At least four inmates were killed, two of them beheaded in a prison riot in southern Brazil. August 2014, a deadly riot over prisoners rights breaks out at the Kuscaval State Penitentiary in Brazil. And as brutal as this riot was, the next riot that happened in the same country would be even more shocking.
These are the most brutal prison riots caught on camera. A fight club going on for hours inside the troubled St. Louis Justice Center downtown. It is just the latest uprising there. August 2021, inmates at St. Louis City Justice Center were relaxing in the recreation room when things suddenly went south.
While the violence that erupted would be disturbing, the response of the guards will leave you even more speechless. The St. Louis City Justice Center has long struggled with maintaining order and safety within its walls. Built to house pre-trial detainees and inmates in the heart of downtown St. Louis, this place has seen many incidents of violence and unrest over the years with concerns ranging from outdated security systems to chronic understaffing.
The center has even developed a reputation for being a violent place. August 13th, 2021, one of the craziest fights ever recorded at this prison erupted and was captured on camera. The violence began late Friday night during recreation time on the fourth floor of the jail just before midnight.
Surveillance video shows some detainees casually sparring, possibly just blowing off steam. However, that energy quickly turns aggressive at around 11:30 p.m. when a lot of guys attack the one individual, punching and kicking them repeatedly. What starts like a single altercation spirals into unrestrained chaos and more would jump in on the fight as the recreation room went into a fullscale brawl.
And as the fight’s going on, officers and other detainees can be seen on the opposite side of the glass watching. They appear to call out for help, but made no attempt to enter the room. Inside, detainees brutalize each other, leaving one injured person after another on the floor. At times, one detainee was left bleeding and barely moving.
The video shows at least one officer trying to issue commands from a distance, but they shouted her down. Despite clear injuries and bloody detainees, no physical intervention occurred for nearly 5 hours. At 12:15 a.m., one detainee with a blood soaked shirt limped to the floor and was eventually let out, but fighting would continue inside.
For hours, detainees leaned against walls, rested, or continued arguing and fighting. It wasn’t until early 2:15 a.m. that officers wearing masks and equipped with pepper spray came in. And as they attempted to remove one person, the inmates would rush the door, prompting officers to deploy pepper spray. The confrontation intensified before the officers retreated again, leaving the detainees to themselves.
And by this point, some of them would begin going through papers at a control panel, and one would even pick up a broom and begin sweeping. A siren blared in the background, but no significant action would be taken to reassert control. This goes on until 4:30 a.m. when then a team of sheriff’s deputies and St. Louis police officers finally arrive in full riot gear.
With helmets and shields, they methodically removed detainees one by one in handcuffs, ending the ordeal that dragged on for over 5 hours. Four detainees were taken to a hospital for treatment. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, and they were returned to the justice center. At least one of them reportedly suffered a broken bone in the hand.
Now, the group of detainees responsible for this attack was transferred to the St. Louis City Justice Center annex known as the back portion of the workhouse. This area was built in the 1990s and it’s designed for increased security with individual or double occupancy cells and secure pods. St. Louis police reviewed the surveillance and consulted with guards.
Warrants were filed and charges against the attackers are expected. Interim Director of Public Safety Dan Isim confirmed that upgrades are being made to the Justice Center, including improved doors, locks, and even modern locking systems to enhance safety and reduce the chance of similar incidents. Now, in response to the riot, authorities plan to move all detainees from the third floor to allow construction to proceed faster and more effectively.
The upgrades are projected to take around 3 to four months and ISUM emphasized the city’s commitment to transparency and its aim to advocate for fair and speedy trials while also focusing on reducing criminals returning to crime through restorative justice efforts. The mayor’s office responded to questions by stating that corrections officers waited to assemble a proper response team before stepping in, prioritizing the safety of the entire facility.
However, that prolonged delay in stopping the violence raised serious concerns about preparedness, staffing, and the effectiveness of emergency protocols and one of the city’s most troubled institutions. The incident at the St. Louis Justice Center adds to a growing list of violent episodes at the facility, really reinforcing the need for structural and procedural reform.
