President Donald Trump directed the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reopen and rebuild Alcatraz prison to house the “most ruthless and violent” criminals.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that when the United States was “a more serious Nation,” the government did not “hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals.”
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” Trump wrote. “For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm.”
Trump pointed out that that was “the way it’s supposed to be” and added that the U.S. would not tolerate “these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem” on the streets.
“That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” Trump continued. “We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally. The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
People such as notorious American gangster Al Capone and gangster “Machine Gun Kelly” were among the people who were held at Alcatraz prison, which sits on an island off the coast of San Francisco, according to the Hill.
Other people who were held at Alcatraz include, Robert Stroud, who was nicknamed, “Birdman of Alcatraz,” according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.
Stroud was convicted of manslaughter in 1909. Years later, after murdering a “Leavenworth guard,” Stroud was “convicted of first-degree murder” and ended up receiving a death sentence, though former President Woodrow Wilson commuted his sentence down to life in prison, according to the website.
Alcatraz, which served as a federal prison from 1934 to 1963, is described as representing “the federal government’s response to post-Prohibition, post-Depression America,” according to the National Park Service’s website for Alcatraz.
