Elliot L.D. Barkley, revolutionary inmate, speaking to media during the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising.
On September 9, 1971, two weeks after the killing of revolutionary prisoner George Jackson at San Quentin, about 1,000 of the Attica prison’s approximately 2,200 inmates rioted and seized 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 state Governor Nelson Rockefeller, state police took back control of the prison. When the uprising was over, at least 43 people were dead, including ten screws and 33 inmates. (X)
