2018 U.S. prison strike
The 2018 U.S. prison strike was a series of work stoppages and hunger strikes in prisons across the United States that began on August 21 and ended on September 9. The strike was conducted at least in part in response to the April 2018 prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution, which killed seven inmates and was the deadliest prison riot in the U.S. in the past 25 years. The start and end dates of the strike have symbolic meaning as they were planned to coincide with the 47th anniversary of the death of George Jackson, who  was shot in an escape attempt on August 21, 1971, and the Attica Prison riot, which occurred on September 9, 1971. It was claimed that suspected strike participants and leaders were punished with solitary confinement, removing communication privileges, and prison transfers. Organizers. The prison strike was called for and organized primarily by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, which is a prisoner-lead section of Industrial Workers of the World. Millions for Prisoners and The People's Consortium are some of the other groups involved. Demands. The following were the demands of the prison strike according to the  official page: Timeline. Pre-Emptive censorship & repression (June - July 2018). Ronald Brooks was transferred from Angola Prison to the David Wade Correctional Center in late June 2018 after he made a pro-strike video. In late July, Siddique Hassan was reported for five violations of prison rules, including “Rioting, or encouraging others to riot”. This was most likely a way to prevent him from speaking to the media during the strike as he had during the 2016 Prison Strike. Strike activity begins early (August 2018). On August 9th, the first confirmed strike activity began at the GEO Group prison in  response to administration cutting family visits, harassing families, strip searching elder family members, and STIU targeting, harassing, and abusing inmates. Three housing units joined in the work stoppage. In response, New Mexico prison officials put all state prisons on lockdown on August 20th as a preemptive measure. On August 19th, prisoners in the Burnside jail in Nova Scotia, Canada held a protest and released a statement in support of the strike and with their own list of demands. Strike begins. While most news on strike activity didn't reach the outside on the first day, the strike received widespread attention  from numerous news outlets including USA Today, Newsweek and National Public Radio. At least 200 detained immigrants at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington engaged in a hunger strike and/or work stoppage, releasing a statement stating that they are "acting with solidarity for all those people who are being detained wrongfully, and stand together to help support all those women who have been separated from their children, and to stop all the family separations happening today for a lot of us are also being separated and we have U.S. citizen children.” Heriberto Sharky Garcia, incarcerated in Folsom, California, declared  a hunger strike. There were also unconfirmed reports of 11 out of 143 prisons in Florida being affected, although the Florida Department of Corrections claimed that they had no stoppages, protests, or lockdowns related to the strike. Alleged retaliation. It was claimed by strike participants and their families that suspected strike participants and leaders/organizers were punished with solitary confinement, removing communication privileges, and prison transfers.