SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- A fiery uprising by 290 inmates that led to the killing of a corrections guard at a private prison has sparked renewed criticism of the facilities in New Mexico.
"The death of a guard means that these institutions are out of control," Democratic state Sen. Cisco McSorley said Wednesday.Ralph Garcia, 42, was the first prison guard killed in a dozen years in New Mexico. But in the past nine months, four inmates have been killed in prisons operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corp.
Garcia was stabbed numerous times with a homemade knife in an attack by as many as nine inmates at the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility, one of two prisons in New Mexico operated by Florida-based Wackenhut.
The Tuesday riot near Santa Rosa was sparked by the prison's attempt to lock down the facility after an inmate was stabbed in a gymnasium.
"I don't think in any way you can point the finger at Wackenhut for something that was done by inmates," said Republican Gov. Gary Johnson.
Johnson and Corrections Secretary Rob Perry said they haven't decided whether to follow through on Perry's threat to remove inmates from private prisons if more deaths or disturbances occurred.
That warning followed an Aug. 17 disturbance at a prison run by Corrections Corporation of America in which two guards were injured.