Prison Riot - The Willacy County Correctional Center in Texas has been rendered 'uninhabitable' after Friday's riot involving nearly 3,000 inmates over poor medical treatments.
About 2,000 of the nearly 3,000 inmates housed at the Kevlar tent prison located in Raymondville reportedly refused to start their work duties over the weekend as a protest over the federal facility's medical care.
According to reports, the protest quickly turned violent, after the inmates were put on lockdown but some broke out of the housing units.
Inmates welding pipes took over parts of the facility and set three of the prison's 10 housing units on fire. About 2,000 prisoners made their way to the recreation area.
Authorities surrounded the facility and made sure that no inmate escaped during the riot. Law enforcement officials from different agencies assisted in the response. They used tear gas and other methods to bring the inmates under control.
Officials and a private contractor moved in to negotiate with the inmates in a bid to 'regain complete control' of the federal prison.
Two officers and three inmates were transported to a local center after suffering from minor injuries.
FBI reports indicate that as of Monday, the inmates were being moved from south Texas to other facilities in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. FBI agents are overseeing the move after which an investigation into the prison riot would be conducted.
Local sources say although the prison is renown as a place where people caught crossing the border illegally are held, it also housed some felons, but most are low-level inmates.
"Once all the inmates are moved, we will begin assessing the damage. Soon after the disturbance began yesterday afternoon, inmates set three small fires which were quickly extinguished," said Issa Arnita, Director of corporate communications for the Management & Training Corp.
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