At least four inmates were killed, two of them beheaded in a prison riot in southern Brazil. August 2014, prisoners who are members of a powerful criminal organization in Brazil known as First Capital Command take over the Cascaval State Penitentiary. Little did anyone know that this act would become one of the most deadliest prison riots the country has ever seen.
In Brazil, prison violence is neither new nor rare. The country’s vast and overcrowded penitentiary system has long been plagued by brutality with rival gangs often running operations from inside. One such example is the Kuscaval State Penitentiary in the southern state of Barana. Even before the infamous 2014 riot, this place had a troubling history.
Built to hold far fewer inmates than it actually housed, Cascaval was frequently cited for poor sanitation, insufficient food, and chronic understaffing. Inmates lived in bad conditions while prison gangs steadily grew in power. In fact, local human rights groups had for years warned that a major incident was inevitable if reforms weren’t implemented.
August 24th, 2014, the warning signs turned into a violent reality. At around 6:30 a.m., chaos breaks out in the prison as guards serve the morning meal. A group of prisoners overpower the wardens, seizing their keys and weapons. Within minutes, approximately a thousand inmates had taken control of major parts of the prison.
The riot escalated rapidly. Inmates climbed onto the roof, waving makeshift flags and lashing out at enemies. The flags included symbols of First Capital Command, a powerful syndicate operating from within and out of the prisons. Now by midday the uprising had turned deadly. Four inmates are killed in the opening hours. Two were beheaded.
Their heads used to torment and threaten two captured guards. The other two victims were thrown from the prison’s rooftop. Footage captured on local news shows the inmates forcing ropes around the necks of other prisoners, beating them while hostages would watch on in terror. Now, the guards were reportedly subjected to psychological torture with one of them made to sit with a severed head placed on his lap.
Throughout Sunday and into Monday, law enforcement stood by unable to enter the destroyed penitentiary. The prison had been set on fire and ransacked. Reports confirmed that only 10 guards had been on duty for over a thousand inmates at the time the riot began. It was quickly noted that the imbalance between custodial staff and prisoners contributed to the facility’s rapid loss of control.
Authorities eventually resumed negotiations by Monday morning in this attempt to bring the riot to an end. Maria Gomez, the secretary of security for Paradana State, traveled to Casavl to personally lead talks with the rioters. As negotiations dragged on, ambulances transported several injured inmates out of the prison.
Hostage negotiations were tense with one of the guards eventually released. While the fate of the others remained uncertain, the chaos inside the prison spills over to the outside. Families of inmates alarmed by the growing death toll, would stage protests, and block nearby highways, demanding answers and better conditions for their relatives.
The ring leaders of the riot had a list of demands. They wanted improved food, less restrictive visitation rules and an end to shackles and invasive strip searches. They also called for more dialogue with authorities regarding the prison’s conditions and governance. And while anyone might think the prison riot would be the last of its kind in the country, the violence in Casavl bore striking similarities to another major prison riot that occurred almost 5 years later.
Because in July 29th, 2019, a catastrophic clash breaks out inside the regional recovery center in Alamida, Bada State. This riot began early in the morning at around 7:00 a.m. when members of the Commando Class A launch a surprise attack on a pavilion housing members of the rival Commando Vermelo gang.
Just like Casavl, the violence was immediate and intense. The attackers set fire to a cell block causing thick smoke that led to many deaths by asphixxiation. When authorities regained control, 57 inmates laid dead and 16 of them with no heads. The others died from smoke inhilation or stab wounds inflicted with improvised weapons.
Video from the scene shows inmates on the roof brandishing knives and standing above plumes of smoke rising from the charred complex. No guns are found anywhere, just handmade blades. Two prison guards were taken hostage but were released after several hours. Authorities quickly transferred 10 of the riots instigators to highsecurity federal prisons.
