1971 Kingston Penitentiary riot

Prison riot in Kingston Penitentiary, Canada September 2023 December 2024 December 2024 December 2024 The Kingston Penitentiary riot of 1971 was a prison riot that took place, leaving 2 inmates dead at Kingston Penitentiary, in Ontario, Canada, between 14 and 18 April 1971. Background Kingston Penitentiary had been opened on 1 June 1835 and was the oldest prison in Canada.Fogarty 2021 18 The federal prison was widely considered to be the harshest prison in Canada and in 1971 it held 641 prisoners.Fogarty 2021 26 A journalist, Ron Tripp, who visited Kingston penitentiary wrote: "As soon you walked in, you had a sense that society had crushed and defeated you. It was a human warehouse of death, decay and horror. Many inmates died of murder and suicide within its walls".Fogarty 2021 26 Prisoners were not permitted to speak outside of their cells. Solitary confinement was frequently used as a punishment for inmates.Fogarty 2021 29 At the center of the prison was the dome and in the middle of the dome was a gigantic brass bell that was much hated by the inmates, whose ringing determined everything in a prisoner's life from being woken up at 6:45 am to going to bed at 10:30 pm.Fogarty 2021 27 & 30 Roger Caron, a prisoner at Kingston turned writer wrote about the bell that was rung 100 times every day: "To the cons it was an object of repugnance and outrage, an unjustifiable punishment. A brass monster that we were convinced had been designed solely to shatter our nerves with its loud and strident ringing. For the prison staff it was the golden cow".Caron 1978 36 Caron complained that in 1971 Kingston penitentiary was still governed by "archaic" Victorian rules under which the prisoners were punished by 30 days in solitary confinement if caught masturbating.Caron 1985 129 The cells were equipped with peep-holes to allow the guards to see if the prisoners were masturbating and many of the prisoners sent to solitary confinement were only guilty of masturbation.Caron 1985 129 Around the circular dome were 640 cells stacked up on four floors.Fogarty 2021 26 The cells in Kingston penitentiary were small, cold, drafty, minimally furnished and overrun by rats.Fogarty 2021 27–28 Starting in 1966, most of the privileges enjoyed by the prisoners such as a baseball team, writing for a prison magazine, and almost all recreational programs were abolished.Fogarty 2021 33 In 1968, the Liberal Party under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau won the election of that year under the slogan of the "Just Society". The implication of the "Just Society" platform was that Canada was an unjust society that needed sweeping social reforms, which led to hopes in Kingston penitentiary that the new government would change conditions in the prison. However, the new Trudeau government to counter criticism that it was "soft on crime" made conditions in the prisons even harsher.Fogarty 2021 33 For an example, starting in 1948, the prisoners were permitted to write for and publish a magazine, KP Telescope, which allowed the lesser educated prisoners to learn how to read and write.Fogarty 2021 32 In 1969, the Trudeau government abolished KP Telescope under the grounds that the prisoners did not need a magazine to read.Fogarty 2021 33 The prisoners were not allowed to bring in magazines and the loss of KP Telescope was much resented as depriving the prisoners of their main reading material.Fogarty 2021 33 The combination of a Liberal government whose rhetoric promised a "Just Society" for all vs. the steadily more harsher conditions at Kingston penitentiary made for a volatile mood in the prison.Fogarty 2021 33 Caron charged that the lack of recreational programs was the main reason for the riot as he wrote: "Kingston Penitentiary was one of the few federal institutions that still insisted on keeping the prisoners dead-locked in cages for as long as eighteen hours a day for no better reason than punishment".Caron 1985 61 By the fall of 1970, more and more prisoners were punished by being sent to solitary confinement as the overcrowding at the prison led to tensions between the prisoners, which were often resolved by making accusations to the Warden, Arthur Jarvis of being "trouble-makers".Caron 1985 60 The increasing use of solitary confinement as a discipline tool in 1970-1971 led to an increase in suicides at the prison as many prisoners could not face more solitary confinement.Caron 1985 60–61 It also led to angry mood with many of the prisoners willing to risk all by lashing out against a system that they believed to be oppressing them.Caron 1985 60–61 On 18 January 1971, Warden Arthur Jarvis wrote to Paul Faguy, the commissioner of penitentiaries, where he warned: "There is a high degree of tension at Kingston Penitentiary at this time. In fact it appears to be almost at the point of explosion".Fogarty 2021 35 Jarvis complained that Kingston penitentiary was overcrowded, there were shortages of guards and many of the inmates feared that new prison of Millhaven would be more harsh, making for a volatile mood.Fogarty 2021 35 In 1963, the federal government started construction of a new prison at Millhaven to replace Kingston Penitentiary, which was intended to be a high-technology prison that would be impossible to escape from that would house 1, 350 inmates.Fogarty 2021 36–37 Rumors were rift at Kingston Penitentiary that the new prison of Millhaven, which was intended to be opened later in 1971, would be more harsh than Kingston Penitentiary.Fogarty 2021 38 The most hated prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary were the "undesirables" held in the 1-D range.Fogarty 2021 68–69 The "undesirables" (a term used by both the guards and prisoners) in the 1-D range were generally child molesters, rapists, child killers and police informers.Fogarty 2021 68–69 However, there were exceptions. Richard Moore was not a sex offender, but rather a 21-year old automobile thief in Port Coquitlam who had received an 18-month sentence in prison for stealing a car in 1968.Fogarty 2021 230 After an escape attempt in 1969, Moore had received six years in prison and was sent to Kingston penitentiary.Fogarty 2021 230 As Moore was a very attractive young man, many of the other prisoners at Kingston penitentiary had wanted to rape him, which led him to ask in February 1970 to transferred to the 1-D range for his own safety as he was afraid to use the communal showers.Fogarty 2021 141 Because Moore lived in the 1-D wing, he was widely assumed to be a child molester.Fogarty 2021 141 Within the general population of Kingston Penitentiary, younger prisoners, especially those considered physically attractive, were known as "sweet kids" who were given the option of becoming the lover of an older prisoner known as a "wolf" who would provide him with cigarettes, chocolates and protection from the other prisoners in exchange for