Donald Trump has expressed his desire to re-open a well-known US prison, which has been home to numerous notorious criminals.
On May 4, Trump shared on his social media platform, Truth Social, his plans to ‘rebuild and open’ Alcatraz.
He stated: “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! 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 explained further that he intends to send only the most serious offenders to Alcatraz, saying: “When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
“No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets.”
While a timeline for this initiative wasn’t specified, Trump mentioned he is ‘directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders’ as a measure to ‘no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally’.
Alcatraz, an island prison off the coast of San Francisco, was renowned for holding some of the most infamous criminals until it was shut down in 1963.
Here, we look at some of its most notable inmates.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone, famously known as Scarface, was a notorious gangster from New York with powerful political ties, allowing him to evade law enforcement for a significant period.
This changed after his gang murdered seven members of a rival group in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, although Capone was in Florida during the killings.
It was not this association that led to his imprisonment, but rather a tax evasion case developed by the US Treasury Department. He initially pled guilty to tax evasion and prohibition charges on June 16, 1931, but after discovering there was no deal for a two-and-a-half-year sentence, he changed his plea to not guilty.
Capone was incarcerated at Alcatraz in 1934 and served his sentence there and in Atlanta.
He died at 48 in Palm Island, Florida, from a stroke and pneumonia.
Robert Stroud was imprisoned for the murder of a bartender over an unpaid debt related to a prostitute he was managing.
While incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, Stroud exhibited violent behavior, eventually stabbing a guard, which resulted in solitary confinement.
During his time in confinement, he developed an interest in breeding canaries after discovering an injured bird in the prison’s recreation yard, even authoring several books on the topic.
However, his activities took a turn when it was discovered that he used ornithological equipment to produce alcohol, leading to his transfer to Alcatraz in 1942, where he remained for 17 years until his death in 1963.
George Kelly Barnes, also known as ‘Machine Gun Kelly’, was a notorious American gangster. Originally from a privileged family in Tennessee, Kelly turned to bootlegging during a spell of unemployment following his separation from his first wife, with whom he had two children.
He later fell for criminal Kathryn Thorne, and together they executed several bank heists in Texas and Mississippi.
After a failed attempt to kidnap businessman Charles Urschel, both Barnes and Thorne were apprehended. Barnes threatened to escape prison, a claim taken seriously by authorities, leading to his transfer to Alcatraz in 1934.
Barnes passed away in 1954.
Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers are famed for their daring escape. After being incarcerated for various offenses, they managed to flee Alcatraz by stealing tools to dig tunnels, constructing a makeshift raft, and creating realistic paper dummies to serve as decoys in their beds to facilitate their unnoticed escape.
Their escape occurred on June 11, 1962, but it is assumed they drowned as their bodies were never recovered and they were never heard from again.
Ellsworth Raymond ‘Bumpy’ Johnson was the right-hand man of Madame Stephanie St. Clair in the 1930s. Amidst a battle with mob boss Dutch Schultz over Harlem’s illegal enterprises, 40 individuals were killed, with others kidnapped.
Following St. Clair’s arrest, Johnson forged an alliance with the Mafia, establishing his own crime syndicate. However, his reign was short-lived and in 1952, Johnson’s criminal activities were highlighted in Jet magazine’s celebrity section, resulting in a 15-year sentence for drug conspiracy.
Most of this time was spent in Alcatraz before his parole in 1963.
Originally a naval defense fort, Alcatraz was repurposed by the Department of Justice to detain federal prisoners.
The Battle of Alcatraz, known to many, was an actual conflict from May 2 to 4, 1946, during which two Federal Bureau of Prisons officers and three inmates died in a large-scale escape attempt.
The prison was ultimately closed nearly two decades later due to high operational costs, as noted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.