Although inmates of West Virginia's state penitentiary in Moundsville had chafed for years under crowded and restrictive conditions, they were particularly galled at the cancellation of a traditional holiday reception for their relatives. On New Year's Day, the resentment boiled over. Some 200 of the 700 inmates seized control of most of the facility's main floor, taking 16 guards and kitchen employees hostage. "We want to be treated like we are somebody, not just trash and animals," one inmate shouted out to police. "We don't want this anymore than you do."
The hostages were...
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