sex.Fogarty 2021 70 A "wolf" prisoner was generally heterosexual outside of prison, but homosexual inside prison.Fogarty 2021 70 A "sweet kid" who refused the offer to become the lover of a "wolf" was considered to be fair game and would be beaten and/or raped for their defiance.Fogarty 2021 70 Rape is an act of violence, not sex, and as such the general population prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary despite their hatred of rapist prisoners would engage in rape as a form of domination against weaker prisoners. The best known "wolf" at Kingston Penitentiary in 1971 was Harold St. Amour who served as the resident bookie for illegal gambling, which made him a relatively well off prisoner, who used his wealth to purchase several "sweet Kids".Fogarty 2021 72 One of St. Amour's lovers was Ralph Lake, an young man convicted of rape who was placed under St. Amour's protection, allowing Lake to work as a mailroom clerk despite living in the 1-D range.Fogarty 2021 72 Riot begins William "Billy" Knight, the prison barber, had starting planning an uprising to protest conditions at Kingston penitentiary sometime in March 1971.Fogarty 2021 39–40 At 10:30 pm, 14 April 1971, the bell rang which indicated that the prisoners' were to leave the recreational hall and return to their cells.Fogarty 2021 39 Knight along with his followers Brian Doge, Charles Saunders, Robert Adams, Allan Lafreniere and Leo Barrieault took their places in the line-up together.Fogarty 2021 40 Knight was held in the 4-B range, but the other prisoners who joined them in the line-up had swapped places with inmates from different ranges.Fogarty 2021 39–40 When one of the guards, Terry Decker, having noticed that Knight's shirt was not tucked in, he ordered Knight to tuck it in.Fogarty 2021 40 Knight who feared that his plan was coming apart, punched Decker in the stomach.Fogarty 2021 40 Knight shouted "That's the last fucking order you're going to give!"Fogarty 2021 40 Saunders seized the keys from Decker while Dodge, Barrieault, Lafreniere and Adams raced into the dome before the guards shut the gate.Fogarty 2021 41 Dodge tackled a guard, Donald Flynn while Lafreniere attacked another guard Ed Barrett.Fogarty 2021 42 One guard, Joseph Vallier, froze up with fear and did nothing.Fogarty 2021 42 Another two guards, Douglas Dale and Kerry Bushell, were overpowered and taken hostage.Fogarty 2021 42 Within a few minutes, Knight's followers had seized control of the dome and taken Barret, Vallier, Flynn, Dale, Bushell and Decker hostage.Fogarty 2021 43 Using the keys he seized, Knight started to open all of the cells.Fogarty 2021 53 Knight, who had a Messiah complex, gave a speech saying: "Brothers! Our time has come to shake off the shackles. We've taken control of the dome and we've got six hostages. You will all be released from your cells".Fogarty 2021 53 The first act of the prisoners was to smash the much hated bell.Fogarty 2021 54 An attempt to take control of the kitchen was unsuccessful and the inmates turned back after a guard fired a warning shot with his shotgun.Fogarty 2021 54 The hostages were moved to a safe location. Caron wrote: "They knew the value of healthy pawns, knew that without them the authorities were certain to machine-gun their way inside the main cellblock, a dreadful outcome that would have left a lot of people dead".Caron 1985 115 To keep order, Knight created an inmate "police force".Caron 1985 55 Assigned to the inmate police were Brian Beaucage, Barrie MacKenzie and Wayne Ford.Fogarty 2021 55 Caron wrote that Beaucage, McKenzie and Ford were the three toughest prisoners at Kingston penitentiary who were all "natural leaders" and were "not to be fucked with" by the other inmates.Fogarty 2021 91 Knight in a speech rejected calls to kill the hostages, saying: "Brothers! Brothers! Let's not give the pigs the satisfaction of finding a reason to label us as animals to the world. We need the public's support and we won't get it by creating a bloodbath".Fogarty 2021 58 Upon hearing of the riot, Jarvis ordered all off-duty guards to return and for the guards to be armed with rifles and shotguns from the prison amoury.Fogarty 2021 62 Jarvis went to the Keeper's Hall where he spoke on the telephone with Knight.Hennessy 1999 102 In a tense stand-off in the gymnasium, Knight met with Jarvis and demanded that he allow the prisoners in the gymnasium who had forced against the wall at gunpoint to be allowed to return to the dome, saying that otherwise he would kill one of the hostages.Fogarty 2021 64 Jarvis accepted Knight's demand and all 64 prisoners in the gymnasium were allowed to return.Fogarty 2021 64 One 1-D range prisoner who expressed much fear of the uprising was Brian Ensor, known as "the Camel" to the other prisoners.Fogarty 2021 73 Ensor was an immature man of "subnormal intelligence" and a pedophile.Fogarty 2021 73 Ensor, a child-like man who seemed incapable of understanding why it was wrong to be sexually attracted to children, was serving a life sentence for raping two young girls, both under the age of 10, after he was convicted in 1962.Fogarty 2021 73 Two psychiatrists testified at this trial that Ensor was unable to control his sexual urges against children and would rape again if released.Fogarty 2021 73 Two prisoners chased after Ensor and tried to throw him to his death from the third floor.Fogarty 2021 74 Ensor was saved by McKenzie who told the two men to stop and as McKenzie was a prisoner whom no-one wanted to fight, the two men released him.Fogarty 2021 74 Knight and McKenzie forced Ensor into a cell for his own protection.Fogarty 2021 74 Ensor kept crying and screaming that he did not want to be at Kingston penitentiary and was afraid for his life, leading Knight and McKenzie to tell him to stay in his cell for his own safety.Fogarty 2021 74 The prisoners celebrated their freedom by going on an orgy of destruction and vandalism.Fogarty 2021 68 The prisoners in the 1-D range, which housed the child molesters, were markedly afraid of being killed by the other inmates.Fogarty 2021 68 Knight ordered that the 1-D prisoners be left alone, but several prisoners ignored him and flooded the 1-D range with a fire hose.Fogarty 2021 71 The prisoners had been forced to attend church services every Sunday morning and the Protestant and Catholic chapels in Kingston penitentiary were sacked and smashed up with a particular venom.Fogarty 2021 75–76 The prisoners had long wanted to subscribe to the Playboy pornographic magazine, but the Catholic prison chaplain had successfully lobbied the Crown to make Playboy illegal in Kingston penitentiary under the grounds that it would "rot" minds and "lead to masturbation".Caron 1985 129 For this reason, the Catholic chapel was smashed with a special ferocity.Caron 1985 129 Negotiations On the morning of 15 April, Knight met again with Jarvis to demand that he provide the inmates with food