Trump directs Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. Can he do that?
President Trump mentioned Sunday that he was ordering the FBI to reopen the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary the historic prison on an island off of San Francisco that has been closed since REBUILD AND OPEN ALCATRAZ he wrote in a post on Truth Social When we were a more serious Nation in times past we did not hesitate to lock up the the majority dangerous criminals and keep them far away from anyone they could harm Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Once fortified with the goal of becoming the world s majority of secure prisons the authorities closed Alcatraz because it was too expensive to run costing three times as much as the greater part other federal prisons Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in a report posted Sunday to social media revealed that Trump s proposal is not a serious one Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago she wrote It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction Inmates included notorious gangsters Al Capone and George Machine Gun Kelly who had a history of prior escapes from prison In three of Alcatraz s prisoners escaped John Anglin his brother Clarence and Frank Morris who planted dummies in their beds climbed out via rooftop ventilators and launched a raft with the aims of passing the Bay They were never identified and multiple believe they did not survive Who controls Alcatraz As of Alcatraz has been owned by the National Park Facility The Golden Gate National Recreation Area which manages the island did not at once respond to a request for comment What s on the island now Since it has been open to the residents operating as a tourist destination and a museum looking back at its time as a federal penitentiary The annual Escape from Alcatraz Island is hosted on the island each year which requires a -mile swim through the Bay s choppy waters to the San Francisco shore The island is also popular with birdwatchers it hosts over birds including murres grebes and ducks