Another 46 inmates would be relocated to other regional facilities. But according to state officials, the riot was a targeted assault, an attempt to settle scores between rival gangs rather than a protest against prison conditions. However, the underlying issues were the same. Overcrowding, insufficient staffing, and weak institutional control.
The Alameida facility was designed to hold 163 detainees, but was housing 343 at the time. Now, despite that, local officials would deny it met the criteria for overcrowding. In the aftermath of both riots, Brazilian authorities vowed to take action. In Casavl, much of the prison was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. On top of that, officials began reviewing security procedures and started increasing staff presence around the site.
In Altamea, a full security review was conducted and reinforcements were deployed to prevent any retalatory attacks. Brazil’s penitentiary system with over half a million inmates is now the third largest in the world. Facilities meant for a fraction of that population are consistently overrun, and gangs that once operated in Rio di Janeiro now control prison wings from north to south.
Human rights organizations have therefore repeatedly called for reforms, pointing to torture, overcrowding, and the lack of basic oversight. In many cases, the state has lost its grip, and prisoners have taken control. Although immediate measures were taken after each riot, Brazil’s prisons remain volatile. I was extremely outraged that these breaches occurred uh under our watch.
This is the very kind of breach that causes people to die. The history of violence within America’s prison system is long and brutal, but few incidents have matched the chaos and danger of the riot that erupted at the Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility on September 23rd, 2017. At the center of this would be Clifton Dwayne Bloomfield, a convicted serial killer known for his violent nature both in and outside prison walls.
Clifton Bloomfield pleaded guilty in 2008 to five murders over four years. Born in March 1969 and raised in Kingman, Arizona, Bloomfield’s criminal behavior started pretty early on. By 1979 after a BB gun incident, he was given probation and time in a children’s home. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was medicated with meidazine and often sent to mental health clinics by his parents.
However, his violent tendencies grew worse over time. Between 2005 and 8, he killed five people in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And in July 2008, he was arrested and eventually convicted, receiving five life sentences plus 45 years. Now, on the night of September 23rd, 2017, Bloomfield would once again become famous for all the wrong reasons.
Housed in cell block three, a restrictive unit for violent or disruptive inmates. He manipulates a rookie officer named Matthew Shriner into unlocking his cell door. Surveillance later shows Shriner stopping at Bloomfield cell, exchanging words and then unlocking the door. An act that triggered one of the most dangerous riots in New Mexico’s recent history.
Bloomfield instantly turned on Shriner, attacking him with a sharpened toothbrush and taking him hostage. He sees the officer’s keys. He takes the officer’s keys and begins releasing inmates one by one, effectively placing the entire block into the hands of some of the state’s most dangerous prisoners. The riot explodes just after 9:05 p.m.
and within minutes, chaos consumes the block. Inmates begin barricading doors, disabling surveillance cameras, starting fires, and brutally attacking one another. One of the worst attacks would involve inmate Samuel Sanchez, who was just sleeping in his segregation cell when two inmates would come in and slice his throat.
He was bleeding for over an hour before being rescued and taken to emergency care. Later, Sanchez revealed that he believed he was targeted because he’d been labeled a snitch. Now, the prison riots response team eventually regained control after using tear gas, flash grenades, and flooding tactics. Order was restored just over an hour after it began and inmates were rounded up and cuffed with Bloomfield among the last to be subdued.
They took him to max security at the state penitentiary in Santa Fe. In the aftermath, the role of prison guard Matthew Shriner came under heavy scrutiny. Initially charged with assisting in an escape and unlawful rescue of a convicted capital offender, Shriner claimed that he’d been tricked by Bloomfield and lacked proper training for handling high-risisk inmates.
Video evidence, however, contradicted his story, showing him accepting contraband and unlocking Bloomfield’s door without visible coercion. Either way, the charges against him were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence of intent. Shriner resigned and left the state, later suing both the New Mexico Corrections Department and GEO Group, the private company operating the prison for negligence.