and coffee, saying that otherwise he could not guarantee the lives of the hostages.Fogarty 2021 78 The guards taken hostage had to sleep on the floor in a cold and damp cell while being kept awake by the constant clanging of metal bars across the railings, which was a recurring theme of the riot as the inmates loved the sound of metal clanging across metal.Fogarty 2021 78 Of the hostages, Donald Flynn-a guard hated by the prisoners-was convinced that he would be killed at any moment; Joseph Vallier, a married man with five children was likewise in a state of hysteria at the prospect of his murder; Terry Decker was consumed with guilt as the keys to the cells had been taken from him; and Kerry Bushell who was just married was convinced that he would never see his wife Elaine again.Fogarty 2021 68–69 Ed Barrret, the oldest and the most experienced of the guards taken hostage was fearful that he would die of a heart attack caused by the stress of being taken hostage.Fogarty 2021 68 Maloney insisted on being allowed to speak to a hostage as he wanted to know that the hostages were indeed alive.Fogarty 2021 78–79 The hostage Ed Barrett was placed on the phone with Maloney.Fogarty 2021 79 Barret was then allowed to speak to his wife who at first refused to believe she was speaking to her husband and screamed "you've killed my husband!" as her husband's voice had become faint.Fogarty 2021 79 Finally, Barrett described their daughter's bedroom, which led his wife to exclaim "my husband's alive!"Fogarty 2021 79 Knight then allowed Jarvis to speak with Barrett who advised accepting the demands, saying he and the other hostages were being well treated, but that could easily change.Fogarty 2021 78–79 Barrett stated that Knight would order the murders of the hostages if his demands were not met, leading for Knight to take the phone and say "think about what you heard".Fogarty 2021 79 Knight placed a phone call to a journalist, Gerry Retzer, to announce that he was now in control of the prison.Fogarty 2021 80–81 At 10:45 am, Knight hosted a press conference where he read out his demands to the media.Fogarty 2021 83–85 Knight told the media: "We're sick of being zombies!"Fogarty 2021 84 Knight demanded that a citizens committee be formed to mediate the crisis, saying that he did not trust the Crown to negotiate in good faith.Fogarty 2021 87 Both Faguy, and the Solicitor-General, Jean-Pierre Goyer, rejected the demand for a citizens committee.Fogarty 2021 88 Henry Champ, a television reporter from Toronto along his camera crew were allowed by Knight to enter the prison.Fogarty 2021 91 After touring the prison, Champ reported that the hostages were not being abused and "it was like a school without teachers".Fogarty 2021 93 Fearing for the lives of the hostages, the Crown reversed itself on the question of a citizens committee.Fogarty 2021 94 Some of the people requested for the citizens' committee were unrealistic such as the actor Paul Newman and the boxer Muhammad Ali.Fogarty 2021 84 The committee consisted of Desmond Morton, a feisty Irish immigrant who served as a law professor at the University of Toronto; Ron Haggart, the crime correspondent of the Toronto Telegram newspaper; Aubrey Golden, a Toronto lawyer and a columnist for the Daily Toronto Star newspaper; Arthur Martin, a noted Toronto lawyer; and William Donkin a lawyer from York Region.Fogarty 2021 94–95, 98 In Ottawa, Goyer along with the deputy solicitor-general, Ernest Côté, briefed the cabinet.Fogarty 2021 107 The Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, had just married Margaret Sinclair and was on his honeymoon in the West Indies.Fogarty 2021 107 The acting prime minister, Edgar Benson, chaired the meeting in the absence of Trudeau.Fogarty 2021 107 Côté told the cabinet that the hostages were not in danger at present, but the prisoners would almost certainly kill the hostages if any attempt was made to storm Kingston penitentiary.Fogarty 2021 107 Goyer was especially opposed to the citizens committee and above all to Haggart, whom he noted was the crime correspondent for the Conservative Toronto Telegram that was stoutly opposed to the Liberal Trudeau government.Fogarty 2021 108 Goyer believed that Haggart would use the crisis in some way to embarrass the Trudeau government and wanted Haggart removed from the citizens' committee.Fogarty 2021 108 Goyer spoke in favor of the rejection of Knight's demands and recommended the use of force to end the uprising.Fogarty 2021 107 The cabinet agreed to deploy the Canadian Army and that if the uprising had not ended by noon on 18 April, the Army would storm the prison.Fogarty 2021 108 The cabinet gave permission for the soldiers of the Royal Canadian Regiment to use lethal force and to shoot to kill if any resistance was encountered.Fogarty 2021 108 Goyer wanted a group of prison guards armed with shotguns to storm the prison at once, saying the prisoners would not kill the hostages if confronted by force, but his advice was rejected by the cabinet under the grounds that time was needed to provide a peaceful resolution for the crisis.Fogarty 2021 108 Six months before, in October 1970 during the October Crisis the Trudeau government had invoked the War Measures Act, which suspended all civil liberties and the freedom of the press in Canada and led to the military being deployed on the streets of Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. Goyer was keen on a military solution to the crisis to prove that the government treated all challenges to authority equally and feared that to not use force at Kingston Penitentiary would lead to accusations that the Trudeau government was anti-Quebec. The citizens committee met with Knight and told him that his demand for total immunity for all those involved in the riot was unrealistic.Fogarty 2021 108–109 Donkin promised that the committee would ensure that if anyone were charged as a result of their actions, he would ensure that they would be represented by good lawyers.Fogarty 2021 110 Haggart and Martin were flown to Ottawa abroad a Canadian Army helicopter to meet with Goyer and Côté.Fogarty 2021 113 Goyer told Haggart and Martin that the Crown would not grant any pardons and that Knight would have to drop that demand.Fogarty 2021 113–114 On the evening of 16 April, the soldiers of the Royal Canadian Regiment were deployed outside of Kingston penitentiary and placed a barbed wire fence around the prison along with snipers with orders to shoot to kill should any inmates attempt to escape.Fogarty 2021 114 In his 1985 memoir of the riot, Bingo!, Caron emphatically denied the claims made by the media at the time that there was a massive number of homosexual gang rapes during the riot as he declared: "No rapes occurred during the riot. Any convict caught committing such an act would have been torn apart by the prison population in much the same fashion as an undesirable [prisoner