The Attica Uprising '71

What happened at the Attica Maximum Security Prison in September 1971 should have changed how prisons were run forever.  Unfortunately, the 'tough on crime' 80's and 90's erased any of the steps that were taken. Find out what went on during the four days inside of Attica as Governor Nelson Rockefeller battled from afar to win back the prison... at any cost. 

Transcript

The Attica Prison Uprising story has been on my radar almost since I began this podcast three years ago. So when I stumbled on a recent news article I decided it was time. 

On November 28th of 2023, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision posted an update on their Facebook account. The post stated that acting DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III had ordered a lockdown at Attica Prison after a series of violent incidents between inmates and between inmates and prison staff. 

One of the incidents left a corrections officer with multiple stab wounds in his arm. Guards were attempting to search an inmate’s cell but the prisoner refused to leave. When he was confronted, the inmate pulled out a makeshift weapon from his waistband and managed to stab the officer numerous times before he was subdued. As they moved along in their search, a second inmate refused to exit his cell and he too, had a weapon. Luckily they were able to subdue him before he could do any harm.

That’s when the acting commissioner decided that there was a problem and ordered the lockdown which went on for nine days as they carefully secured and searched every cell in the prison. 

More than a week later, the Corrections Department announced that a total of 58 weapons were recovered.

Inmate advocates released a statement declaring that the violence and increased tensions were due to some new rules recently implemented within Attica. Visitation availability was reduced from everyday to every other and prisoners were now only allowed to receive two personal packages a year and they could no longer include food. 

The inmates, in Attica, and likely elsewhere, feel as if the few rights they have are slowly being stripped. On the flipside of the coin, there are people that believe that it’s the prison system itself that is losing control thanks to recent laws enacted within the state of New York. 

According to the New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, The HALT Solitary Confinement Act contains key provisions that could end abusive solitary confinement practices. HALT stands for HUMANE ALTERNATIVES TO LONG-TERM and the Solitary Confinement Act is rooted in the principle that no one should be subject to inhumane, degrading treatment. The recent bill prohibits correctional officers from resorting to solitary confinement as the default option for addressing disciplinary or administrative issues. The goal is to steer the system toward practices that emphasize treatment and rehabilitation over punishment and isolation.

Folks that disagree with the HALT act suggest that stripping guards of certain disciplinary measures only makes the inmates feel more brazen, without fear of repercussions. 

It’s a centuries old debate that no one has ever been able to win. Does a man or woman lose any of their rights when a crime is committed? Are they still human beings? Do we still have an obligation to take care of them?   

What happened in the middle of September 1971 at the maximum security prison in New York should have changed the way prison systems operated going forward. It didn’t, at least not enough and more than 30 years later we are dealing with some of the same issues.

EPISODE 65 - THE ATTICA UPRISING 1971

On September 8th, 1971, two inmates, one black, one white began to tussle during their recreation period. An officer soon arrived to break it up. By that time, the white inmate had already left the area. The officer ordered the remaining inmate to return to his cell. An argument between the two ensued and the inmate hit the officer. 

As often happens, or so I hear, other inmates and guards joined in on the skirmish and a second inmate punched the officer. Lieutenant Robert Curtiss stepped in and was able to deescalate the situation. 

Later in the evening, warden Vincent Mancusi ordered the two inmates who’d struck the officer to solitary confinement. In Attica, solitary confinement was known as the “Box”, if the rumors were true it was also a place for abuse, brutality and torture from the guards.

When the officers arrived in the cell block, inmates began shouting and throwing things at the officers from inside their cells.  According to historian Heather Ann Thompson, one inmate named William Ortiz, hit an officer with a can of soup. He was placed on lockdown within his own cell. 

Overnight, rumors and speculation spread throughout the various cell blocks. Prisoners wondered what would happen to the two inmates in the box as well as what would be done to William Ortiz. The day's events were enough to stoke the embers that had long been smoldering within the United States prison system and Attica in particular.

