Prison on lockdown as 100 inmates take over entire unit of cells
Around 100 inmates at a US prison have taken over an entire unit of cells today, with fears of a riot growing.
The prisoners in one housing unit were facing dangerously high temperatures and refused to return to their cells in what one former inmate there called an act of "self-preservation".
Multiple police, firefighters and other emergency teams rushed to the Stillwater Prison in Bayport, Minnesota. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, the all-male facility was put under an emergency lockdown on Sunday morning.
The prison was put into lockdown after around 100 inmates in one unit refused to return to their cells. There have been no injuries reported.
A Department of Corrections spokesperson said the situation is "currently stable" and the reason inmates "are refusing to return to their cells remains unclear". However, advocates outside the prison, some of whom have family members inside, said inmates are fed up from the excessive heat, limited access to showers and ice, and unclear drinking water.
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The security doors of a single cell in the Administrative Control Unit, Minnesota's most secure unit (Minnesota Department of Correcti)Inmates have been on intermittent lockdowns since Friday, September 1, because of staffing issues. It means they are being kept in their cells, which reportedly don't have air conditioning.
The prison lies around 25 miles east of Minneapolis, which was under an afternoon heat advisory with temperatures set to hit 100F (37.7C). Marvina Haynes of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, whose brother is an inmate, said her "organisation got calls from inmates who are actually inside" starting from 6.30am.
"This morning, they decided that they weren't going to lock into their cells," explained David Boehnke of Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee, adding there had been lockdown on and off for the last two months. Marvina Haynes, David Boehnke, and Cathy Stroud Caldwell said the inmate's action was an impromptu response to unsafe conditions.
"They didn't have time to organise and plan," said Ms Haynes. "It was just... we're not going back to that hot cell with no drinking water and not being able to shower."
Executive director of the union representing Stillwater's correctional officers, Bart Andersen, said in a statement the incident is "endemic and highlights the truth behind the operations of the MN Department of Corrections with chronic understaffing." He said such conditions upset inmates because of restrictions on programme and recreation time "when there are not enough security staff to protect the facility."
Stillwater is one of nine Minnesota prisons not to have air conditioning (Irish Mirror)Intense heatwaves across the country led to amplified concern for prison populations - particularly those in poorly ventilated or air-conditioned facilities. Kevin Reese, founder of the criminal justice organisation Until We Are All Free, described Stillwater as a "pizza oven" in the summers.
He was incarcerated there during the summers from 2006 through 2009. He said: "It's a 100-year-old building with no air conditioning, no central air. The walls actually sweat."
Tactical teams were outside the prison, preparing to enter and rescue any correctional officers inside with reports they had plans to deploy chemical irritants. EMS command also requested multiple ambulances, as many as 10 more on top of the eight already there, along with the major incident response bus.
All staff were removed from the unit's common areas, though two correctional officers were reportedly safe in the unit's secure control area known as "the bubble". They were said to be in communication with the prison's command personnel.
Department of Corrections (DOC) spokesperson Andy Skoogman says members of the Crisis Negotiation Team have been activated. DOC's Special Operations Response Team has also been activated "out of an abundance of caution".
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Michelle Gross, a spokesperson for Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) said the incident was reportedly prompted by inmates' lack of access to clean water, ice and showers for several days due to understaffing. She said the organisation has heard from several inmates who say the takeover is peaceful.
"They're saying it's hotter than hell in there and the water in the cells is brown," said Ms Gross. "The inmates have been melting ice for drinking water, but with short staffing, there's not enough to go around."
Inside a Minnesota Department of Corrections single cell in the Administrative Control Unit (Minnesota Department of Correcti)The prison is said to be one of nine in Minnesota without facility-wide air conditioning, which led to "miserable" conditions as temperatures soared back in July. Staff and residents were given reminders to stay hydrated and limit activity, while some units were given jugs of ice water.
Nurses were also on high alert, making rounds to ensure those at the facility were in good health, keeping a particularly close eye on those with preexisting conditions.
In his short story 'There Will Be Seeds For Next Year' Zeke Caligiuri said there is little more to do than wait when the heat settles into the 109-year-old stone building. The short story, included in the book Prison Noir, was inspired by Mr Caligiuri's time at the Stillwater prison.
He said tensions would often rise with the temperatures. Speaking to All Things Considered, he said: "The same way in cities when it gets particularly hot [and] it seems there's more violence, I think here, in the greater sense, it comes down to the way you treat human beings.
"If human beings on a regular basis don't feel like their human needs are taken care of and then something else comes in and agitates that, you will get tension."
Stillwater was built in 1914 and is Minnesota's largest close-security institution for adult males. It has seven living units inside and a minimum-security unit outside the main perimeter.
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