MILTON — Santa Rosa Correctional Institute did not deal with a riot situation during a weekend of nationwide planned protests over prison conditions.
There was no violence beyond “a handful of individuals” refusing to work on Friday, according to Florida Department of Corrections Director of Communications Michelle Grady.
The nationwide protest happened during the 45th anniversary of a Sept. 9, 1971 prison riot at Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York.
The Miami Herald reported Florida’s jails and state prisons were on high alert throughout the weekend.
The article said a revolt at Holmes Correctional Institution in Bonifay involved “more than 400 inmates, (and) caused damage to nearly every dorm during an uprising that lasted into the early morning.”
Grady said, over the weekend, two facilities went on lockdown in Florida: Gulf Annex Correctional Institution in Gulf County and Mayo Correctional Institution in Lafayette County. However, she said it was “quiet at Santa Rosa.”
"A very small number of inmates across the state peacefully refused to complete work assignments but it did not disrupt normal operation of the prisons," Grady said.
The SRCI has 1,272 inmates, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Santa Rosa Correctional ‘all quiet’ during protests