Congresswoman Cindy Axne and Democrats in the Iowa legislature are calling for a federal investigation of the murders of two employees at the state prison in Anamosa. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls and other Democratic lawmakers toured the facility and met with the prison’s acting warden Friday.

“Over and over and over we were shown areas of the prison where you had a huge potential number of inmates just vastly outnumbering the number of staff who were there in any individual area,” Wahls said.

Wahls says it’s critical for the legislature to provide enough money to hire more staff and upgrade security cameras and the radio communications system within the prison.

The top Republican in the Iowa House has accused Democrats of politicizing the situation in Anamosa, where two employees were beaten to death with hammers. Two inmates have been charged with their murders. House Speaker Pat Grassley says there’s already an internal investigation underway to examine issues that may have led to the attack and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has said an external investigation will be done.