Unicorn Riot

Civil Disobedience Inside Minnesota’s Stillwater Prison

In the midst of a near-record heat-streak, around 100 people incarcerated in Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater staged an act of civil disobedience by refusing to go back to their cells for a staff-induced lockdown on Sunday, Sept. 3. Men housed in B East expressed grievances over no air conditioning, no clean or cold water, and whole units intentionally being locked down with no recreation time nor showers. Authorities say a modified cell release schedule over the Labor Day holiday weekend was from a staffing shortage and Department of Corrections (DOC) Commissioner Paul Schnell said he knows it’s “exceedingly hot.”