Inmate Samuel Sanchez also filed his own lawsuit against the state and GEO Group, claiming that they failed to provide adequate staffing and training, which directly contributed to the riot and his near-death experience. On April 24th, 2021, the state of New Mexico agreed to pay Sanchez a $200,000 settlement to resolve allegations of negligence and misconduct in staff hiring and supervision.
The investigation into this riot exposed a deeply flawed prison system plagued by again underststaffing, inadequate training, and poor classification procedures. On the night of the riot, 20 guards were supposed to be on duty at the 625 bed facility. But you know how many were there? Nine. Cellblock 3, housing some of the prison’s most dangerous inmates, was being patrolled by a single 22-year-old rookie who had minimal training.
Former public defender Mark Donatelli also described the 2017 event as a disaster stemming from a complete collapse of security protocol. But even more troubling would be the information that surfaced regarding warnings issued before the riot. Now, just 11 days before this uprising, Warden Mark Bowen sent a memo to staff titled Threat from inmate Bloomfield.
This memo said that Bloomfield wanted to harm staff and instructed officers to ensure all interactions with him were monitored by supervisors and recorded. But despite this memo and Bloomfield’s known history of violence, like trying to strangle another inmate with a towel just a month earlier, this guy would remain housed in a medium security facility and was left unsupervised with a single rookie guard.
In response to the riot, significant changes were eventually made. The GEO group, which had run the Clayton facility for over a decade, announced it would not renew its contract, citing staffing difficulties. In November 2019, the state of New Mexico officially took over operations at the prison. Under new warden Tim Hatch, several reforms were introduced to prevent future uprisings.
Among them would be a policy mandating that any potential dangerous inmate, such as Bloomfield, must have at least two staff members and a supervisor present along with video surveillance before any cell door could be opened. Physical keys are removed from housing units. With all doors now being remotely secured from a master control room, Hatch emphasized that the facility had a detailed emergency plan in place and that staffing configuration was now being reworked to avoid any other dangerous scenario. And as of mid 2021,
over $2.7 million in fines had been charged against GEO for their failure to meet any minimum staffing requirements between 2017 and 19. State officials pledged that safety and proper staffing would remain a top priority moving forward. Clifton Bloomfield, now 50 years old, remains incarcerated under max security and is facing additional charges related to the 2017 riot, which include kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder, arson, and battery on a peace officer.
He’s also looking at attempted murder charges for his earlier attack on inmate Steven Woods. And while the legal proceedings are still pending, Bloomfield faces additional years of prison sentences if found guilty. An allout brawl. That’s how the Chetm County Sheriff describes this video of dozens of inmates rioting. March 2019, two correctional officers are injured while trying to control a sudden riot in the prison.
Get ready for this one cuz it gets a little scary. The Chief County Jail in Ashlin City, Tennessee has long been a symbol of mounting pressure in a growing community. Built over three decades ago, this place was supposed to hold a maximum of 116 inmates. Over time, however, the population at Chief expanded significantly, and with it came an increase in arrests and incarcerations.
As the number of inmates swelled far beyond the jail’s intended capacity, tensions inside the facility steadily rose. By 2019, the jail routinely operated with nearly 200 inmates, over 70 above its design limit, turning an already aging facility into a place on the verge of chaos. March 28th, 2019, that chaos erupted.
In the early hours of the morning, a full-scale riot breaks out. The violence starts when inmates break down the door of a neighboring cell using a metal bed frame. According to Sheriff Mike Breedlove, the first fight was between Danny Baker, a man awaiting trial for murder, and Michael Mosley, who was related to the victim in Baker’s case.
Until that morning, the jail had kept them in separate dorms. But overcrowding had made proper separation nearly impossible. Once that fight began, it quickly escalated beyond control. Now, each dorm was designed to hold just 16 inmates. At the time of the riot, 53 inmates were packed into two connected dorms.
