1974 Huntsville Prison siege

Prison riot in Huntsville, Texas September 2025 thumb|The Huntsville Unit, the location of the siege The 1974 Huntsville Prison siege was an eleven-day prison uprising that took place from July 24 to August 3, 1974, at the Huntsville Walls Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville, Texas. The standoff was one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in United States history. The siege occurred during a broader period of unrest in United States prisons during the 1970s, when concerns over inmate rights, overcrowding, and prison conditions contributed to a rise in violent incidents. Notable events such as the Attica Prison riotZuckerwise Lena Beyond Democracy: The Attica Prison Uprising 2024-07-02 Politics in Captivity 164–184 10.5422/fordham/9781531507022.003.0008 Fordham University Press 978-1-5315-0702-2 uprising drew national attention to correctional institutions and prompted increased public scrutiny of prison management practices. Similar disturbances were reported at facilities including Louisiana State Penitentiary,2025-12-12 Angola History: The Louisiana State Penitentiary https://legalclarity.org/angola-history-the-louisiana-state-penitentiary/ 2026-04-27 LegalClarity en-US where inmates protested living conditions. These developments contributed to ongoing debates over prison reform and institutional oversight during the decade and many following decades to come. Siege From July 24 to August 3, 1974, Federico "Fred" Gomez Carrasco and two other inmates laid siege to the education/library building of the Walls Unit. Fred Carrasco was a powerful heroin kingpin in South Texas who was serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of a police officer.http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/SeptOct2004/features_v12no1.html FY2004 Directory Texas Department of Criminal Justice 3 November 2004 2011-09-09 https://web.archive.org/web/20041107001209/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/maintoc/AnnualDirectoryFY04.pdf 2004-11-07 He was also suspected in the murder of dozens of people in Mexico and Texas. Having smuggled pistols and ammunition into the prison, he and two other convicts took eleven prison workers and four inmates hostage.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908631,00.html?iid=chix-sphere https://web.archive.org/web/20121024221355/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908631,00.html?iid=chix-sphere dead October 24, 2012 PRISONS: Blood Hostages TIME August 12, 1974 2011-09-09 The pistols were smuggled by a bribed prison worker who put three .357 magnum pistols in a can of ham. More than 300 rounds of ammunition were also smuggled inside cans of peaches.Murphy, Peña Stephen, Javier Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar St. Martin's Publishing Group November 12, 2019 When the one o'clock work bell sounded, Carrasco walked up a ramp to the third-story library and forced several prisoners out at gunpoint. When two guards tried to go up the ramp, Carrasco fired at them. His two accomplices, who were also armed, immediately joined him in the library. The prison warden and the director of the Texas Department of Corrections immediately began negotiations with the convicts. FBI agents and Texas Rangers arrived to assist them, as the media descended on Huntsville. Over the next several days the convicts made a number of demands, including tailored suits, dress shoes, toothpaste, cologne, walkie-talkies and bulletproof helmets, all of which were provided promptly. With the approval of Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe, an armored getaway car was provided and rolled into the prison courtyard. Carrasco claimed that they were planning to flee to Cuba and appeal to Fidel Castro. After a grueling eleven-day standoff, the convicts finally made their escape attempt just before 10 p.m. on Saturday, August 3, 1974. They moved out of the library toward the waiting vehicle in a makeshift shield consisting of legal books taped to mobile blackboards that were later dubbed by the press the "Trojan Taco". Inside the shield were the three convicts and four hostages, while eight other hostages ringed the exterior of the "taco". Acting on a prearranged plan, prison guards and Texas Rangers blasted the group with fire hoses. However, a rupture in the hose gave the convicts time to fatally shoot the two female hostages who had volunteered to join the convicts in the armored car. When prison officials returned fire, Carrasco and one of his two accomplices, Rodolpho Dominguez, were killed. Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, who was an onsite reporter for Houston's KPRC-TV at the time, later wrote, "It is a tragedy that two hostages died. It is a miracle all the rest lived."http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Harper.htm Nieman Robert Book Review: Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas by William T. Harper https://web.archive.org/web/20080624053840/http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Harper.htm 24 June 2008 Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazine 8 November 2023 The two female hostages who were killed during the incident were Yvonne Beseda and Julia Standley."Ignacio Cuevas https://web.archive.org/web/20110611191849/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/deathrow/executed/cuevas.jpg 2011-06-11 ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 4, 2010. In 1999 on the 25th anniversary of the siege, the Huntsville Unit Education Building where the siege occurred was renamed The Standley-Beseda Education Building with a renaming ceremony attended by members of the siege and families. The renaming was due to the efforts of the Huntsville Unit School principal, Dr. Gregory Gathright and the Unit Warden Jim Willett. The renaming process necessitated a resolution by the Texas Legislature required for any name change to a state-owned facility. The vote was unanimous for approval. Aftermath thumb|Cuevas was held at the Ellis Unit while on death row Ignacio Cuevas (July 31, 1931 – May 23, 1991), the surviving perpetrator, was convicted of capital murder in the death of Julia Standley. He was sentenced to death on May 30, 1975. Cuevas was held at the Ellis Unit, and he was executed on May 23, 1991. Cuevas's last meal request consisted of chicken dumplings, steamed rice, sliced bread, black-eyed peas, and iced tea."Final Meal Requests." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. October 1, 2003. Retrieved on December 4, 2010. Cuevas's last words were "I'm going to a beautiful place. O.K., warden, roll 'em.""Ignacio Cuevas Last Statement https://web.archive.org/web/20120626171201/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/dr_info/cuevasignaciolast.html 2012-06-26 ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 4, 2010. Cultural references Tex-Mex musician Joe "King" Carrasco (born Joe Teusch) adopted the drug king's surname. "When I was playing with the Mexican bands, they couldn't say Teusch," he says. "That was when Fred Carrasco had tried to break out of Huntsville back in 1974 with a big shootout. Carrasco was killed, so that week the Mexican guys said, "We're going to call you Carrasco."http://www.joeking.com/fans/bealarticle.htm JKC Articles 2008-07-15 https://web.archive.org/web/20081007021915/http://www.joeking.com/fans/bealarticle.htm 2008-10-07 dead Los Socios de San Antonio have a tribute song entitled "La Muerte de Fred Gomez Carrasco". The Riot and the "Trojan Taco" was also mentioned in the episode "The Reverse Midas Touch" during the 5th season of Orange Is the New Black, in a news segment in which a historian unfolds several prison riots and the fatal consequence prisoners typically face afterwards.https://www.netflix.com/watch/80124276?trackId=200257858 Orange Is the New Black Netflix Official Site www.netflix.com 2018-09-13 An upcoming film about the siege, Eleven Days, filmed in September 2025 in Huntsville. It is directed by Peter Landesman, based on the 2004 book Eleven Days in Hell: The 1974 Carrasco Prison Siege at Huntsville, Texas by William T. Harper, and stars Taylor Kitsch, Diego Luna, and Jason Isaacs.Brayden Garcia September 26, 2025 Casting call: 'Friday Night Lights' star's new movie is filming now in Texas https://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/fort-worth/article312275981.html Fort Worth Star-Telegram February 27, 2026 See also Texas Capital punishment in Texas Capital punishment in the United States List of people executed in Texas, 1990–1999 List of people executed in the United States in 1991 References External links "Texas Department of Criminal Justice: An Inventory of the Carrasco Tapes at the Texas State Archives, 1974." University of Texas Libraries. Texas Category:1974 crimes in the United States Category:1974 riots Category:Hostage taking in the United States Prison siege, 1974 Category:July 1974 in the United States Category:August 1974 in the United States Category:Prison riots in the United States Category:Riots and civil disorder in Texas Category:1974 in Texas Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Texas Category:Attacks on prisons and jails in the United States Category:Attacks on libraries Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1974 Category:1970s sieges Category:Sieges involving the United States Category:Armed standoffs in the United States Category:1970s crimes in Texas Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas