19. Ibid., 3.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid., 8.
24. Breen, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi, et al., v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 14, 1991, 4033–36.
25. “Assembly Resolution to Impeach Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller for His Wrong-ful and Unlawful Conduct in Connection with the Handling of the Attica Correctional Facility Inmate Rebellion,” January 25, 1972, as contained in: Arthur Eve, Statement, Nelson A. Rockefeller Vice Presidential Confirmation Hearings, House of Representatives, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess., Congressional Record 120 (November 26, 1974), 307.
26. Levenson, “Shreds of Humanity,” 46.
27. Edward Kowalczyk, also known as Angelo Martin, Affidavit, People of the State of New York v. Shango Bahati Kakawana (Indicted as Bernard Stroble), 407 F.Supp. 411 (1976), October 12, 1974, Ernest Goodman Papers.
28. Ibid.
29. Goldman Panel to Protect Prisoners’ Constitutional Rights, Report, Investigation and interview files, 1971–1972, New York (State), Special Commission on Attica, 15855-90, Box 9, New York State Archives, Albany, New York, 12.
30. Ibid.
31. John W. Cudmore, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi, et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller, Russell Oswald, John Monahan, Vincent Mancusi and Karl Pfeil, United States District Court Western District of New York, Buffalo, New York, No. CIV-75-132, December 4, 1991, 6736.
32. Ibid., 6727.
33. Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 6.
34. Ibid.
35. Cudmore, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al., v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., December 4, 1991, 6736.
36. Breen, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al., v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 14, 1991, 4055.
37. Perry Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1474.
38. Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 13.
39. Ibid., 12. Also see: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation Memorandum, March 24, 1972, Buffalo, New York.
40. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation Memorandum, March 24, 1972, Buffalo, New York. In this FBI memo the name of the Guardsman is redacted but other documents identify him as James O’Day. In 1991, when he was then a high school biology teacher in North Tonawanda near Buffalo, O’Day came forward with his story in a local paper. See: John O’Brien, “The Scars of Attica,” The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), September 3, 1991.
41. Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 16.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1495–96.
47. Dan Callahan, conversation with author, New Port Richey, Florida, July 5, 2005.
48. Ibid.
49. Gerard Smith, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 19, 1991, 3925, 3936.
50. Arthur Eve, Notes on the day-by-day events of the riot, Tom Wicker Papers, 5.
51. Ibid.
52. Elizabeth Fink, conversation with author, Brooklyn, New York, June 26, 2007.
53. Callahan, conversation with author, July 5, 2005.
54. Ibid.
55. Ibid.
56. Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 12.
57. Callahan, conversation with author, July 5, 2005.
58. Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1505; Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 9.
59. Jack Florence, Testimony, In the Matter of the Additional, Special and Trial Term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Designated Pursuant to the Order of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. County of Wyoming, February 2, 1972, 108.
60. Callahan, conversation with author, July 5, 2005.
61. Ibid.
62. Jameel Abdul Raheem, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 1, 1991, 2102.
63. “A Nation of Law? (1968–1971),” transcript, Eyes on the Prize, 1987.
64. Dennis Cunningham, Michael Deutsch, and Elizabeth Fink, “Remembering Attica Forty Years Later,” Prison Legal News (September 2011).
65. Ibid.
66. Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1473.
67. Cudmore, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., December 4, 1991, 6699.
68. Stainthorp, Attica Brothers Legal Defense, “National Guard and Medical Workers,” January 8, 1975, 9.
69. Ibid.
70. Jennifer Gonnerman, “Remembering Attica,” Village Voice, September 5–11, 2001.
71. Monahan Memorandum to Kirwan, September 19, 1971.
72. Callahan, conversation with author, July 5, 2005. Malcolm Bell wonders who this prisoner might have been.
73. Goldman Panel to Protect Prisoners’ Constitutional Rights, Report, New York State Archives, 14.
74. Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1476. On this issue of how long troopers and correction officers continued shooting after the retaking was over, prisoner testimony, from numerous sources, is unequivocal that guns were being discharged well into the night of the 13th. One man reported that prisoners locked in cells were shot by officers and that he very clearly “heard gunshots.” See: Jameel Abdul Raheem, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 1, 1991, 2109.
