- Date:
- September 9, 1971 - September 13, 1971
- Location:
- New York
- United States
Attica prison revolt
-
What was the Attica prison revolt?
The Attica prison revolt transpired September 9â13, 1971, at the Attica Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in New York. Sparked by poor living conditions and racial tensions, approximately 1,300 inmates, mostly African American and Hispanic, seized control, taking staff hostage to demand improved conditions.
After negotiations failed, state police stormed the prison on September 13. The resulting violence led to the deaths of 29 inmates and 10 hostages. The McKay Commission's report called it the bloodiest encounter between Americans since the Civil War, excluding late 19th-century Indian massacres. The Attica prison revolt became a focal point for discussions on prison reform and prisonersâ rights in the United States.
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When and where did the Attica prison revolt take place?
The Attica prison revolt occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York. The prison was built in 1931. The revolt began on September 9, 1971, when inmates seized control of the prison to demand improved living conditions, and ended on September 13, 1971, when state police officers stormed the prison. The event was the result of several factors, including racial tensions, overcrowding, and poor living conditions. The prison population was primarily Black and Hispanic, while the guards were all white.
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Who was involved in the Attica prison revolt?
The Attica prison revolt involved several key groups and individuals. The inmates themselves, a majority of whom were African American and Hispanic, organized the uprising to demand better living conditions. A negotiating committee of inmates was selected to handle contact with the prison administration, and a security force was formed by the rebelling prisoners to protect the hostages and keep order.
Russell Oswald, New Yorkâs commissioner of corrections, negotiated directly with the inmates initially. An "observers committee" was invited by the prisoners to act as intermediaries. This group included prominent African American and Hispanic political leaders, activist lawyers, journalists, and members of the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam. Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York, ultimately made the decision to end negotiations and order state troopers to retake the prison by force.
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What caused the prisoners at Attica to start the revolt?
Several factors contributed to the Attica prison revolt in September 1971. Overcrowding was a major issue, with 2,250 prisoners in a facility designed for 1,600. Tensions were high due to ethnic and cultural differences, as the inmate population was largely African American and Hispanic, while the guards were primarily white.
Inadequate living conditions, including cramped cells, poor food, and minimal medical care, added to the dehumanizing atmosphere. A specific incident on September 8, 1971, involving the disciplining of two inmates for horseplay, sparked a protest and subsequent riot. The following day, inmates took control, seizing hostages and demanding improved living conditions.
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What happened during the Attica prison revolt?
The Attica prison revolt was a significant prison insurrection that occurred in 1971, from September 9 to September 13, at the Attica Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in New York. Inmates seized control of the prison to demand improved living conditions and took members of the prison staff hostage.
Tensions escalated due to overcrowding, with 2,250 prisoners in a space designed for 1,600, and racial disparities, as the inmate population was largely African American and Hispanic, while the guards were all white.
On September 13, state police stormed the prison, resulting in the deaths of 29 inmates and 10 of the captive correctional staff members. False reports initially stated that inmates had killed the hostages, but autopsies later revealed that police gunfire caused all hostage deaths.
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What were the results and effects of the Attica prison revolt on American prisons?
The Attica prison revolt occurred between September 9 and 13, 1971, at the Attica Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in New York. Inmates took control of the prison to demand improved living conditions, taking prison staff hostage. After four days of negotiations, state police stormed the prison, resulting in 29 inmates and 10 hostages dead.
The Attica uprising became a significant event in United States corrections history because press coverage and criticism of the assault raised awareness of the conditions that led to the revolt. Commentators cited the events as evidence of the need for changes in corrections policies and to recognize prisonersâ rights.
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Attica prison revolt, prison insurrection in 1971, lasting from September 9 to September 13, during which inmates in New Yorkâs maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility seized control of the prison and took members of the prison staff hostage to demand improved living conditions. After four days of negotiations with the inmates, state police officers stormed the prison, killing 29 inmates and 10 of the captive correctional staff members. The McKay Commission, which provided the official report on the events at Attica, commented that âwith the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the state police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War.â
The revolt
The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a rise in significant disturbances at American prisons. In New York alone, riots and partial takeovers of correctional facilities occurred at the Manhattan House of Detention in New York City in August 1970 and at the Auburn Correctional Facility in Auburn in November 1970. Although neither event resulted in crises on the scale of the one at Attica, they did contribute to tension there, raising both the expectations of guards and inmates about the possibility of a future revolt. Also, some prisoners from Auburn were transferred to Attica. Atticaâs severe overcrowdingâin September 1971 the prison held 2,250 prisoners even though it had been designed for only 1,600âfurther increased the likelihood of an incident. Racial tensions were also a major factor in the revolt; the inmate population was nearly 55 percent African American and 10 percent Hispanic while all the guards were white.
