CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Community activists concerned about violence in the Clayton County Jail met with the sheriff and came away with a different perspective.

Now they want to give the Sheriff a chance to fix the many issues he faces.

WSB′s Tom Jones was at the jail when members of the New Order National Human Rights Organization and the Nation of Islam went into the jail to meet with Sheriff Levon Allen.

Before they went inside, they told Jones they were disturbed by the violence in the jail and workers arrested for misconduct.

“Enough is enough,” Gerald Rose with New Order said. He pointed the finger squarely at Sheriff Allen for the chaos inside the jail.

“He’s over this jail, so we have to blame him,” he pointed out.

After meeting with Allen, the activists were singing a different tune.

“He gave us a tour. He’s doing a good job. He just needs time,” said Aquil Muhammad with the Nation of Islam.

We’ve reported on several instances of inmates being attacked at the jail.

“They went in there to kill my son,” said Daytwanna Hardeman about the five inmates she says went into her son’s cell and stabbed him after she complained about bed bugs.

At least five jail workers have been arrested, one accused of whom was accused of setting up an inmate to be attacked.

Rose says after meeting with the sheriff, they were taken on a tour of the jail. He says he saw one inmate who was wounded.

“He got stabbed in the head, but he was transferred to another pod,” he said.

He said the sheriff says he needs more money to fix the problems, but he’s working to keep inmates safe.

A member of the Nation of Islam said the sheriff showed them how the inmates were getting shanks.

“So they were using the lights to make shanks to stab people. So once he figured out that that’s how they were making the shanks to stab people then he made the initiative to find a way to change the lights,” she explained.

She said the Sheriff has since changed the light fixtures.

Rose says the tour showed him the Sheriff really cares.

“I think he’s really concerned. I’m going to give him a chance,” he said.

Rose said the Sheriff was recently elected and he needs more time to straighten things out.

Sheriff Allen did not respond to a request for comment.

©2023 Cox Media Group