Just a month before, in August of 71’, a riot broke out at the Idaho State Penitentiary in Boise. Eleven days later, the infamous San Quentin State Prison Riot took place in California. The San Quentin riot was the result of a smuggled gun, an escape attempt and a fight between members of rival gangs. 

George Jackson, who was a prominent member of the Black Panther Party, was shot and killed during his escape attempt after killing three guards and two inmates. Jackson was an outspoken inmate on the subject of prisoner rights. Some people believe that his death was part of the reason for the uprising at Attica. The day after Jackson's death some Attica inmates participated in a hunger strike in his honor.

On August 22nd, prisoners marched into the mess hall in the morning, sat silently and refused to eat. You could have cut the tension with a knife. Officers stood by awkwardly wondering what was going on. 700 of the prison’s 2,200 inmates sat in silence, refusing to eat as prison staff tried to figure out how to handle the situation. 

What Jackson wanted, what many prisoners across the country wanted was better living conditions and less racial discrimination. 

According to reports, prisoners spent 14 to 16 hours a day in their cells. All prisoners had their mail read prior to it being delivered. In most cases, if the letter was in Spanish it was thrown away. Reading material was restricted, newspapers were redacted and any visits from family were conducted through a screen. Medical care was practically non-existent. Inmates received one roll of toilet paper a month and were allowed to take actual showers once every ten days. 

An even bigger issue was overcrowding. Attica was meant to hold 1,200 prisoners. At the time of the uprising, it was at least a thousand prisoners over capacity.

In 1971, 54% of Attica’s population was black, 9% Puerto Rican and 37% white.  Almost 100%, if not 100% of the guards were white. Black prisoners commonly got the lowest paying jobs and were constantly harassed racially. With the prison being in New York, a majority of the inmate population was from the city. The guards, however, came from the local area. The village of Attica had just a few more residents at the time, then the prison had inmates.   

Understanding all of these issues, in July of 1971 a group of Attica inmates who referred to themselves as the Attica Liberation Faction presented a list of 27 demands to the state Commissioner of Corrections along with the Governor, Nelson Rockefeller. It read as follows:

“We, the men of Attica Prison, have been committed to the New York State Department of Corrections by the people of society for the purpose of correcting what has been deemed as social errors in behavior. Errors which have classified us as socially unacceptable until reprogrammed with new values and more thorough understanding as to our values and responsibilities as members of the outside community. The Attica Prison program in its structure and conditions have been enslaved on the pages of this Manifesto of Demands with the blood, sweat, and tears of the inmates of this prison.

The program which we are submitted to under the façade of rehabilitation are relative to the ancient stupidity of pouring water on a drowning man, inasmuch as we are treated for our hostilities by our program administrators with their hostility as medication.

In our efforts to comprehend on a feeling level an existence contrary to violence, we are confronted by our captors with what is fair and just, we are victimized by the exploitation and the denial of the celebrated due process of law.

In our peaceful efforts to assemble in dissent as provided under this nation’s U.S. Constitution, we are in turn murdered, brutalized, and framed on various criminal charges because we seek the rights and privileges of all American People.

In our efforts to intellectually expand in keeping with the outside world, through all categories of news media, we are systematically restricted and punitively remanded to isolation status when we insist on our human rights to the wisdom of awareness.”

The Manifesto, as it was referred to, goes on to list 27 demands. 

“1. We Demand the constitutional rights of legal representation at the time of all parole board hearings. 

2. We Demand a change in medical staff and medical policy and procedure. 

3. We Demand adequate visiting conditions and facilities for the inmate and families of Attica prisoners.

4. We Demand an end to the segregation of prisoners from the mainline population

because of their political beliefs.

5. We Demand an end to the persecution and punishment of prisoners who

practice the Constitutional Right of peaceful dissent. 

6. We Demand an end to political persecution, racial persecution, and the denial

of prisoner’s rights to subscribe to political papers, books, or any other

educational and current media chronicles that are forwarded through the

U.S. Mail.

7. We Demand that industries be allowed to enter the institutions and employ

inmates to work eight hours a day and fit into the category of workers for

scale wages. 

