By Drew Moody
For the Hur Herald
October 2, 2010
Violence erupted September 23 as 120 gang members
began fighting in the prison's recreation yard, a prison employee
website reported.
Apparently one faction, a hundred-strong, attacked another
group of 20 gang members who may have recently been transferred
into the facility.
Inmates used horseshoes, rocks, boots and fists to pummel each
other. One guard was struck in the face with a rock.
FCI-Gilmer has been in a state of "lock down" since the evening
of the violence.
Gilmer County authorities were apparently not notified of the riot, nor did the prison release public information regarding the problem.
Five inmates
were hospitalized, with one of the victims severely beaten with a
horseshoe.
Sources suggest one inmate may not survive, after being speared
in the eye with a piece of a broom handle.
On one inmate blog, a Kentucky woman shared she'd just received
a letter from a relative serving out his sentence at FCI-Gilmer.
Guards used full riot gear and tear gas to bring the violence under
control, she wrote. More than 120 'Latino' gang members were
involved.
Several federal facilities are plagued with gang-related violence.
Since September 1, several federal prisons have been "locked down"
as a result of gang-related violence, according the the AFGE Council
of Prison Local 33 website. See their daily report logs and lock-down
status reports at www.cpl33.info/index
The Gilmer federal prison has about 1,800 inmates in what is called
a minimum-to-medium security facility. In addition, perhaps
120 inmates are part of an "unfenced" camp area.
Despite the minimum-to-medium designation, former guards at the facility, local
law enforcement and union construction representatives have
said at least 12 maximum security cells were set at FCI-Gilmer
at the time of its construction.
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