slang for a child molester] would have been treated. Of course there was sex during the riot, but only among willing parties. If a blanket was hung over the door of a cell you didn't go in".Fogarty 2021 111 Caron wrote that: "Two notorious drag queens wasted no time in settling up business on the first floor of B-block by closing off the front of their drums [cells] with blankets".Caron 1985 128 The news media ran stories that accused the rioting prisoners of "unbelievable atrocities".Caron 1985 161 Caron wrote that from listening to their transistor radios that: "When we heard all the ugly lies of sodomy and mutilation over the radio a lot of convicts became so enraged that they wanted to cut the tongues out of the hostages so that their comrades really would have reason to wag theirs".Caron 1985 161 The citizens committee met again with Knight, whose patently unrealistic demands soon began to annoy them.Fogarty 2021 117–118 Knight's grandiose sense of his own self-importance and an unwillingness to compromise as he preferred to grandstand made a poor impression on the committee.Fogarty 2021 117–118 By contrast, the committee came to have much respect for McKenzie, whose common sense and cool, calm demeanor impressed them.Fogarty 2021 117–118 During the talks, McKenzie snapped at Knight: "We don't want your ping-pong prizes. Most of your grievances are silly. The object is to get the guys out of here".Fogarty 2021 118 McKenzie forced Knight to concede that there would be no amnesty, but in exchange promised the citizens committee that he would have the hostages freed in exchange for prisoners not being transferred to Millhaven.Fogarty 2021 118–119 The citizens committee spoke with John Maloney, the regional director of prisons in eastern Ontario, who agreed to accept McKenzie's terms.Fogarty 2021 120 The citizens committee believed that the crisis would end, but were undercut by a speech that Goyer gave where he announced that the Crown would not make any deals with Knight.Fogarty 2021 120 The prisoners' were aware of Goyer's speech by listening to their transistor radios.Fogarty 2021 121 Turn towards violence Knight made a speech, but was rudely interrupted by Beaucage who stormed onto the stage to scream at Knight "you're full of shit!".Fogarty 2021 122 The incident marked the collapse of Knight's authority.Fogarty 2021 127 MacKenzie wanted to surrender to save lives, but was opposed by Beaucage who preferred a bloodbath.Fogarty 2021 129 Caron wrote about Beaucage's demands that: "What was building up inside the dome was a mass suicide pact orchestrated by the insane element".Fogarty 2021 123 In an attempt to build trust, Morton visited the prison and issued a statement for the media that declared "the hostages are safe, in good health and are not being threatened".Fogarty 2021 113 The frequent claims being made in the media that the inmates were engaged in physical and sexual abuse of the hostages led to intense public pressure that the Royal Canadian Regiment storm the penitentiary and Morton's statement was intended to defuse such demands.Fogarty 2021 113 Goyer who was intent upon a military solution to the crisis vetoed Morton's statement being issued to the media.Fogarty 2021 133 When the prison guards started to hack at the barricaded wooden door to create an opening for a fire hose in case the inmates should set fire to the prison, the inmates assumed it was the beginning of an assault.Fogarty 2021 136 The cry went out "the army is coming! the army is coming!" and the inmates began to prepare a defense by smashing the lightbulbs, picking up their makeshift weapons', and placed mattresses against the door.Fogarty 2021 136 MacKenzie admonished the inmates as he shouted: "For fuck's sake, you guys better get with it or a lot of us are going to die".Fogarty 2021 136 MacKenzie advised the inmates that it was time to surrender as it was only a matter before the Royal Canadian Regiment stormed the prison, and given that the soldiers had guns while the inmates did not, such a battle could only end with a massive loss of life.Fogarty 2021 136 At that point, David Shepley shouted with a megaphone: "Nobody is giving up the pigs! No more talking, it's time to fight! We're calling the shots from now on. Ain't nobody giving up!"Fogarty 2021 136 Standing next to Shepley was Beaucage, who menacingly had a steel pipe in his hand.Fogarty 2021 136 MacKenzie went to meet the citizens committee, saying the mood was very dangerous in the prison as Shepley and Beacuage were on the brink of doing something reckless and that he needed a concession to sell the other inmates on surrender.Fogarty 2021 137 Taking advantage of MacKenzie's absence, Shepley shouted "the fun is about to begin!" and led a group into the 1-B range with the intention of killing the hostages.Fogarty 2021 138 The hostages were guarded by the 6'3 Ford, an inmate that no-one wanted to fight.Fogarty 2021 138–139 Instead, Beaucage, Shepley and a number of other prisoners turned their attention to the inmates of the 1-D range.Fogarty 2021 139 The inmates of the 1-D range were dragged out tied into chairs and placed in a circle.Fogarty 2021 139 Three of the 1-D prisoners, namely Ralph Lake, Melvin Travis, and Ron McCorkel were found hiding in St. Amour's cell.Fogarty 2021 140 Shepley and his followers seized Travis and McCorkel while Lake ran down the hallway, but was captured by Beaucage.Fogarty 2021 140 Beaucage organized a kangaroo court that sentenced 16 "undesirable" prisoners to death.Edwards 2013 181 The "master of the ceremonies" was Shepley who used a megaphone to ask of the assembled prisoners "what shall we do gentleman?" and received such replies as "castrate them!" and "kill them!"Fogarty 2021 139 On the night of 17–18 April 1971, the "undesirables" were tied to chairs, had their heads covered with bedsheets and under Beaucage's orders were beaten bloody by his followers.Fogarty 2021 141 Beaucage personally broke the noses of all 16 of the "undesirables" as the beginning of the torture session.Fogarty 2021 222 Under his orders, his followers beat the condemned men with their fists, metal bars, hammers and anything else that would inflict pain, which caused the area under the dome to be soaked in their pools of their blood.Fogarty 2021 141 Beaucage himself used a makeshift weapon, a wooden board with a protruding nail hammered through it to attack the "undesirables" tied into their chairs.Edwards 2013 181 Caron wrote that "the cruellest of the lot" were Edward Fowler and Robert Robidioux who both "handsome and likeable nineteen-year-olds" who were seen as homosexual "sweet kids" to be sexually exploited by the older prisoners.Caron 1985 182 Carton stated that both Fowler and Robidioux resented their 'sweet kid' image and wanted "to create a macho image in place of the "sweet kids" image they hated".Caron 1985 182 Likewise, Carton wrote that Harold St. Amour, an