8. We Demand that inmates be granted the right to join or form labor unions.

9. We Demand that inmates be granted the right to support their own families.

10. We Demand that correctional officers be prosecuted as a matter of law for

any act of cruel and unusual punishment where it is not a matter of life and

death.

11. We Demand that all institutions using inmate labor be made to conform

with the state and federal minimum wage laws.

12. We Demand an end to the escalating practice of physical brutality being

perpetrated upon the inmates of New York State prisons.

13. We Demand the appointment of three lawyers from the New York State Bar

Association to full-time positions for the provision of legal assistance to

inmates seeking post-conviction relief. 

14. We Demand the updating of industry working conditions to the standards

provided for under New York State law.

15. We Demand the establishment of inmate worker’s insurance plan to provide

compensation for work-related accidents.

16. We Demand the establishment of unionized vocational training programs.

17. We Demand annual accounting of the inmates Recreational Fund and formulation of an inmate committee to give inmates a voice as to how such

funds are used.

18. We Demand that the present Parole Board appointed by the Governor be

eradicated and replaced by the parole board elected by popular vote of the

people. 

19. We Demand that the state legislature create a full-time salaried board of

overseers for the State Prisons. 

20. We Demand an immediate end to the agitation of race relations by the

prison administration of this State.

21. We Demand that the Dept. of Corrections furnish all prisoners with the services

of ethnic counselors for the needed special services of the Brown and Black population of this prison.

22. We Demand an end to the discrimination in the judgment and quota of parole

for Black and Brown people.

23. We Demand that all prisoners be present at the time their cells and property

are being searched by the correctional officers of state prisons.

24. We Demand an end to the discrimination against prisoners when they appear

before the Parole Board. 

25. We Demand that better food be served to the inmates. The food is a gastronomical disaster. We also demand that drinking water be put on each table.

26. We Demand an end to the unsanitary conditions that exist in the mess hall.

27. We Demand that there be one set of rules governing all prisons in this state

instead of the present system where each warden makes rules for his institution

as he sees fit.

In Conclusion:

The taxpayers who just happen to be our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons should be made aware of how their tax dollars are being spent to deny their sons, brothers, fathers and uncles of justice, equality and dignity.”

At the time, the commissioner refused to take any action on the list of demands. Attica’s warden, Vincent Mancusi responded by making things worse for the inmates, adding additional restrictions on their reading materials and personal items. The Manifesto would be edited, added to and used again during the September uprising. 

On the morning of Thursday, September 9th inmates were still upset and wanted to know what was going to happen to William Ortiz, the man who’d hit a guard with a can of soup. As they were led to the mess hall for breakfast, prisoners somehow managed to open Ortiz’s cell. 

When the command staff found out that Ortiz had been sprung and was eating in the mess hall, they decided that they would return that group of men to their cells as punishment. The problem was, they didn’t inform the officers of their decision and those officers began leading the inmates to the recreation area. 

Officers and inmates alike were surprised to find the doors to the rec area locked. The inmates quickly believed that they were being set up and were about to be punished. Immediately, their survival instincts kicked in and a massive brawl broke out.  While some inmates fought, others ran. The inmates subdued and locked the four officers in cells. Including Lieutenant Robert Curtiss who’d been involved in the previous night’s ordeal. 

More and more inmates from different cell blocks and groups joined in. The uprising was underway and spreading quickly. While prison staff was able to take back control of Blocks A, B, C, and E, over 1200 inmates converged on Cell Block D and the yard outside. 

On Thursday evening, the Domestic Intelligence Division of the FBI received a fax from its Buffalo office. It read,

“As of 5:00pm today, inmates still held approximately 32 guards hostage. Nine guards have been injured, one of whom is in serious condition. Inmates are in possession of tear gas guns and canisters as well as other contraband weapons such as tools and have threatened to kill one guard for every shot fired at prisoners. A preliminary estimate of two million dollars in property damage resulting from burning of prison school, chapel, carpenter shop, metal working shop and other facilities has been made. Estimated 600 law enforcement officers are on hand ready to control the riot. TV and news reporters are on scene.” 

The officer in serious condition was Officer William Quinn, he’d been thrown through a second story window during the morning’s takeover. 