75. Ibid., 1482–83.
76. Ibid., 1483–84.
77. Ibid., 1489–90.
78. Carlos Roche, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., November 1, 1991, 2077.
79. “Assembly Resolution to Impeach Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller for His Wrongful and Unlawful Conduct in Connection with the Handling of the Attica Correctional Facility Inmate Rebellion,” January 25, 1972, as contained in: Arthur Eve, Statement, Nelson A. Rockefeller Vice Presidential Confirmation Hearings, House of Representatives, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess., Congressional Record 120 (November 26, 1974), 307. Also see: Inmates of Attica Correctional Facility v. Nelson Rockefeller et al., September 10, 1971, 748–49.
80. Donald Almeter, conversation with author, July 3, 2005.
81. Ford, Testimony, McKay Transcript, April 24, 1972, 1491.
82. Jack Florence, Testimony, In the Matter of the Additional, Special and Trial Term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Designated Pursuant to the Order of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. County of Wyoming, February 2, 1972, 113.
83. “Assembly Resolution to Impeach Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller for His Wrongful and Unlawful Conduct in Connection with the Handling of the Attica Correctional Facility Inmate Rebellion,” 313.
84. Alton Slagle, “Medic: Guns Killed Hostages,” New York Daily News, September 15, 1971.
85. Dr. Michael Brandriss, Interview Transcript, August 18, 2012.
86. Ibid.
87. Ibid.
88. Ibid.
89. “Assembly Resolution to Impeach Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller for His Wrongful and Unlawful Conduct in Connection with the Handling of the Attica Correctional Facility Inmate Rebellion,” 313.
90. Ibid.
91. For the various dates and times during which officials were at Attica in the immediate aftermath of the retaking, see Official Call Log, Headquarters, New York State Police, Albany.
92. “Attica Aftermath: Problems and Progress,” New-Gate News, Department of Correctional Services, Central subject and correspondence files, 1959–1973, New York (State), Governor (1959-1973: Rockefeller), Record Group 15, Box 2, Folder 31, Rockefeller Archives, New York State Archives, Albany, New Yor
k.
93. Cunningham, Deutsch, and Fink, “Remembering Attica Forty Years Later.”
94. Herman Schwartz, Personal Diary, September 12, 19, 24, 1971. In author’s possession.
95. William Hellerstein, telephone conversation with author, November 8, 2011. Schwartz, Personal Diary, September 12, 19, and 24, 1971.
96. Hellerstein, telephone conversation with author, November 8, 2011.
97. Ibid.
98. Schwartz, Personal Diary, September 12, 19, 24, 1971.
99. Hellerstein, telephone conversation with author, November 8, 2011.
100. Ibid.
101. Karl Pfeil, Testimony, Akil Al-Jundi et al. v. The Estate of Nelson A. Rockefeller et al., 9768.
102. Schwartz, Personal Diary, September 12, 19, 24, 1971.
103. Ibid.
104. Ibid.
PART V · RECKONINGS AND REACTIONS
1. This and all subsequent quotations in this section are from: Robert Douglass, Interview, “Attica Prison Riot,” American Experience, 2007.
24. SPEAKING UP
1. Rockefeller Administration, Confidential Memo, “Events at Attica: September 8–13, 1971,” 53.
2. As quoted in: Bernard S. Meyer, Special Deputy Attorney General, Final Report of the Special Attica Investigation, October 27, 1975, Printed reports and studies, 1955–1958, 1975–1982, New York (State), Governor, B0294-82, Container 1, New York State Archives, Albany, New York, 57.
3. As quoted in: ibid.
4. Meyer, Final Report of the Special Attica Investigation, October 27, 1975, New York State Archives, 46. Indeed Simonetti was almost immediately a central presence at Attica, which would prove important as the later state investigation of what had happened at Attica got under way. State Police, for example, noted his comings and goings as in this entry from the police radio log: “September 14th: 12:06 Car 1035: DA Simonetti.” From “State Police Radio Log of Troop A Headquarters,” Investigation and interview files, 1971–1972, New York (State), Special Commission on Attica, 15855-90, Box 9, New York State Archives, Albany, New York. Also see: Whiteman, Testimony, Meyer Commission, June 12, 1975, 1629, FOIA request #110818, FOIA p. 000652.
