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Kinross Correctional Facility Remains On Lockdown After Prison Destruction

"I hope everybody learns something," Kincheloe resident Doug Murdock said. "I mean, gosh, I heard there was a fire."

An Upper Peninsula community is reacting to prison protests that turned destructive.

Monday, the Kinross Correctional Facility remains on lock down.

The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) says inmates’ peaceful marching on Saturday turned into breaking windows and lighting a fire.

Extra security teams responded to the Kinross Correctional Facility in Kincheloe to help restore order and remove prisoners.

9 & 10’s Blayke Roznowski and photojournalist Noah Jurik went to Kincheloe to look into the destruction.

Around 150 inmates have been removed from the Kinross Correctional Facility after peaceful protests over the weekend turned destructive.

The MDOC says that the situation is under control.

"These kind of demonstrations can be dangerous and, so when you have large numbers of prisoners all gathering together as one, that’s not something we can allow to happen," MDOC spokesperson Chris Gautz said. 

The MDOC says prisoners were protesting on the 45th anniversary of the deadly Attica Prison riots in New York.

Once prisoners cooperated by coming inside, some were removed.

That’s when they started making a mess, attempting to light a fire and breaking windows.

"There’s eight housing units. Four there were no issues," Gautz said. "There were four where there were some issues and one housing unit that we’re still cleaning up their mess. That’s where they broke some sinks." 

The Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), a labor union, says they’re concerned about what happened over the weekend.

"This was not an average, peaceful demonstration that anyone can brush off," Michigan Corrections Organization communications director Anita Lloyd said. "Corrections officers are telling us that inmates lit fire to a housing unit and barricaded themselves in housing units. Two of those were made unlivable." 

Community members say it’s disappointing to see how the situation escalated.

"You’re not going to change it from in there, not like that anyway," Murdock said, "so you might as well buck up and do your time." 

The MDOC and the MCO are continuing to investigate the situation.

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