Surveillance shows the scale of the brawl as dozens of inmates become involved. Sheriff Breedlove described the situation as complete chaos. Corrections officers rush in to restore order, but they’re quickly overpowered and physically assaulted. Two officers were also injured while trying to stop the fighting. At one point, inmate David Deini would climb onto a bunk, grab another inmate, and start choking him, which would later lead to a charge of aggravated assault.
The riot involved a lot of prisoners. Some of them who had personal conflicts that had been building up for some time. Breedlove explained that some of them were trying to settle old scores. The overcrowded and confined conditions would only add to the tension. And as the situation worsened, additional officers were called in to help restore order.
The fight was eventually brought under control, but the aftermath was pretty serious. In the end, five inmates and two corrections officers would be seriously injured. They gather six suspects and transfer them to the Robertson County Jail. Here we have Austin Dodd, David Deini, Denver Taylor Jr., Jeremy Brewer, Michael Mosley, and Tyler Alred.
Housing inmates in other counties became a temporary fix, but it came with a price. You see, at the time, it cost Chitham County $55 a day to keep each inmate in an outside facility, placing even more pressure on local resources. Now, the riot only shows a long-standing issue within Cham County. Sheriff Breedlove had been asking for help for years, warning that the jail was overcrowded and completely unsafe.
He had said he wanted to build another jail near Leland Homestead, but that plan was rejected by the community. However, after that brutal incident, a new plan was set in motion to build a facility across the street or at least expand the current jail. In the days after the riot, the sheriff repeated his call for immediate action.
Staff members are quitting at a high rate, and many officers no longer wanted to work in such a dangerous and stressful condition. The jail, built as a minimum security workhouse, was now filled with violent offenders and conditions that made safety difficult to maintain. The March 2019 riot had to be one of the most intense prison fights ever recorded in Tennessee.
It shows the risks of housing too many people in an old undersized facility. And it shows how overcrowding can just quickly turn an already tense environment into a dangerous one. This is the blast that ended the riot. Welcome to January 14th, 2020. It gets chaotic at Sandovville County Detention Center in Burn Alo, New Mexico when a group of nine prisoners refuse to get back to their cells.
The confrontation kicks off after noon when a corrections lieutenant was called to one of the jail’s pods after inmates ignored orders to lock down. Now, according to court documents, the lieutenant tried to diffuse the situation as more officers arrived, but the inmates became increasingly agitated and defiant. Their verbal threats and aggressive body language raised serious concerns about the safety of other officers.
Now, the tension continued to build until three of the inmates tied shirts around their faces, signaling a coordinated defiance. Fearing an imminent attack, the lieutenant tells all the officers to get out of the pod. And once the area is cleared of staff, the inmates escalated their behavior and prepared for a standoff.
First, they poured soapy water on the floor for anybody who might think of entering, blocking the door with plastic furniture and then shoving materials through the food port to jam it shut. And then we have one of them, Joey Eugene Salazar, throwing a microwave at that door, damaging it and raising the level of destruction inside the pod.
Around 45 minutes after the disturbance began, the tactical support unit was called in. With riot gear, gas masks, and less lethal weapons, they attempted to gain entry. However, the blocked door and clogged food port delayed that advance. The entire thing is caught on surveillance, offering a rare, clear look into the reality of jail disturbances.
The footage later released to the public shows the moment officers slid that flashbang through the food port, followed by the bright explosion and a sudden scattering of inmates. The air inside that pod quickly filled with smoke and chemical residue, making it really difficult to breathe. The devices exploded inside the pod, disorienting the inmates and forcing them to retreat.
Moments later, guards entered with pepper spray, regaining control pretty quickly. And as they were doing so, inmates were begging for fresh air. Water and debris would also cover the floor, and the microwave lay broken near the entrance. The confrontation ends without any serious injuries. The inmates are subdued, medically evaluated, and returned to their cells.
Despite the lack of physical harm, though, the consequences for the inmates were pretty serious. Each of the nine men are charged with multiple offenses. They face two felony charges: unlawful assault on a jail and conspiracy to commit unlawful assault on a jail along with a misdemeanor charge of assault on a peace officer.
