Attica Correctional Facility

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Main entrance of the Attica prison

The Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security - prison in Attica in the US state of New York . As a state prison , it is under the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision . It was built in the 1930s for the incarceration of male prisoners at the highest level of security. The concept of the prison operation is its spartan establishment with harsher prison conditions and the application of disciplinary measures. The common rooms are equipped with a tear gas system. In 2015, 2,240 people were detained here, 80% of whom were black or Latinos.

1971 prison riot

One employee was killed during a prison riot in 1971 and 42 other people were killed in the crackdown, including 32 prisoners and 10 employees. There were also over 80 injured. All 10 employees and all detainees died from gunfire by state officials. After the death of George Jackson on August 21 while attempting to escape in San Quentin State Prison , around 1,000 of the 2,200 inmates began the uprising on September 9. The prisoners wanted to achieve better prison conditions through the uprising. On the morning of September 13th, guards threw tear gas grenades into the prison yard. New York State Police officers and guards aimed gunfire into the mist of the grenades for nearly 60 minutes. During and after the recapture of the prison, in which colleagues from the hostages were also involved, violent attacks and torture took place against many of the detainees.

It took almost 30 years before the relatives of the deceased and the injured were awarded financial compensation. New York State agreed to pay eight million dollars, but without admitting guilt.

Notorious inmates

  • David Berkowitz , serial killer who served much of his sentence here and is now in the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Woodbourne , New York.
  • H. Rap ​​Brown, leader of the Black Panther Party, was imprisoned from 1971 to 1976.
  • Mark David Chapman , he murdered John Lennon in 1980 and has been sentenced to 20 years to life. His appeal for clemency has been rejected seven times.
  • Edward Cummiskey, murderer of the Westies gang in the 1970s.
  • Dean Faiello, woman killer.
  • Jimmy Caci, Caporegime of the Los Angeles Mafia family, sat in Attica for eight years.
  • Colin Ferguson, mass murderer, has been sentenced to multiple life sentences.
  • Kendall Francois, the murderer of eight prostitutes, was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of pardon.
  • Sam Melville, a multiple bomber in New York City in 1969, was shot dead during the 1971 riot.
  • Willie Sutton , bank robber who robbed 100 banks between the 1920s and 1952.

Pop Culture

Attica is mentioned in various films, TV series, and song lyrics. Nas raps in If I ruled the world: "I'd open every cell in Attica, send them to Africa." Bob Dylan mentions prison in his 1976 album Desire . In the song Joey , which tells the story of the New York gangster Joseph Gallo , it says: “He did ten years in Attica reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich ”. There are other such references in songs by Mobb Deep , Busta Rhymes and in Some Time in New York City by John Lennon , whose killer is imprisoned here. Attica was integrated into the plot in the films Goodfellas , Carlito's Way and Hundstage , as well as in the TV series ALF , The Sopranos , The King of Queens and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .

The 1971 uprising is featured in the song Rubber Bullets by 10cc and The Hostage by Tom Paxton . In addition, the uprising was filmed in Against the Wall with Samuel L. Jackson , Kyle MacLachlan and Clarence Williams III , in the film of the same name Attica with Morgan Freeman and by Euzhan Palcy in The Killing Yard with Alan Alda . In his novel 4 3 2 1, Paul Auster uses the prison riot as a backdrop for the story of his character Archie Ferguson and describes part of the story of Sam Melville.

literature

  • Heather Ann Thompson: Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. Pantheon Books, New York 2016, ISBN 978-0-375-42322-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New York State Special Commission on Attica: Attica: The Official Report of the New York State Special Commission on Attica. New York: Bantam Books, 1972.
  2. ↑ a b A Brutal Beating Wakes Attica's Ghosts. In: New York Times. February 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ I'd rather die . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1971, p. 112 ( online - 20 September 1971 ).
  4. ↑ Kalenderblatt.de: “9. September 1971: Attica prison uprising "
  5. ↑ richieunterberger.com

Coordinates: 42 ° 50 ′ 59 ″  N , 78 ° 16 ′ 18 ″  W.