United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was instructing his administration to reopen and expand Alcatraz – the infamous former prison on a remote California island that’s been closed for over 60 years.
In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be.”
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“That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders," he wrote, adding: "The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
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What is Alcatraz?
Alcatraz — this small island was once a fort, a military prison, and a maximum security federal penitentiary.
Alcatraz was rebuilt in the early 20th Century as a military prison. The US Department of Justice took it over in the 1930s and it began taking in convicts from the federal prison system, BBC reported.
In 1969, the Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz for 19 months in the name of freedom and Native American civil rights, the American government said.
Alcatraz Island is now a major tourist site that is operate by the National Park Service and is a designated National Historic Landmark. While the former main cellhouse is the featured attraction, many other buildings on the island that supported the prison’s operation now lie in ruins, Bloomberg reported.
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Why is it infamous?
The prison — infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it — was known as the “The Rock" and housed some of the nation's most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt. The fate of three particular inmates — John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris — is of some debate and was dramatized in the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clinton Eastwood.
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The prison was also made famous by the 1962 film, Birdman of Alcatraz, starring Burt Lancaster, about the convicted murderer Robert Stroud, who while serving a life sentence on the prison island developed an interest in birds and went on to become an expert ornithologist.
Why was the prison shut?
The prison was closed in 1963 due to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility, because everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat. The prison closed because it was too expensive to continue operating, according to the Federal Bureau of Prison website.
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Why Trump wants to reopen it?
Trump’s directive to rebuild and reopen the long-shuttered penitentiary was the latest salvo in his effort to overhaul how and where federal prisoners and immigration detainees are locked up. But such a move would likely be an expensive and challenging proposition.
Trump has also directed the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labeled the “worst criminal aliens."
(Wih input from agencies)
