More than 100 men at the Stillwater state prison could remain on lockdown until early October, according to the Department of Corrections, as punishment for a peaceful protest at the prison earlier this month.
Dozens of men who the state Department of Corrections believes participated in the protest had no access to showers and could not call their families for a week after the protest, according to the department.
"I'm just thankful that he's OK," said Angela Ritzer, whose fiancé is in the B-East unit. Though he did not participate in the protest, she said, she was not able to call him until late Monday, after last speaking with him early the morning of Sept. 3.
"It's hard not knowing he's OK," she said.
The entire Bayport facility was on lockdown for about six hours Sept. 3 as more than 100 prisoners in the B-East unit refused to return to their cells, protesting problems that stem from staff shortages. No one was hurt and there was no violence. The other units of the prison are not on lockdown.
Since the protest, seven men remain in restrictive housing or segregation, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Andy Skoogman, who said the department believes those seven people organized the action.
Another 120 men who protested Sept. 3 and refused to return their cells are on "in-house" segregation as punishment for their participation, Skoogman said. About 120 men in the unit did not participate in the protest.
Most of those who protested were kept in their cells from the afternoon of Sept. 3 to Monday evening. They have had to eat in their cells and had no access to showers or phones. The in-house segregation could last up to 30 days, he said, through the beginning of October.
