Inmates: officer tactics escalated peaceful protest at Kinross
By Stateside Staff • Oct 4, 2016
Shayan Sanyal / http://michrad.io/1LXrdJM
Our conversation with Paul Egan, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press.
Last month on Sept. 10, there was an incident at the Kinross Correctional Facility. It started with a peaceful demonstration by prisoners and ended with a fire, smashed windows, and other vandalism. 250 inmates were moved to higher security prisons.
The spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, Chris Gautz, said call it an incident, or call it vandalism. But don't call it a riot.
But the union for corrections officers saw it differently. Tom Tylutki from the Michigan Corrections Organization joined Stateside and felt confident calling the incident a riot.
So, we've heard from the state. We've heard from the correctional officers. Today, the Detroit Free Press published a piece that allows us to hear from the prisoners.
Paul Egan wrote that story, and joined Stateside to discuss what the prisoners said about what happened.
So if the demonstration was peaceful, what sparked the outburst that proceeded it?
According to Egan, one thing the prisoners mentioned were the tactics of the correctional officers. "The department wanted to round up these ringleaders," Egan said. "Was there a way they could have done it that was less confrontational that perhaps would have resulted in less damage?"
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michigan department of corrections
Riot? Disturbance? What really happened at Kinross prison
By Stateside Staff • Sep 22, 2016
flickr user Thomas Hawk / http://bit.ly/1xMszCg
Our conversation with Tom Tylutki, president of the Michigan Corrections Organization.
On September 10, there was an uprising at Kinross Correctional Facility in the Upper Peninsula.
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, it's the most serious incident inside a Michigan prison anyone can recall since the 1981 riot at what was then called Southern Michigan Prison in Jackson.
150 Michigan inmates moved after protest, damage at prison
By The Associated Press • Sep 11, 2016
KINCHELOE, Mich. (AP) - Michigan correctional officials say about 150 inmates have been moved from an Upper Peninsula prison to other prisons after a protest that led to damage in housing units.
Officials said in a statement the Saturday morning protest started peacefully, with about 400 prisoners marching in the yard of Kinross Correctional Facility. The protests were intended to coincide with the 45th anniversary of an inmates' rebellion at the Attica prison in western New York that left 32 inmates and 11 workers dead.