Attica After 44 Years

[georgephillip]

For those who remember September 1971, Attica is deja-vue all over again
"The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York,United States in 1971. This riot is one of the most famous and important riots during the Prisoners' Rights Movement. The riot was based upon prisoners' demands for political rights and better living conditions. On September 9, 1971, two weeks after the killing of George Jackson at San Quentin, about 1,000 of the Attica prison's approximately 2,200 inmates rebelled and seized control of the prison, taking 42 staff hostage."

Last Monday, (3/2/15) Prisoner Rights took a few more body blows at the infamous institution:

"Three guards accused of beating an inmate at the Attica Correctional Facility so severely that doctors had to insert a plate and six pins into his leg each pleaded guilty on Monday to a single misdemeanor charge of misconduct.

"The last-minute plea deal spared them any jail time in exchange for quitting their jobs.

The resolution of the case came more than three years after corrections officers beat a 29-year-old inmate, George Williams, at the prison in western New York. He suffered two broken legs, broken ribs, a broken shoulder and a severe fracture of his eye socket, among other injuries.

Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

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  A Prison, Infamous for Bloodshed, Faces a Reckoning as Guards Go on Trial FEB. 28, 2015

“'Let me be clear: This has never been about jail for these officers, even though they came dangerously close to that idea,' the Wyoming County district attorney, Donald O’Geen, said hours after the three guards were to have gone on trial on charges of gang assault, filing false reports and evidence tampering. Under the agreement, the officers can never again work in a New York State correctional institution."

Faces of crime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/n...-guilty-in-2011-inmate-beating-case.html?_r=0

 

[chikenwing]

You forgot to mention the brutal retaking of Attica, the state basically were shooting fish in a barrel,any fish they could see.

 

[georgephillip]

You forgot to mention the brutal retaking of Attica, the state basically were shooting fish in a barrel,any fish they could see.

In the fall of 1971, New York governor, Nelson Rockefeller, had his eyes firmly on the White House by 1980, at the latest. Attica was red meat thrown to all "law and order" conservatives along with three strikes drug laws that swelled the US population ten fold since 1971.

According to some former inmate and officers and others some of the worst human right's excesses have not been stemmed since Nellie tossed his hat into the ring.
Attica s Ghosts New Calls to Close Site of Prison Revolt After Guards Avoid Jail for Brutal Abuse Democracy Now

 

[georgephillip]

Journalist Tom Robbins reveals eyewitness testimony to the brutal beating of convict George Williams:
"TOM ROBBINS: There were prisoners located across the hall from the day room, that they were able to see what was going on. And the prisoners described that they jumped on him as soon as he came into the day room. One of them said that he counted as many as 50 kicks and a dozen thwacks from these long batons that the officers carry. And another one said that when he was—George Williams was picked up because he couldn’t walk, he thought he was wearing a red shirt and then realized that he was just drenched in blood.

"They also saw him brought to the stairs. And when Williams said, 'I can’t walk down the stairs, my ankles are broken,' he was shoved from behind. And he was handcuffed at the time, so he fell down.

"And at the bottom of the stairs—I’m sorry, this story gets worse.

"At the bottom of the stairs, someone grabbed his head and smashed it against the wall, and they left him standing there for quite a long time, until—one of the rules in Attica when you’re taken to solitary, which was where they were going to take him next, is that there’s supposed to be a camera crew that records it.

"It’s supposed to be a separate detail of guards.

"And he heard them shout, 'The cameras are coming.'

"And then one of the guards picked up what George Williams said was a dirty, wet mop and wiped his face to wipe the blood off it before he was taken to the solitary."

Can anyone supply an explanation for why the four state thugs should not have faced felony criminal charges for what they did to George Williams?

Attica s Ghosts New Calls to Close Site of Prison Revolt After Guards Avoid Jail for Brutal Abuse Democracy Now