San Quentin riot
damn hope everyones fam is all right. from what i take its not all good. anyone one know a bit more hit me on pm I got two camaradas in there doing some vaca time, I dont bang pero they all yours homeboys if you get my drift. I havent been in contact with them in years really wanna know if they cool.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/09/RIOT.TMP
SAN QUENTIN
42 injured in fight at San Quentin between white, Latino inmates
3 are hospitalized with severe injuries -- guards use pepper spray to break up melee
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
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A riot broke out simultaneously in H-unit at San Quentin State Prison on Monday, leaving 42 inmates injured with cuts and bruises and three others hospitalized with severe injuries.
The fighting involved at least 70 white and Latino inmates, some of whom used knives and clubs fashioned out of razor blades, tooth brushes, socks and soap.
Ten guards using pepper spray broke up the fight after 15 minutes, according to prison officials.
"This is believed to be an escalation of a problem that has existed at the prison for about eight days," said Sgt. Eric Messick, the prison spokesman. "Had staff not handled the situation so well, it could have been very scary."
The fighting broke out at 8:40 a.m. as the inmates returned from breakfast in H-unit, a series of four dormitory-style medium security units, each housing 225 inmates outside the west wall of the prison, near the minimum security ranch area.
Messick said the inmates began fighting in all four units as outnumbered guards attempted to quell the unrest using pepper spray. He said the Latinos appeared to attack the white inmates, who had apparently prepared themselves and fought back hard.
The injuries were pretty evenly distributed between the two sides, he said.
None of the injuries were life threatening, but prison officials said one of the three inmates hospitalized suffered a severe head injury.
Messick said six weapons were recovered after the fight was broken up, including sharpened points, razor blades attached to tooth brushes and socks filled with soap for use as bludgeons.
Messick was reluctant to describe the incident as a race riot because, he said, the motives appear to be more complicated, involving gang issues, territorial rivalries and prison-style respect, or the lack thereof.
It all started Aug. 1 with three assaults by Latinos on white inmates in North Block, a sprawling section with five tiers of cells. It appears some Latino prisoners took issue with a tattoo or marking that one of the white prisoners had, indicating he was allied with Latino gangs in Southern California.
The north/south gang rivalry in California has been going on for nearly four decades, one of the products of which was the split between the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia.
Now gangs from the north wear red and gangs from the south wear blue. Territorial fights on the streets are often deadly.
Messick said the white prisoners retaliated the next morning, beating a prisoner of Mexican descent. At noon that same day, guards noticed the two groups getting ready to square off in the yard, prompting an alarm and a lockdown of the prison.
Three weapons were later found in the yard.
Messick said prison officials increased staffing at H-unit, but were not ready for the level of violence that occurred Monday.
"This thing grew legs from a personal respect issue and it was a domino effect," Messick said. "Now, I don't think it has anything to do with the original problem. These guys that are involved in this are not designated gang members. It comes off of the street subculture."
Forty inmates were removed from the general prison population into the prison within a prison called Administrative Segregation -- solitary confinement, known to inmates as "the hole."
Their cases will be reviewed within 10 days, Messick said, and if it is determined that they were involved in the riot, they will be transferred to another prison.
damn hope everyones fam is all right. from what i take its not all good. anyone one know a bit more hit me on pm I got two camaradas in there doing some vaca time, I dont bang pero they all yours homeboys if you get my drift. I havent been in contact with them in years really wanna know if they cool.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/09/RIOT.TMP
SAN QUENTIN
42 injured in fight at San Quentin between white, Latino inmates
3 are hospitalized with severe injuries -- guards use pepper spray to break up melee
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 9, 2005
Printable Version
Email This Article
A riot broke out simultaneously in H-unit at San Quentin State Prison on Monday, leaving 42 inmates injured with cuts and bruises and three others hospitalized with severe injuries.
The fighting involved at least 70 white and Latino inmates, some of whom used knives and clubs fashioned out of razor blades, tooth brushes, socks and soap.
Ten guards using pepper spray broke up the fight after 15 minutes, according to prison officials.
"This is believed to be an escalation of a problem that has existed at the prison for about eight days," said Sgt. Eric Messick, the prison spokesman. "Had staff not handled the situation so well, it could have been very scary."
The fighting broke out at 8:40 a.m. as the inmates returned from breakfast in H-unit, a series of four dormitory-style medium security units, each housing 225 inmates outside the west wall of the prison, near the minimum security ranch area.
Messick said the inmates began fighting in all four units as outnumbered guards attempted to quell the unrest using pepper spray. He said the Latinos appeared to attack the white inmates, who had apparently prepared themselves and fought back hard.
The injuries were pretty evenly distributed between the two sides, he said.
None of the injuries were life threatening, but prison officials said one of the three inmates hospitalized suffered a severe head injury.
Messick said six weapons were recovered after the fight was broken up, including sharpened points, razor blades attached to tooth brushes and socks filled with soap for use as bludgeons.
Messick was reluctant to describe the incident as a race riot because, he said, the motives appear to be more complicated, involving gang issues, territorial rivalries and prison-style respect, or the lack thereof.
It all started Aug. 1 with three assaults by Latinos on white inmates in North Block, a sprawling section with five tiers of cells. It appears some Latino prisoners took issue with a tattoo or marking that one of the white prisoners had, indicating he was allied with Latino gangs in Southern California.
The north/south gang rivalry in California has been going on for nearly four decades, one of the products of which was the split between the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia.
Now gangs from the north wear red and gangs from the south wear blue. Territorial fights on the streets are often deadly.
Messick said the white prisoners retaliated the next morning, beating a prisoner of Mexican descent. At noon that same day, guards noticed the two groups getting ready to square off in the yard, prompting an alarm and a lockdown of the prison.
Three weapons were later found in the yard.
Messick said prison officials increased staffing at H-unit, but were not ready for the level of violence that occurred Monday.
"This thing grew legs from a personal respect issue and it was a domino effect," Messick said. "Now, I don't think it has anything to do with the original problem. These guys that are involved in this are not designated gang members. It comes off of the street subculture."
Forty inmates were removed from the general prison population into the prison within a prison called Administrative Segregation -- solitary confinement, known to inmates as "the hole."
Their cases will be reviewed within 10 days, Messick said, and if it is determined that they were involved in the riot, they will be transferred to another prison.
