“That’s the only place they can protect him,” said Steven Greenberg, Kelly’s Chicago-based attorney.

Sometime Wednesday, a disgruntled inmate, furious over lockdowns caused by Kelly, came into his cell and started attacking him, Greenberg said.

“My understanding is, everytime there is a pro-R. Kelly protest outside of the jail, they lock down the entire facility,” the lawyer said during a brief interview.

“When they do this, inmates don’t get their commissary, they don’t get their shower, stuff like that and since they’re fairly sporadic anyway, they get upset. So they’re penalizing everyone in the facility because people are protesting in support of Kelly.”

The attorney characterized the attack as a mere “dust up” and said there were “minor injuries, nothing broken” but that’s only because guards were able to quickly snuff it out.

“I’m still very concerned because sure this time the guards were able to quickly stop something from happening but what happens if someone goes in his cell with a shank or something like that? Or the guards are busy doing something else?” Greenberg said.

“We were fortunate this time but who’s to say next time?”

Kelly is awaiting trial on a series of child sex abuse charges and has repeatedly petitioned the courts to release him amid the coronavirus pandemic but those requests have all been rejected.