IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST
DANGEROUS PRISON RIOTS
IN RECENT NEW MEXICO
HISTORY.
YET ITS NEVER BEEN
PUBLICIZED.
BUT NOW THE SECRET IS
OUT AND ITS WAS CAPTURED
ON CAMERA.
TONIGHT, NEWS 13
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
LARRY BARKER SHOWS US
THE NEVER BEFORE SEEN
VIDEO OF A MONUMENTAL
INMATE UPRISING,
INVOLVING ONE OF THE
STATE )S MOST NOTORIOUS
SERIAL KILLERS.
Jablonski: "I was
extremely outraged that
these breaches occurred
under our watch."
McSorley: "This is the
very kind of breach that
causes people to die."
Donatelli: "This was
being operated like a
preschool in terms of
security."
SEPTEMBER 23RD LAST
YEAR. ITS A QUIET
EVENING ON CELLBLOCK 3
AT THE
NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
PRISON. BUT HANG ON. ALL
HELL IS ABOUT TO BREAK
LOOSE.
Barker: "What happened
that night was
explosive, but its been
kept under wraps
for months. A News 13
investigation finds a
host of sloppy, reckless
security blunders at
this privately run
prison outside Clayton
led to the most
significant New Mexico
inmate uprising
in the last 20 years."
Jablonski: "What
happened that evening
was unacceptable."
SECRETARY DAVID
JABLONSKI OVERSEES THE
STATE )S PRISON
SYSTEM.
Jablonski: "Q. On that
night was that a safe
facility? A. That night
with these violations
that occurred, no,
there were major
security breaches ... So
it wasn )t safe."
SANTA FE ATTORNEY MARK
DONATELLI LED THE PUBLIC
DEFENDER )S RIOT
DEFENSE TEAM FOLLOWING
THE 1980 SANTA FE PRISON
UPRISING. HE REVIEWED
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO
THE CLAYTON INCIDENT.
Donatelli: "Larry I had
to read these documents
over and over because I
couldn )t comprehend what
I was
reading that so many
things could have gone
so wrong at so many
levels for so long."
THE NORTHEAST PRISON
COMPLEX IS OPERATED FOR
THE STATE BY A PRIVATE
COMPANY, THE GEO GROUP.
625 MEDIUM SECURITY
INMATES ARE HOUSED HERE.
CELLBLOCK 3 IS RESERVED
FOR VIOLENT OR
DISRUPTIVE INMATES
WHO POSE SECURITY
THREATS.
AT 9:05 PM ON SEPTEMBER
23RD, CORRECTIONAL
OFFICER MATT
SHRINER STROLLS THE
CELLBLOCK 3 CATWALK. HE
PAUSES AT A LOCKED
CELL, REACHES IN THE
DOOR SLOT AND IS HANDED
CONTRABAND. SHRINER THEN
SURREPTITIOUSLY PASSES
IT TO AN INMATE NEXT
DOOR.
MOMENTS LATER THE YOUNG
SECURITY GUARD STOPS AT
CELL 203
TO CHAT WITH ONE OF THE
MOST DANGEROUS INMATES
IN THE
ENTIRE PRISON SYSTEM.
YOU )VE PROBABLY KNOW HIS
NAME. CLIFTON BLOOMFIELD
IS A NOTORIOUS SERIAL
KILLER WHO WAS SENTENCED
TO 195 YEARS AFTER HE
MURDERED FIVE PEOPLE IN
ALBUQUERQUE TEN YEARS
AGO.
A FEW WORDS ARE
EXCHANGED AND THEN,
INEXPLICABLY, SHRINER
UNLOCKS
BLOOMFIELD )S CELL DOOR.
WHY? SHRINER LATER TOLD
INVESTIGATORS HE DIDN )T
REMEMBER ALLOWING THE
CONVICTED KILLER
OUT OF HIS CELL.
BLOOMFIELD JUMPS THE
UNARMED GUARD AND
OVERPOWERS HIM. WITH A
SHANK AT HIS NECK, THE
PRISON GUARD IS TAKEN
HOSTAGE. BLOOMFIELD
GRABS SHRINER )S KEYS AND
PROCEEDS TO
UNLOCK CELL DOORS.
SHRINER IS ABLE TO BREAK
AWAY. HE DASHES
DOWN STEPS TO THE FIRST
FLOOR, GRABS HIS WALKIE
TALKIE AND RUNS FOR
HELP.
WITH KEYS TO THE ENTIRE
40 MAN CELLBLOCK AND NO
GUARDS, THE
INMATES TAKE CONTROL.
CELLS DOORS ARE UNLOCKED
AND SOME OF THE MOST
DANGEROUS PRISONERS IN
THE STATE GO ON A
RAMPAGE. THE MAIN ENTRY
DOOR IS BARRICADED. SOME
PRISONERS USE
THEIR NEW FOUND FREEDOM
TO SETTLE SCORES. ONE
INMATE, A
SUSPECTED INFORMANT, IS
ASSAULTED IN HIS CELL,
HIS THROAT
SLASHED. OTHER INMATES
DISABLE THE PRISON )S
SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS.
THEY START A FIRE AND
TRASH THE CELLBLOCK.
