By Alex Goldsmith
KRQE
SANTA FE — February 2, 1980 was a day New Mexicans who were alive to see it can’t forget.
Inmates took over the old New Mexico State Penitentiary south of Santa Fe, taking guards hostage. 33 prisoners died during the ensuing chaos, many brutally. But 35 years later, there are many who never learned what happened in the now-shuttered prison.
“I grew up here all my life I’ve been living here for pretty much almost 18 years and this is actually the first I’m hearing of it,” said Steve Henderson, a Corrections cadet. That’s exactly why Henderson and his fellow cadets were brought to the old prison on the big anniversary.
“What a day to couch the realities of what they’re walking into,” said Gregg Marcantel, New Mexico Corrections secretary. “They also need to understand the importance of what today represents because what today represents is how things can get unbalanced if we don’t have good characters serving in this job.”
Full story: Deadly prison riot a lesson for future guards