TikToker says he was fired after videos from inside Alligator Alcatraz went viral
TikTok user @skitheteamroski started sharing videos about three days ago, writing in his first video's caption that he was 'LIVE FROM ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ.' In that time period, the video has gotten over 3 million views. The seven videos he has posted since have gotten about 2 million combined views as of Thursday.
The videos show him doing mundane tasks, like laying on a bunk bed inside the facility, riding in a golf cart and sitting at a table in front of a cup of instant ramen in a mess hall. He also shows something that looks like meat loaf or bread in a container, while a voice says, 'Doesn't look very appetizing, does it?' Then he throws the food away.
The TikToker did not say what he was hired to do at the site, which is run by the state of Florida. The governor's office and the Division of Emergency Management, which is overseeing the facility, did not respond to a request for comment on the videos and the man's claims that he was fired.
In a TikTok story that was posted on Tuesday and disappeared after 24 hours, he said that several workers have quit, according to the Miami New Times.
'A lot of officers quit just because they were trying to help out the residents/inmates,' he said, according to New Times. 'And their bosses kept telling them, 'If you help them out, like give them water, take them to the bathroom, you will be fired.''
In another story posted on Tuesday, he shows a photo of what appears to be a trespass warning sent by the facility with some of the text covered up. He's started a GoFundMe titled 'Stand With Me Against Alligator Alcatraz.' In the GoFundMe's description, he says he was fired for sharing footage of the site and he's trying to raise money so he can get a lawyer.
'As long as I'm able to afford a lawyer, I have no problem exposing and posting what information I have,' says the GoFundMe page, which lists Jacksonville as the man's location. '...The next step is to try and get 'Alligator Alcatraz' shut down.'
He did not respond to the Miami Herald's request for comment.
He has received some backlash in the comments on his most recent videos for asking for money and saying he will post more videos if he gains more followers. In a story posted on Wednesday, he said he started the GoFundMe to protect himself.
'I have no reason to try and profit off of the people they have locked up in cages,' he wrote. 'Trump is a messed up individual.'
The TikTok videos have surfaced among controversy about conditions at the site. Wives of detainees told the Herald that they have limited access to showers. Bugs like mosquitoes and grasshoppers are inside the cells, and the air conditioning had stopped working earlier this week, they said.
The Division of Emergency Management has denied that conditions are unsuitable at the facility. Bugs and other environmental issues are 'minimized,' according to spokesperson Stephanie Hartman, who has called detainees' claims of grim conditions 'completely false.'
The state has invited lawmakers to visit the detention facility on Saturday for a 90-minute tour. It's the first invitation since the facility started taking detainees on July 2, and it comes after the state denied access to five Democratic lawmakers last week during an unannounced visit.
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