Attica Prison riot
The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who died, 33 inmates and 10 correctional officers and employees, all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The  Attica Uprising is one of the best-known and most significant events of the prisoners' rights movement. Prisoners revolted to seek better living conditions and political rights, in their words, to be treated like men and not beasts. On September 9, 1971, 1,281 of the approximately 2,200 men incarcerated in the Attica Correctional Facility rioted and took control of the prison, taking 42 staff hostage. During the following four days of negotiations, authorities agreed to 28 of the prisoners' demands but would not agree to demands for the removal of Attica's superintendent nor to complete amnesty from criminal prosecution  for inmates for the prison takeover. By order of Governor Nelson Rockefeller (after consultation with President Richard M. Nixon), armed corrections officers and state and local police were sent in to regain control of the prison. By the time they stopped firing, at least 43 people were dead, 10 hostage correctional officers and civilian employees and 33 inmates, nearly all killed by law enforcement gunfire. Rockefeller had refused to go to the prison or meet with prisoners. After the uprising was suppressed, he said that the prisoners "carried out the cold-blood killings they had threatened from the outset". In  fact, medical examiners shortly confirmed that all but the deaths of one officer and three inmates were caused by law enforcement gunfire. "The New York Times" writer Fred Ferretti said the rebellion concluded in "mass deaths that four days of taut negotiations had sought to avert". As a result of the rebellion, the New York Corrections Department made changes in prisons to satisfy some of the prisoners' demands, reduce tension in the system, and prevent such incidents in the future. While there were improvements to prison conditions in the years immediately following the uprising, many of these improvements were reversed  in the 1980s and 1990s. Attica remains one of the most infamous prison riots to have occurred in the United States. Background. The uprising occurred within a larger context of poor prison conditions and systemic racial discrimination in the late 20th century. Historian Howard Zinn wrote of the conditions in Attica prior to the uprising, "Prisoners spent 14 to 16 hours a day in their cells, their mail was read, their reading material restricted, their visits from families conducted through a mesh screen, their medical care disgraceful, their parole system inequitable, racism everywhere." Overcrowding contributed to the poor conditions, as  in recent years the prison's population had increased from the 1,200 prisoners for which it was designed to 2,243. Additionally, as in many American prisons, racial disparities existed at Attica. Within the prison population, 54% of the incarcerated men were African American, 9% Puerto Rican, and 37% white. All of the guards or all but one of the guards (depending on the source) were white. Guards often threw out letters written in Spanish sent to or from Puerto Rican prisoners, and relegated black prisoners to the lowest-paid jobs and subjected them to regular racial harassment. There were also  geographic disparities - most of the incarcerated men were from urban areas, including metropolitan New York, while most of the guards were from the local region. During this time period there was a growing culture of prisoner activism for better treatment. The previous year an uprising occurred at another New York correctional facility, the Manhattan Detention Complex. Inmates held five guards hostage for eight hours, until state officials agreed to hear prisoner grievances and take no punitive action against the rioters. Despite that promise, officials had the primary ringleaders shipped upstate to Attica, and many were held for months in solitary  confinement and were facing criminal charges. In July 1971, a group of Attica inmates presented a list of 27 demands regarding improving conditions in Attica to state Commissioner of Corrections Russell Oswald and Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The commissioner did not take any actions on the list of demands. Attica warden Vincent Mancusi responded by adding additional restrictions to inmates' reading materials and personal belongings. In August 1971, George Jackson, a prominent member of the Black Panther Party, was shot and killed during an escape attempt at San Quentin State Prison in California after killing three guards and two inmates. Some  historians believe that the killing of Jackson, who had worked for prisoner rights, was a catalyst for the uprising at Attica. The day after Jackson's death, at least 700 Attica inmates participated in a hunger strike in his honor. The initial uprising. On Wednesday, September 8, 1971, an incident occurred that catalyzed the riot the next day. According to "Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy", an