At 8:20 a.m. on September 9, 1971 the Attica Prison riot began. At 9:45 AM on September 13, tear gas was dropped into the yard and New York State Police troopers opened fire non-stop for two minutes into the smoke. by the time the facility was retaken, 10 hostages (Nine of them Prison guards who died from ‘friendly’ gunfire by state troopers) and 29 inmates had been killed. Prisoners were allowed only one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per month for each inmate – Furthermore, the facility had been built to hold 1,200, but had 2,200 detainees. Here’s John & Yoko with Jerry Rubin on percussion performing “Attica State.”
– Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975.