The 32 guards were stripped and blindfolded and made to stand at attention. The rioting prisoners were a mix of black and white inmates. The group running the show and making the demands were primarily black with militant backgrounds.

Once the inmates secured themselves within D Block they began organizing. Leaders were elected to represent the inmates in negotiations. Other inmates were appointed to serve as medics while others were chosen to take on the task of security. The inmates would surrender, if their demands were met. 21-year-old Elliott James Barkley became the face of the negotiations. He was an eloquent speaker who was charged with talking to journalists, and in-turn, the viewers at home. Barkley had a lot riding on this, he was just days away from his scheduled release. 

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In a declaration to the American People, Barkley read, “We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace, that means every one of us here, has set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We've called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us but of every one of you, as well.”

The Attica Liberation Faction presented the newly updated Manifesto with an additional six demands, raising the number to 33. The focus was “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 listed five men as representatives for all of the inmates. Donald Noble, Peter Butler, Frank Lott, Carl Jones-El, and Herbert Blyden X. The manifesto also called out the New York governor, New York corrections and the United States courts as "vile and vicious slave masters" who oppressed the prisoners. 

A team of outside observers, knowledgeable of prison conditions, were brought in to assist with negotiations. The group included the editor of the New York Times, Tom Wicker, James Ingram of the Michigan Chronicle; State Senator John Dunne, State Representative Arthur Eve, and Clarence Jones, publisher of the Amsterdam News in New York and former advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr.. Prisoners requested Minister Louis Farrakhan, from the Nation of Islam, but he declined. 

Inmates also requested representatives from the Black Panther Party, one of which was Bobby Seale. Mr. Seale arrived on September 11th, addressed the inmates briefly and then left. He did little more than rile up the prisoners. 

As the days passed by, the prisoners and team of observers continued to negotiate with the Commissioner of Corrections Russell Oswald. Of the 33 demands, Oswald agreed to 28 of them. He stood firm on two of the demands however. The officer that had been injured after being thrown through a second story window, William Quinn, died from his injuries on September 11th, so Oswald would not be granting amnesty to the inmates involved in the uprising and he would also not remove Attica’s current warden. 

Governor Rockefeller complicated things further by his refusal to come to the prison and meet with the inmates. As negotiations were breaking down, Oswald and others in charge begged Rockefeller to come. He refused once more and ordered Oswald to take back the prison by force if necessary.

On the evening of Sunday, September 12th plans were drawn up by Oswald and his team to retake the prison by force. Oswald wanted to deliver one final appeal for a settlement before the forcible retaking but Rockefeller ordered him to phrase it in a way that wouldn’t alert the inmates to the retaking. 

By Monday morning the inmates had dug defensive trenches, electrified metal gates, and set up walls in the ground made of metal tables and dirt. They were preparing for a possible attempt by the authorities to retake the prison. They also fortified the "Times Square" prison command center. They also brought eight corrections officers to the catwalk on top of the command center and surrounded them with inmates armed with homemade weapons. They were the inmates’ insurance. 

Early on Monday morning Oswald gave the inmates a statement directing them to release the hostages and accept the offered settlement within the hour. He lied, and stated, "I want to continue negotiations with you". The inmates were quick to reject his offer, and the overall mood among them deteriorated.

At 9:46 a.m. that morning tear gas was dropped into D 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. Overall, some two thousand rounds were fired. The weapons used included shotguns loaded with buckshot pellets and other firearms loaded with unjacketed bullets that caused considerably more damage. 

19 minutes later the facility was reported as fully secured. In those 19 minutes, members of the various law enforcement agencies, which included prison guards, had shot at least 128 men. In total, nine hostages were killed along with 29 inmates. 

State officials, including Oswald and Rockefeller, initially reported to the media that many of the hostages that had been killed died at the hands of inmates who had slit their throats. However, within twenty four hours, official medical examiners on the scene confirmed that all the hostages had been killed by bullets fired by law enforcement officers.

Reports quickly emerged that the leaders of the uprising had been shot systematically by law enforcement. Some of the men were shot in the back, while their arms were raised in surrender or even lying on the ground. 

