President Donald Trump says he wants to turn Alcatraz Island — a museum and tourist destination for decades — back into a federal prison.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social. “No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets.”
Created in 1934, the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary held some of America’s most famous criminals, such as Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, until it was shut down in 1963 due to high operating costs and structural damage.
Given its remote location in cold waters, the prison was nearly impossible to escape — and Alcatraz gained the reputation of being the country’s highest-security lockup.
The premises went through numerous hands after closure and at one point was occupied by a group of Native Americans. In 1972, the island was handed over to the Department of Interior’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with which it is entrusted today.
While the island is a major tourist destination, Trump said he sees it as an opportunity to symbolize the nation’s return to “Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
The announcement comes as Trump battles courts over circumventing due process to send people in the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador and espoused a desire to incarcerate U.S. citizens in other foreign prisons.