Donald Trump’s decision to reopen Alcatraz was inspired by a movie he saw on a PBS affiliate.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump announced that he is ordering the Bureau of Prisons to reopen and expand Alcatraz to house the most ruthless and violent offenders.
“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” he wrote.
“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,” Trump continued. “That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ.”
Alcatraz is currently a museum and a popular tourist attraction after it was closed down in 1963. So where did Trump get the idea to reopen it???
Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last weekend when WLRN aired a rerun of Clint Eastwood’s 1979 classic Escape From Alcatraz.
In fact, it aired the movie twice at 9 p.m. Saturday and again at 11 a.m. Sunday, hours before Trump’s post demanding that the notorious prison off the coast of San Francisco be restored to its glory days, according to the Daily Beast.
WLRN is an affiliate of PBS, the same network Trump derided as “radical, woke propaganda” and signed an executive order this week trying to cut its funding.
Trump even suggested he got the idea from the movie when pressed by reporters on Monday.
“I was supposed to be a moviemaker,” Trump said. “It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order…Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate. Sing Sing and Alcatraz, right? The movies.”
Still, regardless of where he got the idea, Trump administration officials appear ready to fall in line.
“We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice,” William K. Marshall III, director of the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. “We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.”
Meanwhile, local officials are dismissing the idea.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said that it is “not a serious proposal,” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) echoed that sentiment. Rafael Mandelman, president of the Board of Supervisors, called it “typically absurd.” State Sen. Scott Wiener called the proposal “absurd on its face.”