older homosexual prisoner who was known as the patron of the "sweet kids" had decided to change his "joint man" image by joining the gang that tortured the prisoners.Caron 1985 181 St. Amour attacked with an iron bar his lover Ralph Lake who as a rapist was considered to be an "undesirable", causing Lake to scream in horror as the man who had been his lover a few hours before was now trying to kill him.Caron 1985 181 A black prisoner, Melvin Travis, was singled out for an especially vicious beating by Beaucage because he was convicted of raping a white woman.Caron 1985 181 Travis could barely breathe because his nose had been broken into two places, but was saved by another black prisoner whom Caron wrote was "a young and popular homosexual" who argued on his behalf as he stated that Travis was his lover and he had been wrongly convicted.Caron 1985 181 One of the prisoners tied in the circle and beaten bloody, Richard Moore, later testified at the trial of the "Kingston 13" that he was in immense pain and his vision was clouded as too much of his own blood oozed over his eyes.Fogarty 2021 141 To add to his discomfort, his head was dosed in lacquer from the wood workshop while Shepley suggested that Moore be burned alive.Fogarty 2021 141 Beaucage vetoed that suggestion as he stated that Moore needed to be tortured more. One of Beaucage's friends, Robbie Robidoux, cheerfully inquired of Moore how many ribs there were in the human body; when Moore replied that he could not know the answer to that question, Robidoux responded by saying that he did not know either and he was about to find out as he was going to break all of Moore's ribs.Fogarty 2021 142 Robidoux then used a metal bar to break one by one all of Moore's ribs.Fogarty 2021 142 Moore remembered that besides for the pain that it was nearly impossible for him to breathe as his ribs were smashed in and his lungs were crushed.Fogarty 2021 142 Moore felt for certain that he was going to die that night and prayed for death as deliverance from the pain as he struggled to breathe while the other inmates continued to hit him with metal bars.Fogarty 2021 142 At the trial later in 1971 Moore testified that about St. Amour that: "He looked like he hated what he was doing. I thought he might in some danger".Fogarty 2021 230 Caron wrote that Moore's face had become "...a grotesque mask of battered flesh, so bloody that he looked something out of a nightmare".Caron 1985 195 Another of the inmates tortured in the circle, Thomas Malone, described a shower of blows along with his body cut up with razor blades.Fogarty 2021 228 The men then urinated into Malone's gashes to add to his pain.Fogarty 2021 228 One of the inmates who witnessed the torture session, an American bank robber, James Brawley, who had robbed a bank in Toronto in 1970, testified at the trial of the "Kingston 13" that the hoods were placed over the condemned men to confuse the soldiers outside as the soldiers would not know if the men under the hoods were the hostages or not.Fogarty 2021 221 Brawley testified about the beatings: "There was so much blood".Fogarty 2021 221 Brawley added that after what he had seen in Kington Penitentiary that he intended to return to Florida once his sentence in Canada was complete, saying he had never seen such savagery before.Fogarty 2021 221 Brawley also testified that Goyer's speech had led to the torture session as he stated: "The guys doing the beatings felt they had nothing to lose because we'd all be dead once the Army forced their way in".Fogarty 2021 223 Lake testified at the trial that was beaten by the Oag brothers, Donald and James, for about 20 minutes, and despite the way that St. Amour had attacked him earlier, saved his life.Fogarty 2021 233 Lake stated that St. Amour had told the Oag brothers "don't touch this man anymore, we're saving him for something else", an order that he stated had saved his life as the Oag brothers followed St. Amour's orders.Fogarty 2021 233 Lake testified that he had the impression that St. Amour had joined the gang that tortured the prisoners out of the fear that he would be tortured if he did not join in. Another witness at the trial, Denis Robertson, testified that he saw Glen "Yankee" Morris strike a prisoner with an iron bar, saying: "He was just going back and forth across the guy's scalp. He looked like a man cutting grass with a scythe. It you're going to kill a guy, just kill him".Fogarty 2021 229 To the tune of blaring rock music, a child molester, Brian Ensor, was beaten very brutally and finally had his throat slashed by Robidoux with a homemade knife.Fogarty 2021 142 Beaucage displayed his sadism as he watched in enjoyment as Ensor screamed and sobbed in pain under the shower of blows to his body while his hood was soaked in his blood.Fogarty 2021 141–142 & 324 One prisoner-later identified at the trial as Glen Morris-used a chalice taken from the Catholic chapel to drink the blood of Ensor and toasted him by saying "Here's to you sucker! Time for you to die!"Fogarty 2021 144–145 Caron who watched Ensor being killed wrote about the murder that he saw "...young Bobby [Robidoux], stoned out of his mind, talked to the corpse as though it still contained life, cursing and kicking it, In a further act of savagery he stooped down, dug his fingers into a hole in the dead man's forehead, and plucked out some brains! With a satanic laugh the boy wiped is hands on his hockey sweater and disappeared into a nearly wing like an actor leaving the stage."Caron 1985 194 The next prisoner to be killed was Bertrand Robert, a man who had slowly boiled his five children via his hot stove burner, who was beaten with metal pipes with the prisoners told him: "That's for boiling your kids!"Fogarty 2021 145 Although not a child molester, the coroner's report showed that all five of Robert's children had suffered extreme physical abuse which along with the sadistic method of killing his own children had made Robert one of the most hated men in Kingston Penitentiary.Fogarty 2021 145 To put a stop to the impeding massacre as Beaucage was intent upon torturing and killing all of the "undesirables", MacKenzie, who had returned to the 4-B wing, agreed to release the hostages.Fogarty 2021 147–148 End To put a stop to what was threatening to become a massacre, McKenzie decided to release the hostages early on the morning of 18 April 1971.Fogarty 2021 147–148 Without the hostages, the prisoners would be forced to surrender.Fogarty 2021 147–148 McKenzie called Haggart to ask him: "How much do we have to make a decision?"Fogarty 2021 147 Haggart replied "until 5:15 am", and then corrected himself by saying: "you have to make a decision by 5 am. You've got to be ready to release the hostages immediately and come out when ordered".Fogarty 2021 147 McKenzie answered: "We need more time. We're not on the same wavelength in here".Fogarty 2021 147 McKenzie demanded that Haggart