Salazar, the king of microwaves, got an additional charge of petty misdemeanor criminal damage to property. The inmates involved would be Aaron Dodson, 36, of Albuquerque, Isaiah Geru, 20 of Placidus, Benito Lopez, 30, of Albuquerque, Clayton Mcgaras, 29, of oho Caliente, Jose Roberto Montano Ka, 20 of Albuquerque, Andrew Danielle Padilla, 29, of Albuquerque.
Joey Eugene Salazar, 22, of Rio Rancho, Isaiah Elenordio, 27, of Albuquerque, and Daniel Vasquez, 38, of Bernalo. Many of these men were already facing serious charges unrelated to that riot, and now these new ones only add to their legal problems. This wouldn’t be a one-off at Sandoval, though. The January 2020 disturbance really stands out for its coordination and intensity.
Officials later praised the rapid response by staff and the effectiveness of the support unit. According to Sandovville County spokesperson Steven Mononttoya, the incident was resolved in under 50 minutes thanks to trained staff and established procedures for emergencies. In the aftermath, it had to be a wake-up call about vulnerabilities in jail operations.
Now, we had no injuries or even escapees in this one, but it would prompt the re-evaluation of inmate management practices. Jail officials are now reviewing security protocols and they’re reinforcing officer training and crowd control and deescalation. But despite the outcome, questions remain about what actually led the inmates to refuse to return to their cells in the first place.
That detail was never fully clarified in any official report. However, the collective behavior of the inmates, covering their faces, barricading the door, and throwing objects suggested some level of premeditation. It would be the court documents emphasizing the clear coordination amongst these men which supported the charges of conspiracy.
On January 7th, 2020, inside the Draper State Prison in Utah, a security camera captures one of the most violent prison riots seen on video. The grainy footage, later presented in court, shows a row of cell doors suddenly opening. Within seconds, inmates from two rival gangs charge at each other, fists flying and bodies crashing to the floor.
Eight men would be involved in this fight. Now, the corrections officers had initiated what they described as an integration effort, hoping that rival groups could coexist. Well, that turned into chaos. Now, the video held from the public, but shown openly in court left no doubt about the brutality in this incident. One of the inmates, Joe Pales Jr.
, later addressed the court, explaining his actions during the fight. He said he had no choice but to defend himself. If I hadn’t acted as I did, I would have been in a hospital or even dead. He was later sentenced to 3 years in prison for his involvement. But despite no longer being affiliated with the gang, he and others were placed in a dangerous situation with no option but to fight for survival.
Oscar Bo, another inmate involved in the January 7 riot, found himself in a similar situation just a month later. February 13th, 2020. A sergeant mistakenly opens the wrong cell door, sparking a new altercation involving four inmates from opposing gangs. The sergeant, Brian Turbert, admitted the error in court, stating that he accidentally grabbed the wrong knob.
They would discipline and bar from a promotion for a year. Other court testimonies would shed light on the policies that actually led to these incidents. Now, before 2019, Utah’s Department of Corrections had followed a strict AB recreation schedule to keep rival gangs apart. However, officials launched a 3month initiative to integrate the gangs, hoping to foster communication and reduce tensions.
And as a result of that, on the day of the January riot, corrections officer Brooke Natal really believed the men could talk out their differences. But reality said that when the doors opened, they clashed violently. According to Natal, when violence erupts and no officers inside the section, the response is limited to pepper spray and pepper balls from the door.
Physical intervention only happens if an officer’s life is in immediate danger. Whoever came up with the integration plan probably got fired. On November 6th, 2019, 2 months before the major brawl, a former inmate named Jagger Gleeve was stabbed in the head during another integration attempt. In his lawsuit, Glee claimed that guards released rival gang members into his unit, resulting in his injury.
The extent of violence inside Utah’s prisons was revealed through hundreds of internal reports. KSL investigators reviewed 373 reports filed after gang related incidents over 4 years. Now, these documents described gruesome scenes, homemade weapons, deep gashes, broken jaws, puncture wounds, and inmates found drenched in blood.
