Charges in prison riot to provide insight to incident
By Eddie West Staff Writer
Criminal charges related to the recent riot at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center were anticipated to come as soon as this week.
Evidence gathered by law enforcement authorities following the riot was expected to be presented to a Trousdale County Grand Jury as soon as this week.
On Tuesday (June 10) of last week, Fifteenth Judicial District Attorney Jason Lawson said he could not comment on specifics of the case prior to charges being filed, citing Tennessee law.
When the Sunday (June 8) incident occurred, there were various reports of guards being held “hostage” or overtaken within the facility as well as multiple reports of injuries to both guards and inmates as well.
Criminal charges will shed some light on what may have occurred inside the prison during the riot.
For instance, criminal charges will indicate the number of inmates suspected of having initiated and played an active role in the riot.
Also, formal charges will provide some indication as to the number of guards and/or inmates injured during the riot.
In addition, during the riot, the facility was damaged by inmates. Charges will shed light on the extent of the damage.
Damage was reported to surveillance cameras. Also, inmates reportedly set small fires inside the facility.
While no inmate escaped the facility during the riot, several escaped their cells, gathering in the courtyard inside the prison.
The inmates were dispersed by some type of chemical agent described as being a “gas” in nature. Inmates went back into their cells when the gas was deployed in the courtyard.
A problem at the prison was first reported to the Trousdale County Sheriffs Department around 10 p.m.
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This is the worst prison in Tn
They do not get fed decent food at all when they do give them food. Normally the gang members take the food away from the other inmates. The gangs are always threatening to beat the innocent people. My son has been threatened several times n I have to send money to stop them. Plus he never gets to go to a class or church.
My son worked here as a prison guard. He was left in a pod with over 20 inmates with shanks threatening him and when calling for backup. It took over 17 minutes for someone to respond to help him get the inmates under control. Very dangerous for the guards. He was always sent to the worst pods to do his daily checks and was told he had to go alone because they were always understaffed. Just dangerous