One of the men shot at point blank range was Elliott James Barkley, the man frequently seen on the news. It’s reported that Barkley survived the initial retaking but was then sought out and executed. He was just 21-years-old. He’d been convicted at the age of 18 for cashing a forged money order for $124.60. After being paroled in 1970 he was picked up for driving without a license, a violation of his parole. He was then ordered to the maximum security prison of Attica. He’d been excited to be released, was working on studying law and may have been out before the end of the year.  

Aside from the officer thrown through the window, three other deaths were blamed on inmates and those were all other inmates killed in a vigilante fashion before the official uprising began. 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."

As prison officials reclaimed the prison and got to cleaning up and repairing the damage, inmates received awful treatment. It’s reported that inmates were made to strip naked and crawl through mud, broken glass and the hand-dug latrines within D yard. As they entered the prison, inmates were forced to strip naked and run through lines of officers who beat them and shouted racial insults at them. 

In the days following the uprising, special grand juries were appointed, various task forces were assembled and Governor Rockefeller appointed the New York State Special Commission on Attica. Various trials and lawsuits would continue on for the next fifty years. 

At 7:30 p.m. on September 17, militant left-wing organization the Weather Underground launched a retaliatory attack on the New York Department of Corrections, exploding a bomb near Oswald's office.

In the aftermath of the events at Attica, protests and riots occurred in prisons across the United States, including in prisons in New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Georgia. Rallies were held both in support of the prisoners as well as Rockefeller throughout the country. Activists like Angela Davis and John Lennon were both very vocal in their support of the inmates during this time period.

In 1975, Governor Hugh 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 whether the state’s own investigation into the Attica riot was a cover-up. Volume One of the Meyer Report, released in December of 1975, found "that 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".

In December of 1976, Governor Carey announced that he was "closing the book on Attica". He pardoned all of the Attica 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. While this meant that the criminal suits were closed, civil suits were allowed to proceed.

Former Governor Nelson Rockefeller passed away in 1979.  

In 2000, surviving inmates and families of inmates killed in the prison retaking were awarded $8 million to settle the case.

Five years later, in 2005, the state separately settled with surviving prison employees and families of the slain prison employees for $12 million.

In 2015 Volumes 2 and 3 were allowed to be released to the public. Of the 350 pages of the volumes, only 46 remained unredacted. 

As recently as 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.

So what changes were made after the uprisings?

The New York State Department of Corrections implemented some changes throughout the seventies, including:Providing more basics such as more showers, soap, medical care, and family visits. Introducing a grievance procedure in which inmates could report actions by a staff member that violated published policy. Creating liaison committees in which inmates elect representatives to speak for them in meetings with prison officials.

Allocating funding to Prisoners Legal Services, a statewide network of lawyers to assist inmates. Providing access to higher education and allowing more religious freedom for inmates.

Unfortunately for inmates, the following few decades saw a majority of the improvements reversed. As the nation became tougher on crime, the efforts of those involved in the Attica Uprising became lost in history. Overcrowding worsened, with the prison population of New York increasing dramatically from 12,500 at the time of the Attica uprising to 72,600 by 1999. It is reported that Attica has remained, quote, "a facility where a small group of correction officers dole out harsh punishment largely with impunity".

The United States leads the world in the number of incarcerated individuals. The number, as of 2021 was 2,068,800. In second place was China, at 1,690,000. 

No matter which side of the debate you fall upon, one thing is abundantly clear. Something needs to be done. It’s easy to say, don’t do the crime if you don’t want the punishment, but there are numerous factors that go into every bad decision and there are rules in place for what can be done to those that are punished. The questions are how should criminals be treated, and also, how do we keep the men and women that work in prisons safe?

The 1971 Attica Prison uprising will never be forgotten. There are a ton of wonderful books and documentaries on the subject that I recommend you check out. I’ll have some photos and newspaper articles posted to my website soon, Curator135.com. 

This will conclude year 3 of the podcast. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my listeners. We will have some big things coming in Year 4. 

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