5. State of New York, Executive Chamber, Press Release, September 15, 1971, Nelson A. Rockefeller gubernatorial records, Press Office, Series 25, New York (State), Governor (1959–1973: Rockefeller), Record Group 15, Box 49, Folder 1066, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York.
6. “Five Deadly Days,” reprinted from the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), Tom Wicker Papers, 25; Michael A. Baden and Judith Adler Hennessee, Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner (New York: Random House, 1989), 210.
7. John F. Edland, Monroe County Medical Examiner, Memorandum to Mr. Gordon Howe, Monroe County Manager, Subject: “Deaths from Attica Emergency,” September 22, 1971. Document in author’s possession.
8. “Five Deadly Days,” reprinted from the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), Tom Wicker Papers, 25.
9. John T. Edland, Autopsy of William Quinn, September 12, 1971, Autopsy #A-339-71.
10. Lawrence Van Gelder, “Worst Day of My Life,” New York Times, September 15, 1971.
11. Gene Richard Abbott, Testimony, Attica Task Force Hearing, May 9–10, 2002, Rochester, New York, 194–95.
12. “Five Deadly Days,” reprinted from the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), Tom Wicker Papers, 25.
13. Abbott, Testimony, Attica Task Force Hearing, May 9–10, 2002, 194–95.
14. Abbott, Testimony, Attica Task Force Hearing, May 9–10, 2002, 194–95.
15. Autopsy of John Monteleone (identified as #8), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-343-71. Other autopsies such as that of hostage John D’Arcangelo can also be found in the Ernest Goodman Collection. See: Dr. Abbott, Autopsy of John D’Arcangelo, Autopsy #A-347-71; and John D’Arcangelo, Death Certificate. All above from the Ernest Goodman Collection, Accession number 1152, Box 7, Walter Reuther Library.
16. Autopsy of John Monteleone (identified as #8), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-343-71; Dr. Abbott, Autopsy of John D’Arcangelo, Autopsy #A-347-71; John D’Arcangelo, Death Certificate.
17. Autopsy of Elliott J. Barkley (identified as Prisoner #17), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-355-71, in author’s possession.
18. Autopsy of Samuel Melville (identified as Prisoner #13), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-366-71, in author’s possession.
19. Ibid.
20. Edland Memorandum to Howe, September 22, 1971.
21. “Examiner Surprised by Attica,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), December 10, 1971.
22. Autopsy of Barry J. Schwartz (identified as Prisoner #22), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-351-71, in author’s possession.
23. Autopsy of Michael Privitera (identified as Prisoner #23), September 14, 1971, Autopsy #A-352-71, in author’s possession.
24. Abbott, Testimony, Attica Task Force Hearing, May 9–10, 2002, 194–95.
25. Edland Memorandum to Howe, September 22, 1971.
26. “Conflicting Reports from Inside,” Medical World News, 3, as quoted in: Jeremy Levenson, “Shreds of Humanity: The Attica Prison Uprising, the State of New York and ‘Politically Unaware’ Medicine,” Unpublished Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Department of Urban Studies, University of Pennsylvania, December 21, 2011, in author’s possession.
27. V. R. Mancusi, Superintendent, Western Union Telegram to Medical Examiners, John Edland, September 14, 1971.
28. News clipping, Rochester Times-Union, undated, in author’s possession.
29. Ibid.
30. “Conflicting Reports from Inside,” Medical World News, 3, as quoted in: Levenson, “Shreds of Humanity.”
31. Edland Memorandum to Howe, September 22, 1971.
32. Arthur Eve, Statement, Nelson A. Rockefeller Vice Presidential Confirmation Hearings, House of Representatives, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess., Congressional Record 120 (November 26, 1974), 300.
33. Whiteman, Testimony, Meyer Commission, June 12, 1975, 1610, FOIA request #110818, FOIA p. 000633.
34. “A Nation of Law? (1968–1971),” transcript, Eyes on the Prize, 1987.
35. “Amnesty: Governor Contradicted,” New York Post, September 15, 1971, Dorothy Schiff Papers, Box 4, New York Public Library.
36. Nelson Rockefeller, Deposition, Meyer Commission, August 8, 1975, Mineola, New York, 8681, FOIA request #110818 of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, FOIA p. 000428.