The event that precipitated the Attica uprising occurred on September 8, when an episode of horseplay between inmates in the prison yard was interpreted by guards as a serious fight. There was an altercation between guards and inmates, and two of the inmates were sent to disciplinary confinement. Anger at the two menâs treatment spread through the prison, and on September 9 a lieutenant involved in the earlier incident was attacked when he asked a group of inmates to return to their cells after breakfast. In the chaotic violence that followed, inmates gained access to the prisonâs central control area. Guards were beaten and taken hostage; one guard received a head injury from which he died two days later. About 1,300 rebelling prisoners congregated in the D yard, one of the prisonâs four yards, and the 38 hostages were brought there. The inmates quickly began to organize themselves. A security force was formed to protect the hostages and keep order, and a negotiating committee was selected to handle contact with the prison administration.
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The negotiations
Soon after the start of the uprising, the inmates produced a statement listing their grievances and laying out demands that would serve as the basis for negotiations. The first negotiations were carried out directly between Russell Oswald, who was New Yorkâs commissioner of corrections, and the inmates. Oswald entered the prison on the afternoon of September 9. He was accompanied by representatives of the media, giving the outside world its first look inside the prison. However, miscommunications between Oswald and the prisoners quickly caused a breakdown in trust, and the prisoners refused to continue direct talks.
On September 10 an âobservers committeeâ invited by the prisoners arrived at the prison. It included prominent African American and Hispanic political leaders from New York, activist lawyers, journalists, and members of the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam. That group, although originally invited as observers, took the role of intermediaries in negotiations. Meanwhile, a force of more than 1,000 law-enforcement officers, including state troopers, corrections officers, and local police, gathered at the prison. Over the next two days the administration and the prisoners exchanged proposals, but by September 12 Oswald and Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York, had concluded that the situation could not be resolved through negotiations.
The retaking of Attica
On the morning of September 13, a final ultimatum from Oswald was read to inmates, who signaled their rejection by taking eight blindfolded hostages to catwalks on the prison wall and holding knives to their throats or bodies. Fifteen minutes later a helicopter dropped tear gas into the yard, and state police and correctional officers stormed the prison, firing indiscriminately. When the shooting stopped, 10 hostages and 29 inmates were dead or dying. Within an hour Attica was secured. State police and correctional officers then began to search inmates and move them back into cells.
One of the most-infamous incidents of the uprising occurred shortly after the main yard had been secured. Gerald Houlihan, the public information officer for the New York Department of Corrections, falsely told the press that inmates had cut the throats of the 10 hostages who died during the assault. That was believed by the corrections officers and state troopers processing the surrendered and wounded inmates. As a result, there were numerous acts of brutality against them. Less than 24 hours later, however, autopsies revealed that all of the dead hostages had been killed by police gunfire.
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After the uprising
In the years following the Attica uprising, 62 inmates were indicted for more than 1,200 criminal acts, and one state trooper was charged with a crime. An investigative commission led by Robert McKay, the dean of New York Universityâs Law School, held hearings regarding the Attica revolt in April 1972. The commissionâs final report described in great detail the conditions that had led to the revolt and was strongly critical of the authoritiesâ handling of the crisis. It specifically rebuked Rockefeller for not personally visiting the prison before ordering its retaking.
In 1974 Gov. Hugh Carey sought to bring the matter to a close by pardoning seven inmates and commuting the sentence of an inmate convicted of killing a correctional officer. In addition, Carey ruled that no disciplinary action should be taken against 19 police officers and one civilian whom investigators had suggested should be disciplined. Civil suits by prisoners seeking monetary damages for the use of excessive force continued for years afterward. It was not until 2000 that the state of New York settled a civil suit brought by inmates for $12 million.