Two days after the death of Isaabdul Karim inside the city’s jail on Rikers Island — the 11th fatality on Rikers Island this year — survivors of Rikers and human rights advocates protested outside Gracie Mansion on Sept. 21, demanding that Mayor Bill de Blasio close the troubled prison complex.
Wheelchair-bound Karim, who had been held on a non-criminal parole violation, died on Sept. 19 in the North Infirmary Command after telling staff that he wasn’t feeling well. According to the Department of Correction, he died of natural causes. The official cause of death is under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
