Critical Mass Progress | CI: Attica Prison Uprising 101

10.9.15

Critical Mass Progress | CI: Attica Prison Uprising 101: From September 9 to 13, 1971, prisoners took control of the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York, motivated by a series of abuses as well as anger over the recent murder of Black Panther activist George Jackson in San Quentin prison. The prisoners made a series of demands to prison administrators and held about 40 people as hostages. After four days of fruitless negotiations and without meeting with prisoners, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller ordered that the prison be retaken by force; 39 people were killed in a 15-minute assault by state police. The New York State Special Commission on Attica (also known as the McKay Commission) appointed to investigate the uprising stated that “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.”