extensively researched account of the uprising by historian Heather Ann Thompson, two inmates scuffled during their recreation break, and a correctional officer came up to intervene . One inmate had already left the area, but the officer demanded the remaining inmate return to his cell, and in the ensuing argument the inmate hit the officer. Other inmates and guards joined the commotion, and another inmate also hit the officer, but before the violence could intensify, Lieutenant Robert Curtiss moved to deescalate the situation. Later that evening, warden Vincent Mancusi ordered the two inmates involved in the altercation to be taken to solitary confinement, but when the officers arrived at 5 company to take the inmates away, other prisoners resisted. The other inmates in 5 companies shouted and  threw things at the guards and one inmate, William Ortiz, hit an officer with a can of soup, resulting in him being assigned to "keep lock", or confinement to his cell. The morning of Thursday, September 9, 1971, prisoners of 5 Company were still upset and demanded that officers tell them what would become of Ortiz. Officer Gordon Kelsey told them he did not know and tried to continue the routine. As inmates headed to breakfast, some managed to open Ortiz's cell door and he left with them to the mess hall. When the command staff found out what  had occurred, they decided to return all of the men of 5 Company to their cells after breakfast. But they did not inform all the correctional officers, and when officers led inmates out toward the recreation area after breakfast, both officers and inmates were surprised to find the doors locked. The inmates believed they were about to be punished and a melee broke out, which resulted in chaos as some inmates attacked the guards and others tried to flee. The chaos spread to other nearby companies of inmates, and the uprising began. During this stage, several guards and inmates were  injured. Officer William Quinn would die in the hospital two days later of injuries sustained during the initial riot. By noon on September 9, correctional officers and police controlled about half the prison and its inmates, while 1,281 of the Attica's approximately 2,200 inmates controlled the other half, including D-yard, two tunnels, and the central control room, referred to as "Times Square". Inmates held 42 officers and civilian employees as hostage. Negotiations. Once inmates had secured their section of the prison, they began organizing. Inmates elected leaders to represent them in negotiations and appointed inmates to serve as  medics and security. They began drafting a list of demands for officials to meet before they would surrender. For example, Frank "Big Black" Smith (September 11, 1933 – July 31, 2004) was appointed as head of security, and he kept both the hostages and the observers committee safe. Additionally, 21-year-old Elliott James "L.D." Barkley, an ardent orator, was a strong force during the negotiations. He spoke eloquently to the inmates, journalist camera crews, and viewers outsiders at home. Barkley, just days away from his scheduled release at the time of the uprising, was killed during the recapturing of the  prison. As speakers such as Barkley raised morale, the elected group of negotiators drafted proposals to present to the commissioner. "The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands" was a compilation of complaints written by the Attica prisoners, which speak directly to the "sincere people of society". It included 33 demands, including better medical treatment, fair visitation rights, improved food quality, religious freedom, higher wages for inmate jobs, and "an end of physical abuse, for basic necessities like toothbrushes and showers every day, for professional training, and access to newspapers and books". The manifesto assigns the power to negotiate to five  inmates elected to represent the others: Donald Noble, Peter Butler, Frank Lott, Carl Jones-El, and Herbert Blyden X. Additionally, the document specifically lists "vile and vicious slave masters" who oppressed the prisoners, such as the New York governor, New York corrections, and the United States courts. Inmates requested a team of outside observers to assist with negotiations, whom they considered knowledgeable of prison conditions, many of whom officials were able to persuade to come to Attica. Observers included Tom Wicker, an editor of "The New York Times"; James Ingram of the "Michigan Chronicle"; State Senator John Dunne, head of  a Prisons Committee in the legislature; State Representative Arthur Eve, U.S. congressman from New York New York and attorney Herman Badillo, civil rights lawyer William Kunstler, Clarence Jones, publisher of the "Amsterdam News" in New York and former advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.; representatives of the Young Lords, and others. Prisoners requested Minister Louis Farrakhan, national representative of the Nation of Islam, but he declined. Inmates also requested