May 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump Sunday announced plans to reopen Alcatraz, the notorious prison in San Francisco that housed some of the nation’s most infamous and dangerous criminals in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.
“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social.
Trump said he has directed the federal Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to reopen a larger and rebuilt facility, equipping it to house the United States’ most violent offenders.
“The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order and JUSTICE,’ he continued in his social media post.
The prison was closed in 1963 not long after the June, 1962 high profile escape of Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin who slipped away on a raft, leaving fake heads they created in a crafts class in their cell beds to fool prison guards.
The men were never discovered, however, experts have said they likely drowned in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay, though their bodies have never been found.
“Despite the odds, from 1934 until the prison was closed in 1963, 36 men tried 14 separate escapes,” the FBI said in a webpage about the history of the prison and the daring escape. “Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.”
Despite the odds, from 1934 until the prison was closed in 1963, 36 men tried 14 separate escapes. Nearly all were caught or didn’t survive the attempt.
Since then, the former prison, isolated on a rocky island in San Francisco Bay, has been operated as a tourist site.
Trump’s announcement comes as the administration has been sending accused criminals to prisons in Guatemala and El Salvador, which has been fraught with logistical and diplomatic challenges.
The president has said he aims to send foreign nationals, as well as criminal U.S. citizens, to the newly revamped Alcatraz.
He did not release a timeline for construction or reopening.
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