Minnesota’s Stillwater Prison reportedly went into emergency lockdown after about 100 inmates took over a section of the facility.

According to reports, the inmates refused to return to their cells Sunday while facing high temperatures.

A Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson said the reason inmates “are refusing to return to their cells remains unclear.”

The Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Crisis Negotiation Team and Special Operations Response Team have reportedly been activated “out of an abundance of caution.”

Associated Press reports:

But advocates positioned outside of the Stillwater prison, some of whom have family members inside, said inmates are fed up from the excessive heat, limited access to showers and ice, and unclean drinking water.

Inmates have been on intermittent lockdowns since Friday because of staffing issues, they said, meaning they are kept in their cells, which reportedly don’t have air conditioning. The prison is in Bayport about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Minneapolis, which was under an afternoon heat advisory for temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius).

Inmates have been on intermittent lockdowns since Friday because of staffing issues, they said, meaning they are kept in their cells, which reportedly don’t have air conditioning. The prison is in Bayport about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Minneapolis, which was under an afternoon heat advisory for temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius).

“My organization got calls from inmates who are actually inside” starting at 6:30 a.m., said Marvina Haynes of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, whose brother is an inmate at Stillwater.

“This morning, they decided that they weren’t going to lock into their cells,” said David Boehnke of Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, adding there have been lockdowns on and off for the past two months.

The union which represents the correctional officers blamed the incident on staffing shortages.

From CBS News:

In a statement Sunday afternoon, AFSCME Council 5, which represents Minnesota correctional officers, said that understaffing was to blame for the incident.

“Today’s incident at MCF-Stillwater is endemic and highlights the truth behind the operations of the MN Department of Corrections with chronic understaffing leading to upset offenders due to the need to restrict programming and/or recreation time when there are not enough security staff to protect the facility. Our union believes to our core that our correctional facilities cannot have transformational offender programming without sufficient facility security, we can and must have both.”

In total, about 1,200 inmates are at the facility just southeast of Stillwater, according to department records.

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