Here’s What Happens in a Prison Riot

I had just heard a gunshot. I looked out the window of my cell. “What’s going on?” I wondered.

Some of the prison guards were being chased across the yard by inmates. One of the guards fell and got back up. With a scared look on his face, he ran to catch up with the rest. The guards got to the Intake Unit and then hurried in, slamming the door behind them. On the other side of the door, the inmates had looks of hate on their faces.

I hollered to my cellmate, “Hey, come look at this.”

He came over and looked out the window. “What is it? I see nothing.”

I told him what I had just seen. “Yeah, right,” he said.

Then I looked out again.

“Look now. There are a couple inmates trying to light the gazebo on fire out there,” I said.

He pushed me out of the way to look. “Holy shit!”

Next thing we knew, it smelled like smoke. “Something’s on fire!” I hollored.

Next we saw inmates trying to get into the Medical Unit. Then, responding to someone calling out from inside, they all backed away from the door, leaving one inmate on the ground, holding his leg. There was blood on his pants. The staff in Medical opened the door and dragged him inside. Then the door shut.

The smell of smoke kept growing stronger. I began to worry. My cellmate thought I was exaggerating because he hadn’t seen what had happened. He looked at me as if I was crazy, until the intercom came on and someone said there was a “major disturbance” and “complete takeover” of the prison. They stated that there were large fires that might make it hard to breathe. They announced that the mini-yard doors were open so, for our own safety, we should go there for fresh air.

That’s the last we heard from prison staff for the next 12 hours. Twelve hours of intense fear and confusion.

It started with inmates from other units coming into ours. They all had shirts and bandanas covering their faces. This unit was for protective custody inmates. Now there were inmates from the rest of the prison in here too. How could this happen?

One of them got on a table and yelled for our attention. Everything got silent. He stated that he was speaking for the rest of the prison. “Don’t try to interfere with what’s going on, and don’t try to be a hero,” he yelled. “Nobody will be hurt if you mind your own business and do what you’re told.”

He ordered other inmates to help him gather materials to start a fire. Within minutes, he had a huge pile of flammable junk that he lit on fire. Within minutes, it was a raging bonfire. The smoke was so intense, I had to cover my face with a wet shirt to breath.

Next thing I knew, I was watching as an inmate was being threatened by a group of angry prisoners. I heard the inmate tell them, “Let me put my shoes on first.” One of the angry prisoners came up behind him and sucker-punched him. The inmate turned around, saying, “What’s that for?” Then the prisoner who sucker-punched him grabbed a belt that he had nearby with a padlock attached. He swung it hard, hitting the inmate they were attacking in the face. The inmate fell down, then another guy started stomping on his neck and head. The inmate kept trying to get up but he couldn’t, due to the assault. After a while, the assaulted inmate got up again.

The guy with the weapon once again hit him in the face with it. He tried to get away. I noticed that his eyeball was hanging out of the socket, and blood was pouring out. The bone had been crushed, and the skin ripped open around the eye. Another guy who had been hanging around with the two who assaulted the guy grabbed a large piece of metal that had been torn loose from the pop machine and started trying to hit the injured man.

The guy who had assaulted the inmate with a weapon came up to me and told me that I’d better not tell on him or he would break my jaw the next time he saw me. I took this threat seriously. Even though I thought I could beat him in a fight, I didn’t let my guard down.

Over the next several hours, it was complete chaos. People were coming in and out of our unit through the window on the door and through the fence in our mini-yard. The window on the door had been melted by fire and a metal book cart pushed through the glass to push it out. There was jagged glass around the edges, so blankets and sheets had been folded up and placed around it to prevent cuts when people crawled through.

People were breaking into the case manager’s office so they could access inmates’ files to see who was cooperating with law enforcement and prison staff. People were destroying cameras in the unit.

At times, I didn’t know if I would make it through the riot. The smoke was so bad that it was hard to breathe. The water sprinklers had gone off, flooding the whole unit.

I noticed that groups of inmates had locked themselves in cells. There were cells with 10 or more guys crammed into them. They were scared, and with good reason. If the prison staff weren’t able to prevent this from happening, you had no reason to believe you were safe in this place. And if you were to let your guard down at a time like this, you were most likely not of sound mind.

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I went to the window in the damaged door of the unit because someone kept having people come get me. The guy who wanted to talk to me was someone I once knew to be a friend. He came to tell me to come out there with him. I said no. He then told me that if I didn’t come out there now, not to ever come back out. I took that as a threat from him and the guys on the yard that once dictated what I do. Before he left to join in the chaos again, he said, “You have no reason to be back here.”

I was trying to change my life at the time. And in general population, around the guys who I was once accepted by, I couldn’t do that. That way of life had gotten me nowhere, and I wanted no part of it any more. I allowed myself to be influenced by negative prison culture and criminal lifestyles, and had finally realized that I didn’t want to be that way any more, and now I had to do something to separate myself from it the best I could. That’s why I chose to go into protective custody.

As I was at the window, I heard loud screams coming from unit 2A in the building. That was where I used to live. Someone was screaming, “Help! Help! Help!” Then he went silent.

The next morning, the Special Emergency Response Team took control of the prison again. They came in with weapons, shields, and helmets or masks. Man, was I relieved to know that I would be safe and this part of my nightmare was over. Lots of people were taken to the hole [solitary], and we were all interviewed. Later, I found out that the guy screaming for help had been murdered along with his friend.

Because of what happened in the aftermath of the riot at TSCI (Tecumseh State Correctional Institution), I made several new enemies due to trying to help the guy who was assaulted and make sure that nothing like it would ever happen again. A lot of people who didn’t deserve to be hurt could have been, and this could have been prevented.

A lot has changed since this riot in TSCI. But there’s still danger in prisons. I have never been able to think the same since experiencing this trauma. And I hope to never experience the likes of it again. I’m very careful in prison now, because you never know when you’ll be put in a bad spot for one reason or another.

I understand that prison isn’t supposed to be fun or make you comfortable, but you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety if you’re not in prison for disgusting or vicious crimes.

I believe that rehabilitation starts with wanting to change. Even if you are given the tools to change, you have to choose to use them to get better. Change for the good doesn’t usually happen overnight, but you can do it if you really want to, and you can live  a better life.

I have been released since this riot, and I’m now back on a new sentence. I made the choice to run on foot from the cops when they approached me. I was traumatized by my past experience of prison and thought I was going back. I got scared and broke someone’s door to hide, and was found by a dog. I was charged with burglary and sentenced to 16-18 years. I have been incarcerated since April 2019. I will be eligible for parole in July 2027, and I finish my sentence in May 2028. I intend to be in work release by next summer.

Kacey Maret #211735
OCC

P.O. Box 11099
Omaha, NE 68111

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