Attica Prison riots

 

The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States. The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions. At the time, inmates were given one bucket of water a week as a "shower" and one roll of toilet paper a month.^[1] On September 9, 1971, responding to rumors of the impending torture of a prisoner, about one thousand of the prison's approximately 2,200 inmates rioted and seized control of the prison, taking thirty-three guards hostage.

During the following four days of negotiations, authorities agreed to 28 of the prisoners' demands, but would not agree to demands for complete amnesty from criminal prosecution or for the removal of Attica's warden. After negotiations failed, state police and guards stormed the prison. When the uprising was over at least thirty-nine people were dead, including ten hostages who died by gunfire from state troopers and guards during the retaking.

Timeline of events

At approximately 8:20 A.M. on Thursday, September 9, 1971, as 5 Company lined up for roll-call, they learned that one of their companions was to remain in his cell,^[2] prompting rumors that he was to be tortured after being isolated for an incident with another prisoner.^[3] A small group of 5 Company prisoners protested that they, too, would be locked up, and began walking back towards their cells. The remainder of 5 Company continued towards breakfast. As the protesting group walked past the isolated inmate, they were able to free him from his cell. They then rejoined the rest of 5 Company and proceeded on their way. A short time later, when command staff discovered what had occurred, a correctional officer walked down A Tunnel to investigate. He was assaulted and the riot began.^[2]

Inmates quickly gained control of a large portion of the prison, assaulting guards with pipes, chains and baseball bats. One officer would later die from injuries received at the hands of the inmates.^[3]

Inmates took forty-two officers and civilians hostage and aired a list of grievances, demanding their needs be met before their surrender.^[3] In a facility designed to hold 1,200 inmates and actually housing 2,225,^[4] theirs was a substantial list. They felt that they had been illegally denied certain rights and conditions to which they were entitled, illustrated by such practices as being allowed only one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per person per month.^[5]

The prisoners negotiated with a team of observers that they had requested, including Tom Wicker, an editor of the New York Times, James Ingram of the Michigan Chronicle, state representative Arthur Eve, lawyer William Kunstler and other elected officials.

The situation may have been further complicated by then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s refusal to come to the scene of the riot and meet with the inmates,^[3] although later evaluations of the incident would postulate that his absence from the scene actually prevented the situation from deteriorating.^[6] Negotiations broke down and Rockefeller ultimately ordered the State Police to retake the facility.

At 9:46 A.M. on Monday, September 13, 1971 tear gas was dropped into the yard and State Troopers opened fire. By the time the facility was retaken, ten hostages and twenty-nine inmates had been killed. The final death toll from the riot also included the officer fatally injured at the start of the riot and four inmates killed when "inmate justice" was administered. All ten hostages died from gunfire by state troopers and guards.^[3][4] The New York State Special Commission on Attica wrote, "With 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."^[4]

Media reports claimed that inmate hostage-takers slit the throats of many of their hostages, reports that contradicted official medical evidence. Newspaper headlines made statements such as "I Saw Slit Throats," implying that prisoners had cut the hostages' throats when the armed raid occurred. These "reports" were later found to be deliberately fictitious.^[7]

The Attica riots were notable in that they directed national media attention to the condition of prisons in the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s.

The State of New York settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the families of the slain inmates 27 years after the riot. The State of New York recognized the families of the slain prison employees in the autumn of 2004 with a $12 million financial settlement.

Racial issues

Many people attribute the riot to the racial issues inside of the prison at the time. Of 2,225 inmates (in a facility built for 1,200), 54% of the inmates were African American and 9% Puerto Rican; however, all of the 383 correctional officers were white. From reports on the prison conditions, the guards were openly racist and assaulted the prisoners with their batons, which they dubbed "Nigger Sticks." During this time period "black militancy" was at its peak and several prisons had their black militants transferred to Attica. Additionally, George Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party, died at the hands of white prison guards only a few days before the riot in the San Quentin State Prison in California, adding to the racial tension. The aftermath of the riot called for prison reform, especially in the treatment of minority inmates who were becoming a majority in several state correctional facilities across America.^{[citation needed]}

After the riot

One of the leaders of the uprising, Cleveland "Jomo" Davis was later pardoned by New York Governor Hugh Carey. On April 2, 1978 Davis was accused of having fatally shot New York City Police Officers Christie O. Masone and Norman R. Cerullo in Brooklyn, New York, but Davis was found not guilty. ^[8]

Cultural impact

In the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino's character, Sonny, who is holding eight bank employees hostage, starts a chant of "Attica! Attica!" at the massed police outside, invoking the excessive police force used in response to the Attica riots. Many more pop culture references stem from this scene than from the riots themselves. For example, in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever Tony Manero, played by John Travolta, repeats Pacino's "Attica! Attica!" line. See Dog Day Afternoon in popular culture for many more examples.

At least three TV movies of the riot have been produced: 1980's Attica, with George Grizzard, 1994's Against the Wall, with Samuel L. Jackson, and 2001's The Killing Yard, by Euzhan Palcy with Alan Alda.

In the television show Oz, racial tension and poor living conditions cause the prison inmates to riot in the episode "A Game of Checkers." The event echoes the real life situation in Attica, and several characters reference the Attica uprisings when discussing how they should work to defuse the riot.

The incident is directly referenced in at least two songs: John Lennon's "Attica State" on his Some Time In New York City album, and Tom Paxton's "The Hostage," which was included by Judy Collins on her 1973 album True Stories and Other Dreams. The Attica riots were also said to have inspired both the 10cc song "Rubber Bullets" and the Charles Mingus composition "Remember Rockefeller at Attica."

The 1972 album Attica Blues by jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp and its title track are a direct reference to the incident.

Composer Frederic Rzewski wrote two pieces, "Coming Together"/"Attica" (1972), that set excerpts from a letter by Sam Melville, one of the prisoners killed in the riots.

Poet Alen Pol Kobryn’s verse series, Attica State, was broadcast on WBAI, 1976.

References

Bibliography

• Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s, eds. Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer

External links

• Yahoo! Directory: Attica Riot links
• Democrat and Chronicle: Attica – A History In Photographs
• Talking History: Attica Revisited
• "I Would Do It Any Day, Again" an Interview with Akil Al-Jundi
• video interviews with Frank Smith
• Short history on American Experience @PBS.org
• Short history from Eyes on the Prize @PBS.org
• The Attica Prison Uprising on libcom.org - with links to related articles on the prisoners' movement, Black Panthers, Vietnam, etc.

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