give him a promise that the inmates would not be beaten by the guards if they surrendered and then hung up. At 5: 07 am, McKenzie called Haggart again to ask him: "How much longer do we have?"Fogarty 2021 148 Haggart did not know that the Army would assault the prison at noon that day.Fogarty 2021 148 Haggart watched as the sun was starting to rise in the east and told McKenzie: "It's dawn and the army always attacks at dawn".Fogarty 2021 148 Haggart later admitted that he was bluffing as: "I made it up. I had no idea what the war plan was for invading the penitentiary and I still do not know."Buckler Grant Review of Cool Heads at Kingston Pen https://j-source.ca/ebook-review-cool-heads-at-kingston-pen/ 23 July 2023 JSource 29 January 2013 McKenzie asked for more time as some of the other inmates still did not want to release the hostages, but was told by Haggart: "I can't guarantee what will happen in the next half-hour. I suggest in the next two minutes you get a decision".Fogarty 2021 148 Haggart heard McKenzie shout to the other inmates: "you guys have two minutes to make up your fucking minds!"Fogarty 2021 148 McKenzie then told Haggart he would be releasing the hostages in exchange for a promise that the guards would not beat the prisoners if they surrendered.Fogarty 2021 148 Once it was known that the hostages were to be released, the prisoners all wanted to surrender at once before the Royal Canadian Regiment stormed the prison as the prisoners were convinced the soldiers would massacre them without the hostages.Caron 1985 199 A scene of pandemonium ensured as hundreds of prisoners attempted to rush out of the front gate to surrender to be confronted by Morton and a squad of soldiers with bayonets drawn.Fogarty 2021 149 Morton shouted in his Irish-accented English: "Come forward one at a time, one at a time!"Fogarty 2021 149 When the inmates tried to press forward as a group, the soldiers fired warning shots into the air.Fogarty 2021 149 Haggart who was still on the phone with MacKenzie told him "don't go into the corridor".Fogarty 2021 149 MacKenzie shouted "tell the fucking screws to back off", but Haggart assured him "they're holding their fire".Fogarty 2021 149 Haggart told MacKenzie that it was time to release the hostage to calm the situation down.Fogarty 2021 149 Goyer, who had arrived in Kingston, told Haggart "tell them we want to see our first hostage now".Fogarty 2021 149 At 6 am, MacKenzie personally walked out the first hostage to be freed, who was Bushell, who was promptly embraced by his wife.Fogarty 2021 150 To prevent beatings, MacKenzie told Haggart that he would release one hostage for every sixty prisoners, a demand that Goyer rejected as the solicitor-general wanted all of the hostages freed at once.Fogarty 2021 153 When McKenzie refused that demand, Goyer eventually accepted McKenzie's terms.Fogarty 2021 153 Over the course of the next hour, the hostages were released one by one while the prisoners all surrendered in groups.Fogarty 2021 153–154 The last prisoner to surrender was McKenzie who was greeted by Haggart and Goyer as he walked out.Fogarty 2021 154 Haggart went up to shake McKenzie's hand and told him: "Thank you, Barrie. You are a great man!".Fogarty 2021 154 McKenzie refused to shake Haggart's hand and replied: "Fuck off! I didn't do it for you. I did it for the guys in there".Fogarty 2021 154 A number of university students from Queen's University and the University of Toronto had arrived to cheer on the prisoners as heroes while carrying signs that read "Justice for the Prisoners!" and "We Support Prisoners!".Caron 1985 203 The Kingston police, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the soldiers told the students that they had to leave because they were trespassing on federal property.Caron 1985 203 Aftermath The promises that the prisoners would not be sent to Millhaven and would not be beaten were not honored by the Crown. The prisoners from Kingston Penitentiary were immediately sent to Millhaven where the guards beat them all bloody as soon they arrived.Fogarty 2021 166–167 Knight as the leader of the uprising was singled out for by the Millhaven guards for an especially vicious beating that left his skull fractured.Fogarty 2021 167 In a self-congratulatory speech to the House of Commons on 19 April 1971, Goyer took all the credit for ending the crisis and told the House that there was "no deal and no conditions".Fogarty 2021 161 Goyer denied that the prisoners had any motive for the uprising and claimed the riot was simply an outburst of mindless violence.Fogarty 2021 161 Goyer also announced that a Royal Commission under Justice J.W. Swackhammer would examine the riot and advise him of ways to prevent a reoccurrence.Fogarty 2021 161 Haggart wrote in the Toronto Telegram: "In truth, the plan for releasing hostages 'from time to time' originated as much with responsible inmates as with anyone. Without naming names, it would not have hurt the minister to say so." On the same day, Golden of the citizens committee told the Toronto media in a press conference: "The hero of the Kingston Penitentiary riot is a prisoner named Barrie MacKenzie...MacKenzie went back in there alone and negotiated all night long. He risked his life going back in there and he prevented a bloodbath".Fogarty 2021 162 Morton told the press conference that MacKenzie was a hero and stated when MacKenzie agreed to return to the prison on the last night of the riot it was like a scene out of a Western film.Fogarty 2021 163 Morton stated: "He said, "I'm off". I thought he would get the last hostage out but we would never see him again. I thought he was going to his death".Fogarty 2021 163 By contrast, Morton harshly criticized Goyer as he stated that the citizens' committee had a deal with Knight to end the uprising peacefully, which was undermined by Goyer going on the radio to say that the Crown would not make a deal with Knight.Fogarty 2021 163 Morton stated that "Goyer blew it!" as he argued that it was only when Knight's authority collapsed after Goyer's speech that the radical prisoner faction led by Beaucage went on the torture and murder session of the "undesirables".Fogarty 2021 163 On 30 April 1971, the Ontario Attorney General Allan Lawrence ordered an investigation into the allegations that the guards of Millhaven had beaten the prisoners' from Kingston Penitentiary on 18–19 April 1971, which was the first investigation of this type in Canada.Fogarty 2021 174 On 27 May 1971, 11 Millhaven guards were charged by the Ontario Provincial Police with 24 counts of assault causing bodily harm.Fogarty 2021 186-108 In the House of Commons, Goyer announced that the federal government would not fire the Millhaven guards charged with assault and would pay for their defense lawyers.Fogarty 2021 186 The prisoners who had taken the guards hostage on the first night of the riot on 14 April 1971 were charged with