representatives from the Black Panther Party; Bobby Seale addressed the inmates briefly on September 11 but did not stay long and some believed that he inflamed tensions. The prisoners and team  of observers continued to negotiate with Commissioner of Corrections Russell Oswald, who agreed to 28 of the inmates' demands, but refused to agree to amnesty for the inmates involved in the uprising or to fire the Attica warden. William Kunstler, a lawyer who agreed to represent the inmates in negotiations, said, "The prisoners had two non-negotiable demands: the removal of the warden, and general amnesty, and they had already given up on the removal of the warden. And on the general amnesty, we had worked out several formulas that we were discussing with the commissioner hours before the attack , and if we had been allowed to continue, everyone would be alive and the matter would be settled today." The situation may have been further complicated by Governor Rockefeller's refusal even to come to the prison, or meet with the inmates. Some analysts' later evaluations of the incident postulated that his absence from the scene prevented the situation from deteriorating. Negotiations broke down, and Oswald was unwilling or unable to make further concessions to the inmates. Oswald and members of the observers committee called Rockefeller and begged him to come to the prison to calm the situation, but he  refused. Following the governor's refusal, Oswald and Rockefeller agreed that Oswald would order the State Police to retake the facility by force, a decision which was later criticized. Retaking of the prison and retaliation. On the night of Sunday, September 12, 1971, plans were drawn up to retake the prison by force. Members of the team of observers argued for Oswald to deliver to inmates one final appeal for a settlement before the forcible retaking. Oswald agreed, but was instructed not to phrase the demand as an ultimatum, as Rockefeller did not want to let inmates know that the  assault was beginning. At 8:25 a.m. on Monday, September 13, 1971, Oswald gave the inmates a statement directing them to release the hostages and accept the offered settlement within the hour. However, he did not tell them that negotiations had ended and he would take the prison back by force if they refused, even stating, "I want to continue negotiations with you". The inmates rejected his offer, and as it appeared to them as though Rockefeller remained opposed to their demands the mood among the inmates deteriorated. In preparation for prison authorities potentially taking the prison back by force, inmates  had dug defensive trenches, electrified metal gates, fashioned crude battlements out of metal tables and dirt, and fortified the "Times Square" prison command center. After Oswald left following the inmates' rejection of his latest offer, the inmates decided to try to impress upon prison officials that they were serious about their demands, and to remind them that inmates had power over the hostages if the state was to come in by force. The inmates brought eight corrections officers to the catwalk on top of the command center and surrounded them with inmates armed with homemade weapons. According to surviving inmates , they did not intend to kill the hostages, but rather to use them as insurance. Shortly after inmates and hostages were positioned on the catwalk, Oswald gave the order to begin the retaking. Of the decision, he later said "On a much smaller scale, I think I have some feeling now of how Truman must have felt when he decided to drop the A-bomb". At 9:46 a.m. on Monday, September 13, 1971, tear gas was dropped into the yard and hundreds of New York State Police troopers, Bureau of Criminal Investigation personnel, deputy sheriffs, park police, and correctional officers  opened fire into the smoke. Among the weapons used by the troopers were shotguns loaded with buckshot pellets, which led to the wounding and killing of hostages and inmates who were not resisting. Additionally, some of the guns utilized by law enforcement used unjacketed bullets, "a kind of ammunition that causes such enormous damage to human flesh that it was banned by the Geneva Conventions". Correctional officers from Attica were allowed to participate, a decision later called "inexcusable" by the commission established by Rockefeller to study the riot and the aftermath. By the time the facility was reported as fully  secured at 10:05 a.m., law enforcement had shot at least 128 men and killed nine hostages and twenty-nine inmates. A tenth hostage, Correctional Officer Harrison W. Whalen, died on October 9, 1971, of gunshot wounds received during the assault. Inmate survivors alleged that leaders were singled out and killed by troopers during and after the retaking. According to a doctor who treated survivors, "Many of the ringleaders were approached by guards and shot systematically. Some had their hands in the air surrendering. Some were lying on the ground". One of the leaders, Elliott James "L.D." Barkley, who was