US: Minnesota jail observes lockdown as prisoners go on protest

A prison in the US state of Minnesota went into lockdown Sunday because many prisoners refused to go back to their cells. Around 100 prisoners staged a protest, but officials said they resolved the situation peacefully. The prisoners were unhappy because there weren’t enough staff to watch over them during the Labor Day weekend, according to the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC). A spokesperson for the DOC said that all prisoners had now gone back to their cells. Extra police, firefighters, and emergency teams were at the prison in Baywater, which is about 25 miles (40km) east of Minneapolis, the largest city in the state. People who support the prisoners said the protest was about bad conditions in the prison, like the extreme heat, not being able to shower often, and having unclean drinking water. The US National Weather Service says it’s very hot in the area until Tuesday, with temperatures as high as 100F (37.7C). People have been talking a lot about how hot it’s been in US prisons and saying that they need to change. The DOC says the prison is missing 50 officers, and because it’s a holiday weekend, there have been times when prisoners have had to stay in their cells longer, without air conditioning. The DOC said the prisoners were also upset because they couldn’t use phones, have recreational time, or take showers as much as they wanted. But they said the prisoners did have access to clean water. A spokesperson said that nobody was hurt and that everything was calm throughout the day. The head of the DOC, Paul Schnell, said prisoners usually get a few hours of recreational time on the weekend, but because of staff shortages due to the holiday, they only got one hour. The union that represents the prison officers, AFSCME Council 5, also said that the problem was not having enough staff on Sunday. A spokesperson said the problem is long-term and shows that the Department of Corrections in Minnesota has a chronic problem with not having enough staff. According to department records, there are about 1,200 prisoners at the prison.