Cover-Up of Slaughter at Attica Prison Continues Decades Later

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/bill-berkowitz/58241/cover-up-of-slaughter-at-attica-prison-continues-decades-later

"With the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the ... assault [on the Attica Correctional Facility] which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War."
— New York State Special Commission on Attica, 1972.

Cover-Up of Slaughter at Attica Prison Continues Decades Later
Peace & Justice | Prison Reform
by Bill Berkowitz | September 11, 2014 - 12:02pm

September 9 marks the 43rd Anniversary of the start of the Prisoner Rebellion at Attica, located upstate in western New York. After four days of negotiating, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller ended what appeared to be productive sessions by ordering 1,000 National Guardsmen, prison guards, and state and local police to storm the facility, resulting nearly 40 people killed, the vast majority of whom were incarcerated.

"Nearly half of Attica prison's approximately 2,200 (prisoners) rebelled and seized control of the prison. Some were angry over the death of an African American activist at another prison, while others revolted because they were unhappy with the brutal living conditions inside Attica," The Huffington Post's David Lohr wrote two years ago. Racist behavior amongst the prison guards was rampant, hygienic conditions were horrific, and medical care was virtually non-existent.

The deadly raid began with the dropping of CS gas putting everyone on the ground, and was followed by the indiscriminate firing of 4500 rounds of ammunition, unloaded on basically unarmed people. The raid did not end the brutality: "Guards beat and tortured prisoners after the revolt, resulting in a wave of prison rebellions nationwide," Scott A. Bonn, a crime expert and assistant professor of sociology at Drew University, told The Huffington Post.

"In 2000, 27 years after the lawsuit was filed, the state of New York agreed to pay $12 million to settle the case," Lohr pointed out. "The state also recognized the families of the slain prison employees in 2004, with a $12 million settlement."