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| Source:BBC News- with a documentary about the 1971 Attica Prison riot. |
"On September 9th 1971 inmates at Attica maximum security facility in New York State rioted and seized control of the jail, taking guards hostage.
When negotiations failed, the authorities stormed the prison, dropping tear gas from helicopters and firing hundreds of live rounds. At least 39 people were killed, including nine of the hostages.
Former prisoner, Carlos Roche, spoke to Witness History and described the chaos in this video produced in 2016."
From BBC News
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From Wikipedia
Just for the record: I'm not in favor of prison riots. Also for the record: I'm not some hippie-lefty, or Black Nationalist, or some anarchist, who believes that prisons just makes society worst. I believe in the rule of law and that we even have to have responsible, well-funded, well-run prisons, for people who represents serious threats to society.
Having said all of this, I can see why the inmates at Attica Prison rioted the way that they did in 1971. And had they not have done that, we may never had known how inhumane the living conditions were there. We wouldn't have known about the prison overcrowding, how understaffed the prison, the low-quality food, the lack of plumbing, heat, air conditioning, the lack of inmates to get any rehabilitation and have any shot at successfully making it in society once they're released from prison.
So in this sense at least, it was probably a good thing that Attica inmates rioted and did what they did. Not what they did to the prison staff that they took hostage, but to let the outside world in on what they go through everyday at that prison.
