All federal prisons in the United States were isolated on Tuesday (1st) after a gang fight involving several inmates in a penitentiary in Texas that ended with two dead.
The riot broke out in Beaumont Prison, Texas, on Monday morning (31). In all, four prisoners were taken to hospital, where two died—Guillermo Riojas, 54, sentenced to 38 years for car theft and disrupting interstate commerce; and Andrew Pineda, 34, sentenced to six and a half years for racketeering.
There is no information on the condition of the other two injured. Prison officials and other inmates were not hit, according to the government. The prison concentrates 1,372 prisoners.
The BOP (Office of Prisons), which administers federal prisons, said it acted with “excessive caution” in ordering prisons to be isolated, a rare event in which prisoners are confined to their cells. According to the government, it is a “temporary measure to guarantee the good order of the institutions”.
In all, the 130 federal prisons in the United States hold 134,000 inmates.
The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that members of the violent El Salvador criminal faction MS-13, with widespread penetration in the United States, were involved in the conflicts at Beaumont prison.
As MS-13 is pervasive throughout the American prison system, there are fears that the violence will spread to other prisons, with rival gang members seeking revenge.
El Salvador classifies MS-13 as a terrorist organization, and US prosecutors have accused some of the group’s leaders of terrorist acts. The US government also accuses Salvadoran authorities of being involved with the criminal faction.
This year alone, federal prisons have recorded four murders and three escapes, according to the American press.
BOP director Michael Carvajal announced this month that he will retire. Carvajal is under frying in the American government, especially criticized for the poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in the penitentiary system. According to the Associated Press, more than 100 BOP employees have been arrested and convicted of crimes in the past three years.
Source: Folha
