Summary

While the atmosphere over Attica was seething with tension from both the inmates and the guards, a relatively small incident in the recreation yard on September 8, 1971 seemed to detonate a ticking time-bomb of dangerous resentments. A playful scuffle between two inmates quickly escalated into an altercation between inmates and guards, in which one guard was hit. A resounding sense of unity from the inmates eventually led to the altercation ending without immediate disciplinary consequences, a presumed win for the inmates. However, administrators chose to remove the two inmates from their cells that night and place them in segregation. While removing the first inmate, a fight ensued, and the inmate was seen being carried out of his cell motionless, with a guard holding each extremity. In retaliation, neighboring inmates began throwing items from their cells at the guards, one inmate managing to...