Former President Donald Trump has announced plans to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the former prison located on an island off the coast of California. According to Trump, this move aims to address the long-standing issue of violent and repeat criminal offenders plaguing the United States.
Trump stated that the reopened Alcatraz would symbolize law, order, and justice. The prison, which closed in 1963, currently operates as a tourist site and is situated near San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
Trump directed the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to oversee the project. The rebuilt and enlarged Alcatraz would hold America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.
The former president has been at odds with the courts over his policy of sending alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador and has even discussed the possibility of incarcerating “homegrown criminals” in foreign prisons.
Alcatraz originally served as a naval defense fort and was later converted into a military prison in the early 20th century. It became a facility for housing convicts from the federal prison system in the 1930s. Some of its most famous inmates included notorious gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
The prison gained further fame through the 1962 film “Birdman of Alcatraz,” starring Burt Lancaster, which told the story of convicted murderer Robert Stroud’s transformation into an expert ornithologist while serving his life sentence.
In addition, Alcatraz served as the backdrop for the 1996 action thriller “The Rock,” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, which revolved around a former SAS captain and FBI chemist rescuing hostages on the island.
The prison was ultimately closed due to its high operating costs, which were nearly three times more expensive than any other federal prison, primarily due to its remote island location.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cze17n02gego