Sergeant James Demco, the department security threat group coordinator, described managing gang violence as a daily and difficult task. He emphasized that the department continuously re-evaluates its policies. One such policy allows any inmate to report safety concerns to staff. But despite gang- related taboos around snitching, Demco says inmates frequently used this system to seek protection.
It was also as a result of this that the layout of Utah’s new prison was designed with direct supervision in mind. Officers are now present in the housing sections with inmates at all times. And the change in supervision style was intended to reduce violence by increasing visibility and response times.
However, while the department says it’s taken steps to improve supervision and response, the reality remains that prison gang culture is dangerous and difficult to control. An inmate told authorities he planned to kill a prison guard who he says disrespected him. August 3rd, 2017, a riot erupted inside the penitentiary of New Mexico near Santa Fe when two high-risisk inmates launch a violent and wellplanned attack against corrections officers.
Now, this happened inside Level 6 CPOD, a housing unit reserved for some pretty dangerous prisoners under the predatory management program. These guys are known for attacks on officers and the violence that unfolded was captured on surveillance cameras inside the prison. The footage shows officers patting down several inmates, including Joe Anel Martinez and Lorenzo Danny Martinez.
Now, the officers failed to detect a hidden homemade knife or shank made from metal fencing. Moments later, inmate Lorenzo Martinez distracts an officer by engaging in a conversation. And as the officer turns, Joe charges from behind, wrapping his arm around the officer’s neck and stabbing him repeatedly in the head and back with the sharpened weapon.
A second officer quickly intervenes, but Lorenzo turns on him, slashing his face with another homemade knife. The sudden, brutal attack leaves both officers covered in blood. Officer Rico with the head stab lost consciousness and later required stitches to close three deep cuts.
Officer Yara also sustains facial injuries. A third officer responds by firing multiple bean bag rounds from a shotgun, eventually bringing the situation under control as inmates would drop to the ground and the block would be secured. This footage shows one of the most disturbing prison brawls caught on camera. It would show officer Rico leaving a trail of blood as he stumbled to safety.
The attackers were quickly put in segregation. Joe Martinez was in for violent charges, including armed robbery and assault. Lorenzo Martinez was serving time for fleeing police and assaulting officers. Both had violent pasts and were seen as high risk, even amongst the other dangerous inmates in Level 6.
Further investigation by New Mexico State Police would show the attack was premeditated. A third inmate, Carlos Mendes, was also involved. Now, during interviews, Lorenzo Martinez admitted that he planned the attack as a message to correction staff, saying he refused to be disrespected. Joe Martinez confirms he made a weapon from steel fencing.
The charging documents show Mendes distracted the other officer, while Joe and Lorenzo carried out that stabbing. All three inmates are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of a deadly weapon, and aggravated battery. The intent was clear. They meant to kill. Violence at the Penitentiary of New Mexico has a troubling history.
This place has some dangerous people in it, including those of the predatory management program. Like we stated before, following the attack, the prison goes on immediate lockdown. The suspects are transferred to secure units. Corrections officials, including cabinet secretary David Jablonsky, announced that the department would pursue the harshest administrative and criminal actions available.
He stated the safety of staff was his top priority and that such acts of violence would not be tolerated. In addition to this, security protocols were being reviewed and changes began to take shape. Officers go through training on proper pat down procedures and new rules are enforced for inmate movement. They put more surveillance cameras around and officers are instructed to maintain a greater distance and more control during interactions with high-risisk inmates.
Now, the prison has seen an increase in staff presence in high-risisk areas, improving screening techniques for weapons, and even focusing on identifying threats before they turn into full-scale attacks. Also, the use of less than lethal weapons like beanag shotguns would become a standard during emergencies.
Extra supervision would be added for recreation and inmate transfers. And if a prisoner is known to be aggressive, well, now it’s handled by multiple officers at all times.
