Calm has largely been restored at a federal correctional facility in Texas where authorities used tear gas to subdue inmates who set fires and refused to obey orders, officials said.
Operations at the prison Saturday were still far from normal.
Prison officials were in talks with inmates to resolve the disturbance, said Issa Arnita, spokesman for Management & Training Corp., a private company that runs the Willacy County Correctional Center.
A statement Saturday from the Federal Bureau of Prisons said the facility was "uninhabitable" due to damage from the disturbance. Management & Training Corp. has requested the bureau's help in moving inmates to another facility.
The Willacy County center houses about 2,900 inmates, according to a statement Saturday from Management & Training Corp.
The prison is located in Raymondville, about 40 miles northeast of the border town of McAllen. It houses "deportable individuals" who have been convicted of federal crimes and are eligible to be deported once their prison terms are up, Bureau of Prisons spokesman Ed Ross told the Los Angeles Times on Friday.
Official details about the disturbance are scant.
The incident, described by officials Saturday as a "demonstration," began Friday morning when inmates refused to report for work duty or appear for breakfast, Arnita said. Some inmates were protesting medical services at the facility, and some wanted to be transferred, he said.
"Right now we’re dealing with the disturbance, and then we’ll look into the complaints,” Arnita said.
The prison was locked down at 12:15 p.m., and soon after, inmates broke out of their Kevlar tent housing units and went into the recreation yard. The Willacy County Sheriff's Department was called to surround the facility.
Correctional officers deployed tear gas, and two officers and three inmates sustained minor injuries, Arnita said Friday. He had no further details on the injuries.
Prison officials were still determining how many inmates were involved, according to a statement.
The tension seemed to ease by 5 p.m. Friday, said Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence.
The prison has requested the Bureau of Prisons' help in moving out all bureau inmates, which could be as many as 2,800 of the 2,900 prisoners.
In a June report from the American Civil Liberties Union, Willacy was described as "overcrowded" and "unclean." Inmates also said basic medical concerns were "ignored" or "inadequately addressed by staff."
———
©2015 the Los Angeles Times
Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