THE PRISON )S RIOT
RESPONSE TEAM ASSEMBLES
OUTSIDE. THEY
FLOOD THE CELL BLOCK
WITH TEAR GAS AND FLASH
GRENADES. ABOUT
AN HOUR AFTER THE
UPRISING BEGAN PRISON
SECURITY DRESSED IN RIOT
GEAR GAIN CONTROL. THE
ENTIRE CELL BLOCK IS
DECLARED A
CRIME SCENE. INMATES ARE
ROUNDED UP, HANDCUFFED
AND
ESCORTED ONE BY ONE TO
THE PRISON )S DAY ROOM.
THE INMATE WHO
WAS ATTACKED IS FOUND IN
CELL 109 UNCONCIOUS IN A
POOL OF BLOOD.
OFFICERS DRAG HIM OUT
AND CALL AN AMBULANCE.
RING LEADER CLIFTON
BLOOMFIELD IS HANDCUFFED
AND ESCORTED OUT OF THE
TRASHED
CELLBLOCK TO THE MEDICAL
UNIT. THE PRISON COMPLEX
IS PLACED ON
LOCKDOWN, AND A
DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS
INVESTIGATION IS
LAUNCHED.
Barker: "So what went
wrong that night? At the
top of the list, prison
understaffing. According
to the state
investigation, staff
vacancies at the GEO
Group )s Clayton facility
are quote dangerously
inadequate. On September
23rd, 20 staff members
were
required to fully secure
the prison. 12 of those
positions were mandatory
posts. That night
however only 9 guards
members were present."
Jablonski: "Q. That
night they had less than
half of the required
staffing at that
facility.That correct?
A.
Correct. ... Q. When was
the last time that they
were fully staffed? ...
A. From my tenure as
Secretary I )ve never
seen them fully staff
that facility. ... Q.
How is that acceptable?
A. It )s not acceptable.
It )s a dangerous
practice."
Barker: "Its not only
dangerous it )s
expensive. In fact,
private prisons are
assessed substantial
penalties for failure to
maintain minimum
staffing. Over the last
year the GEO Group has
paid New Mexico )s
Corrections Department
more than $1.3 million
dollars in penalties for
failing to provide
enough security to keep
the Clayton facility
safe."
ON THE EVENING OF
SEPTEMBER 23RD, THE ONLY
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER ON
DUTY IN CELLBLOCK THREE
WAS THE INEXPERIENCED
MATT SHRINER. WHEN HE
UNLOCKED CLIFTON
BLOOMFIELD )S CELL
DOOR HE HAD NO BACK UP,
NO WALKIE TALKIE AND HE
CARRIED THE KEYS
TO EVERY CELL IN THE
CELLBLOCK.
Donatelli: "How do you
allow an untrained
inexperienced rookie
officer to go into the
most
dangerous portion of
your prison without
adequate backup without
a radio ... with all the
keys to the unit. I
don )t understand that."
Jablonski: "When you )re
dealing with violent
inmates ... you always
have a two man escort
and this is just proof,
based on this incident,
why you want a backup or
two man escort when
you )re dealing with
these inmates so you
don )t get overpowered.
... The decision that
officer made that
evening really
jeopardized the security
of that whole facility
and it could have been a
lot worse."
Donatelli: "I )m not sure
how the Corrections
Department decided that
a prisoner with five
murder convictions
could be housed safely
at this facility.
Someone blew it when
they decided that
someone that dangerous
could be housed at that
facility.
THE DAY AFTER THE
UPRISING, CLIFTON
BLOOMFIELD WAS
TRANSFERRED TO
THE STATE PEN IN SANTA
FE.
MATT SHRINER RESIGNED
AND HAS SINCE MOVED TO
TEXAS. HE DID NOT
RESPOND TO OUR REQUEST
FOR AN INTERVIEW..
THE INMATE THAT WAS
BRUTALLY ATTACKED IN HIS
CELL RECOVERED
FROM HIS INJURIES.
NORTHEAST PRISON WARDEN
MARK BOWEN REFUSED TO
DISCUSS THE
INCIDENT AND REFERRED
QUESTIONS TO THE GEO
GROUP
CORPORATE OFFICE. A
SPOKESWOMAN FOR GEO SAID
SHE WOULD GET BACK TO
US. SHE DIDN )T.
A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
OF THE SEPTEMBER 2017
INCIDENT HAS
BEEN TURNED OVER TO THE
UNION COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY. CHARGES ARE
EXPECTED TO BE FILED IN
THE NEXT TWO MONTHS.
McSorley: "Its totally
unacceptable."
SENATOR CSICO MCSORLEY
SERVES ON THE
LEGISLATIVE COURTS,
CORRECTIONS AND JUSTICE
COMMITTEE.
McSorley: "Q. Bottom
line what do you want
from GEO? A.I want them
to fulfill the terms of
the
contract. They say that
they )re in the business
of keeping our prisons
safe and secure and
they )re not doing it."
prisoners and the
public. ...
It doesn )t matter how
much training and
retraining you do at the
facility in response to
this. If you don )t have
enough officers in the
first place to run the
prison safely things are
going to happen again in
the future."
LARRY BARKER KRQE NEWS
13.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE
THE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO
FROM LAST
SEPTEMBER )S PRISON RIOT,
GO TO ALWAYS ON KRQE DOT
COM.
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