BASILE DETENTION CENTER PROTEST

The Town of Basile issued and approved a permit to a group of peaceful protesters earlier last week to a group from New Orleans, LA to be held Monday, June 30, 2025 from 12:30PM to 2:00PM at the GEO South Louisiana Detention Center.

I had a conference call Friday, June 27, 2025 with four of the organizers of the protest group. Their goal was to simply have a peaceful protest to make a point to the Federal Government to release the detained protesters. Of course, as everyone knows this was not going to happen. 

The Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office planned to escort the seven buses along with a few vehicles with a total of approximately 300 people to the Basile Detention Center which houses a maximum of 1100 detainees.  

On June 30, 2025 the Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office held a briefing with Basile Police Department along with several agencies to discuss our plans of securing the safety of our officers, protesters, the town people of Basile, and the entire staff and detainees of the Basile Detention Center. 

The Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office set up a safe perimeter and instructed the protesters to be directly in front of the Detention Center with the Evangeline Parish Sheriff personnel as a buffer. There were other officers on standby from Basile PD, Eunice PD, Asst. Chief Jeremy Ivory (EPD), Eunice City Marshal Terry Darbonne, Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office, Allen Parish Sheriff's Office, and the Louisiana State Police.

The protesters were peaceful and obedient and followed the Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office's direction. It began approximately at 12:30 PM and ended at 1:40 PM.  The hot temperature or 95 degrees and the asphalt were a huge factor in it ending earlier than expected. 

The Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office rendered aid to a protester who needed fluids and almost fainted.

In conclusion, the protest ended without a single incident. I like to thank my staff for an excellent job due to their professionalism and training. I would like to thank all the other agencies involved for standing by ready to assist. 

Sheriff Charles R. Guillory