OUT OF CONTROL

Washington Prisoners Riot Over COVID-Positive Inmates

Prisoners in Monroe, Washington, created a massive disturbance and threatened to start fires after several inmates tested positive for COVID-19.

Hundreds of minimum-security prisoners inside the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington State created a disturbance Wednesday night after word spread that as many as six inmates had tested positive for COVID-19. The disturbance started around 6 p.m. local time when prisoners threatened to start fires after beginning protests in a recreational yard. Guards used pepper spray and sting balls along with rubber pellets to try to calm the prisoners. Washington State Patrol officers were called in to help calm inmates, many of whom set off fire extinguishers within housing units. No one was injured and no one escaped in the disturbance.