wrapped around his head and neck.” Before the incident, mental health professionals engaged with him over a three-hour period. After Raymond refused, an officer attempted to remove the clothing, leading to an altercation that resulted in him “grabbing a Corrections Sergeant by the neck and collar and choking him,” Akshar’s office said. Raymond then struck a different corrections officer in the face.

He was previously scheduled for transfer from the jail to a facility operated by the state’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, but the move was delayed due to a lack of available bed space.

“The sad reality is that far too often, violent individuals in need of specialized mental health or developmental care are shunted to correctional facilities because the Governor and leaders in the Senate and Assembly in Albany have made it a priority to close the very facilities designed to care for them,” Akshar said. “Rather than having the funding redirected to specialized services, Albany has consistently redirected that targeted funding away from those who need it and into NYS Budget’s General Fund.”

“Our officers undergo extensive training and do an excellent job protecting the health and safety of all those living and working in our Correctional Facility, but in situations where a violent person with severe mental health or intellectual disabilities commits a crime, we can all agree that jail is simply not the appropriate place for them,” he added.

Both inmates were seen by medical staff afterward and did not report any injuries, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Fiore was charged with second-degree felony assault and obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor. Raymond was charged with felony strangulation and assault on a peace officer, police officer, firefighter or EMS professional, both in the second degree.

Akshar said similar incidents have occurred statewide and blamed the “abject indifference and purposeful ignorance of those in charge in Albany” for enacting policies he believes put additional strain on officers, referencing a now-repealed order issued Feb. 10 by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision that would have reduced staffing capacity.

“These so-called leaders have consistently refused to invest in specialized care or even basic CO recruitment, handed down a blanket 30% staffing reduction mandate on state-level COs already working 16 and 24 hour shifts, and pushed through dangerous, activist-driven legislation like the HALT Act, all of which led to the breaking point of widespread strikes at prisons throughout our state,” Akshar said.

“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish to improve conditions for both the staff and those incarcerated at the Broome County Correctional Facility, but it’s clear that leaders in Albany need to reexamine their priorities,” he continued.

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, who represents the city of Binghamton and southwestern Broome County, said corrections officers are facing numerous challenges, including staff shortages, long hours, low pay, assaults and prison contraband.

“Substantial reforms and significant resources must be directed to our state and local prisons, including a review of the implementation of the HALT Act, along with a review of violent acts towards the incarcerated,” she said. “These issues need to be front and center as we negotiate this year’s state budget, for the safety and security of corrections officers and for those individuals who are incarcerated.”

The legislation referenced, the Human Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, in effect since 2022, prohibits pregnant women, individuals older than 55 or under 21 years old, and those with disabilities from being placed in segregated confinement. It limits the use of segregated confinement to 15 consecutive days or 20 out of any 60-day period while requiring the implementation of alternative initiatives like Residential Rehabilitation Units, which provide therapy and treatment.

State corrections officers began striking on Feb. 17 in opposition to the act, framed by Akshar as “dangerous, activist-driven legislation.” They demanded wage increases, higher staffing levels and limits on mandatory overtime. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced a deal with the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association to end the strike, which was not authorized by the union. As part of the agreement, the state instituted a 90-day suspension of the act’s reforms and agreed to a temporary increase in overtime payment.

Strikes have not taken place at the Broome County Jail or any other county jail in the state, according to Akshar’s office.

“No one wants the jail to be unsafe, nobody wants guards to be getting hurt, and obviously, no one wants to see incarcerated people being harmed,” said Andrew Pragacz, the president of the activist group Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier and an adjunct professor of sociology at Binghamton University. “They’re the most powerless people in our society, and it is incumbent upon the jail to figure out appropriate means and ways to prevent violent acts of any sort, to deescalate situations and whatnot.”

While he clarified that he was not calling on Akshar to release a full video of the incidents, Pragacz argued that the publicly released footage did not capture the full story, noting that both incarcerated individuals appeared distressed.

“Footage was released in an effort to be as expeditious and transparent as possible without compromising the investigations or the cases,” the Sheriff’s Office representative wrote.