1974 Huntsville Prison 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 Unit or the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. The standoff was one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in United States history.

Siege

From July 24 to August 3, 1974, Fredrico Gomez Carrasco and two other inmates laid siege to the education/library building of the Huntsville Unit. “Fred” Carrasco, the most powerful heroin kingpin in South Texas, was serving a life sentence for attempted murder of a police officer. [http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/SeptOct2004/features_v12no1.html The Carrasco Siege] . Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice (Sept.-Oct. 2004). Retrieved on 2008-07-13.] 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 Blood Hostages] ", "TIME", August 12 1974. Retrieved on 2008-07-13.]

At the precise moment that a 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, such as 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 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 desperate escape attempt just before 10 PM 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 was later dubbed 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 women hostages who had bravely volunteered to join the convicts in the armored car. When prison officials returned fire, Carrasco committed suicide and one of his two accomplices was 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.” [William T. Harper. " [http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/Harper.htm Book Review: Eleven Days in Hell] ", Texas Ranger Dispatch Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-07-13.]

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 ] ]

References