Shut Down Attica

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul

Attica State Prison remains a bloody stain on the state of New York. The unfathomable and deadly attack which left 43 people dead in September of 1971 should never have happened. These lives were taken by NYS Troopers under the orders of NYS Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Today, your administration has the opportunity to close an ugly chapter of our state’s history. We urge you to exercise your executive privilege and permanently close Attica state prison. The lies presented by the state of New York to cover up the truth of the deadly attack were unconscionable. Forty-three families of men incarcerated at the prison as well as prison guards deserve closure.

The unimaginable conditions that led to the takeover of Attica are now well documented. As one Attica survivor states, “incarcerated men in Attica were allowed to shower only once a week. The men were routinely beat and tortured. They received an extremely small amount of powdered toothpaste once a month. A small bar of soap once a month. A roll of toilet tissue once a month. Extremely inadequate medical attention.”

The men in Attica requested government intervention for many months before September 1971. Those requests were ignored and the men in Attica state prison took the undesirable yet necessary step of taking over the prison. Their demands were not for freedom, but for their human rights to be acknowledged. They simply asked for the basic hygiene and survival necessities that human beings need to live. Some of the demands included; access to quality healthcare, to be able to shower more than once a week, no more physical and verbal abuse from prison guards, an end to labor exploitation, better quality food, improved sanitary conditions and many more.

No one was ever held accountable for the killings, or the torture that followed the retaking of the prison. For these reasons alone, Attica should have been closed. Yet, half a century later, and in spite of decades of documented atrocities, Attica remains open. In fact, a 2015 Department of Justice Investigation resulted in the conviction of three prison guards for the brutal beating of a man inside Attica. This documented history of continued brutality, racism, unsanitary conditions, and ongoing harassment and torture, this institution continues at Attica today.

Culture is rooted in how a particular institution understands, learns from, and responds to its history. Attica's history—the brutality, the riots, the symbolic weight of dozens dead still shapes how it operates today. Sometimes, the only way to change an entrenched culture of racism, brutality, and violence is to eliminate its symbols and its source. The legacy of Attica prison remains an open wound on our state then and now. If New York is to move forward in its pursuit of a more just, safe and progressive state, Attica can not exist in that new reality. Attica must be immediately and permanently shut down!