September 9: On This Day in World History … briefly
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
1971: The four-day Attica Prison riot begins
The Attica Prison uprising, also known as the Attica Prison rebellion or Attica Prison riot, occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States, in 1971. Based upon prisoners’ demands for better living conditions and political rights, the uprising was one of the most well-known and significant uprisings of the Prisoners’ Rights Movement. On September 9, 1971, two weeks after the killing of George Jackson at San Quentin State Prison, about 1 000 of the Attica prison’s approximately 2 200 inmates 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 complete amnesty from criminal prosecution for the prison takeover or for the removal of Attica’s superintendent. By the order of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, state police took back control of the prison. When the uprising was over, at least 43 people were dead, including ten correctional officers and civilian employees, and 33 inmates.
Rockefeller, who refused to visit the prisoners during the rebellion, stated that the prisoners ‘carried out the cold-blood killings they had threatened from the outset,’ despite only one of the officers and four inmates killed being attributed to the prisoners. 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 riot, a number of changes were made in the New York prison system to satisfy some of the prisoners’ demands, reduce tension in the system, and prevent future such rebellions. As of 2018, there has never been another riot of anywhere near the scale of the Attica rebellion in the United States.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