frequently  featured in news coverage, was allegedly alive after the initial retaking. Assemblyman Arthur Eve testified that Barkley was alive after the prisoners had surrendered and the state regained control; another inmate stated that the officers searched Barkley out, yelling his name, and executed him with a shot to the back. Sam Melville, a member of the committee that helped organize and draft inmates' demands and who was known in the prison as a radical, was allegedly shot while he had his hands in the air trying to surrender. The final death toll from the rebellion also includes the officer fatally  injured by inmates during the initial uprising and three inmates who were subjected to vigilante killings by fellow inmates before the retaking of the prison. Ten hostages died from gunfire by state troopers and soldiers. 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." State officials, including Oswald and Rockefeller, initially stated that inmates slit the throats of many of their hostages. The false information was  widely reported in the media. But, less than 24 hours later official medical examiners confirmed that all the hostages had been killed by bullets fired by law enforcement officers. The Special Commission found that state officials failed to quickly refute the early rumors and false reports. Troopers and prison officers set about with physically violent and humiliating reprisals. Inmates were made to strip naked and crawl through mud, broken glass, and the prisoners' hand-dug latrines. Directed into the prison, they were forced to run hallways naked between lines of enraged officers, who beat the inmates and yelled insults and  racial slurs. Some inmates, including leaders such as Frank Smith, were subject to additional reprisals and punishments, including repeated physical abuse and being locked in solitary confinement. Several days after the uprising's end, doctors treating wounded inmates reported evidence of more beatings. Public response. Following the uprising, protests and riots occurred in prisons across the United States, including in prisons in New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Georgia. According to a Prisoners Solidarity Committee newsletter from September 30, 1971, "The 13 reported rebellions since the Attica massacre doubles the total number of reported prison rebellions since the  beginning of this year". Numerous rallies in support of the prisoners occurred, especially in New York, but also in cities as far away as Los Angeles and Norman, Oklahoma; several rallies in support of Governor Rockefeller also took place. In addition, activists such as Angela Davis and artists such as John Lennon wrote works in support of the inmates and condemning the official response. At 7:30 p.m. on September 17, the radical left militant organization the Weather Underground launched a retaliatory attack on the New York Department of Corrections, exploding a bomb near Oswald's office. "The communiqué accompanying the  attack called the prison system an example of 'how a society run by white racists maintains its control,' with white supremacy being the 'main question white people have to face. In response to public criticism, in November 1971 Governor Rockefeller established the New York State Special Commission on Attica, appointing members and naming Dean of NYU Law School Robert B. McKay as chair. Known as the McKay Commission, the commission was directed to investigate the circumstances leading up to, during, and following the events at Attica. The commission's report, published in September 1972, was critical of Rockefeller, the Department  of Corrections, and New York State Police for their handling of the prison retaking and for their negligence in protecting inmates from reprisals after the riot. Lawsuits and payments. In October 1971, Robert Fischer was appointed as Special Deputy Attorney General to lead the Attica Task Force and was charged with investigating any criminal acts that may have been committed during the uprising or retaking (Fischer was later succeeded as the Attica Task Force leader by Anthony Simonetti). Within four years of the uprising, 62 inmates had been charged in 42 indictments with 1,289 separate counts. One state trooper was  indicted for reckless endangerment. In 1975, Malcolm Bell, a prosecutor in the Attica Task Force, sent a report to Governor Hugh Carey alleging that his superiors were covering up evidence of criminal actions by law enforcement officers in the retaking of Attica and preventing him from fully investigating and prosecuting law enforcement. After Bell's report was leaked to the public, Carey appointed Judge Bernard S. Meyer of the Supreme Court for Nassau County, New York to the post of Special Deputy Attorney General to investigate. The Meyer Report, released in December 1975, found "There was no intentional cover-up ”, but “There were, however, serious errors of judgment” including “important omissions on the part of the State Police in the gathering of evidence”. Initially, only