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One of Alcatraz's last living inmates on Trump's plan to reopen prison
BBC News ^ | May 11, 2025 | By Madeline Halpert, Lily Jamali

Posted on 05/11/2025 5:55:34 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

When Charlie Hopkins thinks back to the three years he spent in one of America's most famous prisons, he remembers the "deathly quiet" the most.

In 1955, Hopkins was sent to Alcatraz - a famed prison on an isolated island off the coast of San Francisco - after causing trouble at other prisons to serve a 17-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery.

Falling asleep at night in his cell on the remote island, he said, the only sound was the whistle of ships passing.

Now 93 and living in Florida, Hopkins said the San Francisco National Archives informed him that he is likely the last surviving former Alcatraz inmate.

Although it closed decades ago, US President Donald Trump recently claimed that he wants to re-open it as a federal prison.

Alcatraz "represents something very strong, very powerful" - law and order, Trump said.

But experts and historians said Trump's proposal to re-establish the prison is far-fetched, as it would cost billions to repair and bring up to date with other federal facilities.

Hopkins agrees. "It would be so expensive," he said.

"Back then, the sewage system went into the ocean," he added. "They'd have to come up with another way of handling that."

But the avid Trump supporter said he does not believe the president's proposal is serious.

"He don't really want to open that place," Hopkins said, adding that Trump was trying to "get a point across to the public" about punishing criminals and those who enter the US illegally.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: History; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: alcatraz
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To: Az Joe

Nothing but a thorn in the side of Fidel Castro.

It was a way station for Haitian immigrants for awhile. Then came the terrorists.


81 posted on 05/11/2025 9:33:08 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: UnwashedPeasant

Read the article, it wasn’t his stint in Alcatraz in the 1950s that changed him and who knows what changes he went through since he left prisons in 1963, or if his basic politics have ever changed during his life.


82 posted on 05/11/2025 9:41:32 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: DIRTYSECRET

You are an ignoramus on GTMO. I was there in ‘72.


83 posted on 05/11/2025 10:41:11 AM PDT by Az Joe (uired to.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

He is an “avid Trump supporter!”


84 posted on 05/11/2025 11:57:41 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: SmokingJoe

I would like to them suffer a while first.


85 posted on 05/11/2025 12:29:25 PM PDT by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: SmokingJoe

Transforming that facility will probably require demolishing the structures on the island and constructing just about everything anew. When it was last used in 1962, there was no Federal Environmental Protection law in force; that law was implemented in 1971. It requires an EIS on any public project of that magnitude. If they were dumping waste into the Bay during its operational history, they would either have to construct sewage treatment facilities on the island or an under-the-Bay pipeline to connect to one of the nearby jurisdictions. To get permits for construction, you have to file an EIS, and in California, many activist groups are well practiced in blocking or delaying power generation facilities and other infrastructure projects for decades by suing over the adequacy/inadequacy of the EIS. This would face the same fate, which would never be completed in his presidency or the first (or second) term of JD Vance. Is that clear enough?


86 posted on 05/11/2025 1:01:31 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: Political Junkie Too

But they’d escape by beaming out like Kirk and McCoy.


87 posted on 05/11/2025 1:08:56 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Build a new prison in Death Valley.


88 posted on 05/11/2025 1:10:38 PM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“Back then, the sewage system went into the ocean,” he added. “They’d have to come up with another way of handling that.”
= = =

Well then, just don’t feed the inmates.


89 posted on 05/11/2025 3:54:17 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (Running Rampant, and not endorsing nonsense; My pronoun is EXIT. And I am generally full of /S)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

If bringing it up to date means adding creature comforts for the prisoners, forget it!


90 posted on 05/11/2025 8:08:26 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Finish the damned WALL! TRUTH is the new HATE fSPEECH! )
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