Filed under: Action, Incarceration, Southeast
From Support Prisoner Resistance
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Last night prisoners took over Holman prison in Alabama. At around midnight a fight between inmates escalated to include guards and even the warden. Staff fled, and the rioting prisoners have taken over general population, lighting guard towers on fire and barricading the doors.
According to rumors, the incident began when an officer responded to a fight between two prisoners with excessive force and was stabbed in response. “Then they brought the warden down and the warden got to talking crazy so they ended up stabbing the warden, and then after that all the officers ran up out of the institution, that was like 12:00, 1:00 this morning.”
Riot breaks out at #Alabama prison; warden stabbed as inmates run wild https://t.co/Uy5KevRBfX pic.twitter.com/MaY2XXto9K
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) March 12, 2016
The warden and officer’s injuries were not fatal. There are videos circulating on social media of prisoners burning the control towers and opening all doors. “We’re tired of this shit, there’s only one way to deal with it: tear the prison down” one of the participants stated.
At around 2 am the riot squad and police arrived. They said they were waiting on daylight to move and try to restore control of the facility. At this time, people haven’t heard from the occupied portion of the prison for a few hours, but it seems the authorities have not moved in, either. Friends and family of prisoners in Holman are asking that people pray for their loved ones.
Riot breaks out at Alabama's William C Holman Correctional Facility prison
https://t.co/KiLGi9Z9cA— News, Views, People. (@NVPeople) March 12, 2016
Holman’s capacity is 1002 prisoners, but it also has a segregation unit and death row, which are still under the prison’s control. Prisoners in segregation have not received their breakfast meal, four hours after it is normally distributed. General population at Holman consists of four open space dormitories, housing 114 people each, plus a 200 person annex, so there may be between 450 – 650 prisoners involved in the uprising.
Alabama DOC has been increasingly unstable in recent months, incidents of violence within the institutions have been stacking up, the federal government was on the verge of taking over the system due to poor management and budgetary shortfalls last year.
News report here.
last night prisoners fought corrections officers who were attacking them in alabama's holman prison ?? pic.twitter.com/oi9PRV0bvl
— ripley soprano (@sickboytheory) March 12, 2016