(UPDATED) Unrest at Minnesota Prison Resolved Peacefully
(UPDATED) STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota prison has “resolved without incident” a situation involving about 100 inmates in one housing unit who would not return to their cells. One former inmate on Sunday called the move by prisoners an act of self-preservation. The Department of Corrections said that the situation was “calm, peaceful and stable throughout the day" and that inmates had “indicated dissatisfaction” because the understaffed facility had to limit inmates' time out of their cells. However, advocates who gathered outside of the Stillwater prison said inmates are fed up with unfair and unsafe conditions amid excessive heat, including limited access to showers, that have been ongoing for months.
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STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota prison has been placed on emergency lockdown and members of a crisis negotiation team has been activated after about 100 inmates in one housing unit would not return to their cells, the state Department of Corrections said Sunday.
The Special Operations Response Team was also deployed “out of an abundance of caution," a spokesperson said in a statement, adding the situation is “currently stable" and the reason inmates "are refusing to return to their cells remains unclear.”
Two officers at the Stillwater correctional facility were reported to be safe in a secure control area and in contact with facility staff. No injuries had been reported.
In total, about 1,200 inmates are at the facility just southeast of Stillwater, according to department records.