Trump orders restoration of Alcatraz prison to lock up 'dregs of society'



President Donald Trump wants to restore an iconic maximum-security prison for his proposed golden age — an institution in the San Francisco Bay he regards as a "symbol of law and order."

Trump announced Sunday evening that he would direct the Bureau of Prisons, along with the FBI and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, to "reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders."

"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 wrote on Truth Social. "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," added the president.

Although first the home of an Army fort — boasting 11 cannons in 1854 and 100 more by the following decade — Alcatraz Island was recognized early on as an ideal place to lock up unsavory characters. It was surrounded by cold water and swift currents and out of earshot of polite society.

Alcatraz's days as a prison island effectively began in December 1859 with the arrival of the first permanent garrison. The National Park Service indicated that 11 soldiers were initially imprisoned in the basement of the fortified gateway blocking the entrance road. This basement and other structures were soon filled to capacity, warranting the construction of additional prison facilities.

In the decades following the 22-acre island's 1861 designation as the military prison for the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific, Alcatraz's central purpose ceased to be defending America against foreign hostiles and instead became locking up its native threats.

'We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job.'

Alcatraz was transferred from the military to the Bureau of Prisons in the early 1930s. Over the next three decades, it saw numerous big-name felons idle in its dark cells, including Al Capone, George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes, Robert Stroud, and the first "Public Enemy #1," Alvin Karpis.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Alcatraz never reached its capacity of 336 inmates.

On account of its relatively high operating costs — the daily per capita cost of the prison in 1959 was $10.10, compared with $3.00 at United States Penitentiary Atlanta — and in the wake of numerous high-profile escapes and escape attempts, USP Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963.

In 1973, the island was opened to the public and has been a tourist trap since, welcoming over 1.5 million visitors a year.

"We will 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," wrote Trump. "The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE."

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman said in a statement to the Associated Press that the agency will "comply with all presidential orders."

Trump has been trying in recent months to offshore criminals, both foreign and domestic.

In addition to sending suspected terrorists to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, the Trump administration has sent suspected Tren de Aragua terrorists to Guantanamo Bay.

Shortly after taking office, the president directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to accommodate roughly 30,000 inmates "for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security."

Federal judges have so far hindered these efforts, ruling that the administration must grant deportees due process. Restoring the prison on Alcatraz might be one way to get criminal noncitizens offshore without having to deal with activist district court judges.

 Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Inmate placed in cell with man who raped his little sister. After request for different cellmate allegedly ignored, he kills rapist — and gets 25 years.



Shane Goldsby said he couldn't believe it when he was placed in same Washington state prison cell as Robert Munger.

In 2019, the 70-year-old Munger was sentenced to a minimum of 43 years for multiple child rape charges.

And one of Munger's rape victims was Goldsby's younger sister, KHQ-TV reported.

 

Man sentenced to 25 years for murdering sister's rapist in prison https://t.co/oBzzCWE1qq https://t.co/197JOHWToe

— New York Post (@nypost) 1628396768.0 
 

'I was in shock'

"I was in shock," Goldsby told the station in a 2020 interview in regard to being placed in the same cell as Munger. "I was like, 'what the f***?'... This stuff doesn't happen. You're talking the same institution, the same unit, the same pod in the same cell as this dude. That's like hitting the jackpot in the casino seven times."

More from KHQ:

Goldsby was the first to admit that he hasn't been a good person. He was arrested in 2017 for stealing a Kelso Police patrol car, taking law enforcement on a lengthy pursuit, then hit a Washington State Patrol vehicle, injuring a trooper inside. He also claimed he's been in more than 20 altercations with correctional officers during his time in prison.

Goldsby said the violent incidents resulted in him being transferred multiple times to different correctional centers, including Shelton, Walla Walla, and Clallam Bay.

Then, "out of the blue," Goldsby said, he was transferred to Airway Heights Correctional Center.

He told the station that Munger "kept... giving me details about what happened and what he did. About the photos and videos of him doing this stuff, and it was building up."

Goldsby also told KHQ he tried at least twice to inform prison staff about what was going on.

"When I showed up in that unit, I walked out of that pod, went to an office and said, 'Hey, I need a new cellie.' And the correctional officer ... was like, 'What? No. We didn't call you.' ... Then I went back to my cell. We got something in there called a button. You hit it if something's going on. So, I hit that button, too, and nobody came on that mic at all," he noted to the station. "So, in my head, I'm not in my head at this point and time. I'm completely feeling like this is what they wanted to happen."

Goldsby kills Munger

Finally in a prison common area last summer, KHQ — citing court documents — reported that Goldsby "[hit] Munger in the face and head area about 14 times, [stomped] on his head at least four times and [kicked] a couple more times before walking away and being taken into custody by Airway Heights Corrections Guards."

Munger later died.

But Goldsby said of the prison, "You put me in the same cell as this dude. I feel set up. I'm the victim," KHQ reported.

Goldsby sentenced

Last week Goldsby was sentenced to 298 months in prison for murdering Munger — just under 25 years, the station said.

KHQ said that before Goldsby was sentenced, he read from a prepared statement but was overcome with emotion, after which his court-appointed attorney finished it: "I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way. To his wife and his whole family I apologize. I am so sorry, and I hope you are able to heal from what I caused."

Anything else?

The state Department of Corrections has a cellmate policy that is designed to prevent situations like the one that placed Goldsby and Munger together, the station said. But KHQ added that an independent investigation found that prison screeners had no knowledge about the connection between Goldsby and Munger when they were placed in the same cell.