On this page you can find an annotated list of most of the media coverage of the rebellion at Kinross Correctional Facility that occurred on September 9-10, 2016. We’ve also included other coverage of the lead-up to and the aftermath of the rebellion. For example, we included some coverage of Michigan ending its contract with private food contractor Trinity.

The list below is in reverse chronological order.

 

On 1st Anniversary of Largest U.S. Prison Strike, New Interviews Shed Light on Protest & Retaliation.
Democracy Now! (9/11/17) Video
This article and video announce the launch of five interviews with witnesses to the September 2016 Kinross rebellion. The interviews were released on the one year anniversary of the rebellion and help to shed light on the prisoner’s perspective on the events of that day. The interviews were released as a collaboration between MAPS and Rustbelt Abolition Radio (RAR).

America must listen to its prisoners before we make a major mistake.
By Heather Ann Thompson. Washington Post (9/8/17)
This opinion piece highlights the importance of listening to what prisoners are saying about their actions. Thompson references the 2016 rebellion in Michigan.

Private prison worker fired for refusing to serve rotten potatoes to inmates.
By Tom Perkins. Detroit Metro Times (8/28/17)
This article describes how an employee of Trinity, the private company that serves the food in Michigan prisons, was fired for refusing to serve rotten food to prisoners.

Prison food worker: ‘I was fired for refusing to serve rotten potatoes.’
By Paul Egan. Detroit Free Press (8/25/17)
This article describes how an employee of Trinity, the private company that serves the food in Michigan prisons, was fired for refusing to serve rotten food to prisoners.

Florida locks down all 97,000 prisoners, blocking them from Aug. 19 Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March.
By Prison Abolition Prisoner Support (PAPS) and The Ordinary People Society (TOPS). San Francisco Bayview (8/19/17)
This article covers the pre-emptive repression in Florida before the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March. It  quotes a MAPS organizer talking about the repression at Kinross.

People of Interest.
CKUW 95.9 FM (6/20/17)
Twenty-minute interview beginning at 34:40 (June 20, 2017) with MAPS spokesperson, Alejo Stark, about MAPS’ organizing in solidarity with prisoners facing retaliation for the Kinross uprising.

Abolitionists Rally Outside Home of Prison Director in East Lansing.
By MAPS. It’s Going Down (6/13/17)
This article, written by MAPS, describes a protest the group organized outside of the private home of the director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, Heidi Washington. They organized the protest to pressure the MDOC to release the remaining Kinross prisoners being held in solitary confinement back into general population. During the protest they broadcast recorded interviews with two prisoners. The above article also includes a video of the demonstration.

Group protests solitary confinement in Michigan’s prisons.
ABC 10 News (6/12/17)
This article describes the MAPS demonstration outside the private home of the director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, Heidi Washington. The protest was organized to pressure the MDOC to release the remaining Kinross prisoners out of solitary and back into general population.

Police Respond to “Solitary is Torture” Demonstration at Home of Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington.
eNews Park Forest (6/12/17)
This article describes the “solitary is torture” demonstration that MAPS organized outside the East Lansing home of Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) Director Heidi Washington amid police presence and curious neighbors.

Michigan Prison Admits Losing Control Amid Inmate Rebellion.
U.S. News and World Report (5/12/17)
This article describes the internal Michigan Department of Corrections documents that described the Kinross rebellion as a riot as well as confirmed that the guards lost control of the facility.

State report shows ‘riot’ shook control of U.P. prison.
By Michael Gerstein. The Detroit News(5/12/17)
This article draws from internal state documents that described the Kinross rebellion as a riot. These documents contradict the public statements of the Michigan Department of Corrections who have continually insisted that the disturbance was not a riot.

The Battle Continues: An Update on Michigan Prison Strike Repression.
By MAPS. It’s Going Down (5/8/17)
This article written by MAPS describes the current state of the Kinross repression 8 months after the uprising. It partially celebrates the release of 100 of the alleged participants from solitary confinement at Baraga Max C.F., while urging outside supporters to keep up the pressure to release the remaining 80 participants in solitary back to general population. The article also contains a poem and a letter of gratitude thanking outside supporters for their solidarity.