37. Gene Spagnoli, “Autopsies Leave Governor Silent,” New York Daily News, September 15, 1971, Dorothy Schiff Papers, Box 4, New York Public Library.
25. STEPPING BACK
1. Robert Douglass, Deposition, Meyer Commission, September 4, 1974, 17, FOIA request #110818, FOIA p. 000182.
2. John F. Edland, Monroe County Medical Examiner, Memorandum to Mr. Gordon Howe, Monroe County Manager, Subject: “Deaths from Attica Emergency,” September 22, 1971. Document in author’s possession.
3. Ibid.
4. Douglass, Deposition, Meyer Commission, September 4, 1974, 20, FOIA request #110818, FOIA p. 000185.
5. Ibid., FOIA p. 000675.
6. Ann Valone, conversation with author, October 17, 2004.
7. McCandlish Philips, “Semblance of Outward Normality Returns to Attica as Some Policemen Depart,” New York Times, September 16, 1971.
8. Michael Whiteman, Testimony, Meyer Commission, June 12, 1975, 1701, FOIA request #110818, FOIA p. 000685.
9. McKay Report, 459.
10. As partially quoted in Alton Slagle, “Medic: Guns Killed Hostages,” Daily News, September 15, 1971, and fully quoted in: Annette T. Rubenstein, “Attica, 1971–1975,” Pamphlet, Charter Group for a Pledge of Conscience, New York City, December 1975, 17. This fifty-eight-page detailed overview of the Attica rebellion and its implications was drafted by supporters and attorneys for the Attica prisoners indicted for their role in the Attica rebellion. The writing of this account seems to have been prompted by the po
ssibility that there might be renewed attention to the role that the New York State Police played in the retaking of Attica after revelations by Malcolm Bell (see part 8). In the New York State Coalition for Criminal Justice Records, 1971–1986, Series 9: Issues File, Box 1: Attica Aftermath, 1971–1974, Folder 1, M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, State University of New York, Albany, New York.
11. McKay Report, 459, 461.
12. Ibid.
13. Gene Spagnoli, “Autopsies Leave Governor Silent,” New York Daily News, September 15, 1971.
14. Conversation #571-1A (rmn_e571a), September 13, 1971, 12:37 p.m.–2:58 p.m., Oval Office, Present: Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, Alexander Haig, H. R. Haldeman, Nixon Tapes, 4:18.
15. Conversation #571-6 (rmn_e571b), September 13, 1971, 3:47 p.m.–4:16 p.m., Oval Office, Present: Richard Nixon, Clifford Hardin, Nixon Tapes, 10:38–10:54.
16. Conversation #571-1A (rmn_e571a), September 13, 1971, 12:37 p. m.–2:58 p.m., Oval Office, Present: Richard Nixon, Bob Dole, Alexander Haig, H. R. Haldeman, Nixon Tapes, 4:55–5:28.
17. Ibid., 5:29–5:34.
18. Conversation #277 (rmn_e277a), September 15, 1971, 1:05 p.m.–2:10 p.m. Executive Office Building, Present: Richard Nixon, H. R. Haldeman, Nixon Tapes, 58:00–59:00.
19. Ibid., 57:35–57:38.
20. Ibid., 58:13–58:29.
21. Ibid., 58:34–58:39.
22. “Amnesty: Governor Contradicted,” New York Post, September 15, 1971, Dorothy Schiff Papers, Box 4, New York Public Library.
23. Fred Ferretti, “Autopsies Show Shots Killed 9 Attica Hostages, Not Knives; State Official Admits Mistake,” New York Times, September 15, 1971; Stephen D. Isaacs, “NY Prison Head Says Gunshots Killed Hostages,” Washington Post, September 15, 1971.
24. Ferretti, “Autopsies Show Shots Killed 9 Attica Hostages, Not Knives”; Isaacs, “NY Prison Head Says Gunshots Killed Hostages.”
25. Rockefeller Administration, Confidential Memo, “Events at Attica: September 8–13, 1971,” 56.
26. Ibid.
27. Stephen D. Isaacs, “Attica Report: Whose Credibility Is in Question?,” Washington Post, September 13, 1971.
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