the first of the three-volume Meyer report was released to the public; in 1981 the State Supreme Court ordered that the other two be sealed permanently. The Forgotten Victims of Attica, a group made up of officers injured in the riot and families of killed officers, pushed for the State of New York to release state records of the uprising to the public. In 2013, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would seek release  of the entirety of volumes 2 and 3, totaling 350 pages. After redactions, 46 pages of the report were released in May 2015. The released pages contain accounts from witnesses and inmates describing torture, burning, and sexual abuse of inmates by prison authorities. In 2021, the 50th anniversary of the uprising, the Forgotten Victims of Attica, surviving inmates, families of killed inmates, historians, and lawyers continued to push for the release of all records related to Attica. In December 1976, Governor Carey announced he was “closing the book on Attica”. He pardoned all inmates who had previously pleaded guilty to  obtain reduced sentences, commuted the sentences of the two inmates convicted in court, and dismissed pending disciplinary actions against 20 law enforcement officers relating to the uprising. Though the possibility of criminal suits was closed with Carey's decision, civil suits were allowed to proceed. Surviving inmates and families of inmates killed in the prison retaking sued the State of New York for civil rights violations by law enforcement officers and prison officials during and after the retaking of Attica. After decades in the courts, the state agreed in 2000 to pay $8 million ($12 million minus legal  fees) to settle the case. In 2005 the state separately settled with surviving prison employees and families of the slain prison employees for $12 million. Frank "Big Black" Smith advocated both for compensation for inmate survivors and the families of the deceased, and for their correctional officer counterparts who had been killed or injured and their bereaved as well. Effects on the New York State prison system. Partially in response to the Attica uprising, the New York State Department of Corrections implemented changes including: While there were improvements in prison conditions in the years immediately following the uprising, during  the War on Drugs and "tough on crime" era of the 1980s and 1990s many of these improvements were reversed. Overcrowding worsened, with the prison population of New York increasing dramatically from 12,500 at the time of the Attica uprising to 72,600 in 1999. In 2011, after a man incarcerated in Attica was brutally beaten by guards, for the first time in New York State history, correction officers were criminally charged for a non-sexual assault of an inmate. The guards pleaded guilty in 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of misconduct in order to avoid prison time. In news stories  regarding the incident, current and former inmates of Attica reported that the prison maintained a reputation as "a facility where a small group of correction officers dole out harsh punishment largely with impunity" and inmates conveyed numerous stories of poor conditions and severe treatment by guards. In popular culture. Books. The first historical account of the Attica Prison Uprising ("A Time to Die", 1975) was written by Tom Wicker, a "New York Times" editor, who was present at the prison as an observer. Another Attica observer, Clarence Jones, released (with Stuart Connelly) his historical account "Uprising: Understanding Attica, Revolution and  the Incarceration State" in 2011. In 1985, Malcolm Bell, a former prosecutor for the Attica Task Force and eventual whistleblower, released his account of the investigation and alleged coverup "The Turkey Shoot: Tracking the Attica Cover-up". A detailed historical account of the uprising was published by historian Heather Ann Thompson in 2016. The book, entitled "", draws on interviews with former inmates, hostages, families of victims, law enforcement, lawyers, and state officials, as well as significant archives of previously unreleased materials. Published in 2021, "The Prison Guard’s Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica" is a memoir by  Deanne Quinn Miller (with Gary Craig), the daughter of the prison guard killed during the initial riot, William Quinn, and an organizer with The Forgotten Victims of Attica, a group made up of surviving hostages and families of prison employees who were killed. In 2022, Joshua Melville, the son of Sam Melville, one of the inmates killed in the retaking of the prison, released "American Time Bomb: Attica, Sam Melville, and a Son’s Search for Answers". The memoir tells the story of the life of Sam Melville, the Attica Uprising, and the broader goals and controversies of the New  Left movement. Film. Direct coverage of the Attica Prison rebellion: Notable references to the Attica Prison rebellion: Music. The incident is directly referenced in several songs and the name of a band: