Racial Tensions Blamed in Texas Prison Riot That Left Inmate Dead

Racial tensions fueled fights between 300 black and Latino inmates at a West Texas prison that left one inmate dead and 31 injured, authorities said Wednesday. Five of the injured were in intensive care.

Some prisoners wielded garden tools in the five-hour melee Tuesday night at the minimum- to medium-security Smith Unit, which remained under lock-down.

“We believe it was very racially motivated,” said Larry Todd, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman. “Some white inmates jumped in the fight, but it was mostly the black and Hispanic inmates who were fighting.”

The fights began after a Latino inmate confronted a black inmate who was fondling himself in front of a female officer in a dining hall, said Larry Fitzgerald, also a Department of Criminal Justice spokesman.

Word of their confrontation then spread throughout the unit, and black and Latino inmates began brawling in the recreation yard.

“It started off with a small group fighting, and the guards got that under control. Then another group got into one, and the fight got bigger and bigger,” said John Barton, a prison spokesman.