Deadliest U.S. Prison Riot in 25 Years Shines Light on Human Rights Abuses

At least seven prisoners died and 17 were seriously injured after bloody violence broke out Sunday night at a maximum security prison in South Carolina. It was the deadliest prison riot in the United States in 25 years. A coroner said all of the prisoners were stabbed, slashed or beaten. Six of the seven were African-American. No guards were hurt. In total, at least 20 prisoners have been killed by fellow prisoners in South Carolina since the start of 2017. One investigation found the number killed across the state’s prisons had quadrupled from 2015 to 2017. The state’s prison agency has also been hit with several lawsuits that outline a “long history of violence” and allege sometimes the violence is “encouraged” by guards. We speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Heather Ann Thompson, who wrote “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy.”