Northwest Detention Center, Tacoma, Washington March 7, 2014 – May 1, 2014 At least 750 detainees launch a hunger strike and call for an end to deportations. The action begins a series of hunger strikes and outside demonstrations that will unfold throughout the year. Years later in 2017 and 2018, NWDC will be the site […]
Louisiana State Penitentiary–Angola, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana May 8, 2018 Following a fight between prisoners and guards, at least 27 prisoners refuse to work. According to the prisoners themselves, 100 prisoners eventually participate in the work stoppage. That night, prisoners release a list of demands. Despite the prisoners’ stated intentions that the work stoppage continue, […]
Lee Correctional Institution, Bishopville, South Carolina April 14- April 15, 2018 A version of this article originally appeared on It’s Going Down. On April 15th, at the Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina, prisoners were locked inside various units for hours as deadly fights broke out. Guards refused to break up altercations or allow for […]
Crossroads Correctional Facility, Cameron, Missouri May 12, 2018 After recreation and programing were cut due to staffing shortages, prisoners stage a sit-down strike–sitting peacefully and refusing to follow orders from staff. According to the Missouri DOC, 209 prisoners participated in the protest. According to local news coverage, a guard later repeated a conversation he had […]
Arizona State Prison, Kingman, Arizona July 1 – July 4, 2015 On July 1, 2015, prisoners in the Cerbat Unit of the Arizona State Prison in Kingman, a private prison run by the Management & Training Corporation (MTC), rioted following an attack on guards. According to the Department of Corrections,”The inmates broke windows and destroyed […]
Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla, Washington April 1 – April 12, 2018 Prisoners begin a hunger strike on Easter Sunday that lasts at least 11 days and involves at least 1,315 prisoners–including prisoners in all six units of the prison’s West Complex. All prisoners in the West Complex who are not “elderly or infirm” participate. […]
Wayne Unit, Huntsville, TX April 11- April 20, 2018 Prisoners launch a hunger strike in protest of a lockdown at the prison. According to prison officials, 50 prisoners refuse meals at the height of the 10 day hunger strike. Citations: “Huntsville prison hunger strike ‘essentially’ over, officials say”, Chron, April 20, 2018. “Huntsville prisoners protest […]
Santa Cruz County Jail, Santa Cruz, CA January 16, 2018 Prisoners tie trip lines from ripped jail-cell sheets, cover their arms with socks, hide their faces with makeshift masks and arm themselves with soap, a radio, mop, books and bottles of liquid. The 26 men housed in the west-wing L Unit complained it was too […]
James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, Delaware February 1, 2017 On February 1st, 2017, inmates in the C-building at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (JTVCC) in Delaware took control of their unit and held staff hostage in an uprising that lasted over 18 hours. They called the media, released a list of demands, and explained […]
Norton Correctional Facility, Norton, Kansas September 5, 2017 A version of this article was originally published on It’s Going Down On Tuesday, September 5th, prisoners at the Norton Correctional Facility in Kansas took over portions of the prison and, according to the Kansas Organization of State Employees, which represents prison guards, staged a “huge riot.” […]