kidnapping on 4 June 1971.Fogarty 2021 193 Charged were William James Knight, Charles Saunders, James Adams, Allan Lafreniere, Leo Joseph, Paul Barrieault and Brian Dodge.Fogarty 2021 193 On 20 July 1971 for the first time ever in Canadian history prison guards were brought to a preliminary hearing (the Canadian equivalent of an American grand jury) for assaulting inmates with 11 guards from Millhaven being accused of assault.Fogarty 2021 206 The hearing ended with Justice Donald Graham ruling that the Crown had presented sufficient evidence to bring 8 of the 11 accused guards to trial for assault.Fogarty 2021 209 On 17 August 1971, all of the prisoners charged with kidnapping except for Knight made plea bargains with the Crown where they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of forcible seizure which entitled only a five-year prison sentence; by contrast a conviction for kidnapping in Canada in 1971 meant an automatic life sentence.Fogarty 2021 209 At the preliminary hearing for Knight, the Crown asked for the guards taken hostage to identify Knight as the leader of the uprising.Fogarty 2021 211–212 Knight had changed his appearance by growing his hair long and though he did not need glasses, he wore glasses at his preliminary hearing.Fogarty 2021 211 The first hostage to testify, Terry Decker, was unable to point out Knight in the courtroom when asked to do so.Fogarty 2021 214 Other guards taken hostage such as William Babcock, Douglas Dale and Joseph Vallier were likewise unable to identify Knight as being the courtroom.Fogarty 2021 214–215 The presiding judge, Justice Donald Graham, dismissed the charges against Knight under the grounds that the Crown had failed to establish he was the man who taken the guards hostage.Fogarty 2021 215 On 28 October 1971, the trial of the prisoners responsible for the torture-murder session whom the newspapers dubbed the "Kingston 13" began with Justice William Henderson as the presiding judge.Fogarty 2021 217 Charged with first degree murder were William David Shepley, Glen Archer Morris, Wayne Herbert McGurgin, Edward Maxwell Fowler, Harold Kenneth St. Amour, James Robert Oag, his younger brother Donald Oag, Ernest James Bugler, David Silvester Birt, Edward Fulton Johnston, Brian William Doge, Robert James Robidoux and Brian Lester Beaucage.Fogarty 2021 192 All of the accused pleaded not guilty.Fogarty 2021 217 The trial of the "Kingston 13" attracted immense media attention and the courtroom was full of university students who wanted to show their support for the "Kingston 13".Fogarty 2021 218 Justice Henderson was displeased with the causal hippie appearance of the students and stated that his courtroom would "not be a haven for bums", saying that he only would allow young people "properly" dressed to attend the trial.Fogarty 2021 218 The trial featured extremely graphic testimony about the torture session with an American bank robber James Brawley testifying for the Crown he had never seen such brutality, saying: "They started beating them, breaking their noses and tormenting them. There was so much blood".Fogarty 2021 221 Brawley testified that he had seen Beaucage, Shepley, Robidoux, Morris and Fowler along with other prisoners whose names he did not know torture the "undesirables".Fogarty 2021 221 When Brawley testified that one of the "undesirables" being tortured was a black man whom he referred to as "the Negro", a defense lawyer argued that the correct term was black, leading for Brawley to say he was from Florida and had many "Negro friends".Fogarty 2021 223 Justice Henderson finally had to tell the defense lawyer to change his line of questioning, saying that this question of semantics was taking up too much time. One witness described how Robidoux used a fire hose to pump water down the noses of the "undesirables", saying that he enjoyed the pain he had inflicted.Fogarty 2021 226 Another witness for the Crown, a bank robber, Edward Patricks, testified that he saw Robidoux torture two of the "undesirables" with a knife in such a vicious manner that he had to flee into his cell as he could not stand what he was watching.Fogarty 2021 227 Another witness for the Crown, a bank robber from British Columbia, John Zelinsky, testified: "What they did was sickening, utterly sickening. This wasn't a riot. I've been in a riot. This was a torture chamber. People were beating people up for no reason at all. I say all these people are guilty and they should pay for it".Fogarty 2021 225 Moore who had barely survived the torture session gave graphic testimony about what it was like to have his ribs broken and to almost suffocate to death with his collapsed lungs while he was being continually beaten with iron bars.Fogarty 2021 230–232 The journalist Catherine Fogarty stated that she was greatly "disturbed" by the account of the torture session in Caron's memoir, but discovered from the trial transcripts that "everything he said in the book about what happened was true".Hendra Peter New book offers detailed look at what happened behind KP's walls https://www.thewhig.com/news/new-book-offers-detailed-look-at-what-happened-behind-kps-walls 24 February 2024 The Kingston Whig-Starndard 13 April 2021 During the trial, Justice Henderson arranged for secret talks between the Crown attorney prosecuting the "Kingston 13" case and the defense lawyers for the "Kingston 13", saying he wanted this case to be ended with plea bargains, which was a departure from the normal role played by judges.Fogarty 2021 244–246 On 18–19 November 1971, a secret meeting was held in a cheap motel attended by the two Crown attorneys, 16 defense lawyers and Justice Henderson who pressured both sides to reach a deal for plea bargains.Fogarty 2021 246 On 22 November 1971, the trial came to a sudden halt with the Crown making plea bargains where 12 of the accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter while Beaucage pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm.Fogarty 2021 236 In a speech to the jury urging them to accept the plea bargains, Henderson stated that the victims of the torture-murder session were child molesters, rapists and child killers and that the mere sight of such "undesirables" led to an understandable urge for the accused to want to torture them, but he claimed that there was no evidence that the accused had planned to kill the "undesirables".Fogarty 2021 236 The jury accepted Henderson's recommendation to accept the plea bargains.Fogarty 2021 237 The plea bargains along with Henderson's statement that the victims of the torture-session had gotten what they deserved and that the actions of the "Kingston 13" were essentially justified were controversial in 1971 and have remained so.Fogarty 2021 240 When sentencing Morris, the prisoner whom several of the Crown's witnesses accused of drinking the blood of Ensor, Henderson asked of him "You'll be a good boy from now on?"Fogarty 