Prison riot
A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners.
Prison riots have not been the subject of many academic studies or research inquiries. The analyses that do exist tend to emphasize a connection between prison conditions and riots, or discuss the dynamics of the modern prison riot. In addition, a large proportion of academic studies concentrate on specific cases of prison riots. Other recent research analyzes and examines prison strikes and reports of contention with inmate workers.
Prison conditions
In the late 20th century, the analyses and conclusions presented to account for prison disturbances and riots began to shift and change based upon new studies and research. Initially, prison riots were considered irrational actions on the behalf of the prisoners. Nevertheless, there has been a shift in the form of explanation as external conditions like overcrowding are promoted by authorities as possible sources of causation.List of notable prison riots
The list doesn't include Prisoner-of-war camps.| Event | Date | Location | Death toll | Notes | Ref. | - |
| 1929, October 3 | Colorado State Penitentiary, Cañon City, Colorado, United States | 13 | a majority of the physical plant was destroyed during the riot | - | ||
| 1946, May | Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, United States | 5 | - | |||
| 1954 | Missouri State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, Missouri, United States | 4 | 29 injured, including 4 guards | - | ||
| Kingston Penitentiary riot | 1954 | Kingston Penitentiary, Kingston, Ontario, Canada | 0 | two-hour riot involving 900 inmates. Breakout attempt was foiled. Several buildings set on fire. $2 million in damages. 160 troops and a squad of police responded | - | |
| Montana State Prison Riot | 1959, April 16–18 | Montana State Prison, Montana, United States | 3 | - | ||
| 1963, July 12 | Pulau Senang, Singapore | 4 prison officers | - | |||
| Attica Prison riot | 1971 | Attica Correctional Facility, Attica, United States | 43 | - | ||
| Kingston Penitentiary riot | 1971 | Kingston Penitentiary, Kingston, Ontario, Canada | 2 inmates | - | ||
| 1973, July 27 | Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester, United States | 3 inmates | 21 injured, 24 buildings were damaged and only 4 buildings were left usable. Over $25 million dollars in damages | - | ||
| 1971, August | Idaho State Penitentiary, Boise, Idaho, United States | 1 inmate | 1 building destroyed, in March 1973 another riot that left multiple buildings destroyed | - | ||
| San Quentin 1971 riot | 1971, August 21 | San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States | 6 | riot between Black Guerrilla Family and Mexican Mafia | - | |
| New Mexico State Penitentiary riot | 1980, February 2–3 | Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe County, New Mexico United States | 33 | over 200 injured | - | |
| Fremantle Prison riot | 1988, January 14 | Fremantle prison, Fremantle, Australia | 0 | prisoners created a fire and 5 officers were taken hostage. The fire caused $1.8 million in damage and unintentionally prevented the planned escape | - | |
| 1988, July 20 | Centro Penitenciario, Michoacán, Mexico | 10 inmates | 13 injured | - | ||
| Atlanta prison riots | 1987, November | United States Penitentiary, Atlanta and Federal Detention Center, Oakdale, United States | 1 | 250 injured | - | |
| 1989, April 2–3 | Davao Penal Colony, Panabo, Philippines | 0 | 16 hostages taken | - | ||
| 1989 Davao hostage crisis | 1989, August 13–15 | Davao Metrodiscom, Davao City, Philippines | 21 | - | ||
| 1990, March | Leopoldov Prison, Leopoldov, Slovakia | 1 inmate | 40 injured | - | ||
| 1990 Strangeways Prison riot | 1990, April 1–25 | Strangeways Prison, Manchester, England | 1 inmate | 194 injured, 25-day prison riot | - | |
| Carandiru massacre | 1992, October 2 | Carandiru Penitentiary, São Paulo, Brazil | 111 | - | ||
| 1990, June | Robinson Correctional Institution, Enfield, Connecticut, United States | 0 | 300 to 400 inmates set fire to the mess hall and gymnasium | - | ||
| 1993, Easter Sunday | Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Scioto County, Ohio, United States | 10 | - | |||
| 1994, July 12 | Robinson Correctional Institution, Enfield, Connecticut, United States | 2 inmates | 37 injured | - | ||
| 2001, May | Centro de Cumplimiento Peniteciario, Iquique, Chile | 28+ | 150 injured | - | ||
| 2003, April 5 | El Porvenir prison, La Ceiba, Honduras | 69 | - | |||
| 2004, May 16 | El Porvenir prison, La Ceiba, Honduras | 86 inmates | - | |||
| 2004, August 19 | La Esperanza prison, San Salvador, El Salvador | 31 | 24 injured | - | ||
| 2004, December 17 | Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Kabul, Afghanistan | 8 | - | |||
| 2005, January | Camp Bucca, Umm Qasr, Iraq | 4 inmates | 6 injured | - | ||
| 2005, March 15 | Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, Philippines | 23 | almost all Abu Sayyaf members who rose up, including several leaders were killed | - | ||
| 2005, August | Pavón Prison / Granja Pino Canada / El Hoyon, Guatemala | 35 | - | |||
| 2006, January | San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States | 0 | 25+ injured | - | ||
| 2006, February | North County Correctional Facility, Castaic, California, United States | 1 inmate | 100+ injured | - | ||
| 2006, February 26 | Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Kabul, Afghanistan | 7+ | - | |||
| 2007, January 7 | Apanteos jail, near Santa Ana, El Salvador | 21 | - | |||
| 2007, April 24 | New Castle Correctional Facility, New Castle, Indiana, United States | 0 | 2 injured | - | ||
| 2007, December | Santa Ana prison, San Cristobal, Tachira, Venezuela | 30 inmates | - | |||
| 2008, March 28 | Federal Correctional Institution, Three Rivers, Live Oak County, Texas, United States | 1 inmate | 22 injured | - | ||
| 2008, October 20 | Cedes prison, Reynosa, Mexico | 21+ | 8 injured | - | ||
| 2009 Ciudad Juárez prison riot | 2009, March 4 | CERESO state prison, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | 20 | 15 injured | - | |
| 2009, August 21 | Northpoint Training Center, Boyle County, Kentucky, United States | 0 | 60–80 inmates involved, 5 buildings burned down | - | ||
| 2010, February 28 | El Manzano, Concepción, Chile | 0 | - | |||
| 2010, May 5 | Santa Ana prison, San Cristobal, Tachira, Venezuela | 8 | 3 injured | - | ||
| 2011, October 15 | Matamoros prison, Matamoros, Mexico | 20 | 12 injured | - | ||
| Altamira prison brawl | 2012, January 4 | Cereso de Altamira, Altamira, Mexico | 31 | 13 injured | - | |
| Apodaca prison riot | 2012, February 19 | Apodaca, Mexico | 44 | 12 injured | - | |
| 2012, May 20 | Adams County Correctional Facility, Natchez, Mississippi, United States | 1 guard | 7 injured | - | ||
| Yare prison riot | 2012, August 20 | Yare Prison near Caracas, Venezuela | 25 | 43 injured | - | |
| 2013 Uribana prison riot | 2013, January 25 | Uribana prison, Barquisimeto, Venezuela | 61 | 120 injured | - | |
| Topo Chico prison riot | 2016, February 10–11 | Topo Chico prison, Monterrey, Mexico | 52+ | 12 injured | - | |
| 2016, March 12 | Holman Correctional Facility, Escambia County, Alabama, United States | 0 | 2 injured | - | ||
| 2016, July 19 | Pavón Prison, Fraijanes, Guatemala | 13 | - | |||
| 2016 New Bilibid Prison riot | 2016, September 28 | New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa, Philippines | 1 | 4 injured | - | |
| Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo riot | 2016, October 16 | Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo, Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil | 25 inmates | - | ||
| 2016, December 16 | HM Prison Birmingham, Birmingham, England | 0 | - | |||
| 2016, December 20 | California Correctional Center, Susanville, California, United States | 0 | 4 injured | - | ||
| 2017, January 1 | Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex, Amazonas, Brazil | 60+ | - | |||
| 2017, January 2 | Prison Unit of Puraquequara, Manaus, Brazil | 10 | - | |||
| 2017, January 6 | Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo, Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil | 37 | - | |||
| 2017, January 8 | Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa jail, Manaus, Brazil | 4 | - | |||
| 2017, January 9 | Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, Shirley, Massachusetts, United States | 0 | - | |||
| 2017, January 15 | Natal State Prison, Natal, Brazil | 27 | 9 injured | - | ||
| 2017, February 1 | James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, New Castle County, Delaware, United States | 1 officer | - | |||
| 2017, May 15 | Buimo prison, Lae, Papua New Guinea | 17 | - | |||
| 2017, June 7 | Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, Philippines | 2 | 17 injured | - | ||
| 2017, June 29 | El Dorado Correctional Facility, El Dorado, Kansas, United States | 0 | - | |||
| 2017, July 6 | Las Cruces prison, Acapulco, Mexico | 28 | - | |||
| 2017, August 11 | Cedes prison, Reynosa, Mexico | 9 | 11 injured | - | ||
| 2017, October 11 | Cadereyta prison, Nuevo León, Mexico | 13 | - | |||
| 2018, April 15 | Lee Correctional Institution, Bishopville, South Carolina, United States | 7 | - | |||
| 2019, May 20 | Vahdat prison, Vahdat, Tajikistan | 32 | - | |||
| Acarigua prison riot | 2019, May 24 | police station cellblocks in Acarigua, Venezuela | 29 | 19 injured | - | |
