Prison Riot/Hostage Situation erupts after Katrina

This breaking story was mentioned as a word of mouth/tv rumor in the Hurricane Katrina thread, but it is just now being confirmed in print by news outlets. As the story will undoubtedly evolve on its own, I felt it deserved its own thread... especially if it results in a gun battle between the military and the prisoners:

abcnews.go.com...

"Aug. 30, 2005 — Inmates at a prison in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans have rioted, attempted to escape and are now holding hostages, a prison commissioner told ABC News affiliate WBRZ in Baton Rouge, La.
Orleans Parish Prison Commissioner Oliver Thomas reported the incident to WB

"A deputy at Orleans Parish Prison, his wife and their four children have been taken hostage by rioting prisoners after riding out Hurricane Katrina inside the jail building, according to WBRZ. "

It seems that many prison officials brought their families to the pen in the hope that they could survive the storm. Unfortunately, those very same civilians are now at the hands of enraged criminals. Pray for them.

I read somewhere on ATS that some prisoners are being kept in open areas surrounded by guards. Is this not the case? I know LA has a huge prison population, but I don't know how many prisons are still usable, and how many are underwater. I imagine the prisons would be farther inland, where the real estate is cheaper, but I could be mistaken.

How are the prisoners getting water and food? Maybe that's why they're rioting? Or it could be purely oppurtunistic on their part. Of course that's pretty stupid, if they end up on the business end of a bunch of soldiers' rifles.

As to the situation with the man and his family...

What a foolish thing to do! Bring your family to hunker down in the prison where you work?

That's ludicrous.

The man made a very bad decision. His wife and kids failed to correct him in his mistake. Now they are all suffering because of it.

The prisoners have nothing to lose, many of them anyway. The man and his family should have known better, and found somewhere else to ride out the storm and its aftermath. I can't find any sympathy for this event, because it is 100% the result of decisions made by the people who are now effected.

If the man was a wild animal trainer, would he have led his wife and children into the tiger pen?

www.ctv.ca...

Prison riots

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said late Tuesday that her office hasn't been able to verify reports of a prison riot and hostage-taking at a New Orleans jail.

Orleans Parish Prison Commissioner Oliver Thomas told an ABC News affiliate that inmates at the prison have rioted, attempted to escape and are now holding hostages.

Thomas told WBRZ News in Baton Rouge, La. that a deputy at the prison, his wife and their four children have been taken hostage by rioting prisoners after riding out the hurricane inside the jail building.

Blanco said downed communications systems have made it impossible to confirm the report.

"I do know that this morning we were trying to transfer prisoners form Jefferson (Parish Jail) and Orleans to other state prisons, because there's no electricity, no food," she told CNN.
"I'm not sure exactly what's going on."

Martial law

Meanwhile, local television stations reported that martial law has been declared in some parts of New Orleans, including the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines.

Due to the quickly deteriorating conditions, no one but emergency personnel was being allowed into the city.

The declaration allows the military to assume control over civilian forces, and is imposed to restore order in times of war and emergency.

www.ctv.ca...

This is what Ive got

Prisoners are being moved out of NOLA and into other prison systems by boat and then by bus. It is an orderly move and probably the only thing in NOLA that is under control.

I seen wathcing a TV news feed form New Orleans that said the hostage situation and prison riot was under control. But who knows.

The prisoners have nothing to lose, many of them anyway. Posted by WyrdeOne

Don't let me jump off the deep end here but they have their lives to lose. To be blunt they have little control over saving themselves since they have no freedom to move at their discretion.

duh!

And if it is a jail these people have not been convicted of anything, they are awaiting trial or serving misdemeanor sentences. Should someone die simply because they were drunk in public or was caught with a joint, or was jailed for non-payment of child support?

If we are not dealing with murderers, open the doors! They aren't going to hang around, are they?

the thing is quite a few of the inmates would be black and the racist bunch of whites are probably poloce officers as they have the power to lock 'em up.
why would they want them out again?

Hi,

this is my first post. I'm not sure if there is another thread running here about
the prison situation in Louisiana, but this one seems appropriate, so here goes:

' An Australian survivor of Hurricane Katrina has told of the horrors he faced in two Louisiana jails, including being threatened and robbed by an armed inmate and watching another get stabbed."

The guy got locked up for drunk and disorderly then was evac'd to a prison, that eventually got flooded etc. Here's a link:

Link

I think his story could be an interesting one, being as he as an insiders view of what went on in there as well as not currently being in that prison system, as he was found by an Australian consular official and is probably back in Oz as we speak.

cheers

They had said on CNN probably Wednesday or Thursday after the storm that they released a bunch of prisoners so they would have a chance of survival.