Donald Trump’s Alcatraz plan may have come from a re-run of a classic Clint Eastwood movie
In just over 100 days of eye-opening Trump declarations, the US President’s plan to turn Alcatraz back into a federal prison stands out.
The decidedly left-field idea to return inmates to the decades-closed tourist attraction seemingly came from nowhere. Or did it?
Trump revealed a plan over the weekend to rebuild and expand the notorious island prison, now a historic landmark known as “The Rock” and operated by the US government’s National Park Service.
It’s “just an idea I’ve had,” the President said on his return to the White House from Florida.
“We need law and order in this country. So we’re going to look at it.”
Coincidentally, television station WLRN, which services South Florida – including Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago – aired a rerun of the 1979 Clint Eastwood classic movie Escape From Alcatraz over the weekend.
According to Hollywood Reporter, the movie, based on the prison’s most famous breakout, aired Saturday night and then again Sunday morning – just hours before Trump took to social media and raised his plan to return Alcatraz to a high-security fortress.
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“For too long America has been plagued by vicious, violent and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm … That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ,” he said.
The White House has so far declined to comment on whether Trump’s Alcatraz idea came from watching Escape From Alcatraz.
US Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall has said he would vigorously pursue the President’s agenda and was looking at next steps.
The unescapable island
Escape from Alcatraz was based on the real-life 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt.
Escape from Alcatraz is based on a real-life prison break. Photo: Paramount Pictures
On the night of June 11, 1962, inmates Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and his brother John Anglin placed papier-mâché model heads into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and left the island on an improvised inflatable raft.
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The three were never found, and in 1979, the FBI officially concluded that they drowned in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay.
Regardless of the source of the idea, the legions of visitors to the island prison have summarily rejected the Trump plan.
Once nearly impossible to leave, Alcatraz can be difficult to get to because of competition for tickets.
The prison held fewer than 300 inmates at a time before it was closed in 1963, and draws roughly 1.2 million tourists per year.
“It’s a waste of money,” said visitor Ben Stripe from Santa Ana, California.
“After walking around and seeing this place and the condition it’s in, it is just way too expensive to refurbish.”
“It’s not feasible to have somebody still live here,” agreed Cindy Lacomb from Phoenix, Arizona, who imagined replacing all the metal in the cells and rebuilding the crumbling concrete.
The former prison attracts roughly 1.2 million tourists per year. Photo: Wikimedia
The sprawling site is in disrepair, with peeling paint and rusting locks and cell bars. Signs reading “Area closed for your safety” block off access to many parts of the grounds. Chemical toilets sit next to permanent restrooms closed off for repair.
The former home of Al Capone and other notable inmates was known for tough treatment, including pitch-black isolation cells. It was billed as America’s most secure prison given the island location, frigid waters and strong currents.
It was closed because of high operating costs. The island also was claimed by Native American activists in 1969, an act of civil disobedience acknowledged by the National Park Service.
Mike Forbes, visiting from Pittsburgh, said it should remain a part of history.
“I’m a former prison guard and rehabilitation is real. Punishment is best left in the past,” Forbes said.