2021 239 The outcome of the "Kingston 13" trial was widely viewed as a miscarriage of justice with a group of men who had beaten two men to death and tortured a number of others receiving very light sentences while the presiding judge had stated that the accused were some sort of heroes for their actions.Fogarty 2021 240 On 13 December 1971, the journalist Michael Valpy of the Globe & Mail revealed that the plea bargains had been brokered in secret by Henderson, which increased the controversy as judges are expected to be impartial rather taking the lead in negotiating plea bargains.Fogarty 2021 244 The plea bargains became the object of debate in the House of Commons with the former Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker telling the House: "Normally I do not believe in harsh sentences. But in this case there are fears in penitentiaries across Canada that the sentences are so light as to constitute an invitation on the part of inmates to follow the same course of action taken by those in Kingston". Fogarty 2021 249 The Liberal justice minister, John Turner, in response to Diefenbaker's questions stated that the federal government did not intend to appeal the verdicts in the "Kingston 13" case.Fogarty 2021 250 On 10 December 1971, the Millhaven guards were brought to trial with Knight serving as the Crown's star witness.Fogarty 2021 254–255 The trial ended on 16 December 1971 with the acquittal of all the guards.Fogarty 2021 256 On the first anniversary of the riot in April 1972, Haggart who was working for the Globe & Mail (the Toronto Telegram went bankrupt in October 1971) wrote a retrospective on the riot.Fogarty 2021 257–258 One prisoner known as "George" to protect his identity whom Haggart interviewed told him that watching the torture session had changed his life as he could not face prison again, saying: "I just can't go back to prison...They looked like they were all dead and the floor was full of blood. We just sat there waiting for daylight, waiting for the Army to come. We didn't care anymore....Those punks thought they were tough-kicking, beating and burning helpless, half-dead men-but they were cowards. Then I realized all of us who were watching, afraid to step in and stop it, were cowards too."Fogarty 2021 262 "George" told Haggart that watching the torture session had made him vomit in disgust and despite being a career bank robber that he was giving up his life of crime as he still had nightmares about what he had seen.Fogarty 2021 262 On 24 April 1972, a Royal Commission under Justice J.W. Swackhammer presented a report to Goyer that blamed the riot on an overcrowded and aging prison along with the federal government's policy of ending privileges such as sports events and sports teams, saying the policy of forcing prisoners to stay in their cells for 16 hours a day was the root cause of the riot.Fogarty 2021 268–269 The part of the Swackhammer report which stated that Warden John D. Clark along with other senior officials at Millhaven Institute had ordered the beatings of the Kingston prisoners on 18–19 April 1971 was censored by the government, and the report's recommendation that the senior Millhaven officials be fired was not acted upon.Fogarty 2021 272–273 Other aspects of the Swackhammer report such as creating an ombudsmen to handle prisoner complaints and abolishing corporal punishment in Canadian prisons were acted upon.Fogarty 2021 270–271 The 1971 riot was the "seminal event" in the history of Canadian prisons as it inspired other prisoners to riot and the 1970s were the most violent decade in Canadian prisons with 69 prison riots breaking out over the next decade, which proved to be a record.Fogarty 2021 273–274 The Kingston riot did not change the policies of the Trudeau government with a committee of 11 MPs appointed by Trudeau himself writing in a report presented in October 1976 that the Canadian prisons were "a national disgrace".Fogarty 2021 274 The report stated that there was a "near-total breakdown of order" in the prisons with physical and sexual violence being rampant.Fogarty 2021 274 The report quoted a prisoner as saying of Millhaven: "Kingston of 1971 hasn't gone away, it's just moved down the road".Fogarty 2021 274 The approach of the Trudeau government in general was not seek reforms to prisons, but rather to spend more money on repressive measures such as using the new technology of security cameras which were installed in every prison hallway to make it difficult for the prisoners to riot.Fogarty 2021 264 Kingston Penitentiary was closed decades after its planned date of closure in 1971 on 30 September 2013.MacAlpine Ian Visiting Kingston Penitentiary 50 years after the riot https://www.thewhig.com/news/visiting-kingston-penitentiary-50-years-after-the-riot 26 February 2024 The Kingston Whig-Starndard 13 April 2021 Today, Kingston Penitentiary is now a museum and one of the most popular aspects of the museum are the exhibits relating to riot including walking over the area under the dome where the kangaroo court held its session. The Canadian journalist Grant Buckler wrote that it was primarily MacKenzie and Haggart who deserved the credit for ending the crisis peacefully without the prison being stormed. Buckler noted that later that same year, in September 1971, the Attica Prison riot ended with the deaths of 43 men, the majority of whom were killed by the troopers of the New York state police. Buckler argued that had the order being given to storm Kingston penitentiary, that something similar might had happened as the hostages would have been killed along with a number of the prisoners. Forgarty stated in 2021: "What he [MacKenzie] and Ron Haggart did on that final night saved the prison from becoming another Attica". Buckler argued that the Kingston Penitentiary riot was notable for what did not happen just as much as what did happen as MacKenzie and Haggart were able to prevent something similar to what occurred at Attica later that year. See also List of incidents of civil unrest in Canada References Notes Bibliography Caron Roger Go-boy! Memoirs of a Life Behind Bars 1978 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Toronto 9780070825352 Caron Roger Bingo! The Horrifying Eyewitness Account of a prison riot 1985 Methuen Toronto 0458997005 Edwards Peter Unrepentant The Strange and (Sometimes) Terrible Life of Lorne Campbell, Satan's Choice and Hells Angels Biker 2013 Vintage Canada Toronto 9780307362575 Fogarty Catherine Murder on the Inside The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary 2021 Biblioasis Windsor 9781771964029 Haggart Ron Cool Heads at Kingston Pen 2012 House of Haggart Toronto Hennessy Peter Canada's Big House The Dark History of the Kingston Penitentiary 1999 Dundurn Toronto 9781550023305 Category:1971 in Canada Category:Prison uprisings Category:Prison riots in North America Category:Riots and civil disorder in Canada