Harold Gonzales, Kinross Prisoner, to Be Released from Solitary.
It’s Going Down (4/30/17)
This article, written by MAPS, celebrates the release of H.H. Gonzales from solitary confinement. Gonzales was being kept in solitary confinement because of his alleged participation in the September 2016 Kinross rebellion.

End the retaliation against HH Gonzales, currently in solitary confinement.
It’s Going Down(4/17/17)
This article, written by MAPS, describes the plan for a call-in campaign to pressure the Baraga Max prison administration to return H.H. Gonzales to general population. He was being held in solitary confinement due to his alleged participation in the September 2016 Kinross rebellion.

The riots will continue.
Rustbelt Abolition Radio, ep. 3 (3/13/17)
This radio episode includes interviews with a woman named Adine, whose son was recently transferred to Baraga Maximum Correctional Facility following an “inciting a riot” charge in the aftermath of the Kinross rebellion. The show also includes interviews with Heather Ann Thompson, author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, and Dr. Austin McCoy, an organizer and historian who explores the relationship between urban political economy and social movements.

Psychological warfare in prison: Segregation is the soul breaker.
By Ahjamu Baruti. San Francisco Bay View. (2/28/17)
Ahjamu Baruti, the author of this article, was issued an “incite to strike/riot” ticket following the rebellion at Kinross Correctional. He was strip searched, cuffed, locked in leg irons and shipped to Oaks Correctional in Manistee Michigan and thrown in a cell in Administrative Segregation, where he stays 23 hours a day. This article describes some of his experience.

Kinross Prisoners Facing Up to Two Years in the Hole for Rebellion.
By MAPS, It’s Going Down. (2/28/17)
This article describes the context for the Kinross rebellion and goes into great detail about the repression that follows. It includes a list of Michigan prisoners who have expressed interest in receiving letters of support.

No walls, no cages: from migrant justice to prison abolition.
Rustbelt Abolition Radio, ep. 2 (2/12/17)
This radio show features a letter from Harold Gonzales, then incarcerated inside Michigan’s Kinross prison.

2017 Has Already Seen Several Prison Rebellions.
By Brian Sonenstein, Shadowproof. (2/8/17)
This article cites Harold Gonzales’ letter about repression after the Kinross uprising.

Michigan prisoners speak out against ‘epic’ abuse and retaliation.
By Harold Gonzales, San Francisco Bay View. (2/3/17)
Harold “HH” Gonzales, a participation in the demonstration at Kinross, wrote above article about the repression that followed the rebellion.

What Happened at Vaughn Prison?
By Heather Ann Thompson, Jacobin Magazine. (2/2/17)
This article draws parallels between the Vaughn uprising the Kinross rebellion. Thompson cites letters collected by MAPS that describe the reasons for the September 2016 demonstration.

Prison food contractor hit with $2M in penalties.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (1/20/17)
This article describes how the private food service company that supplies the MDOC, Trinity Services Group, was hit with penalties totaling just over $2 million for inadequate staffing levels and other problems since the company started providing meals in September 2015. Complaints about food were on the list of demands written up during the September 2016 Kinross rebellion.

Prison strike organizers to protest food giant Aramark.
By Kamala Kalkar, PBS Newshour. (1/8/17)
This article details plans for prisoners and their support organizations to target the private company Aramark. Aramark used to supply the food services to Michigan prisoners before being replaced by Trinity Services Group. Complains about food were included on the list of demands that were issued during the Kinross rebellion in September 2016.

Prison protest cost taxpayers $900K, ‘scariest’ day ever for corrections officer.
By John Agar, Grand Rapids Press. (1/5/17)
This article describes the costs incurred by the Michigan Department of Corrections to contain the September 2016 protest at Kinross. The cost was $900,000, an amount that mostly paid for wages for the emergency response team.

Kinross prison disturbance cost Michigan nearly $900,000.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (1/4/17)
This article describes the costs incurred by the Michigan Department of Corrections to contain the September 2016 protest at Kinross. The cost was $900,000, an amount that mostly paid for wages for the emergency response team.

What do we mean by abolition?
Rustbelt Abolition Radio, ep. 1 (1/2/17)
This episode of the Rustbelt Abolition Radio show covers the September 2016 Kinross rebellion.

Protesting inmates refuse meals at western U.P. prison.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (12/30/16)
This article describes a protest at which 80 prisoners at Baraga Max C.F. refused food. Many of those protesting had been transferred to Baraga after being accused of participation in the Kinross rebellion.

Scandal at Kinross Prison.
By Greg Peterson, U.P. Breaking News. (12/12/16)
“Federal lawsuit alleges spoiled and undercooked and raw food is being served to Michigan prison inmates and after the scandal plagued Aramark was booted out but now its people are allegedly running the new company and just as poorly – Named in suit are Kinross Warden, Deputy Warden now Warden at Baraga Max, two food companies, and state prison officials.”

Combating Repression Following the Kinross Prison Uprising: New Perspectives, New Efforts.
It’s Going Down. (12/1/16)
This article describes the repression that was unfolding in the wake of the Kinross rebellion. It includes extensive quotes from those prisoners targeted by the MDOC. It also includes mailing addresses for outside supporters to send letters to.

Rattling the Cages: This fall’s prison strikes are a model of how to both survive and challenge an authoritarian, racist order.
By Dan Berger, Jacobin Magazine. (11/18/16)
This article, written by historian Dan Berger, contextualizes the 2016 national prison strike and elaborates on the strategies developed and employed by the prisoner participants.

State Sen. Wayne Schmidt — Kinross incident highlights need for corrections reforms.
By Wayne Schmidt, Petoskey News-Review. (11/2/16)
This editorial, written by Michigan state senator Wayne Schmidt, emphasizes the need for prison reform to prevent future rebellions – like the on at Kinross – from occurring.

Why are fewer Michigan prisoners classified as high-security?
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (10/31/16)
“The classification a prisoner receives is calculated using a score sheet and has more to do with how compliant a prisoner is and how well the prisoner is expected to adjust to life behind bars than to what kind of criminal record the prisoner has.”

Why US inmates launched a nationwide strike.
By Max Blau and Emanuella Grinberg, CNN. (10/31/16)
This article describes the Kinross rebellion and its demands. It quotes Anthony Bates, a prisoner at Kinross and a witness to the protest.

Prisoners say harsh backlash followed Kinross protest.
By Aidan Wayne, Detroit Metro Times. (10/28/16)
This article details the repression following the Kinross rebellion. It features quotes from MAPS as well as some of the efforts done to support the prisoners targeted by the state.

America’s Private Prisons Are Nothing Less Than a System of Modern Slavery.
By Donovan Farley, Paste Magazine. (10/27/16)
This article describes the reasons behind the 2016 national prisoner strike and mentions the Emergency Response Team storming Kinross prison to quash the rebellion.

Compliant Prisoners Teargassed without Provocation; Michigan Department of Corrections Withheld Information.
By eNews Park Forest. (10/26/16)
This article covers the Kinross rebellion and quotes from Gilbert Morales, one of the prisoner-witnesses to the protest.

Strikes on Prison Labor, Conditions Still Strong into 3rd Month.
By TeleSUR English. (10/25/16)
This article gives an overview of the 2016 prison strike, quotes from Heather Ann Thompson, and describes the Emergency Response Team storming Kinross C.F.

U.S. Prisoner Protest: Why Listening to the Voices of the Incarcerated Matters.
By Heather Ann Thompson, on Newsweek. (10/25/16)
In this article, historian Heather Ann Thompson describes the 2016 national prison strike and speaks to the importance of listening to prisoners’ perspective on incarceration. She references Michigan and quotes an internal MDOC email about the prisoner-protestors.

Prisons Are Erupting and Why It Matters.
By Heather Ann Thompson, The Daily Beast. (10/21/16)
This article gives an in-depth account of the Kinross rebellion. It describes the brutality of the Emergency Response Team and it quotes extensively from prisoner accounts.

Historian: From Attica to Kinross, we have a right to know what happens in our prisons.
By Stateside Staff, Michigan Radio. (10/21/16)
This interview with historian Heather Ann Thompson talks about the Kinross rebellion and makes direct comparisons with the 1971 Attica rebellion.

“It Is In Losing We Gain”: Reflections on the September 10th Kinross Prison Uprising.
It’s Going Down. (10/20/16)
This article provides some prisoner reflections on the Kinross rebellion. It also provides a short media bibliography about the rebellion and its aftermath.

2 Inmates Have Died in ‘Preventable Deaths’ at Striking Prisons.
By Monique Judge, The Root. (10/18/16)
This article describes two preventable deaths at prisons that participated in the 2016 national prisoner strike. Robert Deangelo Carter died on October 9 at the Holman Correctional Facility and Charles Lee Johnson died on October 10 at Kinross Correctional Facility.

Two Inmates Have Died Amid National Prison Strike.
By Cora Lewis, Buzzfeed. (10/18/16)
This article describes two preventable deaths at prisons that participated in the 2016 national prisoner strike – one at Kinross Correctional Facility in Michigan and one at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama.

Michigan prisoners rise up! Overcrowded and underfunded state prisons spawn resistance.
By Rand W. Gould, San Francisco Bayview. (10/15/16)
This article, written by Michigan prisoner Rand Gould, describes the conditions at Kinross C.F. and other U.P. prisons. Gould also describes how prisoners at nearby Chippewa C.F. made the meals for the Kinross prisoners when they were on strike.

Prisoner Strike Results In Retaliation, Death, In Michigan Prison.
By Rising up with Sonali. (10/14/16)
This interview with one of the MAPS organizers discusses the extreme repression that was handed out to prisoners in the wake of the  September 2016 Kinross rebellion. In particular, the interview highlights the three prisoner deaths, all under mysterious circumstances, that occurred in the month after Kinross.

Three Michigan Prisoners Die Within One Month Amid Crackdown on Prison Strike.
By Democracy Now! (10/14/16)
This article describes the three deaths at Michigan prisoners that occurred under sketchy circumstances in the wake of the Kinross rebellion.

Officials debated message on Kinross prison disturbance.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (10/14/16)
This article describes the internal debate within the MDOC about what words to use to describe the Kinross rebellion. The MDOC account contradicts the characterization of the incident by both the guard’s union and the prisoners at Kinross.

Fiance of Michigan Prisoner Describes Brutal Response to Prison Strike.
By Brian Sonenstein, Shadowproof. (10/13/16)
This article describes the repression faced by Kinross prisoners after the national prisoner strike. It features an interview with Evelyn Williams, fiance of Kinross prisoner Anthony Bates.

Officials probe inmate death at corrections facility.
By Detroit News staff. (10/13/16)
This article describes the death of prisoner Charles Lee Johnson at Kinross C.F. in mid-October

Justice Department announces investigation into Alabama prisons as US prison strike continues.
By Gary Joad, World Socialist Web Site. (10/13/16)
This article covers the federal investigation of the Alabama Department of Corrections. It also includes a paragraph about the Kinross rebellion.

Michigan Prison Labor Strikers Release Their Demands.
By Brendan O’Connor, Jezebel. (10/10/16)
This article, from just one month after the Kinross rebellion, reports on the list of demands that prisoners at Kinross presented to the warden in September 2016. The list was passed on to MAPS by a family member of one of the men accused of participating in the uprising.

Guards Sympathize With Striking Prisoners: “We See It As A Moral Issue”.
By Cora Lewis, Buzzfeed. (10/9/16)
The article features interviews with representatives from the Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO), the union that represents the prison guards. The guards express sympathy with the demands of the prisoners at Kinross.

Peacefully Marching Prisoners at Michigan’s Kinross Teargassed, Zip-Tied, Left out in Rain.
By Diane Bukowski, Voice of Detroit. (10/9/16)
This article, from just one month after the Kinross rebellion, describes some of the emerging details about the violent tactics of the Emergency Response Team.

Inmates: officer tactics escalated peaceful protest at Kinross.
By Stateside Staff, Michigan Radio. (10/4/16)
This is a radio interview with journalist Paul Egan that aired on Michigan Radio. In this interview Egan describes how he understands the events to have unfolded on September 10 based on his interviews with prisoner witnesses.

More Details Emerge on Kinross Prison Riot.
By Barb Hall, Patch. (10/4/16)
This article describes the prison perspective on the events of September 10. It describes how the protest was peaceful until the Emergency Response Team escalated the situation.

Kinross inmate: Raid with pepper spray sparked vandalism.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press.(10/4/16)
This article from the Detroit Free Press features an interview with Kinross prisoner Anthony Bates. Bates complicates the narrative of both the MDOC and the guard union by insisting that the protest was peaceful until the prisoners were attacked by the Emergency Response Team.

The Largest Prison Strike in History is Being Largely Ignored by Major Media Outlets.
By Spencer King, Paste Magazine. (9/30/16)
This overview of the 2016 national prisoner strike describes the Kinross rebellion and the Emergency Response Team tactics.

Hunger Strikes, Marches & Work Stoppages: Unprecedented National Prison Strike Enters Third Week.
Democracy Now! (9/28/16)
This Democracy Now! feature on the 2016 national prisoner strike describes the Kinross rebellion.

Riot? Disturbance? What really happened at Kinross prison.
By Stateside Staff, Michigan Radio. (9/22/16)
This Michigan Radio feature on the Kinross rebellion features an extended interview with MDOC spokesperson Chris Gautz as well as Michigan Corrections Organization President Tom Tylutki. Gautz insists that the disturbance was not a riot why Tylutki insists that it was.

Riot or reined-in? Prison officials disagree on U.P. skirmish.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (9/21/16)
This is one of the first large journalistic piece on the Kinross rebellion. It features an overview of how the events unfolded on September 10. It also introduces the debate between the MDOC’s Chris Gautz and the guard union’s contradictory descriptions of the disturbance.

Attica’s Lessons Went Unlearned: Our Prisons Are Still a Disgrace.
By Heather Ann Thompson, The Daily Beast. (9/13/16)
This article by historian Heather Ann Thompson connects the grievances of prisoners during the 2016 national prisoner strike to the grievances of prisoners in the Attica rebellion. It refers to the Kinross rebellion of September 10 even before many of the details had emerged.

#PrisonStrike Resistance to Slavery Across the World.
It’s Going Down. (first published 9/8/16)
This article in the anarchist blog It’s Going Down gives a fairly comprehensive overview of the 2016 national prisoner strike as it was understood during its unfolding.

UPDATE: 400 inmates protest at U.P. Prison.
ABC 10 News Upper Peninsula. (9/11/16)
This article came out the day after the Kinross rebellion and gave some initial details on the events of September 10 including. It says that the protest was peaceful and that hundreds of inmates had been transferred in retaliation.

Inmates in Upper Peninsula set fire, damage housing units.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (9/11/16)
This article in the Detroit Free Press gives initial details about the disturbance at Kinross and some preliminary details about their grievances related to meals and wages.

Downtown protest tonight supports nationwide prison strike.
By Michael Jackman, Detroit Metro Times. (9/9/16)
This article describes the protest held downtown Detroit to draw attention to the national prisoner strike as well as to their opposition to the plans to build a new jail in Detroit.

Why 1,200 Michigan Inmates Are Protesting Their Prison’s Food.
By Tom Perkins, Munchies. (3/25/16)
This article by Tom Perkins gives a lot of background info about Trinity and the controversies surrounding the private contractor. It also talks about the large protest against food at Kinross in March of 2016.

Michigan prisoners still protesting foul food.
By Michael Jackman, Detroit Metro Times. (3/23/16)
This article describes the prisoner protests against the food served by private contractor Trinity.

Prisoners protest food under new contractor Trinity.
By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press. (3/22/16)
This article describes the protest in March of 2016 at Kinross during which 1,000 of the facility’s approximately 1,300 inmates staged a silent protest against the food contractor Trinity.

Something still stinks in Michigan and Ohio’s prison kitchen.
By Tom Perkins, Detroit Metro Times. (2/17/16)
This article gives a great overview of the quality of food in Michigan prisons after the transition from private contractor Aramark to private contractor Trinity. It includes quotes from prisoners incarcerated at Kinross Correctional Facility.