| 2019 Altamira prison riot | 2019, July 29 | Centro de Recuperação Regional de Altamira prison, Altamira, Brazil | 62 | - | ||
| 2019, August 14 | Soledad State Prison, near Soledad, California, United States | 0 | 8 injured | - | ||
| 2019, December 23 | El Porvenir prison, La Ceiba, Honduras | 18 | - | |||
| Cieneguillas prison riots | 2019, December 31 | Cieneguillas Regional Center for Social Reintegration, Cieneguillas, Mexico | 16 inmates | 5 injured | ||
| Cieneguillas prison riots | 2020, January 2 | Cieneguillas Regional Center for Social Reintegration, Cieneguillas, Mexico | 1 inmate | 5 injured | - | |
| 2020, March 9 | Pavia prison, Modena, Italy | 6 | - | |||
| 2020, March, 22 | La Modelo prison, Bogotá, Colombia | 23 | 90 injured | - | ||
| 2020, March 30 | Sepidar Prison, Ahvaz, Iran | 18 | - | |||
| 2020, March 31 | Sheiban Prison, Ahvaz, Iran | Unknown | - | |||
| 2020, May 1 | Los Llanos prison, Guanare, Venezuela | 47 | 75 injured | - |
Gulag uprisings
- Norilsk uprising, May 1953 – strike
- Vorkuta uprising, July 1953 – 66 killed
- Kengir uprising, May 1954 – 37 killed, 500–700 killed
List of fictional prison riots
- In Battlefield 4, main characters Daniel Recker and Dimitri Mayakovsky instigate a mass prison breakout which evolves into a riot to escape PLA custody in the Kunlun mountains prison facility.
- In ', the 19th scene "Release" partly focuses on a large, violent prison riot in which the character Richter must fight his way out of. The riot is implied to be caused by the mysterious "Fifty Blessings" organization, which is the indirect cause of the game's events.
- In Toy Story 3, Buzz Lightyear is trapped in a prison cubby by his own prisoners, starting a prison riot.
- In season three of the FOX show 24, the main character, Jack Bauer, starts a prison riot.
- A riot occurred at Fox River during Prison Breaks first season's two-part episode "Riots, Drills, and the Devil".
- Network Ten created a TV series called Prisoner, a show set in a prison in Melbourne, this had multiple riots through the series run.
- Multiple riots occurred in the television series Oz during its season six run.
- On St. Elsewhere, the show featured a prison riot, where Jack Morrison is raped by a prisoner.
- In The Simpsons episode "The Homer They Fall", a prison riot in progress is halted instantly when imprisoned champion boxer Drederick Tatum petulantly asks the inmates and guards to "Shut up." They apologize and begin extinguishing the flames and tidying up.
- Episode 285 of Blue Heelers, Stir Crazy
- The riot in the film Natural Born Killers.
- In the film Blood in Blood out, in San Quentin State Prison, after gangleader Montana was killed.
- In the movie Scum, by Alan Clarke the borstal inmates protest official indifference to a rape that led to suicide. It is not clear whether the perpetrators of the rape had participated. During the scene the inmates refuse to eat breakfast, and one by one they start chanting the eponymous "scum" and proceed to demolish the canteen, with the staff locking themselves into a secure area. The movie ends shortly after in the final scene with the governor claiming to mourn the death of the boy, whilst informing the inmates there is full loss of privileges "until the damage has been paid for".
- In the graphic novel and film Watchmen, after a burn victim of Rorschach dies, a prison riot breaks out in an attempt to kill him. Rorschach escapes with the aid of Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre.
- In the episode "A Game of Checkers" of the HBO television series Oz, a riot breaks out in Oswald Pen.'s Emerald City, with Muslim activist 'Kareem Saïd' leading it.
- A prison riot is the focus of ', instigated by the Joker in Arkham Asylum.
- In both the beginning and the climax for ', Batman has to contend with two prison riots at Blackgate prison, both caused by the Joker. In addition, one portion of the game had Batman quelling a prison riot at the GCPD headquarters that was instigated by corrupt police officers wanting to make Gordon look bad.
- The main focus of ' was a prison riot that occurred at Blackgate prison.
- The fictional West Georgia Correctional Facility, seen in the third and fourth seasons of the AMC series 'The Walking Dead, saw a massive riot on the onset of the Zombie Apocalypse, as described by a surviving prisoner.
- At the end of Season 4 and most of Season 5 of Orange Is The New Black'', a prison riot ensues after an inmate, Poussey, is killed by a correctional officer, Baxter Bayley, during a protest. The riot was started as a result of the Warden, Joe Caputo, not handling the situation as it should have been dealt with.
- In Season 3, Episode 15 of, Sokka, Zuko, and Hakoda start a prison riot to create a distraction so they can escape from The Boiling Rock prison.