Two killed in Florence prison riot: The chaos started when prisoners reportedly celebrated Hitler’s birthday.
By Nick Bonham and Tracy Harmon
The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
FLORENCE, Colo. — Two inmates were killed and five others injured when a riot broke out Sunday afternoon at the high security U.S. Penitentiary 2 miles south of Florence.
Traci Billingsley, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, confirmed two inmates died as a result of the 12:30 p.m. recreation yard incident that began when a group of white inmates reportedly began a noisy celebration of of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
No staff injuries were reported in the incident, which Billingsley said lasted several hours. Reports said several gunshots were fired.
“I’m hearing 120 rounds were shot on the yard, and that’s an amazing amount of firepower,” State Rep. Liane “Buffie” McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, said late Sunday. “What I’m hearing is it was a racially motivated riot situation in conjunction with (Adolf) Hitler’s birthday,” which was Sunday.
The prisons are within McFadyen’s House District 47.
Troy Eid, U.S. Attorney for Colorado, confirmed McFadyen’s statements to a Denver newspaper.
The U.S. Penitentiary is home to 933 high-security federal inmates. It is one of four prisons at the Federal Correctional Complex, including the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, aka “Supermax;" the medium security Federal Correctional Institution and the minimum security satellite prison camp known as “The Camp.”
The U.S. Penitentiary was placed on lockdown status and correctional officers from other prisons in the federal complex were called in to quell the incident, McFadyen said.
“To have correctional officers called from other facilities tells me this situation was at critical mass,” McFadyen said.
The five injured inmates were taken to local area hospitals for treatments. Their conditions were not known late Sunday.
Two inmates were treated at Parkview Medical Center, according to C.W. Smith, the hospital’s chief executive officer and president.
“We received a couple that were treated and transferred back,” he said.
No information was released Sunday as to whether the inmates died at the hands of other inmates or from gunfire by prison guards.
“What makes USP dangerous is the people there are in general population,” McFadyen said. “USP is a very dangerous institution. We forget how dangerous it is because (Supermax) is there. Just over a year ago, this same facility almost went up in a riot, but it was quelled.”
She was referring to two disturbances in January 2007 when seven correctional officers were injured in the high-security prison and 30 others were called to assist during what was termed a near-riot. McFadyen joined the officers in a public call for congressional help during a Denver news conference at which staffers told how the disturbances nearly took the prison out of control.
Billingsley said the prison was placed on lockdown Sunday and “at no time was there a threat to the community.” A statement to news media released at 6 p.m. added that “an investigation into the incident is being conducted.”
At least some area residents, who would not give their names, were concerned enough about the situation to call news media to report the riot. Some reported ambulances had come and gone from the complex, correctional officers had been called in, and visits by prisoners’ family members were called off.
Copyright 2008 The Pueblo Chieftain