Rioting Breaks Out At 3 Federal Prisons Fires Set After Congressional Action On Crack Penalties

Inmates set fires and took over parts of federal prisons Friday in Tennessee, Illinois and Pennsylvania as the Justice Department declared a lockdown at its facilities nationwide.

At least 13 people suffered mostly minor injuries.

The inmates still had control of a housing unit at the prison in Greenville, Ill., Friday night. Authorities quelled the disturbances in Memphis, Tenn., and Allenwood, Pa., by evening.

Prisoners took over the unit at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville when guards tried to impose the Justice Department lockdown. Some prison staffers had to be rescued by a tactical response team after building a barricade to protect themselves, authorities said.

Three staff members suffered minor injuries, but it was not immediately clear whether other staffers or any of the prison’s approximately 1,200 inmates were hurt. It also was unknown how many inmates were involved or how long the trouble had been going on.

There were no escape attempts, a prison statement said.

The prison was brightly lit from its buildings out to the barb-wire perimeter late Friday night. On the roads surrounding it, local emergency personnel stood by with lights flashing from fire trucks and other vehicles.

The prison is bounded by farmland on two sides and by Interstate 70 and the city limit.

The lockdown was ordered at the prison, about 40 miles east of St. Louis, and other federal prisons after the disturbances in Memphis, Allenwood and a riot in Talladega, Ala., Thursday night.

Between 700 and 800 inmates were unsecured at one point during the five-hour disturbance at the Federal Correctional Institution in Memphis, where several small fires were set.

The uprising began shortly after noon when a group of inmates in the manufacturing area began breaking windows and vandalizing the building, according to prison officials.

They moved to the recreation yard and refused to leave, then were joined by other inmates. Several fires were set in three of the prison’s housing units.

Prison spokeswoman Francine Branch did not know what sparked the trouble or how many inmates were involved.

Prisoners rioted Thursday night in Talladega, Ala., where 13 people were injured and inmates caused $1 million in damage by setting fires and smashing windows with baseball bats.

The riot was triggered by Congress’ refusal to reduce the penalty for crack cocaine convictions, said two people who were trapped inside during the trouble.

The disturbance Friday in Allenwood, Pa., also may have been linked to the congressional vote, local television and radio stations reported.