Feb 2, 2026
By Hannah Krenn
In leaked videos from California’s largest women’s prison, guards stand in a line facing dozens of incarcerated women gathered around cafeteria tables. Suddenly, a guard fires a mustard-brown spray from a long red canister. Other guards join in, spraying the women, and throwing projectiles that explode in white smoke.
The women — some wearing neon “mobility impaired” vests, others using wheelchairs or walkers — cover their eyes and run if they can, or hide under tables. In more leaked videos, guards appear to throw more smoke grenades at the women as they sit outside in the prison yard.
The previously unseen footage from Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla appears to bolster two excessive force lawsuits related to the Aug. 2, 2024, incident. The lawsuits claim the women had been rounded up in the cafeteria in retaliation for filing sexual misconduct complaints against guards.
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