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Stillwater Prison incident ends peacefully, lockdown remains

The Department of Corrections said about 100 incarcerated men refused to return to their cells over several issues, including ones stemming from staffing shortages.

STILLWATER, Minn. — The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater remains under lockdown after about 100 incarcerated men refused to return to their cells in protest of the prison's conditions. 

The incident started just after 8 a.m. and by 3 p.m. Sunday had been resolved peacefully with no injuries. The prison will remain under lockdown status through Labor Day, according to Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner Paul Schnell.

Stillwater Prison officials told KARE 11 that a group of inmates from one block were let into the common area to do things such as make phone calls and shower, and then refused to return to their cells. 

In a press release, the DOC said all staff were removed from common areas during the incident. Two correctional officers were safe in the unit's secure control area, officials said. The rest of the prisoners, around 1,100 people, were still in their cells. 

DOC Spokesman Andy Skoogman said the prison activated the Crisis Negotiation team and the DOC's Special Operations Response team, out of an abundance of caution. 

"We want to be clear that never was there any deployment of any type of gas. Never was there the need for any type of entry by or any of our tactical teams," Schnell said. "In fact, throughout the incident, the majority of the time the incarcerated men who did not return to their cells were at tables that are in the commons area playing cards, talking with one another."

Advocates and family members with loved ones in the prison said they were protesting a number of issues, stemming from a lack of air conditioning during the heat wave and a limited amount of time outside their cells due to staffing shortages. 

"The prison system is supposed to care for our loved ones when they're there," said Marvina Haynes of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, whose brother is incarcerated at Stillwater prison. 

Schnell said they were on a modified schedule over the holiday weekend because of staffing issues. 

"As it relates to the issue of staffing and free time, we do understand that. This is an issue both in Minnesota and in every state across the nation right now. Workforce challenges are a major consideration in public safety, generally, and certainly in corrections that is also the case. We are actively involved in trying to really push recruitment," Schnell said. 

According to Schnell, the facility is short about 50 corrections officers. DOC in total is down about 300 which is a 14% vacancy rate. 

AFSCME Council 5, the labor union that represents correctional officers and staff working at the prison, released a statement on Sunday. Interim Executive Director Bart Andersen urged for the "critical need to raise wages" for correctional officers and staff. 

Andersen said, “Today’s incident at MCF- Stillwater is endemic and highlights the truth behind the operations of the MN Department of Corrections with chronic understaffing leading to upset offenders due to the need to restrict programming and/or recreation time when there are not enough security staff to protect the facility. Our union believes to our core that our correctional facilities cannot have transformational offender programming without sufficient facility security, we can and must have both." 

Inmates have been on intermittent lockdowns since Friday because of staffing issues, they told the AP, meaning they are kept in their cells, which do not have air conditioning.

“This morning, they decided that they weren't going to lock into their cells,” said David Boehnke of Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, adding there have been lockdowns on and off for the past two months.

“They didn’t have time to organize and plan,” Haynes said. “It was just ... we’re not going back to that hot cell with no drinking water and not being able to shower.”

Boehnke said, "People were like very clear... we're not doing anything reckless. We're just sitting playing dominoes and cards. It's just been too long without the ability to drink water and shower."  

Intense heat waves across the country have led to amplified concern for prison populations, especially those in poorly ventilated facilities. 

Kevin Reese, founder of a criminal justice organization, Until We Are All Free, described Stillwater as a “pizza oven” in the summers. He was incarcerated there during the summers from 2006 through 2009.

“It is a 100-year-old building with no air conditioning, no central air,” Reese said. “The walls actually sweat.”

Schnell told reporters they try to get as much air flow as possible throughout the facility, which is 120 years old, but there are only a few parts of the prison with air conditioning. 

"We have been looking at... doing studies to look at what it would take to climate control this facility in its entirety and we'll be bringing that proposal to the legislature for a bonding request," Schnell said. 

Advocates also mentioned claims of unclean drinking water which Schnell called false, saying the water has been tested and there have never been any issues found. 

The inmates who prompted the lockdown want more time out of their cells and are in communication with faculty leadership, officials said. 

Two men continued to refuse to return to their cells and were taken to restrictive housing where they'll go through a disciplinary process. 

KARE 11 will update this story as more information is made available. 

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