President Trump floats idea of reopening Alcatraz prison
President Donald Trump floated the idea of reopening and expanding the infamous Alcatraz prison as he expressed frustration with judges.
ALCATRAZ – Visitors to the prison here had mixed reactions Monday to President Donald Trump’s expressed desire to once again house hardened criminals in the notorious former federal prison.
Some of the tourists were willing to entertain the notion while others found it impractical at best and ridiculous at worst.
“The man’s a moron,’’ said Chris Smith, on a swing through the American West with his wife Clair from their hometown of Lincolnshire, England.
Nearly all interviewed, including travelers from Brazil, Germany, the U.K., Argentina, France, the Netherlands, Taiwan and Canada, agreed it would be very expensive to restore the historic facility on a 22-acre island in San Francisco Bay, built from 1909-1911 and showing its age.
It was also clear many would miss the popular attraction, which draws up to 1.6 million visitors and generates some $60 million per year, according to the National Park Service. On a sparkling day that stood in contrast to The Rock’s reputation for cold and damp conditions, the old penitentiary was teeming with tourists eager to absorb its checkered history.
A place to keep ‘the worst of the worst’
Should it be brought back at the expense of what’s now a profitable park and museum?
Rob and Kari Kraemer, residents of the Twin Cities area in Minnesota who describe themselves as conservative, said they would be open to the idea.
Rob Kraemer said the U.S. has a number of incorrigible offenders, “the worst of the worst, and you need a place for them in an effort to protect people. This might be an opportunity to solve that problem.’’
The Alcatraz prison was shut down in 1963 – it reopened as a park 10 years later – largely because its isolated location made it too expensive to run, nearly three times costlier than any other federal penitentiary.
Rob Kraemer suggested technological advancements may mitigate that issue, and he and Kari said tourism jobs lost to the transition could be made up by construction and prison jobs.
“It would have to be examined, evaluated,’’ he said. “The idea itself seems good. Do the cost analysis and draw conclusions then.’’
There’s a lot of land to build more prisons
Emily Lin, who hails from Taiwan and is attending college in San Diego, noted that Alcatraz – surrounded by frigid waters and strong currents – was famously difficult to escape from. The Federal Bureau of Prisons says no one officially succeeded in doing so during its 29 years in operation, but five men who attempted escape were never found and are presumed to have drowned.
“If there’s not a better spot, yeah, they should open it (as a prison),’’ said Lin, 28. “The purpose of the jail is to hold the criminals. It’s not for the tourists. They can open another museum and introduce the history of the jail.’’
The choice of location puzzled the Smith couple from Britain, who noted the Alcatraz buildings are in disrepair and in no shape to serve as living quarters even for “the dregs of society,’’ the term Trump used in his social media post Sunday. Trump announced he’s directing federal officials to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ.’’
The island, 1½ miles north of San Francisco, has no sewer system or running water and only partial electrical service, requiring all supplies and equipment to be brought in by boat.
“With this much land in America, surely there’s a bunch of other places to build more prisons,’’ Chris Smith said.
‘He can’t be serious about that’
Bruno Tavares, in town from Brazil, lived through the presidency of a far-right leader in Jair Bolsonaro who, like Trump, contested his election defeat, throwing his nation into turmoil.
Tavares considers himself a political moderate, and he finds Trump’s Alcatraz plan not so much far right as far out there.
“He can’t be serious about that. It’s a joke,’’ said Tavares, 40. “With all that happened here, these are different times now. You can’t treat people like that. The American citizens won’t allow it.’’
Tolu Ogundele, a college student at Kennesaw State University north of Atlanta, learned about Trump’s idea from an Uber driver on the way to Monday’s tour. The visit convinced her it would be better for Alcatraz to remain a museum, especially in light of Trump’s drive to cut federal spending.
“They shut it down because it was too expensive to run, and I just think with the state of the economy now it probably would be financially irresponsible to turn it back into a prison,’’ said Ogundele, 22. “And from touring it and seeing how it is, I feel like it’s not a very humane place to keep people.’’